Chapter 49 - Sweet Relief from Pain

(Unknown POV)

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We were walking towards one of the largest cities of the Olivedias Kingdom, the port city Dulsalies, when we met a small contingent of mounted knights with a few servants. They were coming our way and seemed to be ready for battle.

“Stay behind me and don’t act rashly,” I said to the girl who was with me.

“Yes,” was her only answer as she positioned herself behind me.

I moved to the right side of the road, hoping the knights would just pass by without even noticing us.

It looked like that was exactly what was going to happen, until the knight right in front of the procession suddenly fell from his horse for no apparent reason.

“Halt!” came the shout of a woman, the mounted knight right behind the one who fell.

The whole column stopped and the woman who gave the order dismounted and rushed to the the aid of the knight who fell. Only when she removed the helm of the knight on the ground I realized who were the people in front of us.

“Change of plans,” I whispered to my companion, as I felt one of the many vials of poison hidden beneath my clothes.

I started walking towards the two knights on the ground as the one who was probably the second in command tried to assess the conditions of their commander.

I finally got close enough to confirm my suspicions. The one on the ground was a woman with red hair and yellow eyes, on top of that, the stylized suns painted on her armor right over her shoulders were a clear indication of what organization they were part of.

I had just stumbled upon the leader of those who were commonly referred to in the kingdom as the valkyrie corps, Grand Dame and High Mistress Zeina. Her appearance now showed nothing of what I had heard in the stories. Her breath was ragged, her face sweaty and flushed red, while her eyes struggled to remain open. A stark contrast to the mighty fighter everyone told about. A perfect occasion to rid the kingdom of one of their greatest assets.

“Sister, may I help you?” I asked, bowing towards the worried woman.

“Go away, traveler,” the second in command said, after only glancing at me.

She whispered a few words, and soon I could feel holy magic gather around the sick woman, followed by a warm light. In a matter of seconds her breathing became more regular, but her overall complexion didn’t seem to improve. When the light subsided, I could still feel the holy magic inside the commander, then I realized. What I could feel behind the layers of magical protections of her armor wasn’t the spell her second in command had just used, but a divine blessing. It was but a small one, barely noticeable, but still the real thing.

“Sister, if I may…”

“What do you want?!” she shouted at me.

I felt again for the vial of poison, then, deciding otherwise, I moved my hand towards a small bag that contained various herbs and other alchemical ingredients.

I took out the bag and opened, letting the smell of the drugs fill the air around us. “Some illnesses see no improvement from the use of holy magic, only medicine will help her feel better.”

“Are you an alchemist?” she asked.

“No, sister, I cannot say I am an expert of the craft. But I received some training and I do have something that might help.” I opened the bag and retrieved two small paper packets. “I have some willow bark and dried elderberries, I am sure they will help our dear mother.”

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She seemed to ponder my words for a bit, finally she said, “very well, we will stop here for a while, prepare your concoction in the meantime, mister…”

“My name is Luis, sister. I do not have the privilege of a family name.” I gestured towards my companion. “The girl with me is the daughter of my dear brother, her name is Marie.”

She nodded. “Very well, Luis, start preparing your mixtures. I will have my comrades make camp.”

“Yes, sister,” I said, bowing towards her.

She opened a storage, retrieved a piece of cloth and used it to make a cushion for her commander’s head. She then stood up and, turning towards her subordinates, she shouted, “we will make a temporary camp here for a few hours, until the High Mistress feels better. Squads one and two, prepare the camp. Squad three, you are on patrol.” She pointed at two men on foot. “You two, slaves, carry the High Mistress to a more comfortable resting place as soon as possible.”

She turned again towards me. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

“I am sorry, sister, I will start mixing my ingredients immediately,” I said, before walking back towards Marie.

“So, what’s happening now?” she asked me once I reached her.

“I’m going to help cure one of the most powerful figures of the kingdom from her illness.”

“What?! Why?” she asked incredulous.

“If they get to show a bit of trust in me, I might be able to poison their whole squad.”

“I… I see.”

I glanced back at the woman on the ground. “Also, even if I don’t manage to, I want to at least try to strip that woman of her divine blessing.”

“A divine blessing?!” she said, her eyes almost bulging out from the stupor.

“Shh! Don’t let them hear you,” I said, placing a finger over my lips. “Now, let me work, before that bitch of a vice commander starts questioning me.”

“Yes…” she said, dropping her shoulders.

It took me half an hour to grind the bark and elderberries in a fine powder and mix them with honey and liquor in a wooden mug so that they could be easily ingested.

It would have probably taken me less time if I actually only had to prepare the mixture, but as I made it, I also had to weave darkness magic inside the ingredients, so that it would clash with the blessing and hopefully dispel it completely.

In the meantime, the dames had almost finished preparing a small camp for the day. Only one tent had actually been prepared and the High Mistress was resting inside it, with two slaves and one of the dames tending to her.

The vice-commander probably didn’t plan to spend the night there, as the sun was still high over our heads. The fact that some of the dames had cleared a much larger area than was needed from the weeds growing close to the road, though, let me think that she was prepared to change her plans if the need arose.

I walked up to the tent with my mixture in hand. When she saw me, the dame who was inside the tent stepped outside and put herself between me and the entrance.

“Is that the mixture that we are supposed to give to the High Mistress?” she asked me, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Is it safe?”

“There is nothing more than willow bark, elderberries, honey, and a bit of liquor in it.” I took the wooden stick I had used to stir the mixture and used it to scoop a bit of it out and eat it myself. “It’s perfectly safe. Though I advise you give it to her slowly, as the liquor might burn her throat a bit.”

“Yeah, sure,” she said, snatching the mug from my hands. “Now scram.”

“Yes, sister,” I said, and returned to where Marie was.

It was only after almost a full hour had passed that the vice-commander came up to me with a smile on her face.

“The High Mistress’ fever has finally gone down. Thank you very much for your help.”

“Please, I only did what any other good citizen would have done. There is no need to thank me, sister.”

She seemed to think about something for a bit after I said so. Finally, she said, “my women are preparing lunch, would you like to join us?”

I nodded. “We would love to.”

“Good, it should be ready in a few minutes.”

She was about to leave when I stopped her, saying, “actually… I have some spices with me. Would you like to use them for our meal?”

“Oh? Aren’t you generous?” she said, honestly surprised.

“Please, shouldn’t a man always donate to the church when he can?”

She started laughing and gave me a slap on my back. “I like you, there should be more men like you around. Go to the slaves that are preparing the food, they will know what to do with your spices.”

“You humble me, sister,” I said with a smile. “Now, if you excuse me I’ll go see if I can get to be of use before our lunch finishes cooking.”

“Sure, sure, go.”

I gave her a final nod before walking away towards the slaves who were busy working around a large cauldron.

Looking at the pot I started feeling for the bag where I kept a few assorted spices. And for a container with dried dragon thimble.