“You must be very sure you wish to proceed,” said the alchemist, and there was in his eyes a blaze of passion I had not seen since he’d first set eyes on the book of Paracelsus.
“We are ready,” I said impatiently. “Death knocks at my brother’s door. Tell us what we need.”
“The last ingredient is fresh marrow from a bone.”
I nodded, very much encouraged. “Excellent. Where is your nearest butcher?”
“It must be human bone,” Polidori said.
“Ah,” said Henry weakly.
I swallowed, and glanced at Elizabeth. “Very well. We must pay a visit to a charnel house, or morgue. With a bit of silver it shouldn’t be so difficult.”
Polidori was shaking his head. “It must be obtained from a living body. There is more.” He looked at me with an intensity that was almost hypnotic. I felt my knees weaken. I feared very much what was to come.
“According to Agrippa,” Polidori continued, “it must come from the person closest to the taker of the elixir.”
“This is too much,” Henry breathed beside me. “This is akin to witchcraft. Your father was right-”
“Shush!” I said to Henry, fearing he would mention Father’s name or somehow reveal our identity.
“I told you it would test your resolve,” said Polidori. “I myself felt dizzy when I translated the words. It is not something-”
“How much bone marrow?” I demanded, pacing again.
“Ah,” said Polidori, “this news is somewhat better. Not so very much.”
“Victor,” said Henry, “you cannot even consider-”
“How much!” I shouted. “Can you not give me a simple answer?”
“I calculate two fingers should be enough.”
My eyes darted instinctively to my right hand-the one I used least. “My fourth and fifth fingers?” I asked.
“The entirety of them, yes, should be sufficient.”
I folded down my last two fingers, tried to imagine my hand without them. I had seen soldiers return from their wars with stumps where their legs used to be, with arms severed at the elbow. The sight had stirred in me horror and immense pity, for it seemed a terrible thing to go through life so diminished. But the loss of two fingers would be nothing like that.
“It would not be so bad,” I said. “I could still grip things…”
“Victor,” Elizabeth said quietly to me, “you are pale. Are you sure?”
I nodded.
“Because if you are not,” she said, “I am.”
Henry inhaled sharply. I looked at my cousin in amazement. The idea of her wounded and disfigured was too awful.
“Nothing must injure your hands,” I said. “No. It will not work, in any event. It must be from his closest relation. I am his brother. The same blood flows through our veins.”
“But I am his cousin,” she said, “so our blood cannot be so very different. And I love him. We are soul mates.”
Her words were daggers in my breast. For a moment I could not speak.
“And in any event,” she went on, “Mr. Polidori did not say blood relation; he said ‘closest.’ These are different things.”
I looked at the alchemist. “What was Agrippa’s precise meaning?”
“The young lady is correct. The translation is no easy thing, and there are many different meanings of ‘closest’ from the Latin. How to weigh blood relations with the love of one’s soul mate…”
“It’s out of the question,” I said. “I will not allow it.”
Elizabeth’s voice was hard. “You are not my master, Victor.”
“It will be me!” I shouted. “Damn you, let it be me!”
What was it that overmastered me? Was it my jealousy, the fact that she loved him so much she was willing to sacrifice some part of herself? Or was it the mere thought that anyone could be closer to Konrad than I was?
“Do it now,” I said to Polidori.
“You are sure, young sir?”
I nodded.
Once more he led us down the short corridor to the elevator. My feet scarcely felt the floor; the walls seemed like shimmering veils. Down we went to the laboratory.
Polidori wheeled himself about and lit more candles and lanterns, including a large chandelier, which he raised above a long narrow table. He had indeed prepared for my coming. On the table was a neat pile of clean linens, a mound of cotton, rolls of bandaging. And on a separate table nearby were several chisels and a mallet.
At the sight of them, my stomach turned over and I retched, tears stinging my eyes, before I regained my composure.
“You do not have to go through with this,” Henry murmured to me.
“I must,” I said. Without this elixir I was sure Konrad would die. And if I did not give my bone marrow, Elizabeth would give hers-and that was something I could not endure.
Polidori took up the chisels and turned to Henry. “Young sir, could you fill a cauldron with water and place it on the fire. Once it boils, submerge these instruments within for five minutes to sterilize them.”
Henry went off, looking rather green. Polidori next turned to Elizabeth.
“I already know, my lady, that you are not squeamish.”
“Not in the least,” she said stoutly.
“Excellent. You shall be my assistant in this surgery. Young master, you will be more comfortable, I think, if you lie down.”
I lay down on the narrow table. The head was angled upward slightly, so I could watch as Polidori proceeded to strap my right arm down along a side table, now covered in clean white linens.
I did not like having my arm tied, but I could see it was necessary, even as my thoughts became gauzy and unreal. I had to be kept still, for the pain would doubtless be-I grit my teeth and dashed these thoughts from my mind by staring at Elizabeth, her luxuriant hair around her face. She would see how brave I was, how great my devotion to my brother-and to her. I would bring back her beloved.
She met my gaze and held it, and I felt her eyes fill me with strength. She smiled. If only I could keep seeing that smile during the operation, I would be all right.
Henry returned with the sterilized chisels wrapped in clean linen.
“Listen here,” he said to Polidori, in an atypically forceful tone. “Are you qualified to perform this kind of surgery?”
“Find me a surgeon who will willingly perform it, and I will happily let him,” Polidori replied.
We all knew no respectable physician would remove my fingers just for the asking, and we had not time anyway. Konrad needed the elixir now.
“Have you any experience, though?” Henry asked the alchemist.
I did not know which would be more reassuring-if he had none, or if he had merrily amputated many people’s limbs during his career.
“My tools are not a surgeon’s tools, I grant you,” said Polidori, “but for the task at hand, I warrant they are the best suited.”
“There will be a good deal of bleeding. You know how to stop it?”
“Indeed I do, young sir. Once I knew the dire task ahead of me, I took pains to research the precise surgical procedure. I can promise you, I have thought everything through. Your friend will recover swiftly from these injuries, free of infection.”
“If any harm comes to him, his father will have you hanged,” Henry said. “And if he doesn’t, I swear I will do it myself.”
My heart swelled at Henry’s loyalty.
Polidori smiled kindly, and placed a soothing hand on my friend’s arm. “There is no need for such dreadful oaths. All will be well.”
