Disclaimer: Sigh…Once again, I own nothing. Most unfortunate, but true. Only my characters, writing and plot belong to me.
Fireblade K'Chona: Yup. Thanks! I know, my chapters should be longer. I try to hit around five pages, but then I run out of computer time or I get stuck or something happens. Awesome chapter of LtM, by the way.
Tenshi: Yeah, writers block stinks. I tried to work on my Karissa one-shot, and guess what? As soon as I finish, I discover that fanfiction has disabled logging in for the next three days…just my luck, lol. I guess I'll post that soon.
Lurks in Shadows: More coming…eventually.
Oceanmate: I was going to, but I ran out of net time. Don't worry, though, I'm not skipping it. That's what this chapter is for. I'm not unfamiliar with the specialty areas, but I'm having a combination of writers block and massive lack of computer time. Circumstances are conspiring against me, lol.
Vaches: Thanks. Happy late Halloween to you too. When Treet grows up, he's going to be that Healer that ends up treating Pol when a tree branch falls on him. Apart from that, who can tell?
Wizard: I know. Short chapters. I'm evil like that. Too good at writing authors notes and bad at long chapters.
Violet Rush: Thanks and thanks, lol. I try my best, and I'm better with FanFiction because I have issues starting new worlds and things from scratch. Maybe someday I'll manage original fiction, lol. I tried to work on Joshe, glad you approved.
Ellen: Thanks. You're right, there should definitely not be an ok in there…-glares at it- I try not to do that, but since I don't live in Valdemar, one sneaks in occasionally. I think someone commented on it earlier, and I need to get around to fixing it. You're right, Karissa needs an army of MindHealers stitched to her robes. She was meant to be a small sub character, but she sort of took over part of the story. I don't know why I don't set the two of them up, but since I'm not an adult, I don't really feel up to writing a relationship of that sort between them. –grin- I'm glad I'm still a kid and I can just sit down and eat turkey and never mind worrying about relatives and such, lol. I try to update quickly, but as I mentioned, various time constraints are out to get me. Glad you like the story.
Lady Ultima: You make a good point, but I did reread everything I could find pertaining to the classes at the Heraldic Collegium and found no mention of any Healer Trainee in any of the classes except for Weaponswork, which I mentioned that these Trainees will be in. I would say that those courses would be optional and/or for higher level Trainees, since there is no specific mention. Also, while ordinary youth might have more trouble, highborn Blues for instance, Healers tend to be very serious and hardworking indeed, according to Selenay's description in Exile's Valor, so with older Trainees assigned to help them with anything they don't understand, I think the system would work out alright.
Tessabe: Wow, I can't believe I forgot about the horse. You're right, that is a massive loose end. Unfortunately, I don't think I can write him in at this late date. Lol…wow, I was so sure I'd checked for things like that.
Right, that author's note was too long. –glares at it- I'm not including anything else because this thing is practically a chapter all by itself. On to the chapter. Sorry it's short. The next few are going to be basically him meeting all the different Healers, after that's done, the plot can get going again. Sorry about the interlude, but I think it adds color and such. Ok, anyway, shutting up now.
Chapter 17: More Mindhealers
Treet was studying quietly in the library. He had no idea how long he had been there or how long he would stay there. He was completely absorbed in a thin, plainly bound volume on the applications of various herbs. Who would have guessed that the rows of valerian he had so carefully stepped around on his way out could be used to relieve tension and ease insomnia? He had never been encouraged to learn such things before. They were for the Underwives to concoct and the Firstwife to know about.
He was so engrossed in his reading that he barely noticed when Lirain came up behind him. She stood there, reading over his shoulder, for nearly a full minute before he felt an unmistakable sense of someone there. He turned, knowing it was her, and smiled.
