Agent of the Dragon

Elise woke once on the journey to the palace. When she saw Rhysa, she smiled and closed her eyes again. Coramin met them at the palace with a gurney, and he and Rhysa installed Elise in the first of the guest bedrooms in the Kasteryn apartments.

Rhysa and Coramin had dinner in the private living area, though they left the doors between them and Elise’s room open. They talked quietly about what had happened and Rhysa’s suspicions. After dinner, Rhysa showed Coramin the other guest bedroom and the bathing chamber. Then she went to bed.

Hathorina knocked on the door just as Rhysa was finishing breakfast the next morning. Rhysa had already sent Coramin on a spurious errand to find clothes for Elise. Rhysa led Hathorina into Elise’s bedroom.

“Well, young one,” Hathorina said when Elise’s eyes focused on her. “You look less like a cutting wind, since I saw you, and more like a pile of clay.” Hathorina kept her voice light and was rewarded by a faint smile.

“You here to make me a new dress?” Elise’s voice held more than a hint of self-deprecation.

“No, young one. I’m here to help Rhysa.”

Rhysa stepped forward. “We’re going to do some additional healing.”

Elise nodded passively, and Rhysa had the uncomfortable feeling if she told Elise that Elise’s foot had to come off, Elise would willingly accept it. To take her mind off that thought, Rhysa turned to Hathorina. “I think we should start with the spine. I’ve been thinking how we’re going to do this.” She turned to Elise and pushed a strand of hair off her friend’s forehead. “I’m going to put you to sleep again. You won’t feel anything that way.” Elise nodded and Rhysa carefully pushed Elise’s consciousness into sleep.

Once Elise was asleep, Rhysa turned back to Hathorina. “I’ll do a variant of the teaching technique Bryn used to train me to set bones. I’ll create a ghost image in your Sight of what the final arrangement should look like. All you have to do is make the spine fit the image. I’ve already Scanned her, and there are three areas in the spine that will need to be fixed. The first is a muscular problem between the shoulder blades; the second is a ruptured disc about halfway down the spine; the third is in the lumbar region where a couple of vertebrae are fusing together. There’s supposed to be fusing in the sacral region, but not the lumbar.”

Hathorina nodded and Rhysa tapped the overlay. She sunk her mind into Elise’s back and closed her eyes. The images appeared in front of her eyes as if the inside of her eyelids were screens. To Rhysa’s eyes, the layers of muscles looked like nets. Healthy muscles kept the net in proportion across the entire surface. Rhysa found the location of the muscular problem. It looked like someone had pulled too hard on a single strand of the net, distorting the pattern.

“Do you have Sight up?” asked Rhysa.

“Yes.”

“Here’s the way it looks now.” Rhysa projected the image into Hathorina’s sight. “Let me know when you find it.” She felt the overlay shift as Hathorina delved into Elise with her mind.

“Found it.”

“Okay. Here’s what it should look like.” Rhysa adjusted the image, lengthening the too tight rope so it no longer pulled the vertebrae between Elise’s shoulders out of alignment.

“Got it. Here we go.”

Rhysa watched as Hathorina somehow caused that single strand to grow. As the strain lessened, Rhysa relaxed the muscles on the other side so the vertebrae were not pulled out of alignment on that side. Slowly the net resumed its proper proportions.

“Okay, Hathorina, let go.” Rhysa removed the ghost image from Hathorina’s Sight.

At Rhysa’s command, Hathorina pulled her mind from Elise. Rhysa gently stimulated the supporting muscles along Elise’s spine as a sort of soft splint while her body adjusted to the relieved strain. When she was happy with the result, Rhysa also pulled her mind from Elise.

Rhysa turned to Hathorina. “That was very well done.”

Hathorina smiled. “Working with living tissue is definitely interesting. On the whole, though, it wasn’t that different from adjusting a piece of cloth to conform to a paper pattern.”

“I was hoping you would see it that way. Now, let’s deal with the ruptured disc.”

