PERSPECTIVE
Rosalie
"This way, Healer."
I followed behind Healer Charis as Healer Tia lead her into the Healer's Solarium, my senses on automatic, scanning the area, noting the exits and possible threats.
As we entered the Solarium, the other occupants stood. The senior Healers, Clan Leader, Edward, some of the senior Council. We all knew the stakes here. Ever since Healer Charis had sent word that she was coming, we had known the news was important. For someone of her stature to make the journey all the way from Petralis for the second time in a month - well, that spoke for itself.
Healer Charis sat slowly and everyone else followed suit. I settled a few feet behind her, as did the other Guard on duty. We'd all been pulled off our regular duties to provide security for this meeting because we were the most skilled - and the most discreet. My twin met my eyes from across the room and inclined his head slightly.
"Healer Charis, welcome back." Clan Leader spoke gravely.
"Clan Leader." Healer Charis spoke with a slight accent, but for all that, her voice was clear. "I will get to the point. I have the answers you wanted. I thought it best to bring it myself for reasons you will soon understand."
"I see." Clan Leader's voice gave nothing away as he sat back in his chair. "Do continue."
Healer Charis looked directly at Edward, who was sat next his father and looked tense.
"I know it's not easy to hear this, young Edward." Even though I couldn't see her face, the gentleness of her voice conveyed her sympathy for the situation my friend and Lord found himself in. "I'm afraid there is no doubt that your mate is hiding from you."
There was a long silence. It had been shocking enough when she'd mentioned the possibility at the first meeting, but to hear it confirmed...I could see the shock I felt mirrored on the faces of everyone in the room. Everyone except Edward, whose face had hardened to carved granite.
"How did you arrive at this conclusion, Healer Charis?" He asked, his voice surprisingly even. "I trust your conclusion but if you will explain, it will pre-empt questions anyone here may have." Healer Charis leaned back enough for me to see her profile. She may have been an Elder but those clear green eyes were sharp and piercing. She nodded approvingly at Edward.
"I examined every possibility without prejudice, looking into the tomes extensively for cases. Your mate is not ill - illness has never caused a mark to fade, not even in the most dire illnesses. In all documented cases, the mate mark remains unaffected by illness. So that possibility can be ruled out. If your mate were underage, your mate mark would not have appeared at all until they reached maturity. In all the tomes, this has held true. Your mark has appeared, so I can safely say, your mate is not underage and has reached maturity."
She paused and reached for a sip of water. We all waited for her to continue and the silence in the room was thick, overwhelming.
"It was suggested that your mate may be from another Clan - and that the mark is faded because they are not near. While that might sound logical, it has no supporting evidence. All the cases of cross-Clan matings have shown that the mate mark is not based on proximity at all. In one case in my own Clan, a male's mark appeared and lead him to his mate who lived in a Clan two territories across. The mate mark was strong and clear in his case, as it has been in all documented cases of cross-Clan matings. No, your faded mark has no relationship to the location of your mate. For what it's worth, though, I think your mate is in your own Clan."
"Your mate is not dead - death has never caused a mark to fade. Both in anecdotes and in documentation, the loss of a mate does not cause the mate mark to fade in any way. Marks remain. So that possibility is ruled out. Your mate is not being being tortured by another or being kept captive under duress. The few times that has happened in the history of the Clans, the mate mark has remained unaffected - in fact, it has been the stumbling block for the would-be torturers and captors, because the mate bond could not be suppressed and the mark has acted like a beacon, leading to the eventual rescue of the mate. So that possibility does not hold true. Although it does bring us to something interesting that does have a bearing."
She stopped to gulp more water and then looked at Edward intently. "Can you see it?"
Edward regarded her steadily before he spoke.
" 'The mark has acted like a beacon' you said." He said slowly. She looked pleased, her lined face creasing into a smile.
"Yes, exactly, Clan's Son. Exactly." She looked around the table. "The mark is not able to act like a beacon in your case. You have no link to follow. You cannot sense your mate. It stands to reason then, that your faded mark is connected to you not sensing your mate. And there is only one possibility that has not been eliminated."
"But it's impossible, Elder." One of the Senior Council spoke quietly. "A mate hiding? It's never happened."
"What do the tomes stay?" Someone else asked.
"The tomes state that it has been tried in the past - every time unsuccessfully. Various methods have been tried, from the practical to the ridiculous, from drugging, amulets, potions to spells - and not one has worked. The mate bond has been too powerful. Every documented case has resulted in failure."
"So it is impossible, then." The second councillor sat back. Healer Charis shook her head slowly.
