12.

Vivian didn’t quite know how to diagnose the emotions that appeared on Lynn’s face. A confused, joyous, depressed look swept across his face in waves before settling on a more indistinguishable expression. It appeared to be simple contempt. He got back to his feet, quivering from the exertion.

“How did it happen?” he asked while somehow keeping his voice devoid of emotion.

“Poison,” Vivian said. “Lynn, people think you’re the one who killed him. Your room isn’t safe. Ivan Quartz’ friend is waiting for you there. I don’t know what he plans to do but Rin made it sound bad. You need to go somewhere else for the night.” Upon saying Rin’s name, emotion became immediately readable on Lynn’s face clearly. Disdain.

“Thank you for telling me, Vivian Topaz, but I think I should go to my room now,” Lynn said. He turned back down the hall.

“You’re ignoring me? Lynn, you’re in danger!”

“Vivian, you misunderstand. I’m not ignoring you. I’m ignoring him. His people are monstrous and spew venom with every word that leaves their lips. Those gray skinned creatures look marginally like us, but they’re only objective in life is to destroy and consume our lives. If Rin told me you to give me advice, then I should immediately do the opposite of what he told you. I need to go to my room and see what is actually there. I’ll assess the situation myself.”

Vivian’s eyebrows knitted. “You’re being an idiot.”

Lynn looked over his shoulder at her. “It’s possible. But if I am then I’d rather die rather than take a citizen of Mortium’s advice. Even if he told you the truth, every word was carefully crafted to snare both me and you in the long run. Trust me, Vivian.”

“You’re supposed to trust me.” One look made Vivian realize him unyielding to any request. “Fine. If you’re going to go, then I hope you don’t mind if I come with you.”

Lynn sighed. “You’re always welcome to visit, Vivian. Follow me.”

He led her down the corridors and into the hall where she had suspected his room would be. One door out of the dozen swayed agape. She heard Lynn intake a sharp breath as he entered the doorway ahead of her. Vivian peered over his shoulder and recoiled upon the sight.

On the floor lay a boy. The light brown hair on one side of his head appeared black on the other as it clung plastered to his head around a large red crater above his right ear that seeped blood and oozed a white puss. The puss vaguely reminded her of the white ooze that dribbled out of a popped pimple. His left arm had become bent in an unnatural direction and she spotted a white shard of shattered bone piercing through his skin below the elbow.

Vivian thought the boy remained only as a corpse but then she saw his lips move in what she interpreted might be words but only seemed to be a long whimper.

“Wh-who is that Lynn?”

“He’s my servant. You were right. Someone is probably blaming me for Ivan Quartz’ death. Listen, I’m going to find Nyx Opal. I need you to stay here and try to keep the boy alive until I get back. He saw his assaulter’s face and will be able to point him out if he manages to recover. Can you do that Vivian?”

Vivian’s eyes were transfixed on the boy. The broken limb twitched.

Lynn turned and faced her. “Can you do that Vivian?” he repeated while looking into her eyes with an intense seriousness.

Vivian finally processed his words and nodded quickly. She feared opening her mouth might result in her spewing her dinner everywhere. Lynn gently moved her aside and swiftly shuffled out the doorway.

Vivian continued staring at the boy for several seconds after Lynn left. Then she blinked and cleared her head. Vivian dropped to the floor next to the boy. The stone tiles were slick from the continual flow of blood and it stained her green dress.

The few basic pieces of medical advice her mother had given her flashed through Vivian’s memory. Damp cloth on the forehead for overheating, splash cold water to recover slowness, pinch ticks and leeches at the head when removing them, slowly adjust brightness to help irritated eyes, rinse bruises under cold water, eat ginger for a weak stomach, warm frozen individuals up slowly, and pour boiling wine on those with cuts.

Vivian hurriedly scoured the room with her eyes looking for any sort of wine. She noted a bottle on Lynn’s bedside next to a leather bound book. Seizing the bottle, she uncorked it and became dismayed by the contents. Water, not wine. Still, she drained the bottle onto the boy’s forehead displaying a small waterfall above the injured boy.

Then, a vague memory popped into her head, of a childhood friend, a young boy, the son of a farmer, telling her about how his father had to use a branding iron on a cow with a deep cut. The fire and heat sealed the wound so it wouldn’t bleed any longer. Vivian closed her eyes and focused on her hand. She didn’t want to watch two people die in the same day.

“Stop. You’re going to blind him, not heal him. Cauterization, perhaps a decent idea in theory, but you’re going to light his hair afire. Stop. Lack of control.”

Vivian opened her eyes and saw a strange girl looming over her. The girl wore black bags under her eyes that became even more noticeable on her pale skin. Vivian had never seen such pasty skin. It took her a moment to realize the skin she examined was being illuminated by a fire that remained contained in Vivian’s palm. Her heart leapt for a moment and the fire sputtered out into wisps of black smoke.

