Disclaimer: I am not Tamora Pierce as you can clearly tell from my
writings. The plot is mine but I suspect that some things that will be
written here may appear in some of TP's future books, but not the same as I
write them. Alexander Debegri is my character, as well as Dedicate Helford
and The Healer Afya!! :D
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Sandry regained consciousness slowly. Her head was pounding so hard that she didn't open her eyes, or even move for ten minutes. When she finally did look out she shut them again quickly. The small light that was in the room seemed so bright to her that it burned her eyes. Slowly she opened her eyes letting them adjust. Briar was at her side, his mage kit still open in front of him. Good she thought. I haven't been out for long.
"Hey there Sandry." Briar whispered gently. He took a cup from Daja and helped Sandry to sit up. "You have to drink all of this." Sandry tried to move her arms and found that they weighed a ton. She let Briar pour the burning hot liquid into her mouth, spluttering at its bitter taste.
"You could have warned me it was willowbark!" She said once she had swallowed. Briar grinned and pressed the cup to her lips again. She drank the liquid quickly, without being able to plus her nose. When she finished Briar called to Tris.
"Pass those pillows." Tris came over and with Briar still holding Sandry places them behind her so she was almost sitting straight.
"What happened?" She asked.
"In a minute Sandry." Briar told her. He started rummaging through his kit again. "Here." Taking out a small bottle he handed her something that looked like a sweet. "Swallow this, don't chew it, its taste isn't appealing." Sandry took it from him and placed it on her tongue. Taking a glass of water she took a long sip and swallowed. The candy was hard and very bitter, almost like eating sand, and she hadn't even tried to bite it.
"What's that?"
"Something new that me and Rosethorn have made. We mixed a whole bunch of medicinal herbs together and used a candy recipe to make them hard. It should lower your fever."
"What happened?" Sandry asked again. Briar sighed and sat down on the couch beside Sandry's feet.
"Well you fainted." Sandry gave Briar a look that said 'No really?'. "Well it was caused by your fever. The bath must have raised it for some reason. But you could have died Sandry. It was almost like Rosethorn again." Briar said, tears starting to appear in his eyes. He suppressed the old memories and continued. "When I touched your forehead I almost burned myself. You must have had a temperature of 110° (A/N: I know I know you die at 108° but The didn't seem hot enough for me). So I out some of my cooling balm but I guess I didn't apply it soon enough. Its been six hours by the way. I gave you some willowbark while you were out. It seems to have taken off a couple degrees. Your still to hot though. I'm thinking the best thing to do would be to sweat it out. What do you think?" Sandry nodded.
"What else is there?" Briar grimaced.
"We could go to a healer." Now Sandry grimaced.
"I'd rather not. What if someone found out? What if He found out?" They both new that by He Sandry meant the sender. "We can't have him thinking that we are weak." Briar nodded. He was glad that she had said so. It would do no good for their opponent not to fear them. But Sandry's condition worried him. She shouldn't still be alive with the fever she had. Something was keeping her this way.
"There's another thing, Sandry." She looked worried. "Your magic is gone." Ignoring all the pain it caused Sandry stood up. She teetered for a moment on unsure legs before they gave way and she collapsed into Briar who placed her back onto the couch.
Calmly and very quietly she said, "What do you mean my magic is gone?"
"Don't worry. I didn't say that properly. Your magic was all used up." Sandry took a deep breath and searched around with her mind for her magic. She exhaled and looked at Briar.
"Mill and Green Man, Briar. You scared me half to death!"
"What were you doing with it?" Sandry looked like she wasn't going to answer then said.
"Get my kit." When he handed it to her she opened the front pocket and took out 4 strings about seven inches in length. They were all dyed a different colour. Green, Blue, Yellow, and Red. "They're protection strings. I wanted to have them done before we got here but we left in such a hurry." She took Briar's wrist and tied the green one around it. He flinched when it first touched his skin. The magic was almost as strong as what Niko had felt when he touched their circle of thread, the Bijili.
"You spent all of your magic on these?" Briar demanded. "You spent your magic on these when the presence was wearing you out so?" He was getting angry. In his opinion Sandry needed all the strength she could get.
"We need them Briar. Plus I magicked them before we met the Count, before the Presence." This seemed to calm Briar a little. Sandry placed her hand on his. "Its ok Briar I'm fine." She smiled at him sweetly. He sighed, standing.
"You should sleep some more. Its late, come on I'll help you to your room." When Sandry protested he said, "When the Presence comes again in a few hours you don't want to be weak as a kitten do you?" Sandry surrendered and within minutes of lying in bed she drifted of into a dreamless sleep.
