Description: Daine performs her first healing on the aviary birds but at what cost?
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce.
Author's Note: I mentioned in a previous book that my theory on some of Kit's magic is things she's picked up from studying Numair. Because the mage hasn't been around, I haven't given her all the tricks she knows in the books. Obviously, the dragonet will still know anything Tkaa taught her, and I suspect she's picked up the odd thing from studying the magical people around the palace.
One of the lines from Wild Magic that has influenced this story greatly is where Daine feels like she has known Numair for years after only speaking to him for a full day and knowing him for two. A little different here but I don't think the connection would be any less diminished.
Chapter 6
Arram opened the doors to the aviary using his Gift to create a single light-globe, still holding Kitten in his arms. If Ozorne could see him now, he'd throw a fit. The emperor had wanted to get his hands on the dragonet since he'd first heard of its existence two years ago and here he was, cuddling her. Daine handed Zek to the mage without a second thought and went instantly to her patients, speaking with them gently.
"They haven't improved," she said after ten minutes, chewing on her thumbnail and turning in slow circles looking more distressed.
"Do they have any idea what is causing the sickness?" the mage inquired, offering slices of melon for Zek and Kitten to nibble on.
"None," the young woman stood quivering before she spun abruptly, her blue-grey eyes stormy. "You said I'd be able to heal. How do I do it?"
"How goes your meditation practice?" he countered.
Daine avoided his eyes and began to attack another nail. "I can't do meditation," she admitted softly. "There's something wrong with me and meditation only makes it worse."
The mage frowned in concern. "Wrong in what way?"
She attacked a third nail, her eyes darting towards him and away while the young woman deliberated. "I get – overwhelmed – by the animals closest to me."
"I've never heard of meditation producing that side effect, but then I've never met anyone with as much wild magic as you," Arram admitted. Meditation was supposed to improve control not have the user overpowered by their magic.
When Daine went for a fourth nail, the mage's patience snapped and he strode over to her, grabbing the hand. The young woman looked startled but didn't pull away, instead she lifted her face to gaze up at him imploringly.
"Is there a way to help them without the meditation?" she motioned to the birds asleep in the trees.
Arram sighed releasing her hand to rub a finger along his long nose. "Currently you have next to no control which is essential for healing. From what I've observed, everything you do is instinctive: your magic reacts to your will but there is no conscious thought behind it. It appears as a chaotic tangle around you where it needs to be organised so you can access what you need, when you need. Can you describe the sensation to me of when you get overwhelmed by nearby animals?"
The young woman's eyes widened as she backed away from him a few steps, shaking her head vehemently.
"Daine, I can't help you if you aren't honest with me," the mage said gently, hating the terror he'd invoked in her eyes.
"I –" she swallowed, looking at the birds in anguish before dropping her head to stare at her feet. "I've madness in me. Alanna says she's never found any but I know it's there."
Arram frowned hard letting his magical senses examine her aura carefully, to do anything more was intrusive and disrespectful. The Lioness was rumoured to be an experienced healer and if she couldn't find a physical madness in the young woman there had to be something else causing it. Daine's magic was such a jumble around her, it was possible the threads had knotted so badly they were causing blockages that sent surges of wild magic into her when the knots loosened.
When the mage didn't answer, Daine slowly lifted her head. "Can you see what's wrong with me?"
Arram sighed heavily, rubbing his temples. "There is a way – but I don't think you'd like it."
"What is it?"
The mage met her determined blue-grey eyes. "I would need to connect with your mind to see inside you." It really was the only way to discover for himself if there were any signs of true madness.
"All right," she nodded her head in consent.
"Daine, you must understand this is a dangerous request for me to make," Arram insisted. "You should never allow anyone into your mind who you don't trust implicitly."
"I do trust you." The blunt honesty of that statement shook him to his core.
"You don't even know me," he whispered.
"I know what's important and you've been nothing but kind and looked out for me since I arrived," the young woman raised her chin defiantly.
"How do you know that hasn't all been an act to get close to you?"
"I don't," Daine shrugged her slender shoulders. "But my instincts say to trust you and they've never led me wrong so far. Besides, these birds need to be healed afore more of 'em die, and if I can help, then I should."
He'd been warned not to get distracted and wasn't that exactly what this was? The mage was letting his magical curiosity and attraction for this woman divert his attention from his mission. Arram had taken more risks in the last two days than he had in years, but the mage couldn't refuse her now, no more than he could let these innocent birds die. It wasn't any fault of theirs who their master was.
"Sit," the mage ordered, guiding the young woman towards a metal bench. Positioning himself behind her, he gently placing the marmoset and dragonet onto the seat beside her. "We will begin with breathing," he instructed placing his fingers gently onto her temples. "Breath in… breathe out…" Arram breathed with her as he spoke. "Good, again, breathe in… hold it… and breathe out."
