Disclaimer: If you've seen it in one of Misty's books, it's not mine, as usual.

And…ehe…it seems that I've got more people to blame the mushrooms. Look, Teva, you've got anti-mushroom supporters! Whee?

Kamaria drifted slowly into wakefulness some time later-she did not open her eyes, fearing she would only see another hallucination.

Ow, she thought, in a tone of Mindvoice that could only be described as 'wispily.'

Dimly, since she was still half-asleep, Kamaria probed carefully through her mind. Alain was still linked in, and-Kamaria concentrated-yes, he was lying beside her, even now clutching her hand, deep in exhausted slumber.

Slowly, she became aware of some kind of mental whispering. One was obviously Sitara; the other sounded male, of all things. Kamaria listened more closely, only half-interested in what they were saying.

:…it's a good thing I have the Gift, Sitara's voice was saying wearily, :She's a fairly powerful Master-potential, thank all the gods I've got Adept-potential, or I'd never have been able to hold her back from the node.:

:Not potential; you are an Adept, replied the masculine Mindvoice, :Practicing or not is another matter, but considering she's got Ashkevron blood, it's a good thing. Sitara, you should rest; you look awful. The drug obviously reverberated-:

:The filling was almost pure morel; I took at least half the effects: replied Sitara, as Kamaria vaguely wondered what they were talking about, :If I hadn't, she would have died.

You almost died, Sitara, reminded the other voice. Probably a male Companion, thought Kamaria muzzily. :Actually, I'm not entirely certain how you took away half the physical effects.:

:'s something my Circuit mentor used once or twice when I was Sidra, replied Sitara, :She was barely a Journeyman, but had strong Fetching; it's a weird, convoluted little thing, but when pared down to the basics, it Fetches the…the…oh, how do I say this…it sort of takes the effect away from the victim, or some of it anyway, without taking away the actual physical poison, that's where the power comes in, but you also have to have someone to take the brunt of the effect, and the one closest to hand was me.:

:…I don't entirely understand that, admitted the other voice, and Kamaria agreed with him wholeheartedly; hell, she didn't even know what they were talking about; :You'll have to explain it when you're recovered.:

:I think she picked it up from some hedge wizard in…oh, I don't know, she was an envoy somewhere once, but it's not from around here.:

:Will the boy be all right as well? I'm not sure if it was a good idea to let him link-:

There was a rude mental snort from Sitara. :He's her lifebonded; how the hell were we supposed to hold him back anyway? Ramya said he was on the verge of going mad with fear. It's a good thing he was there, too; I might've been the one who kept her body from dying by taking the effects, but he's the one who kept her anchored in this world. Otherwise she might well be an…an empty shell by now.: The words were followed by a mental shudder.

Kamaria slowly became aware she was thirsty, and debated for another moment before opening her eyes.

The room was lit only by a time-candle, and Mandel was dozing in a chair near her bed. Kamaria tried to say something, she wasn't sure what, but when this didn't work she resorted to a Mindcall.

:Sitara? C'n I have some water? she asked, not considering at all that her Companion didn't have hands and was, in fact, outside.

There was a startled sort of yelp down the bond, then Sitara was just beside Kamaria, mentally. :How long have you been awake? she fussed, :You need sleep:

:I'm thirsty, explained Kamaria, :But I can't talk and Alain's sleeping, so it leaves you.:

:Did you try Mindspeaking your brothe-no, that's not a good idea so soon after morel. I'll get him.:

Sitara momentarily vanished from Kamaria's mind, and Mandel fell off his chair with a yelp. "What?" he gasped, staring around the room, before looking out the window, where Sitara stood looking in. "Oh-of course, my lady-"

Kamaria opened her eyes again and watched as her brother poured some water, his hands shaking, and knelt by her bed. "Kamaria? Are you…do you feel all right?" he asked, edging an arm beneath her shoulders and slowly propping her up.

Kamaria drank the entire glass of water before even attempting to answer. "Feel like hell," she whispered, as Mandel lay her back again, "Think I'll live, though."

Mandel gave a sigh of relief and laid the back of his hand to Kamaria's forehead. "They managed to flush the drug from your system," he told her, "But Healer Ritha said it put a horrible strain on your body and you'll need a while to recover."

Kamaria sighed, a thin wisp of a sound. "'m I supposed to feel horrible the whole time?" she asked.

Mandel shook his head, and Kamaria became aware of a growing desire to sleep, somehow emanating from the hand still on her forehead. "You're supposed to sleep," he said, mock-sternly, "We'll pull you through this. You'll be all right, though one of the Heralds told us to tell you not, he repeats not to use any Gift but Mindspeech at all. And use Mindspeech only with Sitara and Alain."

Kamaria had no answer for this as she dropped into the comforting darkness of sleep.

Some time later, she awoke again with only a very fuzzy memory of asking for water. Kamaria vaguely recalled Sitara had been talking, but after pursuing the faint thread of memory and finding no answer to subject or even who she'd been talking to, she gave up and opened her eyes.

Kamaria instantly closed them; the room was bright. However, Alain, who had relocated to a chair beside the bed, took her hand and said, "Good morning; or, rather, afternoon. Do you feel any better?"

Kamaria cautiously opened her eyes again and turned her head on a neck that felt like-like-like something very stiff to look at her lifebonded. She considered the question, then said, "No."

"Any hallucinations?" replied Alain, absently looping his fingers through hers, "Butterflies? Flowers growing out of my ears?"

