Tylee moved with poise and grace down the street while I stumbled after her, trying to vain to rub soot from my face and arms with a damp cloth while juggling my staff and bag into comfortable positions on my body.

"While your haste is admirable," Tylee said wryly, "I believe you are making a fool of yourself. Allow me."

She paused and took the washcloth from my hand. With economical movements, which told me this was not her first time scrubbing down a grubby adventurer, my skin was left tingling in irritation, but much cleaner than before. I gratefully took the cloth and dropped it in my bag, making a mental note to myself about taking it out later.

"How long has your sister been sick?" I asked.

"This will be the third month." She said.

Almost a season then. That was... worrying. It either hinted at a slow-acting poison, which would be incredibly difficult to deal with, or the presence of somebody within the household who was actively administering said poison. Although why someone would have planned a lingering death for her rather than a swift ending was beyond me.

"Do you trust the people who serve her food?" I asked.

"Implicitly." She replied, "The staff have all sworn oaths to the house of Arefina."

"How much money would it take to convince a wick to give up his or her power?" I asked grimly, "Or some other motivation? Does anybody have family who have suddenly gone missing?"

Arefina's face grew grave. The woman had a habit of expecting others to act in the same upright way in which she did. I was afraid that this would be in incredible detriment to her in the obviously cutthroat world of Aramoran politics. To me, it was endearing. That was why I was putting myself in mortal danger to help her.

That, and a goddess had asked me to do it.

As we approached the center of the city, there were fewer and fewer people bustling about. Their garb also began to change. Simple, efficient clothing was replaced by ornamented and exaggerated styles. Some of the people we passed gave Arefina significant glances, followed by whispers which I couldn't help but overhear.

"They say she broke her vows to the Lady!" A woman whispered in a scandalized voice.

"I heard she killed a group of adventurers." A man whispered back, "Got slapped on the wrist and sent home. Her sister died shortly after."

I closed the distance between us and lowered my voice, "You are not well liked."

Tylee shrugged, "That is irrelevant."

"It seems to me that it is increasingly relevant." I replied hotly, "You need to make some allies Lady Arefina. I don't... I don't want to see you get hurt."

She took a stutter step, then resumed her swift pace, turning a hot gaze on me, "I choose my friends carefully Master Dyre. I would hope that you would be understanding of that. I will not give my trust and devotion without care, or with the intent to betray."

I sighed, "You don't understand politics."

She grimaced, "I do not like politics. There will come a time when I will do what must be done. Until then, I will maintain the standards which the Sisterhood instilled within me. Just because I must muddy my feet, it does not mean I will wallow in the cesspit surrounding the court."

I was taken aback by that and grew silent. I had assumed that her lack of connections stemmed from naivete, or perhaps her inability to speak in anything but correct, unvarnished language. It seemed that she was fully aware of the currents swirling around her, and was unwilling to be tugged about by them. I respected that, though I felt like a man who had chained his foot to a rock and dropped into said river.

We entered the grounds of a three storied manor that covered more area than the entire library, and I whistled at the size of it. Two banners of red unfurled themselves to either side of the entrance, adorned with a shield that held the likeness of the four elements, signifying that the house had borne a great soul of each cardinal element. Before the shield was the image of what I assumed was a gryphon. This appeared to be the family crest.

The house itself was built from red brick, worn smooth by the passage of time. Alabaster casements gave way to windows which were almost as tall as I was. The door was carved from what appeared to be a solid piece of ironwood, and would probably resist battering even better than the actual walls of the house. A few shutters I spotted were closed from the inside, most likely made of the same material. Functional and stylish. I liked it.

I whistled appreciatively.

"I would ask you to refrain from such actions," She muttered harshly, "This is not a brothel."

I clamped my mouth shut. Of course whistling was bad in Aramor. I should have guessed it.

Tylee swept up to a pair of servants with a nod, holding up a hand as one moved to intercept me.

"This is Master Dyre," She said, "A friend of the Sisterhood and master alchemist. I have asked him here on behalf of my sister Megaine. While he is here, you may regard his words as my own, within all suitable limits of course."

You aren't being very subtle Tylee.

"Of course, my lady." The man said, bowing deeply, then bustling after us, "Is there anything that you require Master Dyre?"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I paused for a moment, Tylee's footfalls stopping moments later as she turned to regard me.

"You are the head of the servants?" I asked.

"Bertram sen Arefina at your service." He said with a bow, "I have served the house from my boyhood."

I nodded thoughtfully, "For now, I would appreciate it if you would have hot water brought to the lady's room, along with the strongest soap available. Afterwards, I may need your assistance as well."

"I am at your disposal." He said, bowing again.

With a gesture to the woman beside him, they hurried away to fulfill my instructions.

"You are conversant in the ways of ordering servants." Tylee noted.

"I've been on the receiving end," I replied, deigning to elaborate no further.

Tylee took me at my word and led me to a room on the third floor. The man standing outside had a stoic expression and a cerulean glare for me that would have melted steel. I would be willing to bet that he was either an earth or fire mage. His darkly tanned skin was stretched taut over a muscular figure that had probably benefited from several years' worth of strength enhancing elixirs.

"Vesk." Tylee said in greeting, "This is Ethan Dyre. He is a medical alchemist. I have asked him here to look over my sister."

The man's eyes turned from angry to calculating as he looked me up and down, "Lord Arefina doesn't want undesirables seeing the lady."

Tylee regarded him coolly, "My father is the man of this house, but I have been appointed daughter-heir. My rights supersede his own. Stand aside Vesk."

