Interlude 2.2 - - - - Paved with Good Intentions : Part 3
Another 2 Days Later, Late Evening.
"Sĺ̵̗ȇ̸̻ep.̵"
The crying infant's eyes closed as he fell into a serene rest immediately, escaping his current distress.
Valerie looked into Thomas' cot as he slept, her brow crossed in frustration.
"It's amazing how he responds to you so well," Mali, his wetnurse, said from where she sat a short distance away. "Poor dear has been having a rough time of it. *cough* Excuse me."
Mali held her hand to her mouth as she coughed a couple more times, she looked to be coming down with something.
"It's no̸thi̵n̸g sp̸̻͂eciaľ̶͍," Valerie answered on impulse, "You sh̶͓̄o̸u̷ldn't̸ thin̵k̸ about it too hard."
Mali's face went a little blank as the Idea washed over her, she'd be like that for a couple minutes. Valerie would probably sneak her some of the family herbs tomorrow, it wasn't exactly fair that only Nireiles weren't supposed to get sick when they had plenty to spare.
The thought made her sigh, people were harder than things. It's why she couldn't just command Mali to be well, or Thomas for that matter.
Her brother had gotten rather inexplicably ill the past couple days, her and Aboleath were practicing minor harmless orders on people just about as much as possible to build up Valerie's skill to the bigger concepts such as overall health. He'd tried teaching her some of the details of how the human body worked to have a go at more specific remedies, but it all got so complex with so many new words for things.
They'd abandoned that as one of their preparation activities when Valerie burst into tears halfway through some convoluted explanation about blood vessels yesterday. It hurt to admit it, but she was just too dumb.
What Valerie didn't quite get was why her mum was so calm about Thomas. She'd have expected the lady of the house to be raising a huge fuss about her brother being a little fevery and sulky, but instead her mother had been keeping to herself. But her mother seemed rather withdrawn the past few days, from just about everything really.
Father was out on some trip she was not privy to the specifics of, so Valerie had less eyes on her than usual.
Maybe that was a good thing for now, after the near disaster two days ago.
-
Valerie had gotten lax, too wrapped up in her practice and just having fun while she daydreamed and not keeping track of the household properly. This led up to the moment where her mother had walked into Thomas' room to find Valerie holding her brother, Mali asleep on a couch nearby, Persephone in Thomas' arms.
Time had seemed to stand still, caught with her proverbial pants down and almost certainly having cost Mali her livelihood, Valerie had panicked and frozen. Thank goodness Aboleath had been there.
'Speak. Now.' He had said.
"Not̷̛͚̒ḥ̴̂ing w̴̰͛͆ort̶h̸ n̷otic̷͕̓ĭ̶̻ng he̷̘̕re," she had said, hoping to shield both herself and Mali from the consequences. Valerie had thought she'd put enough oomph behind the Idea, and was doubly thankful for Aboleath when she felt him add an extra push to it, clearly she would have undershot without him.
After a tense moment of uncertainty, her mother had said nothing and left. Valerie had been nervous about seeing her every day since. She hoped her Words had been enough for her mother to forget about the whole thing, otherwise Mali was toast (not to mention the hiding she'd receive).
-
She'd heard some of the servants chatting about her mother apparently 'having a headache' since then. Which was obviously idle gossip, her family had access to magics that made such ailments trivial to remove.
Valerie left her brother in the wetnurses care, there was nothing she could do for him expect keep practicing. And honestly despite her mother's unexplained apathy, her parents would never let Thomas actually get worse. Valerie would keep helping him relax and sleep when he needed to, and time would solve the rest.
She was just so lucky to have Abby, if it wasn't for him than Valerie would have done something dumb like tell her parents everything straight away. But he'd explained to her the risk of doing that so early, before she could prove herself.
Valerie had thought that the wide range of applications that the Realm of Possibility could reach would have been impressive enough, but Abby had thankfully warned her about how she needed to make an extra special effort first to make up for being a disappointment. It hadn't made sense to start with, but he knew so much, and Valerie knew that he was smarter than her. She really wanted to tell them, but she could wait.
Things were still looking up, despite her dreams coming true being a bit of a slog of hard work instead of the meteoric climb she'd expected. She was getting better and basically nothing was going to change that, she just had to be patient and keep working at it.