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My personal chambers in the Fief were large. I sat in my office, in a comfortable writing chair, staring down into a bowl of water that was on my desk. I watched as the Lady's temperature rose. She fainted. It would not do for her to die. That would throw off all of my plans. The boy, the plant mage, he would be a problem. Same as the merchant. She knew too much of glass magic not to realize my one fault. I would not let her find it. But what to do to stop her?
"Marvelo, come here."
"Yes master?"
"Go fetch me these ingredients." I handed him a list. "I'll need them before I begin work tonight." I looked back into the water to see Briar pouring a dark liquid into Sandry's mouth. I watched him do it for a while before turning to a long scroll. The potion was complicated but I knew I could handle it. The Presence didn't effect me.
There was a knock on the door. "What?" A man servant entered, and bowed.
"The Count wants to see you in his main sitting room." The man bowed and left, as quickly as he could. Not that dumb Count again. Couldn't he decide something on his own? He even has that blasted advisor to help him. Why does he always insist on my being the on to decide?
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The Presence was back and thankfully Sandry hadn't wakened. Briar sat at the desk in his room looking through a book that Tris had lent him. He tried to get into "1000 Magical Plants From Emelan", but the force was distracting him. He went to his Shakkan to find that it was trembling. He sent some calming waves over it and his magic got away from him. The tree pulled so much of magic that buds grew, flowered, and died before his eyes. "Stop that!" He chided, pulling his hand away.
"Something wrong Kaq?" Daja asked coming into the room.
"Ever heard of privacy?" The presence still edged him.
"No what's that?" She teased. Briar glared at her.
"Daja it doesn't seem to bother you." She sighed and lay down on the bed.
"It does. Traders hide things better than kaqs."
"You should rest." Briar prescribed.
"I can't the pounding in my head won't stop in sleep." When Briar looked sceptical she said, "believe me, I've tried." Briar nodded.
"We really need Keth's reply soon. I almost want to talk to them through the magic."
"I know but you mustn't drain yourself by trying to talk to Rosethorn from this distance. You can talk to us from miles away but you have to actually send your magical-self back over that distance to talk to her."
"We need information. And soon. We can't stand being in this every day." Daja nodded, looking thoughtful.
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Sandry awoke with a start. She sat up quickly before she felt the presence push in on her. "Uhh..." She groaned holding her head which pounded mercilessly. She stood shakily and went to see if she could find Briar. The first thing she saw when she looked in his door was his Shakkan, which seemed to have sprouted more leaves, and was loosing its shape. As she looked closer at it she noticed that more buds were appearing every minute.
"Briar, get Saati some of that headache medicine you gave me." Came Daja's voice from the corner. Briar looked at the door and seeing Sandry took one of those candies from a bottle. This one, unlike the other one was bright orange. She swallowed it quickly.
"Briar what on earth are you doing that to your shakkan for?" Sandry wondered as her headache started to decrease.
"Huh?" He glanced over at his prized possession, turned back, then whipped his head back again. "What the heck?" He stood and brought it back over to the desk. Taking his pruning shears he began to clip off large portions of the newly grown branches. Right before his eyes they grew back.
"Briar, look at the magic." Daja said wondrously. Briar's magic a blinding white, with a small tint of green was flowing slowly out of his right hand, the hand which he had calmed the plant with.
"What the-" Briar cursed loudly. He hadn't even noticed his magic leaving his body. Usually he could feel it. Trying to cut the connection Briar screamed dropping to the floor. A few minutes later he opened his eyes to Sandry holding a bottle of smelling salts under his nose. "Uhh..." He looked at his hand, the magic still flowing to the plant. "This is going to ruin the Shakkan!" He said, more worried about it than himself.
"Briar what's going to happen to you?"
"What's going on in here for Mila's sake!?" A sharp but sleepy voice shouted from the door way. Tris walked in. "Mila and Green Man protect us, Lakik trickster what games do you play?" She asked one of Briar's favourite Gods. "Briar stop that! Stop it now!" Since Tris' magic seeing abilities were the greatest of the four she could see how little of Briar's magic was left inside of him (yes the others would have seen it to but...).
Briar cried out as if in excruciating pain. Again he collapsed onto the floor. Sandry, who still held the salts, put them under his nose again to no effect. "Help me get him onto the bed."
"It's stopped." Daja said looking at the Shakkan.
"What now?" Tris asked. Sandry shook her head looking at Briar.
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A/N: Hey look I updated... You know what? I should have continued this chapter. But I got really bored and decided that hey! I should put it up! Review! Come on! There has to be more than 3 people reading my fic! I don't even care If you hate it! Put a flame if you really don't like it! Just tell me that you read it!!! Oh Uhhh more about Sandry being totally sick in the next chapter... Maybe something with Tris... Why no Daja? I have no idea! She deals with it better than the others. Plus I don't really know her all that well. I know Briar and Sandry off the back of my hand, Tris I'd have to look near my elbow but Daja is just like my back. I don't know why... She doesn't seem to have such a strong role!
