Then she turned back to the clinic. She thought about what she had learned from Edith's house. Then she pitched her voice low, "I need to speak with Raoul and Imrah. In private, as soon as possible."
Lerant didn't even blink at the request. "Does it have to do with what we found at the house?" He was referring to the box she had given the guard.
"It has to do with this." She carefully pulled the bottle out of her bag. Dust still clung to its surface revealing its age. Lerant looked it over with confusion.
"Why is a bottle of spirits so important that you want to meet with the Lords privately?" He may not have understood why it was worrying, but he kept his voice low so no one would over hear them.
"This is the only thing in her home that carried the taint."
He blinked in confusion. "But that's-." Surprise and horror cut off the rest of the sentence.
"Older than the attack," Arie finished.
"I'll go now." Then he paused as he was about to leave. Concern still etched in his expression. "Will you be alright?"
Arie looked at the ground and tried not to lie when she promised, "I'll be alright." She would be; eventually.
"About what the o'lady said-"
"Edith is not always aware of her whens. I look enough like my mom so it's not really a surprise she mistook me for my mother. Sometimes she couldn't even remember what is safe to eat and what isn't. Don't take what she said to heart, she didn't mean it." Arie prayed he would leave it at that.
Lerant hesitated briefly before he shrugged, "If you say so." He turned and walked away quickly, but even despite his gaze looking away Arie still felt as if it lingered on her.
She rubbed at the goose flesh that popped up across her arms before she sighed and forced her attention back to work. Arie slid the bottle carefully back into her bag. Then she walked over to the doctors who were seeing to Edith. They had the unfortunate job of trying to get Edith to dispel everything she had digested. The smell of stomach juice and rotten meat was enough to have Arie's own stomach twisting uncomfortably. Gods all bless the young woman who was taking away the last bucket, her stomach seemed to be made of iron.
When the doctor saw Arie she waved her over. "It was good you found her when you did. We've got most of the food out of her." She nodded to a pair of younger women. "Those two volunteered to help her bathe. She'll feel worlds better once the sweat and vomit is cleaned. I made a special soap that will prevent infection in any cuts she has."
Arie bowed. "Thank you."
The other woman shrugged, "It's my job. It's too bad I can't do anything about her mind. Poor thing thinks Jed is her son." She pointed out a younger man who had some Gift for healing and was one of Arie's students. Arie realized he did in fact look like one of Edith's younger sons who had passed away a hand full of years ago. Jed had the same shaggy hair as all of Edith's sons; including Noah, and he was about the right age to pass as Edith's youngest son.
"Does he explain he is not her son?"
The other woman winced. "Yes, the poor dear gets very upset."
Arie nodded, "I will speak with him, and maybe I can help Edith with that."
The other woman shrugged but took the vile smelling bucket of vomit out of the clinic. Arie weaved her way through the cots to Jed and pulled him aside.
"I heard Edith believes you are her son."
He looked upset. "Yes, but she sobs and balls everytimes I tells her I'm not em."
"Let her believe you are her son. I might be able to help her, but if I can't let her believe it."
"Ain't that cruel? Letting er think somefing not true?"
"Crueler than constantly reliving your child's death, reliving that nightmare over and over? Allow her this small comfort. Once she is clean and rested a bit I will do what I can. Hopefully you won't have to pretend."
The man nodded and went back to his work helping other doctors. Arie on the other hand drifted down the lines of cots. She would change the bandages on those who needed or replace sheets of those who had sweated through theirs. Sometimes an occupant of a particular cot would pull her aside to talk. Usually to ask about how much longer they would need to stay or how things were going outside the clinic. After hours Abba came over to her.
"Looks like Edith has been cleaned and has rested. She's ready to see you anytime now."
Arie nodded her thanks to Abba and said good-bye to the patient she had been chatting with. Then she made her way to where Edith was sitting up in her cot. Edith's hair was clean, someone had even brushed it out. The smell of decay no longer clung to her skin and clothes. Instead, a pleasant smell of lemons and some kind of flower wafted to Arie from Edith's new clothes. Arie looked the older woman in the eyes and was surprised to see they were clearer. A small smile pulled at the older woman's wrinkled face.
"Anna, so good to see you. Where is little Arie?"
Arie couldn't help the answering smile, even if it was a sad one. "She's around." Arie licked her lips and cleared her throat. "Edith, you weren't feeling alright earlier. Is it alright if I look you over?"
"That's fine, dear." She patted Arie's arm. There was absolutely no alarm in Edith's eyes, even as Arie's Gift collected in her palms.
Arie placed her hands on either side of Edith's head and let her magic seep into Edith. It was not dissimilar to what she did when she removed poison from a person's body. There was the same delicate balance between destroying poison and leaving flesh intact. While this did have the benefit of not reliving every horrible thing the person had done, the down side was the mind was significantly more fragile than the body. A mistake here could leave Edith unable to speak let alone function. Regardless, the process was still unbearably slow. Every time Arie thought she had cleaned all the plaque from the brain, she would find a little more tucked away. It took hours before her work showed true affect. Edith's eyes gained a look of recognition and surprise. She blinked at Arie several times and even opened her mouth a couple times before she finally managed to get the words out.
