Chapter 22
The Woman in White
Baal-Gebal, Kingdom of Hannibal
Of the three physicians Tobias approached in Ydom, the first two did not dare to attempt any treatment and the third admitted that Tellus was beyond his power to save, but he did tell them of a healer in the House of Eshmun-Shadrafa in Baal-Gebal named Marina who might be able to help them. Indeed, if there was anyone capable of healing Tellus in all the kingdom, she was perhaps the only one. That did not leave them with much other choice.
Baal-Gebal was nearly fifty leagues away. If the exertion would not have killed his horse, Tobias would have ridden all the way there without stopping to rest. As it was, he probably lamed the horse with the relentless pace he kept. He would worry about the horse later, though. His first concern was Tellus.
The physician in Ydom sold them the materials to make poultices that he thought might draw out some of the corruption from the wound in Tellus' chest. Of course, it was no natural ailment, so no natural cure could hope to have much effect. By the time they reached Baal-Gebal, Tellus' condition had gotten much worse. Her skin was ashen and lined with black veins. She would go from burning with a fever to being cold as ice. It seemed like they could lose her at any moment.
Of the three cities carved out of the old capital, Baal-Gebal was the closest to retaining its old glory. It was the largest city in the kingdom, straddling the River and hosting nearly a third of all the people in Hannibal. It was impossible not to be seen but easy to be overlooked in the crowd. Of course, Tobias was not thinking about his pursuers as he hurriedly went around asking where to find the House of Eshmun-Shadrafa.
"You must calm yourself, Tobiyah ben Yishak," Shoshanna told him. "You are not helping Tellus by whipping yourself into a panic."
"There's no time!" Tobias snapped irately. He quickly checked himself, though, saying, "I'm sorry, Shoshanna. You're right. But we don't even know if this healer can help her."
"This Marina is our best hope at present," Shoshanna replied. "If you will calm yourself, I can focus and seek out the way."
As Tobias settled his thoughts, the way he would have to do when going into battle, Shoshanna closed her eyes and let her head loll about as she reached out with her powers. She still maintained enough control to maintain a firm hold on Tellus, as the two of them were still sitting in the saddle while Tobias was leading his horse on foot. Her free arm lifted up, almost as if by a puppeteer's string and pointed the way to go. Tobias followed her guidance until they reached what looked like a small temple near the docks with walls coated in white plaster.
"This is the place," Shoshanna said, opening her eyes. "We should make haste."
"I will wait here," Tym'r said. "I doubt my kind will be welcomed in such a place."
Tobias simply nodded, tying the reins of his horse to the hitching post and taking Tellus from Shoshanna so he could carry her inside. She was cold again, but she was still breathing.
"Hang in there, Tellus," he told her. "We're going to get you some help. You're going to be fine."
Tobias was honestly not so certain they would find the help they needed, but he had to remain hopeful for Tellus' sake because if she gave in to despair, she truly would be lost.
The House of Eshmun-Shadrafa was built similar to the Roman-style domus, though it was lacking a vestibule and opened directly into the atrium. A young woman in white robes—a novice, acolyte or whatever it was that you called the initiates of this order—who was sweeping the floor took notice of them and went to greet them.
"Good afternoon, Sir Knight," she said. "What brings you to the House of Eshmun-Shadrafa?"
Tobias suppressed the urge to shout at her for not being able to see the obvious and instead said, "The healer Marina, is she here? This girl's life depends on it."
Only then did the young woman seem to take notice of Tellus and how desperate her plight was. In fact, she was so surprised that she dropped her broom.
"Oh my!" she gasped. "I, I will get Mother Marina right away."
She scurried off and Tobias was tempted to follow her, but then he realized that if the young woman started going all over the place in search of Marina, there was nothing to gain by it. He decided to lay Tellus down beside the impluvium. If she became feverish again, the water would help.
Eventually the young woman returned with a stately matron dressed in similar robes. The way she carried herself, you would take her for a noblewoman. Perhaps she was of noble blood, only pledged to this order rather than some man of rank. Or could she be both? Tobias knew nothing of this order, truth be told. The only thing he needed to know was whether or not Marina could help Tellus.
"What have you brought into this house, Sir Knight?" Marina asked.
