Page 57 of The Garnet Daughter
She turns back, handing me a clay bowl. “There are two temples in the birthlands, and because I assume your Viathan companions are not going to First Son, it means you seek the other. Omnesis.” She drops a few ingredients in the bowl, stirring as I hold it.
“We’ve been told you worship this god and may know the temple’s location.”
“Dangerous place,” Maestra mutters and sucks some of the oil from the vessel into a dropper. “Hold that closer. She will struggle, so we need to be fast.”
I notice the ties on the patient’s wrists and legs, holding her tightly to the bed.
“Her eyes have gone, but her mind hasn’t, and we are trying to keep it that way,” she answers, my discomfort obvious, as she pries the woman’s eyelids open and drips a few drops of medicine on her milky pupils.
“What is wrong with her?” I ask, curiosity taking over.
“She has eclipse delirium. They all do, but she’s more hopeful than others.” She sucks up more oil into the dropper. “They stare into the eclipse and go mad.”
“Why would they do that?” August asks with a huff.
Maestra peers over to him, not amused by his tone. “Some hope to see First Mother, others First Son. Their families bring them here when they stop eating, drinking, and do nothing but wait for the sunrise and set.”
“We looked into the lights,” I say as soon as I realize.
Maestra pauses, getting close to my face to examine me, staring at each pupil. “You are fine. If you were sick, you would forget all else, including whatever reasoning to seek out Omnesis’s temple.”
“Will you help us?”
She takes the bowl from my hands. “You are kind, Frithian, but you must be very lost if you seek that place.”
“Please.”
She places gauze back onto the eyes of her patient, considering for a moment. “There is a rock formation. It juts up into the sky like the beak of a bird, the only one of its kind. Beyond that, opposite the direction of the eclipse, you will findan oasis with a dense tree line. The temple is near there. That is all I know.”
“Thank you.”
She looks up at both Commander Wesley and August. “Do not thank me. It is likely the desert will kill all of you before you reach it. There are things there that cannot be explained. Sand that eats as you and I do.”
Commander Wesley steps forward as she resumes her work. “What can you tell us of the First Son attack on this village before we came?”
It’s unclear why he is pressing her about it. I would assume it is a necessary part of his job, but August does not seem pleased he is asking either.
She furrows her brow. “I did not witness it. However, I heard they had a prisoner with them, a young woman, she was of Viathan.”
He steps forward, but Maestra is unfazed.
“She wore noble clothing. There was an altercation and somehow she started several fires,” she continues.
I scoot closer to August, hoping that we can depart now that we have what we came for, but the information has ignited more interest from Commander Wesley.
“She started fires?” he asks.
Maestra nods.
“Thank you for your time,” I interrupt and give Commander Wesley a serious look. “We will depart, blessed conjunction to you and your patients.”
“You as well.” She smiles, not looking up from the blind woman.
I stare up at Commander Wesley until he begins walking back down the aisle of beds and fabric-walled rooms.
As we breach the exterior, I decide to remind him that he may be in charge of keeping us safe, but this is not a Viathan mission.
“We came for specific information and we got it, Commander Wesley. I have limited time. The 99th Commander did not task you with collecting additional information from the locals.”
