Page 163 of The Eye of the Fifth
Two weeks had passed since that day, and at the Air Warden’s request, Gedeon had made himself scarce within Gallena’s temple, only leaving his rooms to visit the healer, who had summoned him to her a day after the trial.
Gedeon was no fool to believe she cared for him, and rather knew it was Maida Lorafiel’s intrigue in the abnormal curse in his back that had her wanting to examine it further.
He lay on the healer’s table for the fourth time since the first, gripping the wood with furious hands. ‘No… keep going,’ he hissed, feeling Maida’s magic withdrawing from his spine after another unsuccessful attempt to banish it.
The healer made an impatient sound. ‘Fancy yourself a hero, Prince Gedeon?’
Pushing himself onto his elbows, he said, ‘Quite the opposite. I just want it out.’
‘What do you think I have been trying to do?’ she said coolly. ‘Contrary to what you might believe, I take no pleasure in seeing you in pain.’
Gedeon threw her a glance but said nothing. He had not forgotten the black stone she had baldly laid.
She tutted, shaking her head as she thrust a cup of water in his face. ‘Are you going to sulk about my vote every time we meet? It was solely politics, Gedeon.’
He paused, raising an eyebrow. ‘I… hadn’t realised I’d been sulking. How irritating.’
‘Quite,’ she replied, but her lips twitched with amusement.
Tipping the water into his mouth, he winced as the movement sent pain lancing up his spine. It had been getting progressively worse the more Maida prodded at it, and it wasn’t exclusively a physical pain anymore either.
The longer his magic remained trapped within, the more restless it became. It writhed inside him, longing for a release he could not give. Growing up, he’d heard tales of inbound magic driving its wielder mad. He just hoped Maida could remove it before that happened.
He sat up to find her studying him. ‘Your mother banished you from her court after naming you traitor,’ she mused. ‘Was she the one who cursed you?’
Gedeon shook his head.
‘You have been unwilling to tell me who the attacker was. Which leads me to believe it was someone close to you.’
‘Your powers of deduction are second to none,’ he murmured grimly, then heaved a sigh. In truth, he was not sure why he was withholding the information. ‘It was my brother.’
‘The crown prince of Zarynth?’
‘The very same.’ It was suddenly difficult to hold her gaze. ‘Shortly after I fled Phaenon City, after I withdrew my flames, Sekun hit me with the curse. He deemed me unworthy of my powers for retreating. It was his way of ensuring I would not be able to use them. Fuelled by jealousy, of course, as is my dear brother’s way.’
‘I see,’ said Maida stiffly. Silence fell, and the healer disappeared into the store cupboard, reappearing with a vial of milky white liquidin her hand. ‘I would like you to take this. It will alleviate some of the pain. I would take it with a stiff drink, if I were you.’
He took it from her, and the glass was cold against his palm. ‘Why?’
‘Because it tastes worse than shit.’
Gedeon almost laughed at that, deciding against asking how she could possibly know what tasted worse than shit, and gave a grateful nod.
‘Everyday when you wake, then again before you sleep. You only need a drop. I will brew another when it is done, should you need it. Though hopefully, you will be free from your brother’s curse before then.’ She moved away and began tidying some of the clutter on her desk, though nothing she did seemed to actually control the mess.
Staring at the vial in his hand again, Gedeon was suddenly humbled. It was a kindness that two weeks ago, she certainly would not have extended him. ‘Maida,’ he said. ‘Thank you.’
Sensing the change in his tone, she looked up, a small smile playing on her lips. She gestured to the vial. ‘Mind you only take a drop at a time. Any more and you will be higher than the Peak.’
‘Perhaps that’s what I need,’ he joked, though upon seeing her disapproving expression, added with a smirk, ‘I’ll stick to the one drop.’
???
Kyra.
‘I’d be wary if I were you, Mankar,’ Zuriel’s high, mocking voice carried through the air. ‘If you like your bones intact, I would stop now.’
Sweat dripping from her brow, breath puffing in white clouds against the air, Kyra turned to see the Eternal sauntering over to the training square on the Summit.
