Page 81 of The Last Slayer
After the bath, I found my old suit on the bed. Although it wasn’t made of luxurious silk like the dresses Toshi offered, it was the only thing that was really mine. I appreciated having something from my old life to anchor me. Toshi had had it repaired and cleaned, and it smelled lightly of lilac and pear. Despite my transformation, the suit still fit, although it was a bit snug around my chest and loose in the waist. The narcissist in me rejoiced.
Someone knocked on the door. “Come in!”
Toshi entered and bowed. “Milady, your breakfast is ready.”
“Great. I’m starving. By the way, can I see Valerie before we go?”
Toshi’s mouth opened slightly. “Your sister Valerie?”
“Is there another Valerie around here?”
“No, of course not. But, milady, it is likely dangerous. The poison—”
“Now that I have a heartstone, I think I’ll be all right.”
“The stone undoubtedly confers some resistance. Still—”
“Only for a moment. I just want to take a look at her, that’s all.”
“Ah.” He turned his body slightly, and the sunlight reflected from his eyes in rainbow shades. “Of course. Please follow me.”
Toshi flew out the door and we turned right into the long hallway. He preceded me, blinking at each stained glass window we passed as if the light blinded him.
He stopped before a heavy wooden door and waved a foreleg at it. The door opened, and I took a step inside.
Valerie’s room was large, tastefully decorated and airy, with a lot of leather-bound volumes on magic and wardings. I walked toward the four-poster canopy bed, where she lay on brilliantly white sheets, looking like something out of a fairytale even when she was comatose. Pale skin stretched over the fine cheekbones and a tinge of red stained the skin there. I laid a hand on her chest. Her heart beat very slowly.
There was a quality to her breathing that made me pause. It had lost its earlier odor. But everything else indicated she was still poisoned. I ran my hand over her face, traced the delicate eyelashes. She didn’t move, and something clung to my skin like the residue from sticky candy.
“How long has she been asleep?” I said.
“Since you brought her here, milady.”
The rather rosy hue of her skin made me disagree. I looked steadily at Toshi, whose hover lost a bit of altitude.
“Truly, milady, it is dangerous for you to—”
Maybe the fake Ramiel episode had made me paranoid, but I trusted my gut more than ever before. I raised a hand and sent waves of vivification magic over her, enough to jolt her from any web of power she might be under. My heartstone effortlessly amplified the potency of a spell that was normally too weak to fight against even an incubus-induced sleep. Toshi squeaked and pirouetted in the air as the shield around her first became visible, then shattered, its bits vanishing like snowflakes on a frying pan.
Valerie let out a long shuddering breath, and her eyes fluttered open. She sat up, her loose hair falling and softening her face. She looked at me and frowned slightly. “Who are you?”
Toshi quivered, but rose to the occasion as Besade’s castellan. Good thing too, since I was speechless. “Lady Ashera of Eastvale,” he announced, bowing.
Valerie swung her legs to the side of the bed and stood up. “Wow. A real dragonlady.” She grasped my hand. “Honored. I didn’t know Eastvale had a dragonlady, but then we don’t always get the la—”
“Valerie.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but it trembled a little. “You’re okay.” Releasing my hand, she took a step back. “It’s me, Val. Ashera.”
She stared. “Ashera?” She looked at me, at Toshi, at the walls around her. “What’s going on here?”
I wasn’t getting through. “Okay, fine. I guess I have to prove it. Let’s see…something really embarrassing. Oh, I know. You remember how, when you were twelve, you had this huge crush on Leif—”
She put a hand to her mouth. “Ashera?” She glanced at Toshi again, as if looking for his help.
Toshi looked extremely uncomfortable but swooped in gamely, positioning himself behind her head and slightly to one side, the best location to give unobtrusive prompting and advice. “This is Lady Ashera del Cid,” he murmured. “There was some glamour, you see. Well…that is…it’s rather difficult to explain…”
Valerie stared at my eyes, and I saw her get it. It was a shock, of course, but then she was used to dealing with the unusual.
Now that I knew Valerie was okay, other things started to vie for my attention. “Very clever, Toshi. You almost fooled me.”
