Chapter 68: REVELATIONS

Risens followed Tawny’s smile as she moved along the narrow hallway. A few meters in the area opened to a surprisingly spacious round opening. Nearly ten meters in diameter the ceiling was lofty, almost a body length above his head. The entire space was illuminated with a pale green glow that emanated from the plants growing in four orderly rows cut into the floor. Several tables limed with wide vials were set against the wall

“Sanitatem,” she whispered. “You likely know the sting better than most. It’s an all but forgotten about plant. Forbidden for centuries. It will only grow underground in the complete darkness. Once its rooted, the natural glow aids its growth. A fascinating plant.”

She placed the bag of his gear carefully on the ground, before leaning down, gently inspecting the leaf of the closest plant.

“It seems that some geniuses of a bygone era seemed to feel that the pain wasn’t worth the results so it fell out of favor,” she cursed. “Those who do still use it still don’t bother to use enough of it to make a difference. Sure it hurts, a lot, but it accelerated the healing and will stave off most infections. Surprisingly, it also works to polish rust from metal.”

His curiosity was piqued. He could adamantly vouch for her skills and her approach, but it was her knowledge that continued to impress him.

“Where did you learn this?”

Her faced darkened for a moment.

“I’m capable beyond my appearance, you know,” she growled. “It’s not the lingering lure of the Brand of my past life that lead me to succeed.”

He was taken aback by the caustic vehemence of her response. His question had been one of genuine curiosity. In the light of current events, he had enough malice to go around though he had added none to his words.

“I ask out of curiosity, nothing more,” he replied, trying to appease he sudden anger. “Your salve has bound my wounds of far more occasions than I care to remember. I for one a disturbingly thankful for your studies.”

The spark that had ignited into an inferno, setting her emotion ablaze flickered and died as quickly as it had come. She seemed to wither a bit as the anger faded.

“I’m sorry. Mine was a past that caught up with me,” she whispered. “I had to fight just to stay in the academy when it was discovered. I focused on my studies as I had nothing else. My options were…limited when I finished. It was a history that continued to haunt me. Some sought to aid me only as an avenue to my past endeavors. Ironic that it was one these who led me to discover and read the tomes tucked away in the dustiest section of the library. They are fools for the information they neglected due to false assumptions or appearance, forbidden or not.”

Risens reached out a hand, gently helping Tawny back to her feet. It was a secret that hadn’t needed to let him in on. Her trust in the assassin she knew nothing of save for the wounds she’d bound, infections treated and bones she’d set was peculiar.

“We both have secrets better kept to ourselves. No learning is without value,” he responded. “If it’s any consolation, any judgement on past decisions from someone like me would be insincere. Those with the largest opinions seem to always have the most to hide.”

Tawny placed her hand flat on the center of his chest. Her hand moved slightly as it tracked the raised lines of the Brands. The touch wasn’t peculiar yet he didn’t pull back from the contact.

“You can store your bags here,” she sighed as she collected the one she’d dropped brushing past him to the opposite wall. Several shelves and a table lined the edge, bordering one of the rows of plants. He followed suit as she deposited it on an empty shelf. His gaze stopped as it reached the work surface of the table its side. Dozens of small glass vials peeked out from the open top of a small crate against the wall.

For a moment, a look of fear flashed in here eyes though she merely sighed as it passed.

“I am well compensated by the Kingdom for my work, though I have no illusions that it will remain permanent,” she whispered. “I occasionally bottle the raw essence for mageVials. As I do not have the means to produce the dramatic, destructive effects, most magus’s lack the skills to work with the plants.”

She grabbed one of the bottles holding it up, gently swirling the viscous liquid inside. The familiar green top seemed to glow in the low light of the underground chamber. His eyes hardened as his vision tracked from the vial to her.

“I was surprised to see my work, well at least part of it returned to me,” she replied. “I have no doubt that the mageVial you left with me was started here.”

The information struck like a dagger stabbed into his gut. He felt the sharp pain of if twist. Beyond the initial discomfort it radiated a hollow chill through his core while his anger burned.

“Who do you make them for?” He growled. “It was but one of three used in an effort to kill me.”

His voice was low, filling the room with an ominous growl. He worked to keep his hands from finding a hold of his blades.

