They spent a long time on Farley’s points, and got the memory-sharing stare for all of it. While they were at his head, Math~an waved a containment on Farley’s lower body with that stuff!

Math~an got very upset! “His hands are unwell also! I will bring my wife, but I can begin. My son, let me see this hand. Nae hide. Is unwell to hide so, from a healer! Even in nesfa, he holds tightly to his illusions! I think Galarsmen trained all of these diplomats to do so!”

I grimaced as Farley just kind of gave up. His arms were also twisted, and his hands, so tightly rolled that they were one brown bruise! Splits in his fingers bled. How did I not see that? Or feel it? How could any healer miss that? They hold hands a lot, all Zheien do, and it couldn’t feel normal!

With a long, weary sigh that rumbled, Math~an gently pried at each finger. They were so swollen, they were round, and had splits in the skin between ‘em, too, that he hummed to heal. I realized, they looked like his feet.

Siasch wept. “What caused this? Did his enemies find him on Elshar Mashai? But I never saw this kind of torture, even from Heden’s victims.” Even I knew about him! He tortured a lot of diplomats who had nightmares in Rainbow and I saw things. Never learned how to block a telepathic nightmare.

“This is nae Heden’s work. I saw this, at times, in people of Marenalay. There are certain poisons in the sands of Elshar Mashai, from Tessite mines, that I see in Esta Faho, Rahn Estar, and Kin Para, to a lesser extent because he has less mines than the others.

“The poison that worries me most is asferas, a poison in certain Tessite mines that is corrosive, so these mines use it to process ore. In his refined state, he blows in winds and contaminates bathing sands if used in fountains, and all these colonies used them.

“People thought if nae used during winds, was safe. This is nae true! Air moves, and the constant motion of sands in a fountain, also stirs sands around the fountain. Asferas brings shakings, but also alertness. Memory of shakings is terrible, for there are great pains. But I also see pinates, that impairs memory, and increases shakings.

“This damage is from clinching of muscles in the fingers, so severe that the very skin parts! Repeated injury is great harm, but perhaps, when they used ea fae, they felt what seemed as intoxication, and avoided much. Is unwise for any Zheien to avoid ea fae. You see that even bathing gives little relief, because skin remembers frequent injury.

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“Let me heal his arms, then I must look on other areas.” Poor Math~an looked tired after doing Farley’s legs, but other healers tried to help and just looked puzzled. And they were all master healers, from the Tessite symbols!

After he healed Farley, his arms looked normal. Then he had Siasch hold Farley across his lap and put his hands on Farley’s back. Healed that. He had to lie down and sleep.

Other healers turned Farley and he curled up, tightly! Didn’t expect that! I hugged him. “Love, what’s scaring you?”

I can nae wake!

“You need sleep! You just got a lot of healing—”

All of me sings Deathsong!

Siasch stroked his head. Shared memories of just what Math~an healed, but it scared Farley more.

I sang and that girl came and sang, too. Progs gave him bis tia, but he couldn’t have more, and it warned Siasch not to try to heal him, either! Konomai startled and wept. His loud memories suggested that’s how a lot of people die here!

Pirad came and put a hand on Farley’s head. “This is why they use so much umar seg. They knew of these poisons. They also feared to let any of the people know about them, and effects of them, and many others. Siasch, you will see much of this. Let me heal all of them as Math~an did, since none of these healers could learn it from him. Master healers often have unique gifts that they cannot teach.” White light filled the whole building, and people came in to try to figure out what just happened! Pirad was gone.

Farley wasn’t painful now, and slept.

Siasch still had dark eyes. “Pirad can’t heal them completely. They will all have to stay here a long time.”

“But, since he fixed all the poisons, won’t they be okay, now?” I didn’t want to start crying again, but I kept thinking about that last nightmare Farley had, and we both died!

“Show me that.”

I let him see all of it, and all the times we got on dorna and Farley took off across the Barrens, and how upset Konomai got.

He sighed. “Pirad did heal them and got all the poisons out, but when a person’s exposed to poisons when he’s injured, his head learns to make poisons. Pirad’s progs can compensate for this, over months, but they’ll have frequent upsets because that’s what happens.” His voice broke.

I had a good cry on Siasch’s shoulder. But then I thought, we died together. We died happy, for the most part. We love each other.

But then, I thought about Farley’s fa.