Page 82 of Degradation

Garron swore.

“You better go back in,” the fake man said. “You’ll need to fix your face before you can leave.”

The door to Getaina’s swung open, and I pulled us back inside.

* * *

I cappedthe last vial and wrapped them all in the cloth Getaina had provided.

“How is your head?” I asked.

“Good. The pain’s almost gone. My knees don’t hurt at all either.” She stood and sat several times. “Hips too. Take care when you brew your healing tea. Too potent and the bones can mend before they’re set in place.”

“So I read. I didn’t feel anything broken inside of you, though.”

She tsked at me and nodded to Garron, who was staring at the muddy liquid in the cup I’d given him.

“I think he doubts your skills,” she said.

“Not in the slightest,” Garron said. “However, I am regretting my choice to slap her earlier and hope that hasn’t influenced her choice in remaking my appearance.”

“I promise you’ll be fine, Garron. Just drink already. The sun has set, and your brothers are worriers. We can’t afford them roaming the streets until they drink these.”

He wrinkled his nose and tipped back the brew. His gag reflex reacted violently, which Getaina found vastly amusing.

“Keep it down, boy. Too many ingredients were used to waste it like that. There you go. Good. Just breathe through it.”

As I watched, his face began to shift and bubble.

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

“No. It itches fiercely, though.”

Getaina remained quiet, and I felt her growing concern. She’d never seen the spell work like that before. I glanced at her.

“I thought spells either worked or didn’t work,” I said. “Can I cast wrong? Can I hurt them?”

“Of course you can cast wrong. Who told you that nonsense about it either working or not working?”

I looked at Garron.

“You were too afraid, Snow, and we needed you to be fearless.”

His face settled into a misshaped imitation of his former self, completely unrecognizable if one only had the sketch to evaluate and compare.

“Well, that certainly will work. Let’s hope it’s not permanent, or you’ll have ugly babies. Would you like to see?” She held out a mirror, which I snatched from her hand.

“He would not,” I said.

Then I crossed the room and kissed Garron on his twisted lips.

“It’s temporary. I promise.”

“I trust you,” he said.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t. I was trying to turn you into a woman.”

Getaina hooted and slapped her knee. “If you’d been able to manage that, you wouldn’t have needed to see me. You would have been able to defeat the queen on your own. I’ve only heard of one caster in our history able to change people into something other than themselves. I’m pretty sure she turned a man into a beast.”

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