Weylyn turned his head, unable to watch. All I could do was stare, cursing my inability to soothe her. “Keira, you can’t go back to sleep just yet. This is important.” I brushed some of her dark hair out of her face. I was about to explain further when the bathroom door slammed and Orin came stomping down.
“Why is she screaming?” Orin demanded, and when he got a look at Keira, he berated me in such fury, he was a mere inch from tearing me apart. “What the hell did you just do to her?!”
“I had to wake her up. Unfortunately, this is unavoidable.”
“Unavoidable? It’s not fucking gravity! Just help her!”
I kept my focus on Keira as I plotted alternatives, and determined my next move. “She’s coming to. You’ll be able to set her down soon, Weylyn.”
Weylyn frowned, apparently picking up on his brother’s discontent. “I understand you think you know what’s best medically, but your bedside manner is a right melter.”
Keira gave a small moan, lifting one hand to her head. “I... I feel awful,” she said weakly. “Holy shit. Are you holding me?” She almost smiled.
“More like cradling, darling,” Weylyn said. “Brann needs you to stand up now. Do you think you can do that?”
“I... I don’t know. I feel so weak,” Keira mumbled. Slowly, Weylyn stood up and placed her on her feet. As soon as he let her go, Keira’s knees gave out, and he caught her once again.
“I suppose not,” Weylyn said.
“We must get your temperature down, and halt the flow of poison in you. I’ll need to give you a special bath. You can do this with your clothes on, for modesty sake, if you’d like, or you can take them off. I will respect your privacy either way,” I tell her.
“At least you offered to respect her privacy,” Orin grumbled.
“Clothes off,” Keira said. “It’s okay.”
I had Weylyn carry her upstairs to the bathroom, and instructed Keira, “Get undressed, and peek out when you’re done, or yell if you can’t stand.”
“Can’t she at least get a gown? Or a towel or something?” Orin seemed more concerned with her dignity than her recovery.
“Of course, she can use a towel if she likes.” Keira gave a soft “yeah, sure” of confirmation. She seemed more concerned with Orin’s discomfort than any modesty on her part. I marveled at how she considered his feelings, even with all her own agonies.
“All right,” Orin said, settling down. “I’ll be right outside, so don’t worry.”
I kept a respectful distance behind Keira. Weylyn helped her into the bathroom. Soon, Keira stuck her head out. “Brann? I’m ready.”
I walked in, placing my arm around her towel-wrapped body. “Okay, I’ll help you into the water. It’s going to be cold.” I carefully supported Keira as she lowered herself into the tub. A shocking wave of pain seized her, and Keira’s scream was torture. It bypassed all my logical thinking and stabbed straight into my heart.
“I can’t… I can’t listen to her scream like that!” Weylyn walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
I tapped a rune near the left side of my chest, and flicked a few colored sparks of magic into the water. “I can’t bring your temperature down with magic, but this should ease the pain a bit.”
She laid back in the tub. Her eyes glazed over as she stared at the ceiling. I kneeled next to the tub, and gently ran my thumb across her cheek, wiping away a tear. “Just relax. I’m not leaving.”
“I guess magic is real,” she murmured.
“Indeed. It’s not common anymore, and that makes it all the more precious to the people who do have it.” I kept eye contact with Keira. I needed to make sure she didn’t doze off. At that moment, I felt a warm, dark sensation register in my mind. She has magic. It’s not refined yet, but something is definitely there, andit is kin to my own magic. Since my distinct brand of dark magic was particularly rare, finding another who had a similar quality felt reassuring to me.
“Makes sense,” Keira murmured between shivering breaths. “Weird stuff has been happening. I guess you might understand...”
“Tell me.”
“I think I almost magically strangled Edward in his office. There were these… smoke snakes, or something, coming out of my hands. He didn’t seem to notice them, though.”
I nodded. “Emerging dark magic tends to behave unpredictably. It is curious, though, that your manifestations weren’t visible to a regular person. But as a practical matter, that’s a good thing… in most cases. Not to say that what they can’t see can’t hurt them, but if your magic rose to a level where unattuned beings could see it…? Then those beings ought to be very, very afraid.” I felt a measure of sympathy for the girl. Her magic was emerging. I knew from experience how such a profound change could be like a second puberty. Or worse, complete with the associated discomfort of raging hormones and emotional upheaval. Basically, for those who awakened to their powers later in life, it could be as rough as a bear’s arse.
“I didn’t want to hurt him, Edward, I was just so angry.” Keira’s head fell to the side, and she stared blankly out the window.
“Quite understandable,” I nodded. “Magic on its own is very sensitive to emotions. Despite manifesting from anger, your genuine compassion would temper your magic. Almost as if it would know, from you, not to attack an innocent person. That you didn’t hurt him, despite being angry, puts you leagues ahead of most emerging magic users.”
“That’s good, I guess. Kinda weird though.” Keira yawned. “I’m tired. I can’t go to sleep yet though, right?”
“Soon. You’re becoming more cogent already. Your fever is going down. You’ll be able to get a true rest in once we get your core temperature back to normal.” I watched Keira as a short but tense silence passed; she seemed to be thinking of something.
Twenty minutes later, I reached for
