Chapter 42:
The ride back to Os Alta was particularly strange. The behavior most of the Grisha soldiers had towards Timofei and Kara completely changed. Some heart-renders who had ignored them came to chat and ask them about their experience. Some healers asked if they could make a belated entry into her classes. Her students boasted that they had the bravest ungifted as a teacher. It was a bit too much attention to both their liking. Irina kept her distance, her head often downcast and her eyes blurry. Timofei had become quite protective of Kara and repelled her new admirers with a firm and cold smile. He remained polite but indicated that Igraya Smrak had taken a toll on the woman and that she was to be left alone. Indeed, Kara felt queasy for days following their propelled expedition into the Fold. Her nights were wrought with nightmares and she woke up screaming. Alexhander said nothing but wrapped her shivering body in the covers and whispered reassuring words. She would fall back asleep and forget the event in the morning. She barely ate, her stomach threatening to empty itself at the mere sight of any form of meat. The entrails of the broken mare were still fresh on her mind. Esfir and Ania tried their best to coax her to take a few bites but they often gave up. The only thing that seemed to go down was the cook's meager vegetable broth. In the days following their arrival at the Little Palace, it did not get better. The healer's eyes grew rimmed with shadows and she seemed to be floating a little more in her army vest. The shadow summoner grew worried. He threatened to cancel her classes if she did not take some much needed rest. Only when Yurii became insistent, his watery eyes pleading, did the healer give in. After a time, she looked less tired but still seemed too small for her larger vest. She still was unable to ingest any meat, preferring vegetables, bread and cheese.
One evening when the shadow summoner was off to the Fold to check the early arrival of a sandskiff, Kara was summoned by the Queen. She felt better but still weak in her body. Her lessons within the Little Palace and in town had become more demanding with the greater number of adepts. She had been forced to split her class into two: those more advanced and those just beginning. After a time she was too tired to ensure all she had planned. She asked the more senior students to train the newer recruits. Somehow, her moment in the Fold had made her lose interest in the classes. She was happy her students enjoyed them. However, the fact that they learned or applied what they learned was no longer of any importance . When the Queen's letter arrived to invite her for tea, the healer almost moaned. She wished so much to be left alone. Yet, she secured the thick book with the princess's medical records and brought her exhausted body to the Queen's quarters.
The way the queen received her was very much how she had been received by the king months prior. A table with pastries and tea had been set by the warm fire. Warm fur blankets were made available for those more sensitive to the winter chill. However, in opposition to her one-to-on meeting with the king, the ladies in waiting were there too. Soshi smiled kindly at her arrival and Kara made a discreet wave of the hand. The queen seemed tense and nervous but invited her to sit in one of the plush chairs. The healer could not say no as fatigue echoed in her bones. She had brought her bag with a few of Luka's fabricated medical tools. The young man had been very aloof since her walk into the Fold. Esfir had told him the truth of the event and the Fabrikator was horrified. His once distant behavior was gone and he made sure to be available to help her as often as he could. At some point, she had to shoo him away as he was harassing her about her small meals. Yet, in his attempt to redeem himself for goodness knows what reason, he had made her a few tools to listen more closely to a heartbeat. Kara intended on asking to see the princess. Despite reading the records over and over, there was not enough material there to truly make a diagnosis.
Kara observed as the Queen tried to make her comfortable. The healer had a thick blanket on her lap and a warm cup of tea in her hands. She sighed at the comfort of the room. She had given the medical records back to the queen. They were no longer hers and she felt relieved. Her majesty tried to initiate small talk but Kara chuckled, " Moi Tsarista, we can go straight to the matter. I know you are bound to show hospitality. However, let us be efficient and address what brought us here". The Queen was tense for a moment but then nodded. Her hands were nervously playing with the lining of her jeweled fur blanket. Her voice was trembling, " Have you...have you found what is the cause of my daughter's ailments?". Kara sipped from her cup. The tea made her relax. She sighed, " I have a theory. To confirm it I would have to examine the princess". The ladies in waiting whispered nervously amongst themselves. The Queen hushed them, her eyes uncertain. She raised her head proudly, " I promised my daughter I would not give her false hope or impose another necessary examination". The healer insisted," Your majesty, I promise I will do nothing the princess will be uncomfortable with. What I will do will not hurt". Kara adjusted the blanket, shivering, " If I cannot examine her, I will not proceed with your request".
The Queen hesitated, wringing her hands. She sighed and nodded to Soshi, " Very well." The lady in waiting bowed and disappeared in a hidden door at the back of the room. Several minutes later, the princess entered with Soshi. She was dressed in a plain blue dress of silk. Her mousy brown hair was bound tightly to her head. Her frail body leaning gently against the lady-in waiting. She bowed politely to Kara and sat by her mother. The queen proceeded to fuss over a blanket on her daughter's lap. Kara could see the care of this woman for her child and mourned the possibility of ever experiencing such a love. The queen explained, " Daughter, this is the gifted healer I have been telling you about. I think...she might be the key to healing you". The young woman turned her eyes to the healer. Her brown eyes were piercing with intelligence. Her lips were pursed, " Dama Kara, your reputation precedes you. However, I have been examined by the best physicians in our country. I do not see how a military healer, barely head of her battalion for a year, can compete with more...experienced masters". The queen looked apologetically at the healer," Dama Kara do not let this child's sharp tongue turn you away. She is wary." The princess looked sharply at her mother, " My sharp tongue only formulates what is true. She was a vagabond healing the sick before she signed up into the first army. She had no formal diploma from one of our universities".
