From the Ashes (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #3)(69)

Jala shook her head slowly and frowned. “I don’t know what that is,” she said with a sigh.

“An arrow invented in Avanti. They are foul things. Picture a normal arrowhead in your mind. Now add slender needle like spines to each side. Typically there are three to a side. Each of those six spines holds a different poison and they are designed to break off in the wound. If the victim doesn’t die within moments of the poison the spines usually work their way farther into the wound with each movement and breed infection deep in the body,” Micah explained in a hushed voice.

“I see. And you are sure they removed all of these spines?” Jala asked as she turned back to study Sebastian’s still form once more.

“They tell me so. I wasn’t here, however, so I cannot say so with a certainty. I only arrived a month past in hopes of taking him to the safety of Arovan. Sadly, he was already beyond moving then and so I have remained to guard his people in his place,” Micah said with a long sigh.

Jala nodded once more and placed her hands gently on Sebastian’s brow and chest. His skin felt like fire under her touch and she began immediately to channel her magic to reduce the fever. Closing her eyes she focused completely on the body beneath her hands and smiled bitterly as she saw the last clinging strands of Death’s dark magic. The spells had been severed of course but the fragments of magic still ate at his flesh and bred corruption through his body.

With careful gentle nudges she cleansed him of the magic and began the painfully slow process of rebuilding his body. She could see clearly the damage the poisons had wrought on his liver and heart and so she began working at the core of his body and slowly moving outward through bones and tissue and finally muscle until her body ached with fatigue. She pulled herself back from the magic and flexed her numb fingers.

Blinking several times she looked over to find Micah sleeping uneasily in the chair. With a silent groan of pain she leaned back in her own chair and stretched her aching back. She had no idea how long she had labored over Sebastian but by the ache in her body it had been several hours.

“You are quite possibly the last person I expected to see,” Sebastian’s voice was rough but held strength in each word.

Jala looked down at him and smiled weakly, then shrugged. “I’m relieved that you are seeing anything,” she replied.

He propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at himself in obvious amazement. The grey tone of his skin was gone, replaced with the healthy glow of a young man in his prime. His body no longer held any trace of the skeletal state he had been in upon her arrival.

“Bast,” Micah breathed, his voice barely above a whisper. He stood shakily and approached the other side of the bed, his face filled with disbelief as if he expected to wake from a dream at any moment to find his friend still clinging to life.

“Micah,” Sebastian exclaimed in a louder voice. “When did you arrive? Did you bring Lady Merrodin here?” he asked in confusion.

Micah swallowed heavily and shook his head his eyes growing glassy. “I’ve been here for over a month, Bast, waiting for you to wake up. It’s about time you did,” he answered as he dropped down on a knee beside the bed and stared at his friend in amazement.

“I should go. I think I’ve been here far longer than I intended,” Jala began as she rose slowly from the bed. “Lord Sebastian, I have your daughter safe in Merro. Send word if you like when you are safely settled in Arovan and I will do my best to see you reunited. She finds comfort in Valor’s presence but I know she would rather be with her father.”

“Devony lives?” Sebastian straightened in the bed and reached for Jala’s hand grasping it tightly in his own. “Truly you have my daughter?” he asked desperately.

“Truly, and I promise you she is safe. I don’t know how much longer I can promise that though. My country is weak and I have many enemies. Until you are settled, though, I will do everything in my power to keep her protected,” Jala said quietly.

“You give me my life and then my daughter and ask nothing in return?” Sebastian asked cautiously his eyes searching her for any sign of deceit.

“As I told Micah, I ask for nothing more than a kind smile the next time we meet. I came here to help not to buy favor,” Jala explained as she carefully untwined her hand from his. “Really though, I must be going now. I did not explain to my friends that I was leaving and I know they will be frantic for my return.”

Micah rose from his place beside the bed and gave a quick nod to Sebastian. “I’ll see Lady Merrodin back to her escort and then I will return,” he promised as he moved to open the door for her.

Jala nodded gratefully and stepped out onto the stairs on shaky legs. Placing a hand firmly on the railing she made her way slowly down the stairs wishing with every step that healing didn’t drain her so thoroughly.

“I don’t care what you say about not wanting favor. If ever you are in need of anything you need only ask and if it’s in my power I will grant it,” Micah said as they reached the bottom stair. “I don’t even know how you knew he was ill, but there is no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t long for the world and now…” His voice trailed off as he looked back up the stairs in wonder. “I’ve never seen such healing, Jala. Not even from Rose in Sanctuary. He looks as he did in spring. Full of life without a single hint that he has been ill.”