It was fascinating to watch Kitten, her large amber eyes studying the pair, while she copied the instructions. They breathed together until the mage felt Daine relax and closed his eyes, using his Gift to connect with her mind. Did she have any idea of the dangers she had opened herself to? What a mage of his calibre and knowledge could do to her mind? What he could make her do.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Arram focused on her mind and, as respectively as possible, examined it finding no madness as the Lioness had concluded. Going deeper the mage slowly inspected the copper fire of her magic following it until he reached her core.
"I think I see the problem," the mage whispered.
"What is it?" Daine twisted in his grip, but he held her firm.
"Try not to move. I need us to stay in physical contact for this spell to work," Arram explained keeping his eyes closed. "Your magic is bleeding into your core: the self."
"Can you fix it?"
"I can…" Mithros, Mynoss and Shakith, what she was asking of him! For all he knew she could be a temptation sent by the Tortallans to ensnare the emperor's pet mage. Daine's mind was completely open to him. It wouldn't take much to search her thoughts and her memories to discover precisely who this woman was, but it would be a fundamental breach of the trust she had placed in him.
Swallowing hard, the mage set to work on his task of creating a simple barrier between the young woman's core and her magic wishing he had the power to craft something more elaborate. Maybe once she returned home, Harailt of Aili or one of the Tortallan masters could reinforce it with runes to stop this sort of thing from ever happening again. It was stable and would serve its purpose, but the shield was far from ideal.
"How do you feel?" he asked, withdrawing from her mind completely.
"Wonderful," she let out a breathy laugh. "I don't even remember the last time my head felt this clear." Daine looked up at him, her face lit up with happiness. "Can I heal the birds now?"
The mage scowled down at the top of her curly head. "You still don't possess the control needed for healing, but this should allow you to meditate and learn control."
"Please Arram," Daine grabbed his hand, her gorgeous eyes pleading with him. "They're dying. I can feel it. I can feel them dying! I have to help. I'll do anything! Please, tell me how to heal?"
The mage caved pathetically under the intensity of those blue-grey eyes. He defied any man who could resist the look this young woman was giving him right now. Daine could probably command armies with one look alone.
"I suggest one of the first lessons you learn is patience," he teased, turning her head, and placing his fingers on her temples once again. "I will need to work my magic through you. To be clear, no other person will see what you will. Let's start with the meditative breathing."
Arram waited until she relaxed before releasing a thread of his Gift and linking it with her magic. It was easier to do this with someone who possessed the Gift but with the right spells the mage aligned their magics, allowing him to see through her wild magic. Arram breathed in awe hearing the young woman's answering gasp as they looked around the aviary together. Everywhere they looked there was coloured light: the trees were veined with bronze while every leaf and blade of grass was veined in emerald. Sapphire rippled through the fountains and brooks, even the rocks were veined with silver. Sparks of copper in all the trees identified the birds with some of their lights brighter than the others but most were distressingly dim.
It's so beautiful.
The mage hadn't meant to speak into Daine's mind, but he felt her smile and wished this connection weren't quite so intimate. He could feel her body as if it were his own: the rhythm of her breathing, in perfect sync with his own, the tumble of curls brushing against her cheek and the warmth of the marmoset who sat on her thigh.
"In time you should be able to see this without my assistance," Arram whispered. Can you call to that bird?
The mage didn't need to point, Daine could feel source of his focus through their bond. The young woman opened her mouth and Arram quickly covered it with his hand feeling the twinned sensation of her lips brushing his fingers and the feel of his fingers against her soft, full mouth.
Without sound. Call to the bird with your mind.
Daine scowled but called gently, Could you come here, please?
The bird didn't move or even look in her direction. The young woman called several times until she was almost shouting, deafening the pair.
Your magic leaks out of you, touching everything nearby, the mage spoke gently, feeling her frustration. Can you see it? Try to imagine stretching out your magic to touch the bird in the tree. You don't need to use physical gestures. Arram chuckled as she snatched back her hand quickly.
"This isn't easy, you know," Daine grumbled, sending a good deal of irritation directly at him.
The mage smiled, bathing her in a sense of calm. That is why I said you needed patience and practice. It will become easier in time.
On the young woman's fourth try, she succeeded in calling the parrotfinch to her lap with pure determination alone. Arram wasn't sure he'd like to pit his will against hers any time soon.
Hello wing-sister, Daine practically glowed with pride.
It is time to sleep. What is it you need from me? The parrotfinch asked.
Arram heard the bird speak as clearly as if it were a person and couldn't help his own feelings of delight and longing leaking into the bond. The mage dearly wished he could share this experience more than once and set himself to memorising every detail of the exchange.
"Can we heal her?" Daine directed her question to him. "She isn't as weak as some of the others but this one still feels like she has a layer of grime covering her."
She is possibly in the beginning stages of this illness. It's probably best your first patient isn't too exhausted. How well versed are you in avian anatomy?
"In what?"
"The inner workings of a body: bones, veins, muscles and so on," he explained, his voice just above a whisper.
"I know some. Alanna let me look through her two-legger medical books," the young woman answered shyly.
"Two-legger?"
