That’s when he collapsed.
“Captain!” Fidel shouted as he and the crew rushed over to their beloved leader. The first mate scooped Torvus up like he was a doll and pushed through the crowd. “Open the cabin door!”
One of them obliged, and Fidel disappeared into the room, followed by another man. A soft tug on my ankle made me look down. Ramaro stood at my side, and his eyes flitted across the men. He spoke in a whisper so low that I barely caught his bone-chilling warning. “Get inside before these guys decide you made the captain sick.”
I followed his gaze and understood what he meant. More than one pair of eyes looked angrily at me. I hurried through their company and slipped into the cabin. Ramaro closed the door behind us and turned with a wrinkle of his snout. “They’re not happy out there.”
I couldn’t pay attention to the action outside. My focus was captured by the bed and the pale man under the covers. He lay perfectly still while the stranger and Fidel worked on getting him out of the wet clothes. They worked a little too thoroughly, and a blush rose in my cheeks before I spun around to face away.
Ramaro caught my attention after a while. “It’s safe to look.”
I looked over my shoulder and saw the pair had changed him into a clean shirt and pants, and nothing else. The man, unknown to me, was tall and lean. His long, slender fingers worked away at Torvus’ muscles, massaging them in specific points.
I knelt so I was closer to Ramaro and lowered my voice. “Who’s that?”
“The ship’s doctor, Cornelius. If anyone can get him going, it’s him.”
“What’s he doing with his hands? Massaging his muscles?”
“Massaging the magic lines along the body. Those are the ones that help the flow of magic. Everything has these lines, even if they’re too small to be used.”
“What happens if the flow stops?”
His expression became grim. “Then they stop. Forever.”
I felt as though someone squeezed my heart. “Is that what’s happening to the captain?”
“We’ll see.”
Chapter 14
The doctor worked his own magic, applying pressure to the lines.
“Well, Doc?” Fidel asked him after a few silent minutes.
The doctor paused in his massages and set his hands on the bed beside Torvus. His gentle but keen eyes studied his patient. “I’ve opened all the lines that were shut, but they’re very drained.”
“How drained?”
The doctor lifted his eyes to Fidel. “Even a minute longer under such strain probably would have killed him.”
Fidel pursed his lips and examined his captain. “So we wait?”
“Yes,” the doctor confirmed as he pushed off from the bed. “He needs a great deal of rest.”
“Alright. Thanks, Doc.”
The doctor smiled at him as he rolled down his sleeves. “Don’t thank me yet. He’s going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up. We might all regret that happening.” The doctor looked past Fidel and at me in my little spot beside the door. “You’re name’s Larkin, isn’t it?”
I shrank beneath his attention, but I bobbed my head. “Rose Larkin.”
The doctor beckoned to me. “Come over here, Miss Larkin.”
I reluctantly moved to the foot of the bed and studied Torvus’ pale face. “He’ll really be okay?”
“There’s nothing to show he won’t be,” the doctor assured me as he moved to my side. “You’d better stay here until he wakes up.”
I blinked at him. “Why?”
