Disclaimer – Ok, here's the usual bit ^_^ While I love the world of Valdemar, it doesn't belong to me :) That all belongs to Mercedes Lackey. However! All those oh-so-interesting characters that have never made an appearance in any of her novels from my chapters (Lyrissa, Alie, Mikel, Jesin, you know who)… they belong to me ^_^ Of course, you're welcome to use my characters… provided you tell me ;) Since this is my first fanfic, any questions/comments can be sent to dazz1eu@yahoo.com and would be greatly appreciated ^_^ Just don't be too harsh, neh? ;)
~ Chapter 8 ~
The room was empty. The only sign of previous occupancy was the unmade sheets upon the bed, one corner dipping towards the ground. The only movement in the room was the curtains by the open window, flapping lazily in the still breeze.
The two looked at each other and nodded.
It was time to correct old misunderstandings.
The search was on.
~~ ^ ~~
She was huddled in the corner, the shelves of books enclosing her.
Her world was a spiral, out of control.
And the one constant – the pressing pain. The guilt. The stain.
So she embraced the nothingness. Willed herself to be of no emotion.
Willed herself not to care.
Because who was she to deserve happiness?
Even as her world fell apart, there were those trying to put it back together.
::Why?::
The room held no answer.
And Lyrissa let her world become gray.
~~ ^ ~~
"And you wouldn't believe what happened th-" Skif abruptly cut off, his eyes seeming to grow vacant.
"Skif?" Nyara touched him gently on the arm, question and concern obvious in her gaze.
Shaking his head, his eyes cleared and he smiled. "I'm fine, Nyara. But I think you're being called for." At her puzzled expression, Skif grinned. "Cymry tells me that Need evidently volunteered her services to assist with a certain Healer Trainee. Rolan told her that Talia is trying to find that Trainee now."
"Oh!" Nyara stood, lightly dusting herself off. "Yes, of course, I will bring Need to her."
::And with me gone, you two lovebirds will cherish the time alone, hrm?:: the sword's voice was wry with amusement.
"Why Need, did I ever say such a thing?" Skif's eyes were twinkling with laughter.
::Who needs you to speak?:: retorted the sword.
Nyara laughed and started to make her way towards the Healer's Collegium.
~~ ^ ~~
Talia stared in dismay at the empty room before her.
She had felt the flare of emotion followed by "deadness", but this time she knew who it was and what it represented. Bolting down the corridors, she had somehow miraculously remembered which room Lyrissa was supposed to be resting in.
Supposed to be.
When she had arrived at the door, two Healer Trainees were just leaving, walking past in her in such haste that she never got a chance to catch a glimpse of their faces. She assumed that it meant Lyrissa was inside, perhaps even still sleeping, but her eyes showed her no such tale.
Unsure of how to proceed, she turned and started retracing her steps. ::Now where could -::
"Oh my goodness!"
The startled voiced echoed from further down the hallway. Talia, fearing the worse, ran quickly, turning the corner to see a Herald attempting to sit up straight with the assistance of a boy dressed in the pale green. The girl, also a Healer Trainee by the looks of her uniform, was just now bending down with a concerned look on her face.
"Are you alright?" the girl asked worriedly.
"I – I'm fine," the Herald replied, looking up at Talia though clearly still dazed. Blinking, he peered harder, uncertainty now dotting his expression. "Herald Talia…?"
"Herald Mikel," she replied, nodding her head, recognizing him as the Herald who had slipped out the night of Lyrissa's second collapse. Jesin had later told her that Mikel had been regularly checking up on their patient since then. Bending down so that he did not have to crane his neck, Talia smiled. "So may I ask why you are sprawled so unelegantly upon the floor?"
Mikel smiled wryly. "It was because of her," with the emphasis placed on the word leaving no doubt in Talia's mind as to who "her" could possible mean. "She ran past me in a blur and I automatically reached out to stop her. She acted a bit panicky, as if something had gone terribly wrong." He shrugged. "I tried to soothe her, but next thing I know I'm falling to the ground. I don't know what she did to me, but it feels like I got hit by a Companion full-speed on the head."
Talia nodded absently. So Lyrissa had run off in a panic. That would certainly explain the empty room. She sent her feeling of question towards Rolan, wondering idly if he knew anything about what could have happened.
The answer flooded back to her, a whirlwind of emotions that left Talia blinking and could only imply one thing.
Chosen.
While Talia was trying to digest the connotations of the startling revalation, the boy to the right of the Herald froze for a split second, then urgently began shaking Mikel's arm. "Herald Mikel? Who is "her"? Who is she? Which way did she go?"
"Piel!" hissed the girl, grabbing for her fellow Trainee's arm. "Don't shake him, didn't you just hear him say he got hit on the head? Shaking won't do any good!"
"But I think he's talking about –"
"Lyrissa."
All heads turned towards the new voice. The woman who emerged from the shadows had a sword strapped to her side.
Talia smiled. "Nyara! I see you brought Need, though how you knew…"
But the boy Trainee was not paying attention to the new visitor. "Alie, he knows!" he said urgently to his partner. "We got to find her!"
The girl glanced in Talia's direction furtively, unsure of what to do.
"Oh, you're looking for Rissa?" Mikel's words edged on being slurred together. He waved vaguely in the direction behind him. "She went that way, though dunno where to. Only thing that way is the library…"
Both Trainees looked at each other and nodded. The boy turned to Talia, a question and a hint of desperation in his eyes.
She smiled gently. "I will place him in a patient's room and fetch a Healer to look at him. Go look for Lyrissa."
Neither Trainee paused to question how it was that Talia knew their fellow Trainee. They stood up, half bowed, and scampered away.
"Well," said Nyara with a half puzzled, half amused tone. "What is it that I have walked into?"
