| |
THE ROOM ERUPTED IN a multitude of directions.
Father leaned across the table, reaching for his brother. “Baxley. Baxley, can you hear me? Are you all right?”
Baxley groaned, holding his head as he slowly blinked his eyes open. “I ... I think so? I feel funny.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure. Lighter, maybe? Weak ... but I can tell ... the poison is gone.”
“Thank goodness,” my father said. He and Mother continued to fuss over Baxley.
Farrah knelt down by the unconscious Shelda, feeling for a pulse. “She’s still alive,” Farrah announced, the relief evident in her voice.
Kaela hovered nearby, waving a bottle of smelling salts. “Would this help?”
Farrah didn’t bother to take the bottle. “No, unfortunately. This is magically induced. There’s nothing to do but hope Shelda eventually wakes up from it.” She sighed. “The bigger questions are if she wakes up, and in what condition.”
“She’ll need to be somewhere more comfortable than the floor, then,” Kaela said. She motioned at Rhyss and Jondan. “Can one of you carry her upstairs? I’ll show you where to bring her. And if whoever stays back could find one of the servants, please let them know we’ll need some refreshments for Shelda should she wake up.”
I looked around the room and realized that there were no servants present. They must have made themselves scarce during the spell casting. Not that I blamed them; we paid our servants well, but not so well that they’d want to risk themselves if a spell went wrong. I’d have done the same thing if I were in their place.
Jondan scooped up Shelda from the floor, following Kaela out of the dining room. Rhyss left as well, heading in the direction that Kaela indicated before she and Jondan went up the stairs.
“You should rest, too,” Father said to Baxley.
Baxley grimaced. “I feel like I could sleep for a week. And my head hurts something fierce.”
“It will probably be like that for a few days,” Farrah said. “But Lord Asthore is right, resting is a good idea.”
Baxley shakily got to his feet. Mother and Father stood as well, supporting either side of him.
“I hope another room is ready,” Father remarked as they made their slow way to the dining room entrance.
“Don’t worry, Julian, I’m so tired, I won’t even notice,” Baxley quipped. Before they left the room, he turned back. To Farrah, he said, “Will my niece be all right?”
“I hope so,” Farrah said. “I’ll do what I can to speed her healing, but the best we really can do is watch and wait.”
He nodded somberly. Father and Mother escorted him out of the room.
I went to Farrah’s side and helped her slowly get to her feet. “Farrah, are you all right?”
Panting slightly, she said, “I will be, in a little while. And now, Baxley will be all right as well. I just hope Shelda will be, too.”