Chapter 11-
"I really don't think this is going to work…" I said to Estette, who was poised and ready to cast a sunburst spell… right at my face.
"Of course it will!" She beamed, "If what you say is true, then it was dark magic from the void that turned your face that colour, then the logical conclusion is that light magic, otherwise known as restoration magic, will turn it back."
"I don't know… I think I've had enough near-death experiences recently without adding another to the list." I said pensively.
J'barri spoke up, the first thing he'd said since the two of us had dragged Nalimi back into the Hall of Attainment and propped his limp form up in the chair in Estette's room (Estette herself had been taking a nap at that point, once someone was under the influence of one of J'barri's infamous calm spells there was no way they were waking up until they were good and ready) "Relax Sand Walker, Goldilocks is a competent mage-"
"A competent destruction mage!" I cried," I don't exactly find the idea of getting my face burnt off when she accidently casts a fireball spell particularly appealing!"
"What about me then? This One has spent many years perfecting the Sun Fire spell-"
"Half an hour practicing a spell in Colette's lesson because you thought the other restoration spells where 'for kittens and pansy elves' really doesn't count as years J'barri!" I cried, "And besides, you're so full of skooma I'm surprised you haven't floated of into oblivion!" I added, gesturing towards the ornate pipe dangling from between his lips.
"You don't have much confidence in your friends, do you Sand Walker?" J'barri said thoughtfully.
"That's not really surprising seeing as out of the three friends I've got one is a spell-happy destruction mage-"
"That's just mean!" Estette protested.
"Let me finish!" I snapped, "One is a spell-happy destruction mage, another's so high on skooma he can barely see straight, and the other… he…" I shook my head in frustration, unable to finish. I simply could not put into words what I felt about Nalimi, it was too complicated, too upsetting. I glanced at him, propped in the chair, his eyes staring into nothingness, focused on some distant horror visible only to him. I felt tears beginning to well up in my eyes as I struggled to find the right words.
J'barri and Estette looked at each other apprehensively, they could have stopped me at any time, but they didn't. No matter what I said to their faces, I knew they were good people.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a deep breath before continuing "He saved my life, on more than one occasion, he showed me the ropes, introduced me to new people, and now that he needs me the most, I can't do anything to help him! Heck, I don't even know what's wrong with him!" I looked pleadingly at the pair of them.
They both looked at me, Estette's eyes filled with empathy and J'barri's with determination.
"That is an interesting tale, Sand Walker," He began with a devilishly feline smile, "There is a way for you to help old Knife-Ears here out, you're not going to like it though."
"What is it?" Estette said, the expression on her face looking just as curious as I felt.
J'barri's grin grew wider "For that piece of…ah…privileged information, you shall have to wait, Goldilocks. Just know that this one has a plan, and everything will go smoothly, assuming you're willing to give this one a few minutes to gather supplies."
(-)(-)(-)
A few minutes quickly evolved into a few hours, and Estette and I quickly found ourselves growing bored. I was also worried sick about Nalimi, he had barely even blinked since we brought him inside, and I was terrified; what was causing this, and more importantly, could he get better?
On the plus side, the stain on my skin had faded a little, turning my hands a mottled grey colour as opposed to their previous jet-black. That was a relief; I'd been nervously considering the possibility of letting Estette fireball my face so I wouldn't have to spend my life looking like some kind of mad ink artist or an overexcited scholar.
"You okay there Sharli?" Estette asked suddenly, bemused concern marring her delicate features.
"Yeah… Why wouldn't I be?" I asked confused.
"Normal people don't smile like loons when their friends are at death's door." Her furrowed brow paired with her disapproving frown made me want to chuckle even more; she really didn't suit that expression.
Instead I just shook my head "Sorry, I just noticed that my skin's turning back to normal, I was glad I wouldn't have to rely on you and J'barri's…questionable methods to fix it."
"What do you mean, 'questionable methods'? Me or J'barri could have put it right no problem if you'd let us!" She cried indignantly, "Gosh Sharli, I don't know what's gotten into you today, you're being really mean."
"I think it's commonly known as 'having a sense of self-preservation'."
"That may be the case, but-"
I cut her off "So you're agreeing with me then?"
"No! What I was about to say was that despite your 'self-preservation', you should still be nice to people." She said with her arms folded huffily.
I sighed; she really didn't have much of a sense of humour. "I'm sorry if you misinterpreted what I said, I was just teasing you."
"Why?" Estette asked.
"To, y'know, erm, take your mind off things…" I said awkwardly, "Have you never heard of people doing that before?"
"Not really, no… I've always been taught to face up to the facts of a serious situation, that way it can't come back to bite you later on." She said, idly re-braiding her hair in the same way she'd been doing for the past couple of hours.
"Wait, so all those other situations where you seemed excited, like when you and J'barri where about to have that 'fight', or before Aryenne and the Arch-Mage where about to come to blows, they didn't count as 'serious' in your book?" I asked pointedly.
"Not really, no… I couldn't do anything about them; I can do something about this." She explained calmly.
I looked at her in disbelief "I can't quite decide whether that's an incredibly healthy response or an incredibly disturbing one."
"That's not really for you to judge, I am who I am, no two ways about it." She shrugged.
"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" I shook my head slowly, "I thought I had you pegged as one thing, it turns out you're something else entirely."