~~ ^ ~~
::Why am I running?:: Piel wondered to himself as he sprinted down the corridor. And yet, he knew the answer to that question.
Somewhere deep inside of him, his instinct was saying that Lyrissa needed them. That she was bleeding inside and needed to find stability.
::Not that you would ever be able to tell she needed it:: thought Piel with a sigh. Lyrissa always had her mask.
Alie evidently had drawn her own conclusions, for she was holding her own ground, never falling far behind.
They skidded to a stop in front of a set of tall double doors.
The Healer's Collegium Library.
Cautiously, Alie pushed on one of the doors, letting it slowly open to show the rooms of musty tomes and other research books.
At a casual glance, there did not seem to be anyone else occupying the library.
Alie opened her mouth to ask a question, but Piel silenced her with a wave of his hand. Cocking his head, he paused to listen.
And then pulled her towards a corner hidden behind shelves.
~~ ^ ~~
Lyrissa heard the creak of the doors opening, but she didn't move. She kept her head down, forehead touching her knees that she hugged close to her chest.
She heard footsteps.
They grew closer and paused.
She heard the rustling of clothing as somebody bent down.
"Lyrissa?"
Piel.
"Rissa, I know you can hear me."
She said nothing, letting the awkward silence form.
"Rissa, I – I just want you to know that I'm… that we're really sorry for everything."
We?
"Yes, me too, Lyrissa."
Alie.
"I – I was wrong to turn my back on you." Now her tone turned joking. "What good Healer runs away just because they get scared? Guess I'm not a very good Healer, huh."
She let the words slide over her.
A hushed whisper.
"Rissa…" Piel again. "Rissa, I'm so sorry. I only wanted to try to be part of the crowd, to be respected. I thought they might pity you, too, if I brought up the reason why all the Healers acted so funny around you. But… I messed up. I know I can't make it up, Rissa, but I'm going to try."
Piel's voice, so full of sincerity.
But still, she did not move.
"I know you're keeping something in, Rissa. I've seen it before, in my town where I grew up. This one girl… she went all unreachable on everyone. Like glass. A Herald came later to discover she had been traumatized, taken advantage of." A harsh intake of breath. "So you see. I know. I want to help, Rissa. I want to be there for you."
She envied the girl who could be glass.
The minutes of silence became drawn out, spinning longer and longer.
Finally, the rustle of clothing to indicate standing.
Parting words. "Rissa… trust us."
But what was trust?
Footsteps as they left, to hear the door close.
~~ ^ ~~
Talia entered the library with a minimum of noise, closing the door softly behind her. She carried Need, borrowed from Nyara. Nyara, at the moment, was seeing to the well being of Herald Mikel.
Murmured conversation caught her ear and Talia quietly walked over to the left, searching for its source.
"-you see. I know. I want to help, Rissa. I want to be there for you." The voice was male, pleading for trust and full of sincerity.
Peering around the corner, she saw the two Trainees from earlier, crouched on either side of a third figure dressed in a patient's robe.
Silence was the only thing to greet her as Lyrissa made no move or any indication whatsoever to show that she had heard his words.
The two exchanged a look, one that conveyed helplessness.
Finally, they stood. Reluctantly, the boy took a deep breath to give one last final plea. "Rissa… trust us."
Slowly, they both turned and began to walk away, the girl constantly glancing over her shoulder while the shoulders of the boy slumped in defeat.
They nodded to her as they passed by, eyes showing their frustration and sadness.
Even when the door had closed, Talia did not move at first. She stood there, studying Lyrissa and knew that Need was similarly studying Lyrissa through her eyes.
Finally, Talia walked the last few steps, covering the distance between her and the curled up Trainee. Gently, she lowered herself to the ground.
"Lyrissa," she said coaxingly, trying to get the girl to look up. "Lyrissa, why do you run away?"
As she expected, only silence greeted her. Talia took a deep breath. She could not use her Empathy, but maybe her words would be able to pass the barrier her Gift could not.
"Lyrissa… look around you. So many people are worried and care for you. We found out about Counter-Healing, Lyrissa. We found out that it was entirely accidental and we can get you trained so that you won't do it by accident again. And you know what? It was Healer Jesin, your teacher, who searched everywhere to find out what Counter-Healing was. Even when we didn't know, there were people who cared. Herald Mikel checked up on you periodically throughout the day. And look at your friends, your fellow Trainees. They don't know anything about what we've learned, but they've taken their own initiative to come to you and try to help you.
"And you were Chosen, Lyrissa." Talia thought she saw a slight stiffening in Lyrissa's shoulders. "Yes, Chosen. And it was no mistake. Your Companion Chose you, and loves you with all his heart. Your Companion believes in you, and the Companions don't err. They may be silly at times, but they do not err."
She still did not stir.
"Think about it," Talia said softly as she stood, uncertain if it was the best move to just leave Lyrissa in the library.
::Leave me here with her:: said a gravelly voice in Talia's mind, making her start. She had forgotten about Need.
The voice chuckled. ::As if I'd let myself be forgotten. Place me against her, and I'll see if I can't get a clue as to why she's acting the way she is::
Talia nodded, bending over to lean the sword against Lyrissa's side.
She did not move, even with the added weight.
::Good luck:: Talia thought, though she was unsure if Need was even listening.
And then she did the hardest thing for her to do as Queen's Own.
She turned her back on the suffering she knew was there.
~ I go back to college on Saturday, so I'll apologize in advance if things slow down a bit. Hopefully I won't be too busy ^_^; Yes, things are finally winding down =) What'd you think? Please leave a review, I enjoy reading what you think ^_^ Thanks to those who already left their mark! Chapter 9 on the horizon ;) ~