After reaching Tellcentra, the caravan was sent into a flurry. Tuna sat beside Timbrelle, and held her hand as Davian was booted from the carriage and replaced by the Duchess’s guard. They then set off directly for the Preservatory at Fede’s instruction.
Ping!
Timbrelle waited for the window to appear. A good twenty seconds later she realized that it was probably waiting for her to read it, just sitting there until she finished the text.
She couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter at the cruel twist her day had taken.
Tuna, clearly mistaking her snort for a sob, pulled the woman into her bosom shushing and petting her hair. “I know of one auror at the Preservatory, there are very few whose identities are public. The Rigel head being an auror is a bit of an open secret but Dr. Fax has worked to make himself more valuable than his amethysts would be alone. He has the favor of the King. Fede is close to him as Highpriest in Yost and I’ve met him a few times as the Rigel duchess. I can vouch for his ability.” She kissed Timbrelle on the forehead. “We’ll get you all fixed up.”
Timbrelle simply nodded.
Ever since Ellia mentioned the unnatural pull she had to Timbrelle despite her mortal terror of Unmade, she couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable at Tuna and Fede’s unconditional kindness. It went from surprising but sweet to unsettling in an instant. The idea that her ability may have altered the minds of the people she’d come to care for made her physically ill. She knew that Tuna had no biological children. If she’d managed to work herself into the shape of a daughter by pulling on those heartstrings with her power… the relationship was just the effect of her brainwashing.
It was then that she remembered what Davian had said on their way to the gate. The Rigels weren’t allowed to have an Unmade on their payroll—one in their family ledger being another matter entirely. It was possible that they were manipulating her with their affection to serve their house.
…Was there any sincerity to their relationship? At that point, Timbrelle didn’t think she could rationally judge the answer on her own. She doubted everyone involved, including herself.
They rode in silence. Tuna’s thumb brushing softly over the back of her hand. She spoke gentle words to Timbrelle and fussed over her at every bump of the carriage.
A thought struck Timbrelle like a bolt from the heavens.
Whether it be brainwashing from her abilities or political exploitation from the Rigels… everyone seemed happy. If it was only a matter of time before their relationship went sour, couldn’t she enjoy the connection until then? Victim, aggressor—whatever they were to each other, Tuna treated her like family.
She scooted into the motherly embrace she’d previously been scooting out of.
As long as he kept the box closed, Schrodinger’s cat was never really dead. He didn’t have to confront what waited inside. Timbrelle would cling to this box without opening it. Real or fake; malignant or benign—she still had this affection. Whether one of her few lifelines was sincere needed to be a secondary concern.
For now, that had to be enough.
***
“We’re here, honey.” Tuna said when the carriage came to a halt. The duchess began giving orders to her knight and the driver. Soon people came rushing out to greet them. Tuna, or rather, Duchess Tunari Rigel gave an efficient summary of their conditions to the workers and facilitated Adna’s movement inside.
As she heard Adna be wheeled away she yelled, “I need to stay with Adna! We can’t get too far apart.”
“Calm. I have already arranged for you to be seen together. She is merely being taken to the exam room first. Lucky for us, I already made an appointment. We’re just… a few days early. Now Timbrelle, what’s so important about your bag?” Tuna asked, lightly.
Timbrelle started at the question. “What about my bag?” She heard the distinct slap of skin on skin and felt a tingle in her hand.
“You keep hitting my guard to keep him from taking it.“ Tuna said, curious. “You’re not trying to fend him off? You’re surprisingly deft using only your right arm while blind. Are you alright Pollis?”
Slap.
“Ow, that hurt my hand. Where did I hit you?” Timbrelle asked him. She could now feel the jostling of her struggle with him.
“I’m fine, milday.” Pollis said.
Her fist made hard contact with with the guard’s temple. “Oops, I’m so sorry.”
“That’s enough, Pollis. The doctor may know more about this. For now, please lead her out of the carriage. I promise not to tell anyone you were bested by one of Voltaire’s students.” Tuna got the guard to chuckle and left to follow Adna inside.
Pollis lead her to a wheelchair and she felt herself be handily maneuvered through the building.
Ping!
Another notification came through. Of late, Timbrelle hadn’t been clinging to the glimpses of the interface. Not since leaving the Dorark and being able to relax. But here? In the dark, knowing they were still coming… she felt more vulnerable than she’d ever been. Some of those notifications had saved her life. What was she missing in these windows?
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Ping!
Ping!
“Hey Pollis?” She asked, cautiously. “Is there… a threat?”
Pollis took a second to respond. “Not that I can see. Do you sense something?”
“Never mind. I’m just being anxious, I guess.” She apologized.
Pollis wheeled her into a quiet room. Adna’s fitful breathing placed her near the wall. The clack, click, clack, of Tuna’s shoes returned with another set of much heavier steps.
“Here they are.” Tuna introduced. “Adna and Timbrelle Rigel, my newest granddaughter.”
