She frowned at the interruption. “Nearly a decade.”
“Hmm. Okay. Continue.”
Her stare narrowed. “ThenI performed a smaller revival, for hopelessness. That one only left me with a strange buzzing, but I stayed conscious. Although for Mistress Lefroy—”
“Our investor?”
“For her, I fainted again.”
“I see.” His finger crept onto the counter where he began to toy with a syringe. “Have you ever exercised your brilliance so much in a single day?”
Lux worked quickly through her memories. “No,” she said.
“It could be that you overtaxed yourself. Or you were ill from something else. A virus, perhaps, that only needed to run through your system.”
“I don’t—”
“Get up onto the table, Ms. Thorn.”
“Excuse me?”
The healer rose from his stool. “I will need to perform an exam. You deny it could be a virus. Or that you were overtaxed. So I will have to assess for myself.”
Lux scowled across the room at Corvin, who shrugged apologetically.
Old men,he mouthed and rolled his eyes.
She stepped toward the table.
“Up. Up.” The healer patted the gleaming surface.
Lux’s exhale was more a hiss, but she did as told. She climbed up and sat, facing him.
“Anything else I should know before I begin? Less guesswork is always best when it comes to healing.”
Lux cleared her throat, acutely aware of Corvin behind her. She couldn’t decide whether she preferred for him to stay or go.
I would prefer not to be here at all.
“Nightmares aren’t new for me, but lately, I’ve been having them where the monster waiting for me is me. Only it’s worsened, somehow. This morning, my bathwater turned black. By breakfast, I swore I saw myself in the dark. Even heard the thing speak. Just before I came here, I experienced it again. A hand in the garden.”
“Hallucinations,” murmured Artemis. “All right. Lie back.”
Her muscles contracted at once. “Is that necessary?”
She’d never lain on her, or ratherRiselda’s, table—ever. Even when having her broken ankle set by that physician in Ghadra, she’d been propped. Just the idea felt abhorrently vulnerable.
“I’m afraid so. Here’s a support.” He reached beneath his counter to retrieve a flattened pillow covered in some sort of garden debris. He swatted it clean before laying it at the table’s end. “Go on now.”
Lux swung her legs onto the table and very carefully lay backward. She loathed every second; when her head hit the pillow, she choked on the scent of mildew.
“Very good,” said the healer. “Corvin, come hold her hand.”
Lux pushed to her elbows. “Why would he need to do that?”
“Because assessment can be disconcerting. I will need samples. Hair, to start.”
Corvin came to stand beside the table. “He’s assessed me before,” he said. “It doesn’t bother much.”