The air between the two heated noticeably. I could tell that Vesk wasn't like the other servants. He occupied some niche which allowed him to call upon the influence of Tylee's father, protecting him from the wrath of even the daughter-heir of the house.

After several seconds, the man stepped to the side and bowed slightly, "As you wish, my lady."

I tried to avoid spontaneously combusting from Vesk's glare as we entered the room. The man was no great soul, but the read halo around his iris nearly consumed his natural color of brown.

On a rather impressively sized bed in the middle of the lavishly decorated room lay a figure who shared Tylee's white hair. Her features were more gaunt than the healthy, though starkly angular, set of Tylee's, but I could easily tell that they were sisters. Despite her closed eyes, I felt a sort of awareness around her as I entered the room.

"Affinity?" I asked.

"Water." Tylee said, approaching her sister quietly, "Her meditation is the only thing keeping her alive."

I nodded thoughtfully. It made sense. Although geomancers were capable of making themselves tougher, hydromancers were the true masters of durability. Where a geomancer would crack, a hydromancer would bend. It was obvious that Megaine was sustaining herself with magic, as it literally oozed off of her. Interesting.

Tylee turned to face me, "What is your opinion."

I shrugged, "She's an accomplished mage. That's all I can tell right now. Do I have your permission to touch her?"

Tylee nodded, and I stepped forward, laying two fingers on her forehead. Closing my eyes, I chanted the attunement spell under my breath, igniting a small amount of essence to connect us for a brief moment. Pain flashed through my body, and I felt Tylee's steadying grip take hold of me as the awareness of her sister's malady caused my knees to buckle.

"She's definitely been poisoned," I groaned, holding my head, "Have you tried any curatives?"

Tylee nodded, "All the known ones. Nothing has helped."

I nodded thoughtfully. The brief alignment of our bodies had told me that there was a mass of the poison collected in her heart. It felt as if the organ had been healed several times, and the woman's own hydromancy was working to overcome the attack. The problem was that her body seemed incapable of metabolizing or excreting the foul stuff.

We were briefly interrupted by the entrance of a maid bearing a porcelain bowl of steaming water. She deposited her burden on a stand in the room, probably meant for such use, then placed a bar of yellow-brown soap on the vanity next to the stand before leaving without comment.

"Give me a moment." I muttered, taking the moment to summon a long-needled syringe from my bag and moving to wash my hands, "Could you strip her nightgown."

Tylee gave me a level look.

"It's for medical purposes," I supplied hastily, "I don't plan on ogling her."

Tylee's eyes narrowed, "See that you do not."

While she was distracted with the task, I washed my hands, then tapped the skin beneath my right eye, igniting the smallest amount of essence into white magic. It wouldn't take much, though even the small amount I channeled left me with a heady feeling that only deepened my desire to summon even more. I suppressed it with some effort.

Placing two fingers over her chest, I moved swiftly, driving the needle between her ribs and directly into her heart. With a feeling of relief and frustration, I released the small burst of white magic into her body, bidding it to mend the wound which I was currently creating.

Switching my grip, I pulled back on the plunger and withdrew a significant glob of blood, another darker substance swimming in its depths. Pulling the needle free gently, I slapped a bandage over the wound, more to cover my own use of white magic than to cover up the quickly knitting flesh.

Between Tylee and I, we quickly had her sister bandaged properly and reposing in bed once again, her gown restored to its position.

"I require an explanation," Tylee said, "Now."

"In a moment." I said, depositing the contents of my syringe into a glass vial and capping it before placing it gently inside my bag.

Setting aside my tools, I turned to face her, "I needed a sample of the poison in order to create an effective curative."

"Curatives don't work." She said doggedly.

I shook my head, "No known curative works. The main ingredient in any curative is poison from the creature in question. By combining that with certain other ingredients, an alchemist can create a neutralizing agent."

"You plan to create a curative for this poison then?" Tylee asked.

I nodded, "I couldn't get it from a regular blood draw, I needed to locate the highest concentration of the poison and extract it directly. I'll need a few days and more than a little gold. I might even need to repeat the procedure we just went through."

Tylee glanced at her sister, then turned back to me, "Do not ever surprise me like that again."

Though her words were soft, they carried a weight in them that promised more than verbal retribution.

"If I had told you that I was going to stick a needle in your sister's heart," I reasoned, "Would you have let me?"

"Yes." Tylee replied, "I trust you Ethan Dyre. I am disappointed that the feeling is not mutual."

That was like a sucker-punch to the gut.

"I will have rooms prepared for you," Tylee said, "You may remain here while working on a cure for my sister."

I stepped back in surprise, "I need an alchemy lab."

"I have had one fully stocked in preparation for your arrival." She replied with equanimity.

"I need to let Tanna know that I will be gone." I tried.

"I will send someone to assure them of your safe return." Tylee countered.

"You're not letting me leave until I finish, are you?" I asked warily.

"I cannot risk having you waylaid while traveling to and from the manor," She said, "Here, I can protect you. Out there, my power wanes, and I do not have the time to escort you everywhere myself. You once told me that I could call upon you in need. I am at my utmost extremity. Please Ethan, I have exhausted all of my options and there is none left to whom I may turn."

Her heartfelt plea moved me, I'm man enough to admit that. There was also the point where she could literally lock me in a room, both legally and literally, until I complied with her request. I decided that discretion would be the better part of valor.

"Show me to my lab then." I said.