Holmberg, D.K [Book of Maladies 05] Comatose: by D.K. Holmberg

Author:D.K. Holmberg
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: ASH Publishing
Published: 2018-03-26T23:00:00+00:00

17

THREAT TO CASTER

“I don’t understand,” Alec said, looking over at Bastan. He had made it all the way to the Caster section again, dragging himself through the city, and once more wishing he had Sam with him, if for no other reason than her familiarity with these parts of the city. He didn’t like coming here, though he felt infinitely more comfortable than Beckah when she had come.

“You think I am going to help you get information about this person?”

“But I understand they’re moving in on your territory,” Alec said. He hadn’t even gotten the opportunity to tell Bastan about Ryn, but he seemed completely disinterested. That surprised Alec. He figured Bastan would be intrigued by any such rumors, regardless of the source. And this one came from Master Helen, so the source seemed as if it should be solid.

“There’s no way anyone would make such a move,” Bastan said.

Alec looked around the office. He marveled at the paintings along the wall. Though he’d been in Bastan’s office before, he’d not really paid attention to the artwork. Sam had told him of Bastan’s penchant for fine art. Some of these appeared to be by master painters, which he knew meant they were incredibly valuable. The most surprising was a painting of the canals that hung behind Bastan’s desk. It was exquisitely made and depicted each of the sections of the city with the canals surrounding them. Something like that had value for many reasons, though Alec suspected that for Bastan it was merely a way for him to identify which parts of the city he needed to focus his attention on.

He turned his focus back to Bastan. “We were threatened in Hosd. And now Beckah—”

“Your friend?”

“The other physicker—student physicker—she was with me the last time we came here,” he said.

“Why would you be threatened? Was she too vocal?”

Alec almost laughed. It was a reasonable assumption to make about Beckah. She could be too vocal at times, and she had been quite vocal when she had been here before.

“We went asking questions. There was a young girl who came to the university looking for healing.”

“What did she come in with?”

“Does it matter?”

“Maybe.”

“She came in with a progressive blurred vision. She’s young—probably no older than fifteen—and said she was working for a seamstress and supporting her family.” Alec still felt like a fool for believing her, though she had preyed on his inherent desire to help. She couldn't have known Alec would be the one assigned to see her—the physicker who worked with each person who came in was not guaranteed—but once she had him, she had said the right things and forced him to offer his help.

No. That wasn’t quite right. Alec would have helped regardless.

“Blurred vision doesn’t seem like a very typical problem for someone of that age,” Bastan said.

“It’s not. That’s why I offered to do whatever I could. I thought I could help, but it was difficult finding anything that might explain why she had suffered the gradual loss of vision.

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