"What do you expect? I was raised everywhere, even I'm not sure who I am anymore!" She grinned, and I could tell it was supposed to be joke, but it fell flat.
We lapsed into silence, both of our minds too occupied by other things to bother with conversation. I made a list in my head of every question that needed answering, and it was depressingly long, some of my most pressing concerns featured the Thalmor, Brendr, Nalimi, and the people my mother had doubtless sent from Hammerfell to kill me, or at least make sure I couldn't come back.
To say I was stressed out would be an understatement; I felt like I was in the middle of a juggling act, but with torches instead of juggling balls, and with a blindfold obscuring my vision.
"Estette?" I asked, my voice barely reaching above a murmur.
"Yeah?" She replied, combing her fingers through her hair so that it hung loosely around her shoulders, before beginning the complicated plait again.
"How do you keep up?"
She looked at me strangely "What do you mean?"
"I mean with all the stress, and the mysteries, and the lies, how come it doesn't drive you nuts?" I focused intently on her eyes, and she squirmed under my gaze.
"I suppose… I kind of just… accepted things the way they are." She said uncertainly.
"How d'you mean?" I asked.
She thought for a second, "I choose to focus on the things that matter to me, like when I was on the run with my parents, I didn't get involved in the mind-boggling politics of High-Rock, or my mum's crazy Synod stuff, I just did my own thing, pursued my own interests. Don't meddle with what you can't change." She said slowly and deliberately, choosing her words carefully.
"Oh." I replied, somewhat disappointed. I was jealous in a way, there was no way I'd ever be able to take a back-seat; I was too nosy for my own good.
"Why're you asking anyway?" She said, curious enough to momentarily focus on me instead of her hair.
I shrugged, "There's a lot of stuff going on; I guess I'm finding it difficult to keep up."
"I know the feeling." She smiled, "Me and J'barri are always here to listen if you need something, even if it's just to talk. Nalimi is too. Don't make the mistake of thinking you have to deal with all this on your own, you don't. It's been a hellish few weeks; you deserve someone to talk to."
"Thanks." I replied, awestruck by her openness. I doubted I'd ever take her up on her offer, but it was nice to know there was someone there who cared about me; it wasn't a feeling I was particularly used to.
"If it's any consolation, I'm really worried to. Whatever it is that's going on right now has already killed two people, one of whom was one of the closest friends I've ever had, the other my favourite teacher. I don't think I can stand by and let it claim yet another life without at least trying to do something." She had tears in her eyes, and I pretended not to have noticed whilst she blinked them away.
"I hope J'barri gets back soon, this introspection thing is really depressing!" I joked.
Estette chuckled; it was nice to see her smiling again. I'd found myself growing to admire Estette, she was a lot tougher than she looked beneath the baby-blue eyes and the golden hair. I supposed that was probably the idea of changing her appearance.
"He doesn't look good, does he?" Estette said suddenly, her eyes where directed at Nalimi.
"No, he doesn't." I agreed, worry peppering my tone. I looked at Nalimi closely, he still hadn't moved a muscle, but his skin had taken on a sickly pallor, and his eyes looked vaguely feverish.
"Last time I saw something like this, the poor woman developed a terrible fever and died." Estette said, her voice shaking.
"Don't worry, J'barri said he'd sort it." I tried to reassure her, but the doubt in my own voice probably just set Estette even more on edge.
"That was hours ago!" She near-enough whimpered.
"Its okay, Nalimi will be fine." I said with a weak smile.
"I think we should check to see if he has a fever." Estette said.
"Okay, I'll check." I replied, trying to keep my voice strong. I walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, gently laying the back of my hand over his forehead.
"So?" Estette prompted.
"He's cold as ice; totally normal considering we're in a draughty college, he's not moving around and he's not under a blanket or anything." I said, relieved.
"Put this over him." Estette said, handing me a patchwork quilt.
"Wow, this is beautiful!" I said, admiring the intricate stitch work.
"Sharli, focus!" Estette snapped.
"He's not going to freeze to death in the ten seconds it takes me to give you a compliment." I replied dryly, and then gently draped the blanket over him.
"Sorry, I'm just worried is all." She said quietly.
"I am too; we have every right to be." I replied, staring into Nalimi's deep ochre eyes. I would have thought he was dead if it weren't for the steady rise and fall of his chest.
"Check his pulse." Estette said, fidgeting anxiously.
"Why-"
"Just do it, please."
I did as she asked, not even bothering to reason with her anymore. I lifted up Nalimi's floppy arm (I didn't want touch his neck or chest to get a pulse, that would have just been awkward) and pulled back the sleeve to his robe to expose his wrist.
I inhaled sharply "Sweet Ruptga…"
"What is it?" Estette asked, but I didn't reply, I was too focused on the thick band of ugly white scar tissue stretching all the way round his wrist like a bracelet.
I'd seen people with scars like that before; usually they got them from spending a long time in the cast-iron handcuffs used in dungeons. I was confused, millions of thoughts and assumptions whizzed round my head, but one question stood out the most, one of the first questions I'd asked upon arriving at the college.
Why did Nalimi leave Valenwood in the first place?
A/N: Aghhh, another cliff hanger! I feel really evil =P
Thanks for reading =D and I'm sorry that not much happened this chapter; it was supposed to be a bit of a breather chapter.