She smiled back and unconsciously sent a feather light touch of greeting, like the faint press of a hand on the shoulder. "Ready to go? As your official and oh-so-competent mentor, I've made arrangements for you to meet a Healer from each of the main specialties we train in this Collegium. Since my mentor is the only full Mindhealer stationed here at the moment, she has a hard time fitting people in, but she has a spare few minutes today and she sent me to drag you off to her lair."
Noting Treet's frown, she laughed. "I'm only kidding, really. It's merely her office. She only uses it when she's being official or teaching me, although if she's too tired to get back to her rooms, she's been known to fall asleep in there. That's why I call it her lair."
"Oh," Treet said and then lapsed into silence. He thought he had been doing pretty well at shoving the whole interview incident into the back of his mind, but the last thing he wanted was to see that Mindhealer again. It was always the little things that brought back the memories. Always the small details that cling when the main event is lost. The way Rith's dark green robes had barely brushed the floor as she knelt, her long fingers just barely on the arm of a chair, the way Lirain's slate eyes had rested on his face for a long moment when they had first met.
He shook his head to clear the snippets of images dancing behind his eyes and looked around to discover that he was already out replacing the book on the shelf it had come from.
"It's a good thing we're going to see a Mindhealer after all," Lirain teased, seeing the blank look in Treet's eyes. "By the look of things, you're missing a goodly portion of your mind this morning."
"I am not!" Treet snapped violently, knowing that Lirain was kidding, but unable to stop himself. "And I don't need…what you said, either."
"I know you don't," Lirain said, in a slightly sulky tone. To her own surprise, her eyes filled with tears, which she immediately swallowed. It had been years since someone her own age had been able to make her cry!
"Anyway," she continued. "No offense meant, really. I see her every day, she's practically a third parent, it doesn't occur to me that people might be bothered by her."
"It's not that," Treet managed with an effort. He wondered if he should finish and figured he might as well. "It's just that every time I see her, I'll think of…you know, the last time I was alone with her."
"You weren't alone! I was there. And the Dean," Lirain added as an afterthought.
"I know, but you know what I mean." He was sure, somehow, that she did, which would have been odd, had he taken the time to notice it. He hastily changed the subject. "So, what are the other Healing specialties, other than Mindhealing?"
Lirain, glad of a diversion, started on the standard speech. "We have trauma injury, which is violently inflicted injury usually accompanied by shock. One of the senior Healers is Healer Sera, you'll see her tomorrow. Then we have disease with Healer Trent presiding, who we'll go see the day after that. Don't let him intimidate you. He's naturally rather dour. We, the other Trainees and I, that is, think it's because he sees so many terminal patients. He's not young and it's fairly hard to be surrounded by the sick and dying all day. Then we get Healer Don, who is a senior Healer for illnesses of all types, your regular fever, cough, cold, then last of all we have our general Healers, Healer Ria is the one we'll talk to. They are usually assigned to one or a group of important people, like the King's Healer, the Healer to the Heralds, Healer to the Bards. For what it's worth, they speak for the Temple Healers as well, those who aren't stationed in Haven. Most of those are general Healers, we like to keep the specialties close by, but the others are free to wander Valdemar as they will, for the most part."
Treet got about the first half of that statement before he switched from listening to the words to listening to Lirain's voice. He thought he could listen to it all day, the way it ebbed and flowed, rushing softly around the hallway, filling the empty space with its sound. The Firstwife had always had a screechy voice, so far as Treet could remember. He didn't think even his Father wanted to hear her speak, but listening to Lirain was like listening to music, only less boring.
Before he knew it, her idle chatter had passed the narrow time gap between him and Rith's office. He would have kept right on walking had Lirain not grabbed his arm and motioned towards the door.
"Here we are. I'll be here to help you find your way to dinner after you're done," Lirain said.
"You mean you aren't coming?" Treet asked in a panicked sounding voice.
"I can't," Lirain said regretfully. "It'd be against the rules. I might influence you somehow, and besides, you need to learn to deal with other Healers, sooner rather than later. So Rith tells me, anyway."