"Not so. They failed in the past."
"So how is this happening?" The first Senior Council member spoke again. "Obviously not by the methods that have been tried before."
"Why would anyone try it at all? I've read some of the tomes. Healers have ensured every detail was documented so that future generations would know and would not be tempted to try. The consequences have been so severe." Healer Lora said quietly.
"Why would any Clan deny their mate, Lora?" Another Senior Council member said drily.
" 'Why' is a complex question." Healer Charis replied, her voice quiet. "If you recall the story of Clan Leader Aegellus, of Clan Daer, you will remember that his mate denied him initially. That was an era when the Clans were not so open and Reigard was horrified that he was mate to another male."
"But he did not try to block his mate."
"No, he ran. But he could not outrun Aegellus for long - the mark always lead Aegellus to him. So he kept running. It almost ended in tragedy - Reigard tried to kill himself. In the end, Aegellus had to confine him in chambers until he finally accepted their bond. That's what happens. You can't fight it. Ultimately, the bond is too powerful and surrender is inevitable."
"You think my mate may feel as Reigard did?" Edward asked in a low voice. She looked at him.
"I think 'why' is a question best answered by your mate." She said gently. "But it would be wise not to assume anything or judge." For a moment she and Edward exchanged some silent communication till he looked down at the table, his face troubled.
"I can answer the 'how', however." Charis continued, addressing the rest of the table. "Some of it, at any rate." She had everyone's attention, particularly the Healers who were gazing at her intently. "As your Healers will know, there is nothing in any tomes relating to this because it has never been done." She shifted in her chair, wincing slightly.
"It proved quite a challenge to unravel. I puzzled over it night after night - how did they do this, how did they block something as powerful as a mate bond, something so much fundamentally part of Clan that we are born with it. I puzzled and puzzled and couldn't see how it had been done. You don't block an instinct, you don't block feelings, and the mate bond combines these two. I was thoroughly stuck. And then," She stood up slowly, waving me away as I moved to help her, hobbling to pour herself some tea from the jug on the sideboard, "then I went back to basics."
"Basics?" Healer Joran asked.
"How do you know when you've met your mate?" She asked, watching him, sipping her tea.
"The mark appears-" She shook her head.
"More basic than that."
"You feel it, when you're in their presence, an attraction, feelings, completion."
"More basic. How do you feel it?" She asked, urging him on. He looked confused. She looked enquiringly around the room, including us Guard in her gaze.
"Your senses." I said thoughtfully and then felt embarassed. She smiled encouragingly at me.
"Go on. What senses, Guard?" She asked as she hobbled to stand in front of me.
"All of them - but I suppose scent is the first one." I said slowly. A wide grin spread across her face and she patted me on my arm.
"Well done. Scent." She turned back to look around at the others. "Scent." She hobbled back to her seat and eased herself down. "So what if you found a way to block your mate from your scent?"
I could see the cogs whirring as the Healers began sitting back in their seats, understanding on their faces.
"It would stop the mate bond from being triggered." Healer Tia said slowly.
"It would stop the mate bond from being triggered." Charis repeated. "And it might cause the mate mark to be suppressed."
There was a stunned silence.
"That's..." Healer Joran tried to speak but stopped.
"Simple." Healer Lora said softly.
"Amazingly simple." Charis said quietly.
"So you looked for something that would suppress scent? No, that wouldn't be it," Healer Kate corrected herself, "scent suppressors would cancel out scent completely. You can't walk around the Clan with no scent, people would notice."
"They would." Charis nodded. "So it would have to be a compound of herbs, not singles. A combination, with something that suppressed a selected sense, something that enhanced that herb's ability and perhaps another that created-" She stopped abruptly as she noticed the bewildered looks on the non-Healers' faces. She smiled. "I'll save the details for the Healers. I have yet to unravel the exact recipe, but I think I have stumbled upon one of the herbs I think your mate is using. Aronel."
There was a swift intake of breath from Healer Kate and his eyes were wide as she looked at her. Charis nodded at her.
"I know. Healer Kate is concerned," She said looking around the table, "because aronel is a poison. It's rare, very rare and needs care to use. If it's not used correctly, it can kill. Well, it can kill even if it's used correctly. And if used long term, it can be dangerous. But if I am right, it is the base herb. And you will need my help - your mate will need my help - to withdraw from it."
"Aronel." Healer Kate shook her head. "How..." She stopped suddenly, her whole body stiffening and she jerked her head up to stare at Charis. "No."
"Yes." She said, a rueful note in her voice.