"Arie? You're here?"
Finally all the plaque was gone and Arie withdrew her hands from the old woman's face. "Yes, I am here. How do you feel?" Her Gift faded from her hands as she knelt beside Edith.
Edith rubbed her stomach and groaned. "I feel like I ate something rancid."
Arie couldn't help the small smile at that. "That's probably because you did. Do you remember me coming to see you this morning?" She looked at the window and realized it was very dark. A glance around at the cots showed most people were asleep. "I guess it's yesterday morning now."
Edith frowned. Her hand moved from her stomach to her head. Sweat broke out across her wrinkled forehead. Then she started shaking which gradually changed to a rocking motion. "I can't. I can't," she stuttered. "I can't remember." She winced like she had been struck and she looked at Arie with a desperate look in her eyes. "Arie! It's all jumbled. Voices, they whispered awful things. I saw your mom, but she is dead." He voice was becoming shrill with fear and panic.
Instantly Arie brought her Gift back into her hands and let it seep into Edith with a gentle touch. She let her Gift wrap around the old woman before saying firmly. "It's alright, Edith. You are safe here. They can't touch you again. I will not allow it. It's alright if you can't remember. Don't worry about it. It was not your fault." As her words and Gift sank into the older woman she slipped back against her pillow. The panic had been eased even if the fear still lingered in her eyes.
"What happened to me?"
Arie grabbed a towel from a basin nearby then dabbed at the sweat on the older woman's brow. For a moment she considered lying to the older woman, Arie didn't want to cause a panic, but she also remembered Edith's sharp mind. If anyone could keep a secret it was the woman who had run her own business for decades despite men trying to push her aside. Finally, after looking around to make sure no one was paying attention Arie admitted, "You were poisoned."
The older woman's eyes widened and she too glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. "How did I not notice?"
Quietly, Arie explained how the poison worked and what it did to its victims. Edith paled at the briefest details. She ran a hand through her hair, the stress showing in every line on her face.
"And you found something with this poison in my home?" She shuddered when Arie nodded. "Could I have infected others?"
Arie removed the bottle from her bag and showed it to Edith. "This is the only thing I found with the taint. So I don't believe you tried to spread the poison to-." She paused when she realized the old apothecary was staring at the bottle. "Edith?"
"That bottle." she seemed entranced by the glass, so much so that it gave Arie pause. "It was a gift, but I can't remember who gave it to me. I just-." Her voice trailed off and her eyes dropped from Arie's.
"You just what, Edith?"
She heaved a shuddering breath and did her best to look away from Arie. "I just felt so guilty. I didn't help you. And right after your mother died. I felt so guilty when I got it, I drank the whole thing to try and forget. That boy knocked pleading someone help you." Tears streamed from her eyes.
Arie's heart gave a painful squeeze. She had been very bitter and angry towards not just those who had driven her out, but also those like Edith who had done nothing. Even now the memory left a bitter ashy taste in her mouth and made her feel a twinge of pain and fear. But as Arie watched the old apothecary heave and sob from guilt, something in her loosened.
Would the crowd have been stopped if Edith had come, Arie wondered. No, a small voice in her mind whispered, she wouldn't have been able to stop them. Arie looked at the old woman's wrinkled hands. Back then her hands hand been just as wrinkled as they were now. Despite Edith's body being in relatively good shape for her age, Arie was certain she would have never made it up the cliff path in time. Even if she had, Edith was no match for a crowd of young people who had grief, fear, and hatred behind them. They would have hurt Edith, Arie realized in no uncertain terms.
Then what would have happened, she wondered. A bleak picture unfolded in Arie's mind. She would have had two options that day then. She could run and thus leave Edith to face the mob's wrath. The very thought left a vile taste in Arie's mouth. The other option would be that Arie would face the mob to protect Edith. With sickening certainly Arie knew they would have both been killed, Avery along with them. And the fallout from that would have been bloody. Twitchy and Edith's sons were hot-headed, all of them would have sought bloody vengeance.
Finally Arie gave a sigh then she reached for Edith's hands. "Edith, you are not to blame for what happened." The other woman's eyes flashed back to Arie's, a denial already on her lips, but Arie shushed her. "Listen to me." Her voice brokered no argument. "If you had come to stop them, then you would have been hurt. None of the people there were themselves. You've seen the beast that is a mob." Arie saw brief fear in Edith's eyes before she continued. "The crowds anger would have been turned on you and your family. I would never wish that on you or children or their children. Especially not the little ones."
Edith pressed her lips together. "It was still wrong of me not to try."
Arie almost told her it was alright, but she knew Edith was right. A small smile pulled at Arie's lips. "I forgive you." Her words were quiet, but it felt as if she had shouted them. Something in her shifted. The anger and hurt was still there, but it wasn't about to smother her. She realized she truly did forgive Edith and it was a relief.
Note from the author: Sorry it's taken so long to post stuff for this one. Work, school, and wedding stuff have made craving out time to write somewhat difficult. But thanks to school and most everything shutting down I should be able to post more frequently. Thank you for your support!