"I don't know if I can go in there alone," Treet said nervously.
"Sure you can," Lirain coaxed. "You'll have to see her eventually, anyway, the Collegium isn't that big. My official, mentor-like opinion is that you can do this. Now go on," she said firmly, rapping on the door and propelling Treet forwards before he had the chance to protest further.
He managed to regain his footing just beyond the doorframe, sneaking a glance upwards as he did so. The room was unremarkable, having only a long, well-padded and well-used couch and a desk, behind which sat Rith, looking exactly as he remembered, right down to the aura of competence that seemed to flow from her like a river.
From what Treet could see from the very upper part of his vision, she was smiling. For the most part, however, he could see nothing but a rather large swathe of floor.
"Here, have a seat," she said, the standard opening line ringing as though from miles away.
He sat down in the most contorted fashion imaginable, trying to keep his eyes on the floor at all times while still maintaining some level of comfort and as much dignity as possible.
Before he knew what was happening, quicker than he would have thought possible, Rith had rounded the desk and was standing so close to him that he could count the stitches on her robes. She touched him gently on the shoulder with two fingers, a feather light touch.
Treet froze solid. It took all of his willpower not to flee, although he wasn't sure if he could have moved. He blinked slowly, trying to breathe, his lungs feeling as though they were being compressed by an entire horse cart loaded with market goods.
Her voice was light and perfectly even, non-judgmental in the extreme. "There's only one question to ask, really, so no point lies in prolonging the discomfort with feather witted pleasantries. Even a fool with no Empathy at all could see that you can't even look at me, and I have considerably more than none," she said, callously invoking a reminder and watching Treet flinch with the practiced eye of an expert. "Do you think you could ever be comfortable studying under me? Or rather, do you want to become a Mindhealer enough to learn to deal with our, hmm, prior meeting?" She asked tactfully, her tone nothing near as stern as her words suggested. "It's alright, you can tell the truth. In fact, I strongly advise it, as you will be stuck with your decision for some time."
Treet wished from the bottom of his soul that he was somewhere else. Maybe in a few moons he would be able to look at her without wanting to run, but until then, he would forswear any bright future to get out of her presence. He shook his head.
"I'll take your word for it, of course," Rith continued. "I really prefer to take on only one student at a time anyway, although as the only trained Mindhealer currently in Haven, I do make exceptions. If you really can't get along with any of the other teachers, come back and we'll talk again. It would be possible, although not easy or comfortable, at first, for me to be your teacher."
"You can go," she said kindly after a few moment's pause, since Treet made no sign of moving. "If it helps, one day, you'll probably be able to talk to me without wanting to die," she added, half in jest. Playing with people's minds always left her drained and exhausted, as well as just slightly sharp. She had been trained to heal, to help, not to toy, to elicit bad memories and nightmares. Still, someone had to do it, and she would not wish such a first few days as she would have had with Treet upon any Trainee, especially one who did not realize or denied the difficulty, as Trainees were wont to do. Some were more resilient than others, however, and Treet had had an exceptionally bad time. She hoped she hadn't blown his fixation/terror out of all proportion, but only time would tell. For the most part, it wore off eventually.
Treet numbly hoisted himself up, mumbling something along the lines of thanking Rith for her time, and darted out the door.
"There, still in one piece?" Lirain asked teasingly, popping out from around the next corner.
Treet blinked dazedly. "Mostly."
"Well, that was pretty fast. What'd our dear Healer in there say to you?"
Treet tried to remember. A conversation surfaced, seemingly far away. "She asked me if I was willing to learn to deal with her as a teacher in order to be a Mindhealer, or if I'd rather find a different teacher. I shook my head at appropriate intervals, so basically, we're still on the hunt," he joked lamely.
"Much as I expected, but it's always better to try. Now, how about something to eat before you faint? The dinner bell's just rung and you're white as a bleached Companion."
In fairly good spirits, Treet allowed Lirain to haul him off to dinner.