Rhysa closed her eyes again and Scanned Elise for the ruptured disc. When she found it, she showed it to Hathorina. To Rhysa, it looked like a balloon filled with gel that had a hole from which the gel was leaking. Mentally, she created an image of the gel being pushed back into the balloon, and the hole no longer present. Then she thickened the walls slightly to prevent a future rupture. When she felt Hathorina start to gather the gel, Rhysa carefully spread the gap between the vertebrae so the balloon could expand. When Hathorina reinforced the completed balloon, Rhysa eased the vertebrae together. Again, she gently stimulated the surrounding muscles to create a soft splint.

Without pulling out, Rhysa sought the vertebrae that were beginning to fuse. She projected the image to Hathorina. This time, though, she spoke as she altered the image.

“I’m going to have to cut them apart. What I need you to do is extend the surrounding tissue to cover the exposed portions. Make sure you use bone tissue, not muscle, ligament, or disc.” She highlighted the appropriate tissue. “We’ll also have to repair the disc.”

“I see.”

Using a much finer blade of magic than she used on the would-be assassin, Rhysa deftly cut between the vertebrae. Then, she held the bones apart so Hathorina could fit the expanding tissue between them, and repair the cushioning disc. After creating the soft splint, Rhysa opened her eyes and smiled at Hathorina.

“How are you doing?”

“Well enough. As long as I keep from thinking about the fact I’m messing around inside a living person.”

Rhysa nodded. “It took me a while, too.” Rhysa paused for a couple of breaths. “You ready to tackle her hand?”

“Let’s do it.”

“In order to repair her hand, you’ll have to reconnect the tendons, ligaments, and nerves. You’ll also need to smooth out the muscles in the area. I’ll use the ghost image again.”

Hathorina nodded and Rhysa closed her eyes. Elise’s hand presented a problem: it was conceptually easier to understand what needed to happen than it was with the spine, but the how of it eluded Rhysa.

Hathorina clicked her tongue with disapproval when she saw the clumsy knots. “This won’t do. Your analogy yesterday about string, it seems, is fairly accurate. This kind of mess, I can deal with.”

Before Rhysa could project the correct image, Hathorina had untied one of the knots. Then, to Rhysa’s horror, Hathorina split the ends further. When Hathorina had turned the two ends to fibrous bristles, she began splicing them together. The speed and surety of movements impressed Rhysa, and kept her from protesting. When the splicing was complete, the join looked whole, though striated, but Hathorina wasn’t done. She extended her other magic, and in front of Rhysa’s eyes, the tendon smoothed. When Hathorina pulled back, Rhysa Scanned the tendon. If she hadn’t seen the repair, she wouldn’t have known the tendon had been cut.

Rhysa pulled out and opened her eyes to stare at Hathorina. Hathorina, on the other hand, looked smug.

“That’s amazing.”

“I learned the splicing from a sailor. I adapted it to sewing. This is just another use. I can show you, later.”

“Please do.”

Rhysa turned back to Elise. “I expect the rest of this will be the same.”

Hathorina nodded. “Care to watch?”

Rhysa said nothing, only delved into Elise’s hand with Sight. As she watched, Hathorina performed the same miracle with ligaments and nerves. It was over much more quickly than Rhysa expected.

There was a noise in the doorway and Rhysa spun, hands flashing to daggers. Coramin stood there, eyes wide. Rhysa suppressed a flash of guilt and fought the urge to glance at Hathorina. “How long have you been there?” Rhysa stepped forward to head off a potentially volatile situation.

“Not long.” Coramin’s voice was vague as he slipped by Rhysa and Hathorina to peer down at Elise. Rhysa switched to Sight and watched as Coramin Scanned Elise’s hand. “This is amazing!” breathed Coramin. “If I hadn’t helped reconnect bone and muscle, I would swear this hand had never been severed.” He looked sharply at Rhysa. “How did you do it?”

“Let’s discuss this in the living area.” Rhysa evaded the direct question. “Elise should rest as much as possible.”