The queen gasped but Kara chuckled. It seemed to surprise the princess whose cheeks grew pink. She snapped, " What seemed to be funny healer?". Kara placed her empty cup on a silver tray. Her blue eyes fixed the princess in the pale dress. She gently said, " What you say is true in part. I have not been long with the army. However, I have traveled and learned my trade for the past 15 years. I may be young but I am not inexperienced". The healer remained calm, " I have heard that the doctors who have examined you have all been men, is that correct? All from Os Alta's medical university?". The princess hesitated but nodded. The healer smiled, " I am different from everything you have tried. What do you have to lose?". The princess's gazed shifted and blurred. She collected herself and whispered, " You would have me hope? No, there is no hope for me. I was born with this frail body. Nothing can be done about it". Kara nodded, " If it is true, what happens here will change nothing to your life. However...what if I could give a ...perspective? The possibility of a change for the better? Is it not worth trying?". The princess shivered, her eyes glazed, " Please lady. I have been bled, poked, prodded...I've had to swallow the most vile concoctions, sleep in itchy poultices and and inhale foul smelling fumes. I do not want anymore".
Kara pulled her bag opened and placed two objects onto the table. The women in the room leaning in to look at the two foreign contraptions. Kara explained, " I have been working with a Grisha fabrikator for these. They are non intrusive but should give me some insight as to your heart condition". She took one of the contraptions in her hands. She placed the ends of the two earpieces around her neck to which was attached a flexible tube, ending around a small metal disc-shaped resonator. She explained " This will allow me to listen to your heart by placing this end to your chest. It is only placed on the exterior of your skin. It might be slightly cold but no pain will come from it". She moved to the second object and unwrapped it. She continued her explanation, " this is an inflatable cuff that adjusts around your arm. By placing the metal disk of the first device under the cuff, I will be able to estimate the pressure from in your blood flow. It will feel uncomfortable when inflated but it will last only a minute". The women were in awe. One of the ladies in waiting whispered, " I've never seen the like of these devices. It seems so different from what other doctors use". Kara nodded, " Luka is very gifted and has been attending my classes. His first attempts were not as complex but modifications were needed to make them efficient". The queen was nervous, " And...these devices have been tested before?". The healer smiled, " Yes, most of the people of Os Alta coming to us in the city have been examined with these. no harm has come to them."
The princess sighed but nodded, " If they do not hurt then yes, you may use them. I doubt on the information it will put to light". The princess undressed with the help of the ladies in waiting and her modesty was hidden by a thin cotton shirt. Kara gently placed the metal disk and the inflatable cuff on her arm. She inflated the cuff until it was tight and the princess whimpered. The healer closed her eyes and let the air gently escape from the cuff. The sound of blood rushing back through the artery came fast and strong, indicative of a high pressure. Kara noticed the information and removed the cuff. She then gently placed the metal disk of the first contraption to the girl's chest and asked her to breath. There is was. The heart beat was peculiar. Instead of a regular Ba-BOOM Ba-BOOM, what Kara seemed to hear was more of a Ba-BO-click-OM Ba-BO-click-OM. Kara had never heard such a sound. She listened intently for several minuted and tried to associate the sound with what she new of the heart's structure. After several minutes she removed the metal pieces from her ears and remained silent. The princess turned to her and tried to hide her interest. " Well then? what is it?". The Queen was also staring intently at the healer.
Kara stayed silent but pulled a piece of parchment from her bag as well as as a pencil and began to sketch. She quickly drew the outline of a heart, with its different chambers, muscles, veins and arteries. She looked at the princess and explained, " It's only a hypothesis based on your blood pressure and your peculiar heart-beat. You have to imagine a heart as a succession of rooms with doors that let the blood come in before it moved along to the next room. Normally the doors between each room of the heart only open one way. it seemed...that at least one of those doors in your heart opens both ways". The princess was in awe at the drawing. She whispered, " You learned that...from listening to my heart?". The Queen licked her lips in apprehension, " What would that do?". Kara shook her head, " Again, I can only take a guess. If the so called door opens both ways, then the blood rushes back into the previous room. You therefore have less blood that goes to the lungs and supply your body with the air it needs. It would make you more tired, prone to dizziness and fainting. You would have shortness of breath and sweating without much activity. You might often experience swelling in the arms and legs". The princess's eyes watered, " I have all that". Kara saw that the girl's hard exterior was wasting away. She gently covered the young woman with a thick fur blanket. The Queen could not bare the silence. Her eyes were wrought with concern. " Can something be done about her condition?".
Kara hesitated, recalling the King's warning. She was careful with her words. " My Lady, if something could be done, it would mean opening your daughter's chest to correct the anomaly in her heart. That is something that had NEVER been attempted before with success. You would need to find a phenomenal surgeon willing to attempt the procedure". The Queen looked stricken. " Could a heart-render or a Grisha healer do it without surgery?", she said. Kara shook her head, " Their Small Science does not work that way. As incredible as their gifts might be, they cannot fix birth defects". Kara felt her throat tighten at the memory of her exchange with Alexhander concerning her own infertility. The women in the room were silent, pondering on the recent revelation. The princess spoke first, " If...if a surgeon could be found, what could I expect?". Kara swallowed hard, " Again, I can only guess...It would mean opening your chest, cutting through your rib cage and opening your heart. Then, the surgeon would have to quickly identify the leaking door and find a way to fix it. He would have to close the heart and put everything back in place. For her majesty's sake, I would recommend a Grisha healer and heart-render in addition to the surgeon. the Grisha healer would avoid any infections, heal most of the severed tissues and organs as well as removing any scarring". The queen nodded but the princess frowned, " And why would a heart-render be needed?". Kara's heart pounded fast. Her voice quivered, " In case her majesty's heart stopped beating during the procedure". The queen fainted.