Rudimentum: Oracle

Chapter 15

#

The following night Elysia sat in front of the fireplace with Nathanael, both sipping on a cup of steaming peppermint tea.

"How are they?" she asked, knowing he had spent the entire day out with the troupe and had only recently returned. She kept her eyes averted, fearing that if she looked into his she would see only hate, a glint that would show he despised her for what she had caused.

"They are recovering and adjusting," he said. "They refuse to leave the area until they farewell their dead and the wounded have healed sufficiently. Lord Pedrov has given them permission to stay indefinitely, and I ensure supplies get to them."

"How... how many did they lose?" She gripped the cup in both hands, stopping herself from squeezing it until it shattered.

Nathanael looked down, swirled his cup then stared into the flames. "Eight, with more wounded."

More blood on your hands, she thought. More blood to make right.

"Your friend in there," continued Nathanael, "I saw the marking on his chest. A man of the Bellatore Arena."

"Yes," she said. His scars flashed through her mind. And his eye. The guilt already wedged in her heart grew only deeper. Perhaps if they had not been arguing, if she had simply told him the truth long ago, they might have avoided everything that had happened. William might have seen something earlier. Reacted just a little quicker. "Were you there when the Council outlawed the use of the memory wipe serum in the arenas across the kingdoms?"

"I was there, yes," he said. "It might have been about twelve years ago. I was one of King Brandon's advisors on the issue, though our opinions differed. He was against its outlaw, as was Queen Valerie of Yodner, if I remember correctly."

She gathered up her courage and looked at him. "Do you know how to make the reversal safer?"

Nathanael paused. "They gave William the memory wipe?"

"He was one of the last to receive it in Vasilis. I never told him it could be reversed because I knew the dangers of it. But if he decides he wants it..." Her eyes fell. "I would rather him take it from my hands than anyone else's."

"It is risky," said Nathanael. "Something like that, I do not know if it can be made any safer than what it already is. But I have a study where I keep most of my books and research as well as perform small experiments. You may use it if you wish. I am assuming you studied some magic back home?"

"Thank you. I did, yes."

"And the reversal is something you have looked at before?"

"Many times," she said, remembering the hours she had spent studying the serum. The results, the method, the ingredients, everything. She had never told Lorell, though she knew he suspected what she was doing. She had been on the verge of asking him, then Mordrake showed up.

"I thought you might say that," said Nathanael turning to her with a smile. She looked at him and saw nothing of what she had feared. No judgement. No hate. Only kindness.

"I will not forget this," she said, her heart swelling with a warmth.

Elysia barely slept that night. Her dreams were filled with screams, blood, and the sound of fire devouring a path of destruction. Rita stood amidst an orange glow with a bloodied Jakob in her arms. Tears streamed down Rita's face as she looked down at her baby brother. He no longer cried; his eyes closed and his body pale. Elysia tried to move but it felt as if she had no legs.

She woke with tears spilling down her face. Her heart pounded. The strange dark room brooded over her. The dream dissipated but the dread and the guilt compounded and stabbed daggers into her heart. The sun rose as she laid awake staring at the empty space beside her.