PS!!! I LOVE STITCH!!! STITCH ROCKS!!!
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Sandry regained consciousness slowly. Her head was pounding so hard that she didn't open her eyes, or even move for ten minutes. When she finally did look out she shut them again quickly. The small light that was in the room seemed so bright to her that it burned her eyes. Slowly she opened her eyes letting them adjust. Briar was at her side, his mage kit still open in front of him. Good she thought. I haven't been out for long.
"Hey there Sandry." Briar whispered gently. He took a cup from Daja and helped Sandry to sit up. "You have to drink all of this." Sandry tried to move her arms and found that they weighed a ton. She let Briar pour the burning hot liquid into her mouth, spluttering at its bitter taste.
"You could have warned me it was willowbark!" She said once she had swallowed. Briar grinned and pressed the cup to her lips again. She drank the liquid quickly, without being able to plus her nose. When she finished Briar called to Tris.
"Pass those pillows." Tris came over and with Briar still holding Sandry places them behind her so she was almost sitting straight.
"What happened?" She asked.
"In a minute Sandry." Briar told her. He started rummaging through his kit again. "Here." Taking out a small bottle he handed her something that looked like a sweet. "Swallow this, don't chew it, its taste isn't appealing." Sandry took it from him and placed it on her tongue. Taking a glass of water she took a long sip and swallowed. The candy was hard and very bitter, almost like eating sand, and she hadn't even tried to bite it.
"What's that?"
"Something new that me and Rosethorn have made. We mixed a whole bunch of medicinal herbs together and used a candy recipe to make them hard. It should lower your fever."
"What happened?" Sandry asked again. Briar sighed and sat down on the couch beside Sandry's feet.
"Well you fainted." Sandry gave Briar a look that said 'No really?'. "Well it was caused by your fever. The bath must have raised it for some reason. But you could have died Sandry. It was almost like Rosethorn again." Briar said, tears starting to appear in his eyes. He suppressed the old memories and continued. "When I touched your forehead I almost burned myself. You must have had a temperature of 110° (A/N: I know I know you die at 108° but The didn't seem hot enough for me). So I out some of my cooling balm but I guess I didn't apply it soon enough. Its been six hours by the way. I gave you some willowbark while you were out. It seems to have taken off a couple degrees. Your still to hot though. I'm thinking the best thing to do would be to sweat it out. What do you think?" Sandry nodded.
"What else is there?" Briar grimaced.
"We could go to a healer." Now Sandry grimaced.
"I'd rather not. What if someone found out? What if He found out?" They both new that by He Sandry meant the sender. "We can't have him thinking that we are weak." Briar nodded. He was glad that she had said so. It would do no good for their opponent not to fear them. But Sandry's condition worried him. She shouldn't still be alive with the fever she had. Something was keeping her this way.
"There's another thing, Sandry." She looked worried. "Your magic is gone." Ignoring all the pain it caused Sandry stood up. She teetered for a moment on unsure legs before they gave way and she collapsed into Briar who placed her back onto the couch.
Calmly and very quietly she said, "What do you mean my magic is gone?"
"Don't worry. I didn't say that properly. Your magic was all used up." Sandry took a deep breath and searched around with her mind for her magic. She exhaled and looked at Briar.
"Mill and Green Man, Briar. You scared me half to death!"
"What were you doing with it?" Sandry looked like she wasn't going to answer then said.
"Get my kit." When he handed it to her she opened the front pocket and took out 4 strings about seven inches in length. They were all dyed a different colour. Green, Blue, Yellow, and Red. "They're protection strings. I wanted to have them done before we got here but we left in such a hurry." She took Briar's wrist and tied the green one around it. He flinched when it first touched his skin. The magic was almost as strong as what Niko had felt when he touched their circle of thread, the Bijili.
"You spent all of your magic on these?" Briar demanded. "You spent your magic on these when the presence was wearing you out so?" He was getting angry. In his opinion Sandry needed all the strength she could get.
"We need them Briar. Plus I magicked them before we met the Count, before the Presence." This seemed to calm Briar a little. Sandry placed her hand on his. "Its ok Briar I'm fine." She smiled at him sweetly. He sighed, standing.
"You should sleep some more. Its late, come on I'll help you to your room." When Sandry protested he said, "When the Presence comes again in a few hours you don't want to be weak as a kitten do you?" Sandry surrendered and within minutes of lying in bed she drifted of into a dreamless sleep.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
My personal chambers in the Fief were large. I sat in my office, in a comfortable writing chair, staring down into a bowl of water that was on my desk. I watched as the Lady's temperature rose. She fainted. It would not do for her to die. That would throw off all of my plans. The boy, the plant mage, he would be a problem. Same as the merchant. She knew too much of glass magic not to realize my one fault. I would not let her find it. But what to do to stop her?
