Healer of Sakkara

Chapter 28 - Hand

Sevhalim led Galen out onto the balcony, to a low stone bench between two large potted trees. He sat at one end, leaving plenty of room for Galen to keep a fair distance between them, but Galen sat at his side.

A crisp, citrusy scent perfumed the air, like a mix of oranges and jasmine, and after a moment, Galen realized it came from the trees. They bore no fruit, and it was not the season for blossoms, and he wondered what they were called and whence they came.

Sev gave him plenty of time to entertain these thoughts, as he seemed to be gathering his own, and Galen did not rush him.

Finally, with his pale face gilded by the swiftly sinking sun, he spoke in a soft, even voice, as if telling a story in which he played only an observer's part.

"Like all who become Hands, I recall almost nothing of my life before the Order. But it hardly matters if I was a beggar's son or a queen's; once the Order took me, that life came to an end as irrevocable as death.

"I remember thinking that the Hand who found me was kind; and I suppose he must have been, at least by comparison. I was too ill to walk, and he let me ride in front of him on his horse. Most foods disagreed with me, but he fed me rich marrow broth and soft bread, and I had my first taste of applesauce, of which I am still fond. I was weak of constitution and chilled easily, but he wrapped me in thick furs and kept me warm. By the time we reached the monastery at Jana Val, I felt better than I ever had before, and wondered if perhaps I might not be so sickly after all."

He looked up, squinting against the brightness in the sky, his silvery eyes tinged blue by the reflection, and frowned.

"The healers looked at me, of course. Something about the 'cure' doesn't work on those whose bodies are sound. Mine, they told me, was not. Something wrong with my heart, they said. Its beat stumbled and tripped, and before long, it would fail. Andren had found me just in time. Still, the choice had to be mine: the cure must be taken willingly."

He paused again, and in the silence, Galen listened as a soft breeze stirred the little chimes that hung in the sweetly scented trees. When Sev spoke again, it was in hardly more than a whisper, and his lips barely moved.

"They asked me if I wanted to live," he said. "I was five years old. I barely understood death enough to fear it, but of course I said I did. They told me I must promise, on my life, to obey without question, and that if I failed to do so, my life was forfeit. The Order had given it to me, and so it belonged to them. I belonged to them."

Galen grimaced. "What a terrible thing to tell a child."

Sevhalim's mouth curved in a slight smile. "Is it? To a child who had never belonged to anyone, who had lived without hope, shadowed by illness, it sounded wonderful. Besides the few things I recall of the journey to Jana Val, that is perhaps the first time I remember feeling something like happiness. And for a long while afterward, it was the last."

His gaze lowered from the sky to his hands, folded in his lap, and the breeze played with his long, loose hair. Galen had seldom seen it out of a braid, and had a strange urge to touch it, which he suppressed.

"Fortunately, I have little memory of anything past that point, for what memories I have are of pain." Sev continued. "I remember a strange room with a strange bath full of strange liquid, and of something sharp piercing my arm. I remember my veins turning blue, visible beneath my skin, and then a pain like fire in my blood. After that, my next memory is of being praised for the correct use of a spoon."

"A... spoon?" Galen could not hide the surprise in his tone, and Sev glanced at him and smiled.

"I later discovered that those who take the 'cure' emerge as if newly born. They must relearn all that they have learned before: how to walk, how to speak, how to eat. A few fortunate ones recover some fragments of memory; the unfortunate remain as mindless beasts, and must be destroyed as such. It seems I had shown little improvement up to that point, and such might have been my fate if I had not chosen that day to display such an impressive skill."