“Lucky me.”
“You truly are,” he agreed as she stripped and lay down on the table. “Relax. This first part will be quick.”
Sure enough, he surveyed her entire body and the markings the Skrizzit had placed on it in no time. His expert eyes madequick work of what would have taken a lesser artist several times as long.
“Good, it is only the Infala they sabotaged. The rest of your runework is surprisingly quite impressive. And once I connect them all, I’m hopeful you will have the same powerful reaction the other humans I know have.”
“Fingers crossed.”
He picked up his implements and moved close, leaning over her as he prepared to begin. “There will be a slight discomfort due to the location of the Infala, but this pigment should help reduce any pain. Are you ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s do this.”
“Then here we go.”
He moved fast and fluid, dipping his needles in the living pigment and carefully inserting it into her flesh, fixing what the chancellor’s Skrizzit had done. Heydar stopped abruptly, an odd look on his face.
“Is everything okay?”
He leaned closer to her chest, marveling at what he saw. “What have you done?”
“Excuse me?”
“This is unusual. What have you done to yourself? Or what has been done to you?”
“Nothing. What’s going on?”
“Your skin absorbs the pigment in a very unusual manner. Extremely fast. The markings are setting in almost immediately, and even with a touch-up that is unheard of. But you say no one did anything to you?”
“I’m telling you; I’d have remembered.”
“Then is there anything at all you can think of that was out of the ordinary in the last few days? Perhaps something you were exposed to? Or something you ate or drank?”
“Actually, now that you mention it, we did stay at that spa you and Darla visited recently.”
“A fantastic place, and their healing baths are second to none. But that would not do this.”
“Well, we did find a hot spring that was off the beaten path.”
“Nothing too unusual about?—”
“And I kinda drank some.”
He froze for a second. “Youdrankthe waters? Are you mad? There are warning signs throughout the spa.”
“Well, we weren’tinthe spa. And besides, Zeph drank some too, and he’s fine.”
Heydar shook his head in disbelief, muttering to himself as he began again. “Drank the waters.Bothof you. Madness.”
“I said I was okay.”
“We will just have to see what happens, then. You will heal rapidly, that much is clear. How your other runes may adapt to this unexpected variable, however, is anyone’s guess. Now lay still. This will apparently be quicker than expected.”
True to his word, Heydar finished his work in a flash. Not because of haste or lack of care, but because her Infala seemed to almost crave the final pigment, and when she stepped out into the fresh air, everything looked brighter and smelled better. She felt like she was on Cloud Nine, her whole body already starting to react as her runes finally connected for the first time.
She found Zepharos and the others at breakfast. He’d saved her a spot between himself and Rohanna, though all were sitting close, jabbering away merrily. He also had a delightful selection of foods and juices laid out for her, awaiting her arrival. He rose, pulling out her chair when he saw her.
“I didn’t know what you might be craving, so I took the liberty of getting you a sampler.”
