Page 52 of Badmouths & Bards

“Tough shit, princess,” Ameriden said, plopping her onto the table next to the water basin. “We gotta close this thing—”

“Water’s not gonna—”

“Our water will.”

Together, they managed to pull the wet clothing from her body—her bracers catching on Ameriden’s shirt again— but eventually those came off as well. Shivering, naked, and clearly unwell, Tala weakly protested their movement.

Stubborn, even when injured, Casimine thought as he turned off the water.

“Okay, in we go—”

“No,” Tala moaned.

“Just for a moment,” Casimine assured. “Just enough for us to heal you.”

Ameriden knelt at the head of the bathtub, supporting Tala’s head and shoulders with his arms as she cried from the abrupt temperature change. Casimine took her hand, dipping his free hand into the now red water toward her wound.

“The water accelerates our ability to heal the injured,” Casimine explained. “But you have to hold still, so I can—”

“No! It’s not the cut, it’s—”

Tala let out a shout. The healing magic—while warm and comforting—didn’t make the act of healing any less painful. Beneath the warm glow of Casimine’s hand, the wound had stopped bleeding, but the act of knitting muscle and tissue back together was uncomfortable.

“Shh,” Ameriden hushed, pressing his cheek against hers. “Shh.”

Whether he was aware of it or not, Ameriden began to hum. Casimine recognized the tune immediately, a lullaby from their people. A story about a mother who longed for her children—the story of a goddess trapped between Ordia and the moons. Even in the midst of channeling magic through his hand, the words to the song spilled from Casimine’s lips. Echoes and bubbling, words of ancestors that knew how to communicate entirely under water was as familiar as Casimine’s magic.

When the last lyric was sung, Casimine removed his hand. While the water was cloudy, he could feel Tala’s skin whole and new. Delicate, but stable enough that they didn’t have to worry about her bleeding out.

“It’s done,” Casimine said, softly.

She was safe… and yet—

“Casi, Casi, something’s wrong!”

Tala was gritting her teeth, shaking even more violently within the water. Confusion filled Casimine as he reached back into the water, searching for any wound that he might have overlooked. His efforts were met with Tala flinching from him—as if his touch burned her.

“What’s happening?” Ameriden asked. “Why didn’t it work?”

“I don’t—” Casimine shook his head. “I don’t know!”

“Can’t heal,” Tala managed with a shake of her head. “Can’t fix!”

That wasn’t possible, and yet even when Ameriden reached into himself and pooled healing magic into Tala’s forehead, there was no visible improvement. A fever unlike anything Casimine had seen had left their bodyguard weak and defenseless.

How? What could be stronger than our healing magic?

“Why isn’t it working?!” Ameriden shouted.

Casimine stared at the cloudy water. “Lift her up!”

Without protest, Ameriden pulled until Tala was propped up on the lip of the bathtub. The water slid down her skin, and that’s when Casimine saw it. While her flesh had healed, the area where the wound had been was bright red. Casimine ran a finger across it, felt how hot it was, and cursed.

“It’s poison.”

Chapter 23

Taldesa