Oh and Shallia basically left her alone now, which was pretty great. Valerie just told her that "Sh̸͚̋e dǐ̴̺dn't nę̴́e̷̍ͅd to̶ do̴ a̶ny̵͚͝thi̴͓̕ng̶" yesterday morning. It was a pretty cushy deal for her Governess really, the woman got to live at the manor for free and now she didn't even have to do her job anymore. Which was a pretty awesome way of thinking about it, Valerie had been having second thoughts until Abby had explained it like that.
Valerie, I've been meaning to speak with you about something. Something important, that topic.
Valerie had just gotten back to her own bedroom, intending to turn in for the night. The servants enjoyed that she insisted on dressing and undressing herself (when she could get away with it), which was even easier these days thanks to the Realm of Infinite Possibility. Abby had made some overtures about removing her need to sleep early on, but changing herself kinda freaked Valerie out a bit, she wasn't comfortable with that. He kept prodding at the subject every now and then.
*Sigh*, Aboleath, I know I could practice more if I did that… it's just… I just don't want to do it okay?
Oh, where is the brave girl who leaped into the unknown together with me a few days ago? Are you sure you'll have what it takes rise up to your family's legacy?
Abby's words hit Valerie like a knife to the gut, her eyes began to water a little. He had never spoken to Valerie like that, and she was not ready for the sudden turn knocking her thoughts off-balance.
I… you don't mean that. Why would you say that?
Valerie sank against her door, she didn't realise it until this moment, but she desperately needed Abby in her corner. If he turned cruel, then she didn't know what she'd do.
Ah I'm sorry, please don't cry. It's just… I thought that… nevermind, I shouldn't tell you.
Spotting a lifeline, Valerie immediately seized upon the apparently forbidden topic as an explanation for why Abby had said what he did. She would prove to him she could handle it, she had too.
Shouldn't tell me what. Tell me Aboleath.
The silence stretched uncomfortably long, and Valerie's nerves began to fray. She began to wonder if Aboleath was even going to answer. But finally, he did.
…Thomas isn't going to get better.
If your heart could stop without you actually dying, that's what Valerie felt at that moment. She leapt up onto her feet.
"What!.." "WHY!"
She was already swinging open her door to go get mother, keeping secrets be damned, they needed to get help now.
Your mother cannot help him. No one can. Except maybe you.
Valerie stopped in the middle of the hallway, her hands shaking. The shadows playing along the hallway seemed darker and more scary than ever before, the walls felt like they were closing in on her. Her whole world felt like it was crumbling down and she didn't know what to do.
I don't understand Aboleath. You're scaring me. He's not that sick. Why can't anyone help him? I keep failing at it, it can't just be up to me.
There is a curse spreading through the land, a grand ritual conducted by the Goblins which has gone unnoticed. While individually weak, their mastery of such magics far exceeds that of Loilsv. Only your power, your full and unrestrained power, can break its hold upon your brother and many other children. This is why I was sent to you, my purpose from the Gods.
Valerie was crying properly by now as she ran back into her room.
Well of course I'll use the Words on myself then! Why didn't you tell me? We could have done it days ago! Oh Aurora, why is this happening. Abby, I'm frightened.
I am sorry Valerie. I wanted you to already have the solution before I told you, spare you the worry and the uncertainty.
Tell me what I have to do, please. Just tell me and I'll listen.
Of course. Do not fret, little thing; I have a plan for you.
- - -
As it turned out, the initial Inward Vows would be rather tricky and ironically not something to be done with little sleep. It would be left until morning, not that Valerie thought she'd be able to sleep that well.
Abby had helped calm her down a lot after their rather intense exchange. He had encouraged her that she was making greater progress and that the curse would take weeks to become dangerous. As long as she was willing to do what needed to be done, it would all be fine. They would start tomorrow.
Abby told her that a week from now, Thomas would be fine and her parents would be farewelling her as she set off to help all the other scions and notables similarly afflicted by the curse. She was going to be a hero, it would work out.
'You're sure Thomas will be fine,' Valerie asked one last time.
Yes Valerie, I am sure. Try to get some sleep.
Valerie felt herself actually be able to settle a little bit. Life could be such a whirlwind, but she kept repeating Abby's words to herself. It would all be fine. She was quite tired, her eyes were getting a little heavy.
Aboleath?
Yes?
I guess this means I'm going to be going on my first adventure. It won't be dangerous right? You'll look out for me?
Trust me Valerie. Soon enough, you'll love every second of it.
