Tormina: The Book of Maladies Read online

  “No one cares to answer?” Master Carl asked.

  Barnath stood, drawing attention to him. He was slightly older than Alec, and quite a bit heavier, and Alec had no problem with him other than the fact that he seemed to lack a spine. “My research has shown that a kidney injury would be the most devastating.”

  Beckah snickered. Barnath shot her a hard look, and she only shrugged. “A kidney injury could bleed, and it can be painful, but it’s not typically fatal,” she said. “Not like an injury to one of the upper organs, like the liver or the spleen.”

  Master Carl glanced at Alec before answering. “Very good. I can tell that some of you have been reading.”

  Beckah grinned at the compliment. Getting one from Master Carl was rare, and Alec knew she was deserving of the compliments.

  “And yes, Ms. Reynolds is right. Such injuries often are worse than a kidney injury, especially as they can be difficult to diagnose. There is often pain, but occasionally, it is not the type of pain you would expect.” Master Carl turned to the chalkboard and began drawing, detailing pictures of the internal organs. As he did, he pointed to some of the upper organs, the liver and the spleen, and placed a large X over each of them. “Without these, a person does not survive, at least not for long.”

  Alec bit back a smile. He had seen otherwise. Not losing a liver—that seemed to be a crucial organ—but he had seen people survive a spleen injury. From what he could tell, it was an unessential organ.

  “Mr. Stross. Do you have something to say?”

  Perhaps he hadn’t bitten back his smile quite as well as he thought he had. “No.”

  Master Carl studied him for a moment, his glare lingering before he finally turned away and began to lecture, droning on about the various organs and their functions. Alec was able to tune him out, focusing on trying to think through how he was going to approach Sam’s request. Most of this information was not new to him. He had read about the known physiology, and his father had quizzed him, ensuring that he did know what the various organs were for.

  When the class got out, Master Carl left first, as was his habit. Most of the students waited for Master Carl to depart, not wanting to follow him too closely. If they did, they ran the risk of him asking additional questions, something that few students wanted, especially from Master Carl.

  “What was that about?” Beckah asked.

  “What was what about?” Alec said.

  “Your lack of interest in this talk today. Normally, you’re taking notes. Normally, you’re one of the more engaged, asking questions. But today, you just sat there, staring blankly. So, what was it about?”

  “It wasn’t about anything,” Alec said. “I… I’m distracted, that’s all.”

  “I can see that you’re distracted, I’m just asking why.”

  “You know why.”

  “I know you’re concerned that there is something you don’t understand, but that’s not the same as you losing focus during a lecture. You’re usually the first one to speak up, and one of the first to ask questions. So, for you to be silent… I think you might have made Master Carl happy, but I’m not sure that was your intent.”

  “I’m just troubled by what Sam told me. If there is anything going on with the master physickers, and if the Scribes have hidden their presence here, I think we need to be more concerned about what they might be after.”

  “Which is why you need to go to Master Eckerd. He’s shown that he’s willing to listen to you. More than anyone else, I think he would be the one to talk to about this.”

  “And I told you that I don’t know how to find him. The one time I tried, I…”

  Alec flushed. He hadn’t told Beckah about that.

  “What do you mean you tried?”

  “I went to the masters’ quarters,” Alec said, lowering his voice. They were in the hall and kept some distance between themselves and the other students. “I was looking for Master Eckerd, but he wasn’t in his rooms. Instead, I found Master Jessup.”

  “That was lucky,” she said.

  “Why?”

  “Only that Master Jessup is probably as good an instructor as Master Eckerd. Both are only slightly below Master Helen.”

  “Do you know Master Helen?” Alec asked.

  “No more than anyone can know her.”

  “Other than Stefan.”

  “Well, Stefan is a unique case. Grandma does tend to give him quite a bit of attention,” Beckah said.

  “Maybe I should be going to Stefan to see what Grandma Helen might be able to do to help with this.”

  “Do you think she would help?”

  Alec shrugged. He didn’t know. When it came to the masters, it was difficult to know what they might be willing to do. Master Helen would be among the more difficult ones to know. He hadn’t spent much time with her, not the way that some had, and even though she was Stefan’s grandmother, she was still a mystery to him. And there was her connection to the princess, who was also a Scribe.

  Beckah grabbed his sleeve and pulled him along the hallway. Alec followed, knowing that when she got something into her mind like that, she wasn’t easily deterred. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to deter her. He considered speaking to Master Jessup, but he didn’t know if he was one of the Scribe physickers, and he knew that Master Eckerd and Helen were.

  They reached the student section. Beckah guided him to Stefan’s room, and they knocked. They waited for a while, but there was no answer.

  “Maybe he’s down in the wards,” Alec said.

  “Stefan? He doesn’t go down to the wards unless he has to.”

