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Zedd gave a tired sigh. It was just as well; he couldn't keep it from her much longer anyway. He drew the dark sleeve of his robe up his arm.
The flesh of his upper arm, in the same place where her arm had been cut, was blotched with cloudy black circles about the size of gold coins, and had the same faint green glow as her arm. She stared at it without reaction.
"Wizards use the magic of empathy to cure people. We take the pain and the essence of the discordance, the sickness or injury, into ourselves. We have passed the test of pain, so in this, as in other things, we are able to endure what we take from another. We use the gift to sustain us, and to give strength to the person, allowing the magic to cure what is out of order. The harmony within us corrects the disharmony. Sickness and injury is an aberration, and the magic restores the flows of power in a person to what it is intended to be." He stroked her hand. "Within limits, of course. We are not the hand of Creation. But from it, we have the gift to use when it is appropriate."
"But... why be your arm like mine?"
"The actual transfer of the sickness or injury is blocked. Only the pain and disharmony of it is taken on, so we may pass strength, healing and wellness to the one we are helping." He took hold of the silver brocade at the cuff and drew the sleeve back down his arm. "Somehow, the taint of the skrin passed through that barrier."
Concern creased her features. "Then we must both lose our arms."
Zedd worked his tongue to wet it. "No. I'm afraid that wouldn't help. When I try to cure someone, I can sense where the injury or sickness, the disharmony, lies." He stood again, turning his back to her. "Though the wound is on your arm, the taint of the skrin's magic is evident throughout your body." His voice dropped to a whisper. "It is also throughout me, now."
Zedd could hear the muffled laughter from down in the dining room. Merry music seemed to ooze up through the elegant, richly colored carpets. A bard was singing a bawdy tale about a princess masquerading as a serving wench. Her father and king had pledged her to a prince she loathed. After having exposed the suitor as a scoundrel and greedy opportunist, she found that, despite having to endure her bottom being pinched, she preferred the occupation of serving wench to that of princess, and went on to live a life of singing and dancing. The crowd roared their approval, thumping their mugs in time with the tune.
Adie's voice came softly from behind him. "We be in a great deal of trouble, old man."
He nodded absently. "Indeed."
"I be sorry, Zedd. Forgive me for what I have brought upon us."
He dismissed her regrets with a wave of his hand. "What's done is done. It is not your fault, dear lady. If anything, it is mine, for not thinking before I used magic on this; the price of using your heart before using your head." The price, too, for violating the Wizard's Second Rule, he thought, but did not voice it.
The heavy folds of his robes swirled around him as he turned back to face her. "Adie, think. There must be someone who would know about this taint, someone who knows about the skrin. Is there anyone you visited when searching knowledge of the underworld, who would know something? Even if it is just a little, it might give me the clue I need to rid us of this."
Her weight settled deeper into the pillows as she frowned in thought. Finally, her head rolled from side to side a little.
"When I visited the women with the gift, I be young. They be old, at least older that I. They would all be dead by now."
Zedd stepped closer. "Did any have daughters? Daughters with the gift?"
Adie's eyes come to his, her eyebrows lifted, and a smile grew on her finely wrinkled face. "Yes! One who taught me some of the most important things about the skrin had daughters." She propped herself up on her good elbow. "Three daughters." Her grin grew. "They all had the gift. They be little at the time, but they had the gift. They would not be nearly as old as I. If their mother lived long enough, she would have taught them what she knew. That be the way of a sorceress."
Despite the dull ache of a foreign magic in his bones, Zedd's step was lively with excitement. "Then we must go to them! Where are they?"
Adie winced as she sank back down on the pillows. She drew the blanket up to her chest. "Nicobarese. They be in a remote part of Nicobarese."
"Bags." Zedd let out a sigh. "That's a long way in the wrong direction." He stroked a thumb and finger down opposite sides of his smooth jaw. "Can you think of anyone else?"
Adie whispered to herself as, one at a time, she lifted open the fingers of a closed hand. "Sons," she muttered. "She had only sons." She lifted open another finger. "No, she didn't know anything of the skrin." Finally, she lifted open the last finger. "No children." Her hands fell limp to her sides. "I be sorry, Zedd. The three sisters be the only ones who might know something, and they be in Nicobarese."
"And this woman, their mother, where did she learn these things? Maybe we could go there."
Adie smoothed the blanket against her stomach. Her hand slipped away to rest at her side. "The light only knows. The only place I know we can go to seek answers be Nicobarese."
Zedd pointed a bony finger skyward. "Then we go to Nicobarese!"
Adie looked at him dubiously. "Zedd, there be Blood of the Fold in Nicobarese. My name be remembered there. And not remembered fondly."
"That was an awfully long time ago, Adie. Two kings ago."
"Time means nothing to the Blood."
He rubbed his chin as he thought. "Well, no one knows who we are; we have been hiding our identity to remain out of the Keeper's sight. We will simply continue to be two wealthy travelers." He scowled at her. "I am already wearing this ridiculous outfit." The lavish robes they both wore had been her idea, and not one he enjoyed.
Adie shrugged. "It would appear we have no choice. What must be done, must be done." She grunted with the effort of sitting up in the bed. "We must be on our way."
Zedd waved his hand dismissively. "You are weak and need rest. I will secure us transportation. It is too difficult to ride horseback anymore. I will hire us a coach, or something." He lifted an eyebrow as he gave her a sly smile. "After all, if we are going wear these garish outfits, and feign being wealthy travelers, it would be best to play the part with a coach."
She watched as he scrutinized himself in front of the tall, standing mirror. He held the full robes out, examining their volume. The robe was a heavy, maroon fabric, with black sleeves and cowled shoulders. The cuffs of the sleeves had three rows of silver brocade. Around the neck and down the front were bands of gold brocade woven in a coarser design. The waist was held with a flashy, red satin belt set with a gold buckle. The whole effect was so ostentatious it made him groan inwardly.
Well, necessary was necessary. Zedd swept his arm across his middle while bowing dramatically.
"How do I look, dear lady?"
Adie plucked a slice of brown bread from the tray. "Foolish."
He straightened in a rush and finally shook a finger at her. "May I remind you that you picked it out!"
She shrugged. "Revenge. You picked mine. I thought it only fitting to seek redress."
He strode across the expanse of carpets in a huff, muttering that he thought she had gotten the better of the bargain by far. "You get a little rest. I'll see about our transportation."
Adie tore a chunk of bread off with her teeth and spoke around the mouthful as he headed for the door. "Don't forget your hat."
Zedd froze with a wince. He spun on the balls of his feet. "Bags, woman! Must I wear the hat, too!"
She chewed a moment and then swallowed. "The man who sold us the outfit said it be all the rage among noblemen."
Zedd forced out a noisy breath and then snatched the limp, red hat off the marble tabletop beside the double doors to the outer room. He plopped it atop his wavy, white hair. "Better?"
"The feather be crooked."
He clenched his fists. At last he reached up and rearranged the floppy hat, straightening the long peacock feather.
"Happy?"
&
nbsp; She smiled—at his expense, he presumed. "Zedd, I said you look foolish only because you be such a handsome man that the fancy clothes look silly in trying to improve upon perfection."
A grin stole back onto his face. He gave another quick bow. "Why, thank you, madam."
She pulled the piece of bread in half. "And Zedd, be careful." He cocked his head with a questioning frown. "Masquerading in that outfit, like the princess in the song, you may get your bottom pinched."