"Marvelo, come here."
"Yes master?"
"Go fetch me these ingredients." I handed him a list. "I'll need them before I begin work tonight." I looked back into the water to see Briar pouring a dark liquid into Sandry's mouth. I watched him do it for a while before turning to a long scroll. The potion was complicated but I knew I could handle it. The Presence didn't effect me.
There was a knock on the door. "What?" A man servant entered, and bowed.
"The Count wants to see you in his main sitting room." The man bowed and left, as quickly as he could. Not that dumb Count again. Couldn't he decide something on his own? He even has that blasted advisor to help him. Why does he always insist on my being the on to decide?
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The Presence was back and thankfully Sandry hadn't wakened. Briar sat at the desk in his room looking through a book that Tris had lent him. He tried to get into "1000 Magical Plants From Emelan", but the force was distracting him. He went to his Shakkan to find that it was trembling. He sent some calming waves over it and his magic got away from him. The tree pulled so much of magic that buds grew, flowered, and died before his eyes. "Stop that!" He chided, pulling his hand away.
"Something wrong Kaq?" Daja asked coming into the room.
"Ever heard of privacy?" The presence still edged him.
"No what's that?" She teased. Briar glared at her.
"Daja it doesn't seem to bother you." She sighed and lay down on the bed.
"It does. Traders hide things better than kaqs."
"You should rest." Briar prescribed.
"I can't the pounding in my head won't stop in sleep." When Briar looked sceptical she said, "believe me, I've tried." Briar nodded.
"We really need Keth's reply soon. I almost want to talk to them through the magic."
"I know but you mustn't drain yourself by trying to talk to Rosethorn from this distance. You can talk to us from miles away but you have to actually send your magical-self back over that distance to talk to her."
"We need information. And soon. We can't stand being in this every day." Daja nodded, looking thoughtful.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Sandry awoke with a start. She sat up quickly before she felt the presence push in on her. "Uhh..." She groaned holding her head which pounded mercilessly. She stood shakily and went to see if she could find Briar. The first thing she saw when she looked in his door was his Shakkan, which seemed to have sprouted more leaves, and was loosing its shape. As she looked closer at it she noticed that more buds were appearing every minute.
"Briar, get Saati some of that headache medicine you gave me." Came Daja's voice from the corner. Briar looked at the door and seeing Sandry took one of those candies from a bottle. This one, unlike the other one was bright orange. She swallowed it quickly.
"Briar what on earth are you doing that to your shakkan for?" Sandry wondered as her headache started to decrease.
"Huh?" He glanced over at his prized possession, turned back, then whipped his head back again. "What the heck?" He stood and brought it back over to the desk. Taking his pruning shears he began to clip off large portions of the newly grown branches. Right before his eyes they grew back.
"Briar, look at the magic." Daja said wondrously. Briar's magic a blinding white, with a small tint of green was flowing slowly out of his right hand, the hand which he had calmed the plant with.
"What the-" Briar cursed loudly. He hadn't even noticed his magic leaving his body. Usually he could feel it. Trying to cut the connection Briar screamed dropping to the floor. A few minutes later he opened his eyes to Sandry holding a bottle of smelling salts under his nose. "Uhh..." He looked at his hand, the magic still flowing to the plant. "This is going to ruin the Shakkan!" He said, more worried about it than himself.
"Briar what's going to happen to you?"
"What's going on in here for Mila's sake!?" A sharp but sleepy voice shouted from the door way. Tris walked in. "Mila and Green Man protect us, Lakik trickster what games do you play?" She asked one of Briar's favourite Gods. "Briar stop that! Stop it now!" Since Tris' magic seeing abilities were the greatest of the four she could see how little of Briar's magic was left inside of him (yes the others would have seen it to but...).
Briar cried out as if in excruciating pain. Again he collapsed onto the floor. Sandry, who still held the salts, put them under his nose again to no effect. "Help me get him onto the bed."
"It's stopped." Daja said looking at the Shakkan.
"What now?" Tris asked. Sandry shook her head looking at Briar.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
A/N: Hey look I updated... You know what? I should have continued this chapter. But I got really bored and decided that hey! I should put it up! Review! Come on! There has to be more than 3 people reading my fic! I don't even care If you hate it! Put a flame if you really don't like it! Just tell me that you read it!!! Oh Uhhh more about Sandry being totally sick in the next chapter... Maybe something with Tris... Why no Daja? I have no idea! She deals with it better than the others. Plus I don't really know her all that well. I know Briar and Sandry off the back of my hand, Tris I'd have to look near my elbow but Daja is just like my back. I don't know why... She doesn't seem to have such a strong role!
PS!!! I LOVE STITCH!!! STITCH ROCKS!!!