  “He was down there with me the other day,” Alec said. “He has been working with Master Jessup, so I think that he might be there now.”

  “First you and now Stefan working with Master Jessup? I’m beginning to feel like I’ve been pushed out.”

  “You could ask to work with him,” Alec said.

  “No. You know they don’t like it when we make requests like that. They consider it being too forward. It’s better for me to stay with Master Isabel, and eventually, maybe I can ask to study with Master Jessup.” She glanced over at Alec and arched a brow. “Or maybe I could even ask about Master Eckerd. I bet he’ll get to a point where he’s tired of explaining things to you.”

  “Be my guest. I will tell you that he can be demanding.”

  “More demanding than Master Carl?”

  “I’m not sure Master Carl is—” Alec hesitated, realizing that there was someone behind them.

  He turned and saw Master Carl standing in one of the side hallways. “Do go on, Mr. Stross. Tell me what you are not sure Master Carl is.”

  Alec flushed. “I was just going to say that I’m not sure Master Carl was finished teaching us everything about internal injuries.”

  “Is that right? Are you so certain that you know my teaching method?”

  “I wouldn’t dare question your teaching methods,” Alec said. “All I’m trying to say is—”

  “I know what you’re trying to say,” Master Carl said. “I’ve seen it from you too many times. You come in here thinking that your time with your father has made you equal—if not superior—to any of our students, but it does not. That’s not to say, were you to apply yourself, that you couldn’t be incredibly skilled. I won’t deny a bright mind when I see one, and if you were to take some time and apply yourself, you might make something of yourself here.”

  Master Carl watched him, and Alec said nothing. There didn’t seem to be anything he could say, and certainly not without offending Master Carl. He turned and strode off, leaving them alone in the hallway.

  “That was strange,” Beckah said.

  “The fact that he complimented me?” Alec asked.

  Beckah shook her head. “No. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that Master Carl can be much kinder than you realize. He’s a blowhard, but he means well, at least, most of the time.”

  “What was strange, then?”

  Beckah l
ooked along the hallway, and Alec followed the direction of her gaze. There were a few other students out here. Many were going in or out of their rooms, and considering the size of the university, and the number of students who studied here, it wasn’t all too surprising that there would be so many people here.

  But there were only students.

  “Why would Master Carl be in the student section?” Beckah asked, putting words to his own confusion. She had noted the oddity of the master’s presence far more quickly than he had.

  “There are lots of reasons that he could be here,” Alec said.

  “Really?” She turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Lots of reasons for a master to be in the student section?”

  Alec shrugged. “There would have to be. I saw Master Jessup come through here, using this as a sort of back access to the wards.”

  “He did that?” She smiled. “I could see Master Jessup doing something like that. He probably thought to take a shortcut.”

  “He said that it was nostalgic for him.”

  Beckah shook her head. “If I ever get nostalgic for these quarters, I want you to hit me.”

  “What makes you think I will still know you when you’re a master physicker.”

  “You don’t think you will still be speaking to me then?”

  Alec shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you’ll have grown tired of me by then.”

  “I think I’m tired of you now.”

  Alec smiled, and he couldn’t shake the same concern that Beckah had, the same question she had about why Master Carl would have come through here. It could be something innocuous, but given what he had heard from Sam, he was on edge. Nothing was innocuous, not anymore. Now everything that master physickers did needed to be questioned.

  “Let’s find Stefan and see if we can’t see what Grandma Helen might have told him,” Alec said. “Maybe he can help us get an audience with her.”

  “Is that really something you think you want to do?” Beckah asked. She clutched her arms around herself and shivered. “That woman terrifies me.”

  “She makes me uncomfortable, too. The last time I saw her, she basically told me I needed to return to the university and stop wasting time.”

  “The last time? Where was it that you came across her?”

  “At the palace,” Alec said.

  “Master Helen was at the palace?”

  “I get the sense that she is working with the Anders family. She’s been working with Sam, trying to help her with her memory loss.”

  Beckah’s eyes widened slightly. “She’s a Scribe. Which means—”

  “Which means nothing. It could be that she was there only because she was summoned by the royal family to answer questions. It could be that those who know about the Kavers and Scribes called her over.”

  “It could be that she’s someone’s Scribe,” Beckah said.

  Alec had thought about it, but had discarded it. If she was someone’s Scribe, wouldn’t she have been over at the palace more often?

  But then, wouldn’t he be over at the palace more often, since they were now aware that he was Sam’s Scribe?

  It was even more reason to find Master Eckerd.

  If only he could figure out where he’d gone. Why had he disappeared?

  Given what Master Eckerd knew of Alec, and vice versa, he thought the man would have stuck around to help Alec understand. To provide the answers he needed. Because he’d expected his help, the master physicker’s disappearance left him unsettled.