"See for yourself," Tobias replied, gesturing to Tellus. "I was told you were the only one who could cure an affliction like this."
"And who told you this?"
"A physician in Ydom. I never asked his name."
"Hm."
Marina stepped forward and approached Tellus. She knelt down by her side and lifted up the poultice to look at Tellus' wound. The herb cake was already soaked black, as it had been the other times the poultice was applied.
"Adonia, bring the firepan," Marina said. "This foul thing must be disposed of at once."
"Yes, Mother," Adonia replied and quickly shuffled off.
Marina peeled off the poultice and inspected the wound. She then looked up to Tobias and said, "This is no ordinary wound, Sir Knight, but I trust you already knew that. There is great evil here. How did it happen?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Tobias said. "She wandered off and was taken to this underground shrine. It seemed that she was to be some sort of sacrifice."
"This is not the work of any ordinary sacrifice."
"Not at all. There was some dark power down there. It... it infected her."
"Were I any common healer, there would be nothing I could do," Marina said. "Fortunately for you, and even more fortunately for the girl, I am no common healer. I have power of my own."
As she was saying this, Adonia returned with the firepan, saying, "I have brought the firepan, Mother Marina."
Marina took the befouled poultice and tossed it into the firepan and told Adonia, "Take the firepan outside until that thing has been wholly consumed, then dump the ashes in the unclean place. When you return, prepare the Breath of Eshmun."
"Yes, Mother," Adonia said and was gone yet again.
Recalling what Marina had just said, Tobias asked, "The Breath of Eshmun?"
"It is a peculiar mixture of herbs and such known only to our order," Marina replied. "When burned, it purges the air of foul humors and aids the healing process. This girl will need every aid she can get."
It was not long before Adonia returned bearing six large brazen censers on a pole. The censers were molded in the shape of open-mawed heads, presumably representing Eshmun or Eshmun-Shadrafa as he was worshipped by this order. As the censers looked rather heavy, Tobias went to help the young novice, but as he approached her, she said, "Please stand back, Sir Knight. These are holy things and must not be defiled." She paused, blushing slightly before adding, "I, I appreciate what you would mean to do, but this is my responsibility."
"If you want to help, Sir Knight," Marina said, "take up the girl and follow me. We need more room if we are to perform the ritual."
Tobias lifted up Tellus and followed Marina a short distance to an open space behind the impluvium and told him, "Lay her here. Adonia, set the censers."
"Yes, Mother," Adonia said, setting down the pole with some effort.
Once Tobias laid Tellus on the floor, Marina shooed him away while Adonia placed the censers around Tellus. She had lengths of string tied to the rings on top of the censers to ensure the correct distance and alignment. When the censers were in place, she removed the strings, then took a candle from a nearby sconce to light the censers. Bluish smoke began curling out of the mouths of the censers. The smell was rather sharp and burned the inside of Tobias' nose as he breathed the air.
Marina knelt down by Tellus and said, "Let us begin, shall we?"
She placed her hand on the wound in Tellus' chest and closed her eyes. At first, it did not seem like anything was happening, but then Tobias saw the black veins from Tellus' wound appear on Marina's hand. He was about to do something, say something, when Shoshanna caught his wrist to stop him. He looked to her, but her eyes were fixed on watching the scene unfold.
The black veins began to spread up Marina's arm, but Tobias could not say how far they went as they were concealed by the sleeve of her robe. After a few more moments, Marina lifted her hand. Tellus' wound was gone, leaving only a faint purple scar.
"There," Marina said, "that should do it."
She held her blighted right arm. Before Tobias could say anything, she said, "I have taken the girl's curse upon myself. Fear not. As I said, I have powers beyond any common healer. It will be easier for me to nullify the curse now that it is within me and the girl will find relief as well. If her powers were fully awakened, such a curse would mean little to her."
Tobias was concerned by her mention of Tellus' powers. Rather than attempt to feign ignorance, he thought it best to remain silent for a change, but Marina saw through him all the same.
"Perhaps you are trying to conceal her true nature, but you cannot conceal it. She is too strong and only getting stronger. Those who are blessed with the power can easily sense the power in others."
She looked at Tobias' discomfiture and smiled.