"Healer?" Healer Tia asked hesitantly, looking between the two.
"The use of aronel," Charis said continuing to look at Healer Kate, "is the best lead you have yet."
"It means," Healer Kate exhaled, her face disturbed, "that this mate has herb knowledge."
"Extensive herb knowledge." Healer Charis amended quietly.
"It's not the run of the mill herb. Even Healers would not be able to identify it easily." Healer Kate added, looking at Edward.
"Your mate knows enough about herbs to identify it and to use it. And, we must assume, use it correctly - because they're still alive." Healer Charis also turned to look at Edward.
"So they've either done their research through the tomes…" Healer Lora said slowly.
"...Or they've asked an expert." Healer Tia finished. "A Healer or a Herbalist."
I could sense the mood shifting with Tia's words. Healer Charis was right. This was the best lead we'd had in a long time. It was something concrete for the Guard to chase. We could question every Healer and Herbalist across the Clan.
"I'd start there." Healer Charis said, "But don't rule out the possibility that your mate has gathered this knowledge from the tomes somehow. Because if this should tell you anything, it's that your mate is frighteningly intelligent." Her clear gaze rested on Edward. "They figured this out and somehow succeeded in doing what no one has ever done. Someone did not want to be found."
I could see Edward absorb that, his face hardening more. I knew that expression. Good luck to his mate when Edward found them, that's all I could say. And it was a 'when' not an 'if'. I had no doubts.
Healer Kate was murmuring something to the other senior Healers who had leaned towards her and were listening intently, nodding, while the rest of those at the table were talking amongst themselves.
Clan Leader, who had remained silent, listening intently to everything, was speaking quietly to Edward and then gestured to Healer Kate to join them.
"Healer Charis, we thank you for your wisdom. We owe you a debt." He said gravely. "If you will excuse us now, we must plan for what must come next." Healer Charis inclined her head in assent and rose as I came forward to draw back her chair. Healer Tia walked by her side with me taking up the rear as we left the Solarium, walking down the corridors of Healer's to the chambers she'd been given.
"Healer Charis, if I may?" Healer Tia spoke, "How did you come to realise it might be aronel? It's not what any of us would have thought of."
"It isn't and it would not have crossed my mind either had it not been for a chance happening - the day I arrived in Volterra, on my first visit, actually."
"Oh?" Tia looked at her curiously while I listened, intrigued.
"Mmm, I was in your market with my Guard and was nearly knocked down by a young woman. As she steadied me, I had a whiff of her scent - it was there, very faint but unmistakeable to me because it triggered a sudden flash of memory of my training days, scent tests we used to do." Tia nodded, this was obviously familiar to her as a Healer.
"My mentor used to trick us with aronel, it was so difficult to place, the one herb we all failed to identify. To scent it all these years later, so randomly, it startled me. I spoke to the girl but lost her in the crowd. I thought nothing further about it until I was in Petral searching for the answer to this business. If I had not bumped into her, I probably wouldn't have thought of aronel at all."
"I see." Tia lapsed into silence.
"Healer?" I asked hesitantly. Both Charis and Tia glanced at me, the former smiling.
"Yes, Guard Rosalie? You have a question?"
"Could it not be that his mate is being coerced? Being forced to consume this by someone else?" I asked, as we reached her chamber. It troubled me that his mate would deliberately hide, it was against everything in Clan.
Charis was quiet for a moment.
"Come in, Healer Tia, Rosalie." She gestured us to follow her as she hobbled towards the cushioned chair by the windows and eased herself into it. She waved a hand at us to seat ourselves, at which Tia sat. I shook my head, remaining standing by the door.
"You think Edward's mate is being forced to suppress the bond against their will, by someone who intends the Clan leadership harm?" She asked, looking directly at me.
I hesitated. Put that way, it sounded a little dramatic, a little conspiracy theory-like.
"It's not bad reasoning." She said, "You're a good person for the Guard. But in this case, there is no coercion involved."
"How can you be sure, Healer?" I looked at her.
"Because she wasn't being coerced." Tia whispered suddenly, her face pale when I glanced at her in bewilderment. Charis continued to look at me.
"I would not say this to the rest, as it is a guess only and this search must be done the right way."
She raised her eyebrows at me when I looked at her in confusion.
"It's interesting that I bumped into a young woman with the scent of aronel on her, don't you think?" She asked gently. "I might be wrong, but it would be a chance in a million that two people would be using it."
As the realisation dawned on me, I felt my mouth dropping open.
"Edward's mate. Really her bad luck that she bumped into me. I'd have never figured it out without her."