Page 28 of The Gargoyle's Gift
Lovette smiled back. “How wonderful.” She turned to Hugo. “Stop moving, and it won’t be quite as painful.” She shifted him around once again, making him grunt, which brought me a special kind of joy. I was usually on the receiving end of her forcible ministrations, and it was nice to see I hadn’t been given special treatment.
“What are you dosing the guards with?” I asked, realizing we’d never gotten around to that during the time we’d been with the demons. We'd covered plenty else, but that detail had been left out. “To make them not remember?”
Hugo gasped, and Augustus choked on a laugh. “What a ridiculous question.”
“Is it?” I stepped forward, into the space between their beds. Lovette moved to the far side of Hugo’s bed and Magnus to Augustus’s. “How long?” I asked, catching the glance they shared. “How. Long.” I pressed my palm into the open wound Lovette had just dressed in Augustus’s abdomen.
He gasped, trying in vain to push my hand away. Magnus frowned deeply.
The new shift of soldiers came in just as Magnus applied a similar pressure to Hugo, repeating the question of what, precisely, they were giving to whom and under what direction.
“I’ll get more bandages, then.” Lovette gave a soft huff as she returned to the cabinet, dispersing three younger stone kin sentries who stood before it throughout the room.
One at a time, the councilmen flinched as Lovette pressed a hand to their bodies while she worked to undo the damage we’d inflicted. It was obvious the moment her unique talent of stealing anxiety from someone worked its magic on them. I hated that they got such a gift. They didn’t deserve it.
“Speak!” Magnus demanded.
“May I?” Lovette asked.
“Be my guest.” Magnus stepped back, and Lovette sat next to Augustus on the narrow cot.
“Councilman, have you been giving loyal stone kin a potion of some kind? Something that would make them not remember things?” He turned ashen as her nimble fingers began the delicate stitchwork she was so skilled at one-handed, pulling nearly invisible thread through the skin along his stomach. Her other hand forcefully pressed the edges of the wound together, narrowing the gap. “Think carefully before you answer.”
“I don’t know what you’re—” The movement of her arm was barely perceptible, but Augustus jerked. Then he shrieked, and everyone in the room tensed. Lovette glanced up at me, oddly vacant eyes focused on my face as she removed the fingers she’d sunk into his open wound, wiping them on her apron. She turned away again, making him yell out once more a she pulled out the stitch he’d fouled by twitching.
I’d rarely seen this Lovette when I'd needed care. Though when I had, I’d likely deserved it. She was nothing short of terrifying. Even her father looked as though he’d prefer to leave rather than watch her work when she became this cold, distant version of herself, not to mention the soldiers behind us.
“Would you like to try again? I didn’t hear you. I’m afraid it’s terribly important to know.” Her hands began moving again.
“How could you? What about your oath? Haven’t you sworn to do no harm?”
Lovette barked a short laugh, the sound edged in darkness. The tiny hairs on my neck prickled at the sound. “No harm? You were there the night I killed those guards, were you not? They were threatening us, so I had no choice, of course. Still, you saw it happen.”
“That's not … this is different. I'm in your care. You’re not supposed to?—”
“I’ve taken no such oath, councilman. I’m not a physician. Only an exceptionally well-trained healer.” My eyes widened as her arm jerked and he cried out again. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind answering my question, I would appreciate it very much.”
Hugo was panting and sweating as he watched his friend get sewn up. “Oh, for saint’s sake, Auggie. It’s not worth?—”
“Quiet, Hugo!”
She tutted her tongue, using her teeth to break the thread. “Seems I worked a bit too efficiently. That’s too bad. Hugo? Would you mind sharing what you know? I’d hate to see that fester. Some things not even stone sleep can cure. Would be a fascinating thing to study, though.”
As Lovette reached for a bottle of antiseptic, Hugo sputtered, his hands up in a defensive position. “It’s a tonic. I don’t know how it’s made or from what—that’s none of my concern. The witch council provides it.”
My blood turned to lava. “How long?” I demanded.
“As long as I’ve been in my seat. Longer. I don’t know!”
“Shut up, Hugo!” Augustus complained, but Magnus stepping closer was all it took for him to quiet down.
“Can the effects be reversed?”
“I don’t know.”
Lovette stitched as fast as she dared, her jaw ticking in concentration.
By the time we knew where in the council building to find records of the tonic and perhaps even a sample, she’d done enough to ensure they would recover, then we were left with two grimacing statues on the cots after Magnus forced them into stone sleep.