“I swear to you, I never know the buyer,” she carefully placed the vial down, holding out her hands in a placating manner. “There is a board at the Commoner’s Bazaar. Jobs of all types are tacked up there. There is a drop point and payment and none have been the same. It’s another piece of the information I learned when I first found interest in this calling beyond that of my past. Most healers moonlight in whatever ways we can to supplement our income. I had no hands in any that would be lethal. Sedative and disorienting, yes, but never deadly.

Risens relaxed a touch at her vehement denial and explaination. The response sparked several threads of curiosity that demanded attention.

“I have no reason not to trust you,” he grumbled though he softened the deadly edge had hardened his voice. “I would strongly advise you to avoid producing anything beyond what you have. Your toxins have no been used against me twice in the last week. Cimmerian Calcify is not a widely used poison, the Kingdom knows of its application in one of the two attacks. Windwake has grown increasing more dangerous for you and even for one such as me.”

Especially for one such as me, he cursed the thought as it took root in his mind.

Rightmaker. The title he’d worn proudly for years was now turning into the curse that haunted him daily.

Her face bleached of her natural glow as the information took root.

“The King’s men that I healed. Those weren’t the one’s who attacked you? How did you…?”

“No. If those were the Kings blades none would have made it back to either of your tables. I’ve been well trained in the skills that have kept me alive throughout the years,” he interrupted. “You’ve been trained to head. I’ve been trained to kill.”

He could see the shimmering reflections of the iridescent plants in the moisture that crept across her eyes.

“You have no fault to bear in this. It was not you who cast the poisons or the explosives in my direction,” he acknowledged, working to settle his own discomfort as much as he did to ease hers. “I’m in need of information, an I fear my usual sources are no longer to be trusted. The other healer, the one whose loose lips started you on your current quest. Do you know where I can find him?”

She squinted as she cocked her head to the side. The apprehension was visible in the tension that overtook her features.

“He isn’t to face your blades, is he?”

“Not at the moment.”

She placed her hands on her hips staring at him with an impressive measure of defiance. He needed no words to understand the question that was on her mind.

“It seems that everywhere I go, someone has been waiting for me,” he answered, providing only as much information as needed to appease he concerns. He knew that he could bully her into revealing what he desired, yet there was no long term benefit to that. “He has betrayed information before, I need to know if he has done it again. It puts both of us at risk.”

He faced down her piercing stare for a few extended moments before it faltered.

“Yes, I can draw you a map,” she whispered with a resigned sigh. Turning her back to him she fished through one of the drawers on the shelves pulling out a pencil and a small sheet of parchment, talking as he quickly sketched on the paper.

“He was always a man of habit and frighteningly low endurance,” she explained. “He haunted the Pearl Grove Tavern in the Central Ward. His clinic is only a few blocks away. Unless he’s changed, which I doubt, he has certain…tastes, that can only be filled there.”

She folded the parchment before handing it to him.

“He’s not a bad man, you know,” she whispered.

Risens watched as the emotion played out across her face. The connection between her and the healer was sordid, a tie to a past that she struggled to forget. She had given herself into the pursuit of tending to the injured, he wasn’t surprised by the sentiment.

“If he divulges too much, he puts the Kingdom at risk. He puts you at risk. He puts me at risk,” he responded. “I have things to attend to first, and as always, I will take your advice into consideration. Who knows, he may have reformed and no longer runs his mouth when he should keep it closed.”

By her frown, he expected that was doubtful, though the extend of his treason would still need to be seen.

“Thank you,” she replied. “I ask more than I should and I appreciate that you at least listen. I know you do not have to, but you still do.”

“The position we’ve inadvertently placed ourselves in in untenable. I work to prevent it, yet there are far more factors beyond my control. The time will come when decisions will need to be made,” he noted. The thought that reasserted itself was a welcomed distraction from the current subject.

“Does the name Corvus mean anything to you?”

She stepped back, wiping her hand discretely across her eyes before running them through the curling locks of her fiery hair. Her eyes darted across the room as she searched the vault of her mind. They widened after a moment of deep, probing thought.

“There was an instructor at the academy though I only had him for a few classes before his abrupt departure,” she reminisced. “A terrifying man, a magus brought in to assist with the process of mending broken bones. They referred to him as Corvus, though not to his face, or course.”

Risens grinned as the information fit with what he had anticipated. If this was the same man, a magus who’d worked within the white stones of the Healers Gate, he would likely know the potions and their effects well. The academy likely maintained records of their staff, surely he could pursue the information there.

“Thank you, Tawny,” he grinned.

Internally, he cursed the discovery. It seemed he’d be a frequent visitor to the Cirque of Academia.