Kamaria, still not entirely in her right frame of mind, retorted with, "Just the most handsome boy I've ever seen right in front of me."

She choked as she realized what she'd just said, Alain blushed, and Sitara gave a strangled whicker of hilarity outsider her window. "Uh-I mean-no," she stammered, feeling her own face grow hot as she wished she could erase the words.

"Uh…right, then," said Alain, face still red, "Um, I'm supposed to grab a Healer when you wake up, and…um, you've woken up, so I'll just be right back, then."

:Oh, it's so cute when both of you blush, snickered Sitara down the Companion-bond, :That's possibly the most adorable thing you've ever said, Kamaria.:

Kamaria refused to dignify that with an answer, knowing she'd probably just miss the mark entirely. Alain soon returned with a Healer Kamaria had never seen before.

The Healer placed a hand on Kamaria's forehead and looked through her. "The drug's gone," she said, in tones of relief, "But I'm afraid you burned up most of your reserves trying to fight the hallucinations, or something of that sort, so you'll need a few days in bed, and no strenuous activity for a while. And don't argue," she added, just as Kamaria's mouth opened, "I swear by Kernos, even those of you who aren't White-clad lunatics yet are still determined to give us Healers all the grief you can!"

Kamaria closed her mouth, then opened it again to say, meekly, "Yes, Healer."

The Healer nodded shortly. "We'll determine what's going on later," she said, "Are you hungry?"

Kamaria took inventory of her body's demands. "No," she said, with a slight sigh, knowing what was coming next.

The Healer folded her arms. "Well, you'll be eating everything we give you anyway. Boy, can I trust you to make sure she eats every scrap?"

"Of course," said Alain, with a glint in his eye Kamaria recognized as determination. She knew, she knew, that there was absolutely no chance would be able to refuse the food.

And she still wasn't hungry at all.

Alain turned to look at Kamaria, and the determination faded into his usual expression as the Healer swept out the door. "I'm sorry," he said, with some contriteness, "But even if you're not hungry, you need to eat. I took some extra Healing classes, and I'm not letting you get away with refusing food."

"But aren't you hungry?" pleaded Kamaria, hoping she could get Alain to at least eat a little of her own food.

"They fed me earlier," replied Alain, sitting in the chair again, "No chance you'll be able to tempt me with that trick."

A Healing Trainee carrying a tray nudged open the door with her foot. "Here," she said, handing the tray to Alain, "And you've got visitors," she added to Kamaria as Alain put the tray on the bedside table to prop Kamaria into a sitting position.

To Kamaria's chagrin, she couldn't even help Alain as he shifted pillows and lifted her carefully up. "My whole body still feels like custard," she said in a whisper, as Alain set the tray across her lap.

"I said, you have visitors," repeated the Healer-Trainee, with a slight tone of impatience.

"Send them in, I guess," replied Kamaria, carefully picking up a spoon.

As she attempted to maneuver the suddenly tricky piece of cutlery from the soup to her mouth, Garethe and Sivan entered the room. Sivan was wearing riding leathers, and Garethe obligingly let his son speak first. "I'm leaving in a quarter-candlemark," said Sivan, sitting carefully near Kamaria's feet, "I just wanted to make sure you were all right-"

Kamaria cut him off involuntarily as the spoon slipped from her fingers and clattered in the bowl, followed by a swear word under her breath. "Sorry," she said, looking up at Sivan.

Sivan waved it away impatiently. "It's all right. Look, if anyone tries to hurt you again, send me a letter and I'll be up here as fast as my horse can carry me." The glint in Sivan's eye told Kamaria her brother wasn't joking. "Just get better, all right?"

Kamaria nodded, and returned the hug Sivan carefully gave her. He ruffled her blue hair as he stepped back. "Interesting color choice," he teased, "Try green next time, but make sure I'm around to see it, all right?"

Kamaria glared at her older brother as Alain snickered. "Goodbye, Sivan," she said, firmly, "And it's a good thing I'm confined here, or-"

"You'd hit me with the spoon?" returned Sivan, falling easily into their old bantering routine, "Look, I have to inspect my troops before we go; get better, all right?"

Kamaria waved at him as he twinkled his fingers in a mock-effeminate farewell, closing the door behind him.

"Look, you're not going to be able to feed yourself," said Alain, firmly, rescuing the spoon and wiping it with the napkin. "Open."

Kamaria found herself in the awkward position of being spoon-fed while attempting to talk to her father. "I'm just glad you're all right," said Garethe, simply, "I've been out there for hours, but they chased everyone out when the Healers came in."

Kamaria opened her mouth to reply, but found that it was nearly impossible to speak when someone has just placed a spoonful of soup into your mouth. She swallowed, and managed to say, "It's good to see you too, Fath-mmph."

Alain fed her another spoonful, and Garethe chuckled slightly. "Oh, don't glare at me," he said to Kamaria, with a smile, "I'm just happy you're all right."

For the first time, Kamaria really noticed the gray threads in her father's hair, and she swallowed the next spoonful, and the next, in silence.

Well, that's a bit of a weird place to end it, but I just wanted to post before I began NaNoWriMo! That's right, your dear ol' Fireblade is going to try to write a 50,000 word novel in one month!

So…er…it's quite possible you won't get any updates in that time. Sorry! But tell you what, if I finish the novel, I'll start a fictionpress account so you can all read it!

But not until it's done!

And there were really some issues I wanted to resolve with this chapter too. –sigh-

Until next time!