Page 133 of A Baron of Bonds
Maybe if I set her down on one of these steps and worshiped her with my tongue, it would be enough to satiate my burning desire that smoldered and seeped through any logical thought.
No, thiswaslogic.
I wanted her. Here. In Viridis. Just like before.
I wanted to taste her, move inside her and hear her cries, her pleas for more.
Her breath caught as we reached the Medicus Conduit Hall. I hadn’t even attempted to dampen my lust, and I knew it flowed down our line to her, just as hers found its way to me.
She closed her eyes and let go of my hand, her breath heavy as she stepped forward to the shelves where brilliant green vines trailed to the floor. I took a moment to observe the state of the books. They were mostly disheveled, black inking their pages and spines. I knew if we looked inside each of them, we’d find evidence of the Blight.
These manuscripts could not return to what they once were.
But we could work on that, replacing the ones lost to the Blight, filling the shelves with new works.
Her hand traced down the row of books, the pads of her fingers shuffling over each one as she tilted her head to read the spines.
I ran my hands through my hair, taking fresh Viridis air into my lungs.
“Here! It’s here!” She pulled a thick tome from its place on the shelf above her head, its cover sticking to the book next to it. She peeled it away gently, sitting on the marble floor, the silk benches around us ruined and in need of replacing.
I sidled up beside her as she held the book open in her lap, scanning the pages for the answer we needed.
The book described common diseases, ones developed from others, changing and spreading over time—easily cured by any medicus conduit.
The second half of the book related the author’s experience with magically produced diseases—whether created by accident or intent.
We skimmed those pages, both of us murmuring short passages to each other, continuing our search for how to cure our friend.
My eye caught on a passage and I pointed to it, reading aloud,
“Diseases created via magic are especially dangerous and can be cured with varying levels of success. The only way to completely cure a magical disease is to stop the heart of its creator. The power that was imbued into the disease will die with them.
However, through meticulous study, I have discovered another way to cure a disease, though only partially. Through this process, something of the disease is left behind in the physical or mental traits of each person infected.”
“Philius’s hands,” Karus whispered. “The Black Fever was only partially cured because Heimlen was still alive.”
I nodded and flipped the page.
“All magical diseases are created through parts of Felgren. I’ve seen cases where ferns or lichen were magically imbued to create an illness. This practice began as a way to find cures for certain ailments, but quickly developed into dangerous magic and was outlawed centuries ago.
A magical disease can be partially cured, if the piece of Felgren is destroyed. Then, the magic can no longer siphon through the object.”
I leaned my head back against the shelves and closed my eyes. “If Heimlen used a piece of the Blight to create the Black Fever, how did he destroy it?”
“Fire. He used fire.” Her line of sight was set across the courtyard to the enormous marble staircase. “I lit those trees on fire and they began to die. But we can’t risk lighting all of the Blight on fire and possibly destroy all of Felgren. Heimlen must have known that, too.” She rubbed her temples, sighing. “Heimlen was alive at the time of the cure, so there might be more to the survivor’s traits than we realize. Their hands, yes, but here it saysmentaltraits as well.”
I knew we were both thinking of Philius.
“Since Heimlen is dead, wouldn’t the disease be cured completely?”
I frowned, turning the page, looking for more answers and finding black, ruined pages. I shook my head, sighing. “I’d bet this author didn’t know everything and anything else they did is destroyed. If the Blight played a bigger role in the disease, then it would be the Blightress whose heart also needed to be stopped to cure the Black Fever completely.”
“But this means Pompeii should be mostly cured, right? The trees are destroyed and that’s where his illness came from.” She stood and gestured to the top of the white staircase where a portal would form for us to leave when we were ready. “Can you tell? If you try to connect to him wordlessly, can you ask him how he is?”
“Our connection has been weakened, but I’ll try again.” I stood and held my hand out to pull her up. I closed my eyes to concentrate, nudging Pompeii with my mind.
I felt a stir, as if he had been sleeping right where I’d left him this morning. The connection we shared as Baron and Overseer was still weak, but not as fuzzy as it had been.
