They flew over the ring city in seconds, crossed over the high wall of the palace, and floated down onto the stone courtyard.The bright red walls of the building had symmetrically placed doors, and Auntie Daiyu hurried up the stairs to the largest pair.
“I will summon the doctors,” Master Teacher Wang said, although he made no move to do so.He followed Auntie Daiyu into a large room with pillars at the sides, each carved with fantastic creatures—dragons and phoenixes and even the qilin Shanlin had been so fascinated by.Shanlin.
A new panic rolled through Leander.“Someone might be after us.I have to get to Shanlin.”He turned to rush back out of the hall, but Master Teacher Wang caught him in an inhumanly forceful grip.
“I will send Acolyte Heng to retrieve the boy.He is in no danger.”
“No danger?”Leander’s voice broke.
“No danger,” Master Teacher Wang said with such confidence that an artificial calm crept over Leander.He blinked and then snarled at the manipulation.
Auntie Daiyu cackled.“It would serve you right if he punched you.His qidi is ill and his child is far from him.Not everyone has given up all worldly connections as you have.”
Master Teacher Wang bowed to Auntie Daiyu before considering Leander.“My apologies.I only hoped to soothe your turbulent spirit.”
A man in a strange black hat and red robe hurried into the room with an ornate basket over one shoulder.He pushed Auntie Daiyu away from Creek.“When did he fall ill?What was he doing?”he asked, his voice sharp as he pressed his hands to Creek’s head.
“We were going out to collect ginseng, and he revealed a new aspect of his power—the ability to change the appearance of an item, either lightening or darkening it,” Leander said.
“What did he eat this morning?”The doctor’s hands moved down Creek’s prone body.
“Porridge.”
“Did anyone else eat from the same pot?”
“My son and I.”Now Leander was terrified that Shanlin could be ill.He looked at Auntie Daiyu with panicked eyes, silently begging her to go get the boy.
Her eyes were full of sympathy, but she didn’t move.
“Did he eat or drink anything else?”
“No,” Leander said.“We had only recently left the house.”
“Where did you go after you left?”
“We went to Master Yang.He asked me to harvest only ginseng and provided the donkey and a sturdy basket.We were walking in the hills when Hu Xi collapsed.”Leander had nearly given the doctor Creek’s real name, but the fewer people who knew it, the better, so Leander had to protect their identities at all costs.
“What was he touching when he collapsed?A plant, perhaps?A twining vine?”
“No,” Leander said, “and if there were a poisonous plant anywhere near us, I would have known it.Those plants have a sharpness in their aura that warns creatures to stay away.”
The doctor finally focus on Leander, his eyebrows raised in surprise.“You can feel the nature of a plant?”
Auntie Daiyu answered for him.“Western magical users can perform fantastic magics, but the cost is the inability to perform even minor tasks unrelated to that one skill.You are asking about heartbreak grass.”
“Yes,” the doctor said, “a powerful elixir using the vine as the most critical part.Someone with a poison this powerful would likely have created an antidote, so if we learn who administered the dose, we can find the pill that will counter the effects.”
“He ate nothing that the rest of us did not also eat!”Leander hated that his voice rose in distress.“If we can’t find someone with an antidote, how do we make one?”
The doctor tutted for a second, glancing down at Creek who was barely breathing.“To make such a powerful pill would require at least two days of concerted effort, and your friend will not survive that long.”He said it with the same tone that another might report on the weather.Homicidal rage poured through Leander.The trees in the courtyard rustled as his magic reached for every living plant within reach.
“There is another way,” Auntie Daiyu said.
The doctor gave her a condescending look.“I assure you, there is not.I am sorry, but all I can do is ease his passing.”
Auntie Daiyu turned to Master Teacher Wang.“Get a heartbreak grass plant.Bring it here as soon as possible.”
“En,” Master Teacher Wang said, but again, he didn’t move.