The pale girl crouched next to the bleeding boy. “Hmm…the bone doesn’t seem to be completely broken in the skull. Performing trepanation may not be necessary after all. Which increases his chance of survival to a higher percent.” The girl pulled a silver tool from her black coat and used it to prod at the boy’s wound. “No bone fragments. Very good. I need to clean and stop the bleeding but that is a simple complication, easily rectified.”

Vivian turned back to Lynn as the girl began pulling out bandages and vials from her long black coat pockets.

“What’s your plan?” she asked. “I want to help you.”

Lynn glanced down at the boy on the floor. “I’m going to wait until he recovers and then I will ask him who assaulted him and plan accordingly. If it really was Quinton Silver then I won’t have much to worry about. He’s never been known for his wits or strategy. Most people believe his parents bullied the examiners into accepting him onto Silvian Island and I’m inclined to agree with them. I doubt I’ll have too much on an issue outwitting him. But…if it does come to a fight I might be at bit of trouble.”

“Your missing arm and leg would most likely put you at a disadvantage in a physical confrontation with the man. He does have an abnormally large bone structure,” the girl chimed in helpfully from where she kneeled on the floor.

“You can stay in my room until you figure out exactly what to do,” Vivian offered. “That way, whoever did attack your servant won’t know where to find you.”

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Lynn shook his head. “I’m already having enough problems with convincing the other nobles not to try eliminating me from the competition. If any word whatsoever got out I slept in the same room as you I would only be further ostracized from them. It’s considered vile for a lord to sleep in the same living quarters as a lady outside of marriage. I can’t jeopardize my chances of making it into the libraries upstairs.”

“The whole point is that no one will know where you are if you’re in my cell. How could word get out?”

“I can’t take any chances, Vivian. If even the lowest servant gossiped about it, I have no doubt it would reach the ears of more important individuals and, when that happens, it will only cause them to look down on me even more so than they already do. I’m already going to be thought of as a murderer after Ivan Quartz died so I need to tread extremely carefully. I despise the idiotic social game and politics but I still need to try to use them to stay in this building.”

“Fine. Well, I could ask Rin if you could stay in his room until this is figured out.”

“Out of the question.”

“I don’t see any other solutions Lynn.” Vivian turned back to examine the girl as she worked. “Unless…would your friend be against me staying with her for a while? You could then stay in my room without worrying about any sort of scandal.”

A long silence followed while the pale girl finished wrapping the head with thick linen bandages and moved on to the bone sticking out of the boy’s arm. She muttered quietly as she studied the wound but not seeming to notice they were waiting for her to speak.

Finally Lynn spoke. “Nyx, would you be able to let Vivian stay with you for a little while? If you can’t, my life might be at risk.”

The words shattered Nyx’s concertation. She rapidly glanced at Lynn and then Vivian. “I don’t want anyone in my cell…but it would be detrimental to my studies of his dead flesh if Lynn Jet himself died. However, if he passed on then I might have the opportunity to perform an autopsy on his cadaver and better understand. Hm. But no, I do not have a guarantee his death will be in a manner that preserves him well enough for dissection. It would be best if he stayed alive so I can continue studying him while his broken body is still intact.” A brief pause followed, as if the debate still raged internally within her. “Yes. I believe I will need to take personal discomfort to help keep my subject alive to continue my examination of him. I will show you my living situation momentarily. First I need to finish setting the fractured radius and ulna and placing them in a splint so they will heal properly.”

Vivian watched Nyx shift the broken bone and bandage it. It took longer than Vivian would expect but, eventually, she finished and they lifted the wounded boy into Lynn’s bed. Nyx assured them the boy’s wounds were not fatal so long as he stayed in the bed. Lynn gathered a pair of clothes and a few small books under his arm and then all three of them departed for Vivian’s door in the next hall over. She opened it hesitantly, half expecting another dying man to be in it after the day she had, but it looked normal inside. Ida stood, still working on finding new homes on shelves and in her small closet for the many items Vivian had brought in her in her massive trunk. She currently held several dresses in her arms and gave Vivian a smile when she entered the doorway but it quickly abandoned her face after she spotted Lynn come in after her.

“Ida, I need you to get some of my things together. We’re going to move into Nyx’s apartments for a little while so Lynn can stay here. His life is being threatened and he’s not safe in his own room.”

Ida opened her mouth to speak what looked like a less than supportive narrative but, before she could, Nyx spoke behind her. “I only agreed to have one individual impeach upon my privacy. You need to arrange other accommodations for your servant.”

Now, Ida managed to get her words out. “Lady Topaz, I don’t believe it is necessary for the Jet to stay here. He was given his quarters for a reason and if he has forfeited his safety in them I don’t see why it should be any concern of ours. It puts your own wellbeing at risk and I cannot approve.”