Coramin led the way, his steps betraying an eager tension. Behind his back, Rhysa shot a questioning glance at Hathorina. The barest shake of Hathorina’s head answered her. “Splicing only.” Rhysa nodded agreement.

In the public living area, Coramin stood in the center of the room, shifting from foot to foot as if preparing to pounce. He opened his mouth to speak, but Rhysa beat him to it. “Have a seat.” He wandered to stand in front of a chair. He tried to speak again, but Rhysa insisted. “Sit down.” This time there was a note of command no one in that room had heard from Rhysa before. Coramin sat, then looked surprised at finding himself seated.

Before Coramin could recover, Rhysa started talking. “It’s a technique called ‘splicing.’ H--mmm. Aryn, here, learned the technique from sailors. She adapted it to sewing, and now she’s shown me how it can be done with living beings. She’s offered to show me how to do it. I’m sure she’ll let you join in.”

Hathorina--Aryn Cavass--nodded. “I’d be happy to. I can stay until lunch. I’m meeting a client after that.” At the nods of Rhysa and Coramin, she turned to Rhysa. “Do you have, or can you send for, several lengths of large fiber rope?”

Rhysa stuck her head through the door into the palace halls and caught a page’s attention. She requested the rope Aryn had asked for. A porter came a few minutes later, carrying several coils of heavy, fibrous rope. Rhysa held the door open, and had him drop it in the middle of the floor.

After the man left, Rhysa drew a dagger and, at Aryn’s direction, cut the rope into six lengths of about four feet. Aryn distributed the pieces so each person had two lengths. “Large fibers make learning easier. As you practice, you’ll be able to use smaller and smaller fibers. It took me about six months to work my way down to splicing threads. And a year before I could do individual fibers.” Aryn instructed, encouraged, and commiserated with her two students. It was noon before they realized it.

Rhysa escorted Aryn to the door while Coramin checked on Elise. “I want to thank you for everything you’ve done--for Elise and for me.”

Aryn enfolded Rhysa in an embrace, becoming Hathorina for a little while. “I’m proud of you, child. I know your father would be, too. He loved you so very much and took pride in all your accomplishments.”

Rhysa felt the sting of tears in her eyes and a lump choke her throat. She clung to Hathorina, then recovered herself quickly and stepped back.

Hathorina reached out and touched Rhysa’s cheek with a palm. “We still need to speak of your family. I haven’t forgotten.” Rhysa nodded and Hathorina turned and walked off--once more Aryn Cavass, the couturiere.

Two days later, Rhysa had worked her way through most of Lady Kasteryn’s office. Most of it was outdated as of Lady Kasteryn’s death. Still, there were a few things that interested Rhysa. Jayse’s report on Lord Amilar, the effects of the riot, Rhysa’s training and progress. Rhysa felt strange reading Lady Kasteryn’s evaluations.

“Anything interesting?” Elise leaned against the doorframe.

“A couple of things.” Rhysa shuffled some papers to the top of the stack. “How was your training session this morning?”

“Exhausting. Coramin’s becoming irritating; it’s not helping.”

Rhysa nodded, stretched, and stood. She walked over and kissed Elise on the forehead. “He’s infatuated.”

Elise made a face. “I know. I wish he wouldn’t.”

Rhysa shrugged. There wasn’t much she could say to that. She changed the topic. “Take a look at this.” She handed Elise the report on the riot.

Elise glanced at the first page, then went back and read the first paragraph. “But this is what we were looking for.”

Rhysa nodded. “You know Lady Kasteryn. She probably didn’t tell us she had this because she likes to make people do their own work.”

Elise sighed. “And she probably wanted to see if you came to the same conclusions, or discovered something new. I’ll read through this and see if anything jumps out.”

Rhysa was tired of research. She wanted something active to do. She needed a workout. She left Elise looking through the riot report, changed into hose and tunic suitable for sweating in, grabbed her sword, and left to find the palace salle.

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