"Why should I thank you?" Kendall asked softly. "It was all what you wanted. Saved my life to spare your own feelings. Dragged me about the country to distract yourself. None of it was about me."
There was no response, of course. Kendall picked up one limp hand tentatively, then put it down again. It felt like the kittens the Lippon cat had had too early, cold little bundles of skin and bone too weak to live.
"A hair’s-breath from death, and you’re still trying to get your way. Bossy to the end." Kendall wiped at her face again impatiently. "Don’t you understand? You mixed yourself up in everyone’s lives. Made yourself important to them. It’s not fair if you just go and die after all that."
Probably it was a good thing that everyone showed up then. Everyone in the form of Lieutenant Danress and three other Sentene mages, most of them battered around the edges. A tiny, grey-haired lady followed them in, Sebastian tagging at her elbow, with two of the healer’s assistants trailing them all, fussing away.
"If you would just wait until Magister Sorathar returns," burbled one of the assistants. "I am sure she will–"
"–agree that familiar surroundings will soothe Lady Rennyn," said the old lady, who looked like she was enjoying herself. "Even the smallest factor could make the difference to her survival."
"But to move her–"
"A delicate business, I agree," said the old lady cheerfully. "We’d best get it over with quickly."
While she’d been speaking, the Sentene had opened out a canvas stretcher, and used the sheet from the bed to transfer Rennyn. She’d been put into some kind of half-tied robe, giving a clear view of bruises and bandaging all down her front, but Sebastian was quick to cover her properly with a blanket. They were out the door before the assistants had done more than flap a few times and send someone running for their mistress.
The old lady giggled like a girl as soon as they were safely out in the corridor. "This is the first time I’ve had to resort to kidnapping a patient. Sorathar will be livid."
"Thank you for helping, Magister Arandal," Sebastian said. "I didn’t mean to make trouble for you."
"Not at all. Sorathar does consider the upper nobility her due, but the Lady Rennyn was originally my patient. The Surclere title makes little difference."
Sebastian gave the old healer a sharp look, but didn’t act surprised. "They figured that out, did they?"
"Ah, you knew, then?"
"Of course. Tiandel wasn’t the sort who’d give up all his titles. He had it set that he’d come back to resume Surclere once Solace was dealt with, but of course that never happened. Ren was hoping that the King’s copy of the arrangement had been lost. Being a Duchess doesn’t suit her plan to do absolutely nothing responsible or resembling work."
Duchess of Surclere. Fitting another name to Rennyn’s place in the world didn’t put any colour back in her cheeks. Having some title wasn’t going to fix her.
The first thing Kendall saw when they reached the Halls of Magic was Lieutenant Faral. The Kellian woman had surely been told at least part of Sebastian’s explanation, but whether she was upset about it was impossible to guess. She just nodded and led the way into the infirmary. A lot of the beds were in use. The Sentene and Ferumguard had taken too many casualties the past week. Even though it was nearly dawn, most of them were awake, and watched through the open doors of the small rooms as Rennyn was carried past. Kendall thought she saw Sukata, but they passed on to a room where only three of the beds had occupants, and settled Rennyn in the last. Everyone stepped back as if expecting her to suddenly be better, except the old healer, who began chalking on her slate.
"Are you certain about this Keste?" Lieutenant Danress asked, looking doubtfully at the bed next to Rennyn’s. Captain Faille lay there, as grim in sleep as waking.
"Illidian told us early on that we could not depend on his evaluation of Lady Rennyn," Lieutenant Faral said. "We were sorry for him. But glad it proved not such a hopeless case after all."
Lieutenant Danress looked about as disbelieving as Kendall felt. Rennyn and Captain Faille? When? They’d never so much as given each other a warm glance.
Not bothered by the general air of disbelief, Lieutenant Faral adjusted the blanket covering Rennyn. "Magister, do you not think it wiser to lift this casting? By fighting it she is doing worse damage to herself than anything she could manage moving about."
The old lady must have agreed, because she finished writing up her slate, put some power into it, and immediately Rennyn began to shift about.
"I’ve removed the sleep and some of the pain suppressants, though I dare not lift them all," said the healer. "A delicate matter, because she is obviously resisting anything cast on her. She may dispel the caulding as well, putting her lung at risk of another collapse. We can hope that even a partial consciousness will keep her from casting."
Almost as if she’d heard, Rennyn shifted again. Her glazed and feverish gaze swept the ceiling, and she began the futile struggle to sit up.
"Ren?" Sebastian caught her shoulder, then touched the unbruised side of her face, turning her head a little toward him. "They’re alive. They survived it." He stepped aside so she could see past him to Captain Faille, still but breathing. "They’re just sleeping."
Rennyn didn’t respond, and Kendall couldn’t tell if she’d even understood, but she did seem to be looking at Captain Faille. She closed her eyes, and everyone held their breath, then let it out when she didn’t shift again.
"She wanted to know if they were alive," Sebastian said, and shook his head. "That’s all."
The old lady healer laughed. "Well, she’s had her way. Now let’s leave her to rest, a thing I’m sure all of us need. It’s over. Go to bed, the lot of you."
Dismissed, they shuffled off, the healer giving Sebastian an extra prodding when he looked like he wanted to stay.
Over. Done with. Finished. Just pieces to be picked up and tidied away. Kendall thought about just what those words meant as she went back to the room where she’d seen Sukata. Dawn was creeping through the window, giving the figures in the beds a milky sheen. She listened to them breathe, slow, deep and reassuring.
"At some point during all that, did you happen to save my life?"
Kendall glanced over her shoulder at Sebastian. "You notice a lot more than you make out."
He shrugged. "I saw the movement, but I wasn’t giving it a lot of attention. Thank you. Not only would I have hated to die right at the end, but if he’d killed both of us, our Great-Uncle would have control of the Kellian. His own private army."
"I don’t think he was particularly keen on killing you," Kendall gave Sukata one last glance then started out for the Arkathan. "Or not Rennyn, anyway. He wasn’t trying very hard."
"I guess not." She’d made Sebastian worried, and he shifted subjects probably so he didn’t have to think about what the demon had planned to do to his sister. "Are you going to stay?"
"The Arkathan’s not my idea of worthwhile."
"No. With Rennyn. You’re her student now, remember?"
"That wasn’t real."
"Since when?"
"It was just something for her to do so she didn’t have to think about how bad she felt."
"So you’re saying you didn’t learn anything?"
Kendall gave him an exasperated look. "No."
"Don’t have anything more to learn from her?"