  Beckah watched him and nodded. “Come on. Let’s get going and see if we can’t get some answers for you so that you can stop looking at me like that.”

  “Looking at you like what?”

  “Like you aren’t certain what to make of me.”

  “I’m pretty sure I know what to make of you. It’s the master physickers that I’m still not able to figure out.”

  “Then let’s find a way to figure it out.”

  18

  Treatment Plan

  What is your assessment?” Master Harrison asked.

  The students were arranged around a cot in the hospital ward. It held an older man, and he had yellowing to his face and arms. There was a strange, almost fetid odor. Alec held his nose, though he had dealt with similar stench in the past. This one didn’t bother him nearly as much as some.

  “Jaundice,” someone called from the back of the bed.

  Master Harrison grunted. “Perhaps we can get something that is a bit more detailed than that?”

  “Jaundice like that is typically related to inflammation in the bile connections,” Alec said.

  “Very good, Mr. Stross. What more can you tell me other than what you read in the surgical journals that Master Eckerd has allowed you to study?”

  Alec frowned. Were all the masters going to pick on him for his connection to Master Eckerd? He didn’t think that was something he deserved, but he recognized the irritation. It wasn’t as if he had demanded that Master Eckerd include him, but then, he hadn’t complained when he was pulled into the surgical suites.

  “There are different types of inflammation that can contribute to jaundice,” Alec answered. He started thinking about what his father had taught him about this kind of jaundice. Many of them were surgical cases, though there were some that were not, and those were the ones that he hoped to treat. Those that were surgical would often be fatal, especially since so few would be able to afford the treatment at the university. This was even more reason for Alec’s bewilderment that his father had been unwilling to perform any surgeries. “We would first need to know if it was painful or painless.”

  “And why would that make a difference?”

  “The presence of pain often indicates the need of a master physicker, and the patient would likely need to be treated here at the university.”

  “And considering that you are here at the university, why should that matter?”

  Alec flushed. “Because there are various medicinal approaches to jaundice which could be diagnosed and treated by others. Even those who appear to be untreatable can be targeted with the right combination of medicines and show improvement.”

  Master Harrison considered him for a long moment before nodding. “That is acceptable. Though I would say that your knowledge is rudimentary. I expected more from you, especially given what I’ve heard.”

  Alec flushed again. It felt as if he was being targeted, and he thought that was unfair, especially since he hadn’t done anything to deserve the attention. All he wanted was a chance to prove himself, and to learn, and if the physickers were going to continue to target him because he spoke up, maybe he shouldn’t. He needed to learn how not to draw additional attention to himself. He couldn’t risk not being allowed to learn from them.

  Master Harrison continued his lecture, talking about various treatments, and Alec barely paid attention. He knew that he should focus better, and he knew that ignoring him would only anger Master Harrison, but he preferred to focus on what Master Harrison might know about the Scribes. It was possible that Master Harrison was the very Scribe that Sam wanted him to search for.

  Beckah nudged him, and he glanced over. “Aren’t you going to pay attention?” she whispered.

  “I am paying attention.”

  “But you’re not speaking up,” she said. “All of this is very much unlike you.”

  “I’m trying to keep an eye on things,” he said.

  “You can’t really believe that Master Harrison might be—”

  “Master Harrison might be what, Ms. Reynolds?” Master Harrison asked.

  Beckah flushed. “Nothing,” she said. “I was just trying to see if Mr. Stross might help me better understand this jaundice that you’re demonstrating to us.”

  “Indeed? Well, if that’s the case, then perhaps Mr. Stross can share with us what he knows. I would be most curious to hear about what he has discovered.”

  “I haven’t discovered anything,” he said, shooting Becka
h a hard glare. What was she thinking drawing attention to him? Did she want to get him into trouble with Master Harrison? “Only that a combination of epson roots and tearath leaves might be effective with treating this type of jaundice.”

  He said it without thinking too much, though he knew it was correct. It was the kind of treatment he would have suggested to his father, though there, he wouldn’t have had the same concern about what response he would get by suggesting it.

  Master Harrison watched Alec for a moment. “Is that right? And by what mechanism would you feel these combinations would be effective?”

  Alec sighed. He was growing frustrated and knew that he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help it. “The epson root will help absorb some of the toxins that cause the jaundice. The tearath leaves will help restore the individual.”

  Master Harrison tipped his head in a slight nod. “That would be an interesting combination. Is this something your father helped you discover?”

  “This is something that my father has done before.”

  “Yes, well he always was quite the expert with knowing his medicinal uses, wasn’t he?”

  Alec could only stare. There was no sarcasm in his tone. No biting jab about his father being just an apothecary. It was said as a statement of fact. It was the first that he’d heard of his father being renowned for his knowledge of medicinal uses of different leaves and other treatments. He knew that his father was quite skilled, but hearing about it from a master physicker at the university was surprising.