"Human," Daine clarified for his benefit. "It's the People's - animal's - name for us."
Arram mentally filed the terms away, fascinated to learn that animals had a collective name for themselves. "The principles are the same, but the structures will differ depending on the patient."
"What's avian?" the young woman tilted her chin to look up at him. "You glow too!"
"I imagine so," he smiled softly. "Avian is the fancy term for birds."
That's why it's called an aviary! "Why didn't you just say bird?" Daine's thought and question overlapped confusingly as the mage heard her voice aloud and in his mind.
"Sorry. I live and grew-up around scholars, so I'm used to talking this way. I don't mean to be deliberately obtuse," Arram ducked his head which only served to meet Daine's face while she gazed up at him.
"That all right. I quite like it, actually," she grinned making his stomach flutter. "So, can I heal her?"
The mage hesitated not wanting to push her too far so fast. Daine had only just begun to learn control and it was fleeting at best. To heal a patient at this early stage was asking too much of her but Arram could feel the grim determination burning inside of the young woman.
"I will guide you if you don't mind staying connected," he conceded. "This will drain you significantly. You must want to cure your patient more than anything, no matter how weary you become. You need to maintain your concentration throughout."
"I understand. How do we do it?" her tone was deadly serious.
"You must go into your patient. See inside her," the mage closed his eyes and felt Daine follow suit.
Arram guided the young woman into her patient where he could see the shadow she had described dim the parrotfinch's inner fire. The mage showed Daine how to use her wild magic to burn away the shadow, fascinated by the contrast of healing with wild magic as opposed to the Gift. Wild magic required the patient's own strength to do the healing whereas the Gift simply restored health. It was slow going but Daine determinedly hunted down every blot inside the creature until the parrotfinch glowed brightly in their magical sight.
The bird chirped a thank you before fluttering back to her nest, settling down for a good sleep as the young woman sagged on the bench, sweating profusely.
"I think that's enough for one night," Arram suggested, removing his fingers from her temples, and breaking their connection, however reluctantly.
"No!" Daine stood and wobbled precariously before finding her footing, shooting him a stubborn glare. "There's birds much worse'n her."
"Daine, you cannot push yourself too hard in this," the mage tried to reason with her. "You are only just beginning to understand how –"
"I'm going to heal another," she interrupted doggedly before marching off up the stairs. "Are you coming or not?"
Arram pursed his lips but decided it was better to help than let the young woman do this alone, potentially hurting herself and her patient. Kitten whistled at him which almost sounded like an instruction to follow, before hopping off the bench with Zek riding on her back.
The pair healed another two birds in a far worse condition than their first patient. The last bird was so close to death, the mage feared they would lose him, but Daine poured all her strength into the tanager before she feinted from exhaustion. Arram carefully returned their patient to his nest before lifting the young woman into his arms. She felt so light while the mage bent, allowing the dragonet to climb onto Daine's lap and the marmoset to leap onto his shoulder. Extinguishing the light-globe, knowing sleep was the best thing for the three birds after such an intense healing, Arram carried the young woman and her charges through the slave tunnels before quietly slipping into Daine's rooms and lying her gently on the bed. The beautiful lilac dress she'd worn was now stained in several places with bird droppings as he shook his head despondently. Muttering a spell, Arram waved his hand over her dress cleaning away the stains as the dragonet sat up, keen interest in her bright amber eyes.
"Don't tell anyone," the mage whispered, scratching under Kitten's chin affectionately.
Arram gently removed the slippers from Daine's feet and placed them on the floor before covering her in a blanket. Carthak was hot during the day, but it could get quite cold at night. Brushing a sweaty curl off the young woman's face, the mage bent and pressed his lips against her forehead tenderly. Chirping sleepily, Kitten curled up on the other side of the bed while Zek made himself comfortable on the pillow. Arram crept out of the room silently and closed the door before turning to find a red-faced knight bearing down on him.
"You!" the Lioness snarled. If looks could kill, then he would be six feet under. "What were you doing in Daine's room?"
The mage fell to the floor and prostrated himself at the woman's feet. "Forgive this unworthy one, Nobility. The young lady collapsed so this unworthy one was returning the lady to her rooms."
"Don't move!" Alanna snarled.
Arram heard the door open behind him as the knight went to check on Daine. He remained precisely where he was on the floor until the Lioness returned.
"If I find she has been harmed or trifled with in any way –" the knight began.
"I would never harm her!" Arram protested, forgetting himself. "Forgive this unworthy one, Nobility," the mage modified his tone back to subdued slave. "This one would never allow any harm to come to the lady." Not if he had any say in the matter.
The silence seemed to extend forever until the mage glanced up to see a pair of violet eyes assessing him shrewdly.
"I don't know what your game is, but leave Daine out of it," the knight growled menacingly. "Get out of my sight before I change my mind."
Arram got to his feet and bowed to the Lioness before slipping away quickly, not wanting to be introduced to the pointy end of the knight's sword, which he undoubtedly would were she to find out what had occurred in the aviary.