Vivian closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her thumbs while taking deep breaths. Why did it suddenly become her responsibility to solve every problem in the world today? She lifted her head and opened her eyes to stare them all down. “Okay. This is how it’s going to be. I am going to stay with Nyx for a while and Lynn will stay in here. Since apparently I can’t take my servant with me, Ida you will also stay here. That is an order and you are my servant. Before one of you comes up with an argument I counter it with the fact that Ida is not considered a lady and therefore it is not improper for her to stay with Lynn here.” She knew this for a fact because her mother used to sleep a certain baron every week and he was never once thought of as ‘vile,’ although it was practically public knowledge. “So now that everyone has had all of their petty problems resolved with the rooming situation, let’s finish this mess of a day so I can go to sleep.”

Ida looked sour about this solution but she didn’t speak against it, instead she gathered together some of Vivian’s articles of clothing and went out the door with them while leaving Lynn behind. Lynn gave her an almost inquisitive look as they left.

It appeared Nyx still wasn’t overjoyed by the concept of Vivian staying with her but she still led them to her room and opened the door with her key. The smell the room emitted almost caused Vivian to double over. She had absolutely nothing to compare it to, the pungent reek was completely unique to her and it stung her nose to the point where she had to raise a silk sleeve over her face to dampen the scent. The room also was engulfed in darkness. Nyx had set up heavy curtains to cover any source of light that might come from out the window. Which would account for Nyx’s unnaturally pale skin. It took Vivian a moment for her eyes to adjust but when she did she noted that a large table had been propped up between the two beds. The table contained dozens of jars filled with different colors and silver knives and instruments like the one Vivian had seen Nyx using earlier. One of the beds held a single sheet on its mattress while the other only consisted of a bare straw mattress.

“Every room came equipped with two beds, one for an applicant and one for his or her servant. I requested on the first day to have the second bed removed as I do not have a second body to occupy it and it takes up an area that could be optimized for far better uses but they refused to acknowledge my request. It seems their incompetence to assist me is in your favor. You may sleep on the second bed,” Nyx said gesturing to the bare mattress. “Do not touch anything in this room. The oils on your fingers and palms could potentially ruin many of the objects I am keeping.”

Ida gave her a look that plainly displayed her feelings on her living situation and, for a second, Vivian almost gave in. But no, this seemed to be the only option. She couldn’t let Lynn’s life be in jeopardy simply because she wanted a better bed and perfumed air while she slept. And she used to sleep on far worse. At least this mattress appeared bedbug free and a frame raised it off the ground so she didn’t need to worry about rats scurrying over her in the night.

“Okay,” Vivian said. “Ida I need you to fetch me some blankets and then help me get into a new dress. This one is covered in blood and vomit.” Ida bowed her head and left only to return shortly with several thick wool blankets that had been dyed in bright colors and silken sheets to keep the wool from causing a rash on her skin. Nyx eyed them with suspicion as Ida spread them onto the mattress.

“Lady Topaz, I need you to turn so I can undo your laces,” Ida stated.

“Yes, of course. Thank you, Ida.”

“Would it be acceptable for me to light a lantern to better see?”

“No,” Nyx said..

“What? Why not?” Vivian asked.

“Flames can cause any number of undesirable occurrences to the salves and fumes kept in these corridors. Not the least of which would be the rapid expansion of fire.” Ida looked at her jars wide eyed while speaking.

Vivian sighed and turned so her back was to Ida. Using the dim light coming from behind the heavy black curtains, Ida removed and discarded the dress only to find the blood had seeped through and also ruined her corset and undergarments. A silver nightgown replaced her outfit. It hung loosely on her shoulder. The night was still early but Vivian longed for the comfort of rest and she didn’t have any more plans besides falling asleep for about a year.

Ida picked up the bloody and vomit covered articles of clothing and exited with another bow. Not long after the door closed Vivian realized Nyx Opal sitting on the other bed staring at Vivian while hugging her legs and resting her jaw on her knees. She appeared to be examining Vivian intensely the same way she had seen farmers examine the features of a good plow mule.

Finally, after several uncomfortable minutes, the pale girl began to mutter. “You don’t show any signs of death. Your skin is smooth and clear. It shows no sign of damage but you were supposedly burned alive by a group of agitated villagers. You died and your skin looks so alive and yet Lynn Jet has only lived and his skin is dead.”

Vivian cringed at the mention of the villagers. The mob.

“How did you know about my death? D-do you know anything else about it? That was a different girl. She’s not who I am.”

But the pale woman seemed to not notice her frantic questions, she continued rambling but softer so Vivian could no longer make out the words. She shivered and clambered into her bed, burying herself in sheets and blankets until she was finally warm. But, even under the blankets Vivian could feel Nyx’ eyes plastered to her. Finally, she heard the girl leave the room muttering about concussions and lack of conciseness. The room became silent of the pale girl’s quiet ramblings.

Vivian slept fitfully. The screams of her little brother echoed in her dreams.