“You weren’t kidding, Duchess. These girls are a mess!” The voice was affable and coming from a more considerable height than Tuna. He took Timbrelle’s forearm and began pressing his thumbs into the muscle. “I’m no Duke Rigel, but my amethysts should be more than enough to examine you. As you know from the Duke and Duchess, amethyst and citrine are two sides of the same coin. Both are soul manipulation yet one works on yourself and one works on others. Our Duchess here has impeccable control over her own soul, able to mold it into four distinct shapes.”
“Five.” Corrected Tuna politely. “I added another circle to my aura last winter.”
“Congratulations! That’s the most I’ve ever encountered! Why am I not surprised? We may have a citrine master soon enough.” He turned back to Timbrelle, now checking her eyes. “Amethysts are the opposite. I can manipulate other souls, but not my own. I can dull pain or take it away entirely. I can move your joints and limbs exactly how I need during a procedure. Most importantly, I can perform soul therapy. Now, this is vital because your eyes have sustained an injury to your soul. The body and soul are two different things but when you damage one bad enough, it will manifest on the other as well.”
“This is a lot easier to understand than how Loren explained it.” She said, enjoying a brief and straightforward lecture for once.
“Loren? …oh! The Holtwellers! I’m quite fond of his younger brother. How are he and Davian doing these days?” The doctor asked.
“Tuna.” Timbrelle said flatly. “Are Davian and Loren brothers?”
“I’m afraid so. It’s just the them in house Holtweller these days. There’s no love between the two of them.” Tuna said.
“That’s too bad. Viscountess Holtweller was a phenomenal tourmaline auror.” The doctor mourned.
“I still believe we’ll find her gems one day.” Tuna rallied.
They seemed about to continue on in that surprisingly somber direction when Timbrelle cut in.
“Why am I blind?” She blurted out, ever tactful.
“Oh! Excuse me. It’s been some time since I’ve spoken with another auror… uh.” He cleared his throat. “This looks fairly straightforward. In essence: you sustained second degree radiation burns to your soul. Your sight should return in a day or two after an in-depth soul therapy and superficial tourmaline treatment. I’ve never seen a reaction to gates be this severe. Occasionally a sapphire-bonded auror will require minimal attention with a healing wand but radiation burns to this extent would suggest that you resonate deeply with all three manipulars—sapphire , emerald and topaz. That in itself is a tad ridiculous to say as there are no known topaz aurors.
“In light of this new development, I suggest we conduct our previously scheduled appointment after your sight clears up and your soul can calm down. Right now it will be incredibly loud from the injury. It should die down in a week or so. If we were to take them now, the tests might not be accurate.”
“I got a bad sunburn on my eyes from some rocks? That sounds about par for the course. What you said about damage to the soul doing damage to the body, is that why I have this big hole in my chest?” Timbrelle put the pieces together.
“A hole in your… could I have you lay down please?” He led her to a bed beside Adna’s and lifted her shirt. “I’ll need to remove these bandages.”
“Fede mentioned an injury on ‘the girl’s’ sternum. I thought he was talking about the bruising on Adna…” Tuna worried aloud. She sucked in a sharp gasp when the doctor pulled away the last of the wrappings.
“You shattered an aurora gem.” The doctor observed. “Rubies are the worst for this—so much potential energy stored in them. I presume the wound has been cleaned and all the fragments have been flushed?”
“Cleaned, but there were no fragments in me. All of them showed up in Adna. She’s been coughing them up for days.” She was getting frustrated. Why weren’t they concerned about Adna? “Can you just check her, please? Adna’s doing much worse than I am. My bones are still sore but I don’t think they’re broken anymore. I’m cherry—all things considered. Adna, however, is still breathing but her heartbeat is so faint that I can’t even find it.”
The doctor could be heard messing with a number of instruments and Adna herself. She imagined much the same poking and prodding he’d done to her.
After quite some time he finally said, “Pardon me, I’m going to grab a colleague of mine. I’ll be back shortly.”
Once they were alone, Timbrelle felt Tuna’s hand on hers. “I am so sorry, I didn’t know the wound was this severe. I can’t imagine Fede knowing the true extent either. Please believe me when I say we would have rushed you here immediately, gates be damned.”
“It’s alright. It hurts but not as much as you’d expect. Since nobody said anything I thought maybe it wasn’t a big deal here on Kitos. I thought ‘there’s magic here, so this might be considered a scratch’. But don’t worry, I kept using the tourmaline-stovecoil-wand-thingy on my own to close it up more and more. Except, now I have a partially skinned over crater in my chest that leaks an alarming amount of blood.” Timbrelle laughed and immediately regretted it now that the pressure of the bandages wasn’t holding everything in.
Tuna brushed the hair out of her face tenderly. “How are you alive?”
“Hey, I’m fine! I’m fine!” She tried to soothe the woman. Timbrelle didn’t think she was capable of handling much more somberness. “Morto saved me. He forcibly attuned me to a ruby that stabilized me. I’m alright.”
Tuna’s hand halted in place. “Morto did what?”
“Forcible… attunement?” Timbrelle repeated.
“That son of a bitch Morto forcibly attuned you…” Tuna’s voice was little more than a whisper.
Ping!
Ping!