"You do not need to be so wary, Sir Knight, at least not around me. I do not know what it is you are running from, nor is it any concern of mine, but I will say this: The girl is precious. Protect her with all your might."
"I will," Tobias said. He paused. "How... How do I repay you for this?"
"There is no payment," Marina replied. "Good is done for the sake of the good. But... if you do as you have vowed, it will be sufficient. Now, we must complete the girl's purification and afterward we will return her to you. She will be ready at daybreak. Return here then."
Tobias did not want to leave Tells alone, but before he could offer any objection, Marina said, "These are the secret rites of this order. No outsider may witness them. Surely you cannot expect us to mean her any harm after everything we have done. Shall we follow good with evil?"
Tobias was silent. Surely she was right and if this purification would help Tellus' recovery, he did not have much reason to refuse.
"I... I entrust her to your care then," he said.
Marina lifted up Tellus with surprising ease. It was one thing for Tobias to lift her easily, but he would have expected a woman to do so with more difficulty, if at all.
Cradling Tellus in her arms, Marina looked to Tobias and said, "We will meet again at dawn. Until then..."
Marina left for the inner sanctum while Adonia went to work collecting the censers.
"You are truly blessed, Sir Knight..." she said. "Blessed to have witnessed such a miracle. As are we, for having the vessel for such a miracle among us. You can trust the girl in Mother Marina's hands. She will be well cared for. May the blessings of Eshmun-Shadrafa go with you."
Tobias simply nodded, then looked to Shoshanna and the two of them walked out of the house. When they returned to the hitching post where Tym'r was waiting, the Catman's ears perked up as he asked them, "Well?"
"It would seem the worst of it has passed," Tobias replied. "The healer is performing some additional rites for her, but we will be able to get her in the morning."
"Is it safe to leave her?"
"I would have felt more at ease if Shoshanna at least could have remained with her, but it couldn't be helped."
"I don't think there's any danger," Shoshanna said.
"You think?" Tym'r asked. "You do not know?"
"It isn't that simple," Shoshanna replied. "When I tried to look into the healer's mind, it was like looking at the sun. The man from before, the one who took me... There was a darkness, a void, almost as if he did not exist, but with her, the presence was too much for me."
"Have you ever experienced anything like that before?" Tobias asked.
"No... She is no ordinary person."
"I would think not," Tobias said, "not with how she took the curse from Tellus. I have seen feats by the court sorcerers before, but nothing like that. The only thing close to it... would be Tellus herself, I guess."
"Perhaps this Mother Marina is of the same breed," Shoshanna suggested. "Tellus says her mother is the being in the depths of the Pit of Athirat. Who is to say she is the only one?"
"You think they are kin?"
"I don't know, but nothing is impossible."
While he thought on Shoshanna's words, Tobias began to examine his horse to get a better feel for the damage it had suffered on the hard ride from Ydom. It was quite possible that it was no longer fit to carry them. Honestly, a warhorse like this was never meant for the sort of travel he put it through, but he never imagined his journey would take him all over the kingdom as it had.
Speaking of their travels, he found himself thinking of their destination. They had spoken of it little since Tellus first explained what was revealed to her during her time in the Pit of Athirat.
"This... This temple we're supposed to go to... What do you think?"
"I have never left Utica before I met you, Tobiyah ben Yishak," Shoshanna replied. "Perhaps there will be those who know more in the port town. You are already thinking yourself that we can learn more in Birut."
Yes, he was thinking that.
"If Tellus is well enough for traveling again, I thought we might take a river boat to Kartbyrsa and make our way from there."
"As we have noted before, Tobiyah ben Yishak, you are the more knowledgeable on the subject and since you are concerned about your horse, it may be just as well that we take to the waterways."
"Will you seek lodgings for the night?" Tym'r asked.
"No, I don't think so," Tobias said. "It's a mild evening and I want to be as close to Tellus as I can. You can sense her, right, Shoshanna?"
"Yes," Shoshanna replied, closing her eyes. "She has not yet awakened, but she seems to be at ease. At very least, I can sense no malice around her."
"Then I suppose all we can do is wait for the morning sun," Tobias said, taking a seat in the grass.
And so the three of them sat, waiting for the dawn.