18. Blue

Angelica froze, disbelief etched upon her face, all training forgotten. Bare feet hit lightly on the wooden deck, quick and certain of someone running nearer, the silence of so many eyes staring without words rippling across the ship.

"Oh wow, Strawberries!" Liva said brightly, the first to plot a course out of the shoals "we should show our farmers, they will be thrilled!"

"Splendid idea!" Angelica enthusiastically followed Liva's lead, not knowing the plan but trusting her anyway. "I had feared never to see another one ever again! Could you imagine summer without them?"

Lady Violet beamed "No, that would be a poor year indeed."

"Shall we?" Liva offered her sword hand, gloves hastily shoved in her belt, gesturing astern.

"Indeed" Lady Violet replied, enthused "There would be no strawberry jam, either. Such a stark grey world would be unbearable."

"But how to best safeguard these? What must we do so they will grow?" Liva smiled brightly as they walked, the silent watchers melting away before them. Vye nodded to them, misreading their terror for deference.

Moments later, a hasty wall of carefully casual guards and crew blocked their view, and Fael threw herself down beside Lady Polite, healer's bag open on the deck beside her. "No no no" she said quietly as she surveyed the young woman.

Antaryon was on one knee across from Fael, gloves off, shield and sword on the deck, his face blanched of colour, waiting for the healer's commands.

Courage, shock, fear, self-doubt, determination flashed across Fael's face as the healer knelt over the still form on the deck. She grabbed Antaryon's proffered hand and then more carefully placed it against Polite's side. "Press here, hard as you can. Do not let go." Without waiting for a reply, Fael rapidly checked for more damage, tilting Polite's head back and ripping a patch of red torn clothing out of the way with the aid of a small sharp knife from her kit. "Press here too. Hard."

"Maygus" Fael said quietly without looking up "watch my hands."

"M'Lady" the big Mann whispered, his voice befret of its customary bravado.

Fael placed one hand out before her, palm down, fingers splayed, quickly but with deliberate movements so Maygus could follow. She placed her other hand on top, palm down also, fingers gripping between the outstretched ones of the first hand. She curled all her fingers, making a locked triangle between her hands and shoulders, then angled her hands up. She placed the palm of her hand over the bottom half of the bony bit at the middle front of Polite's chest, and began to rock back and forwards rhythmically, up, down, up, down. "Got it? Kneel beside me, get ready" she said as she pressed hard on Polite's chest, eased up to to let it recoil, then threw her slight weight forward again for the next compression.

"I think?" Maygus replied, keeling beside her.

"Ja, wait" Fael stopped and swiftly shuffled sideways to beside Polite's head, tilting it, pinching the nose, covering her lips with her own and exhaling slowly. As she did, Angelica could see Fael watching Polite's chest lift, then fall, then lift again with the second slow, deliberate, breath. "Go" Fael said.

Maygus began to emulate Fael's movements, a look of uncertainty on his face.

"Harder. Faster. Go hard and fast" Fael said quietly. "That's it, you want to push a third of her chest down, imagine you are walking quickly, your feet hitting is the beat. Good, now when we get to thirty we'll stop and I will do two more breaths."

"But I didn't count!" Maygus said on the edge of panic.

"I did" Antaryon said quietly "eighteen, nineteen, twenty" he counted off "twenty-nine, thirty stop."

Fael delivered two breaths, and nodded to Maygus who started up again.

"Alexandras" Fael said quietly, the young guard instantly attentive "take over the breathing. If you see her tummy rise when you breathe in it means you are blowing too fast. Two long, slow breaths. Got it? Don't look at me like that, I'll be here to help."

Alexandras switched in, his face betraying his views on the matter, yet he obeyed without a single word spoken.

"How long do we do this?" Maygus said quietly.

"As long as needed or at least a good while yet, you're doing great." Fael replied softly.

There was a crack like a twig snapping from beneath Maygus' hands, then another. "Is it meant to do that?" he said with concern "I'm hurting her?"

"Keep going. She's dead for keeps if you don't" Fael added in a more conciliatory tone "her ribs will heal. Talk to her, call her back to us. Tell her why she should come back."

"You" Fael said looking to a young sailor "Seli isn't it?"

"Yes Healer" he replied, looking like a Meowl in a moonbeam, stock still, staring wide eyed under her gaze.

"After the next set, swap with Maygus."

"I can do this!" Maygus replied between grunts, light sweat on his brow.

"Of course you can" Fael gently countered "but you'll tire, everyone does if they do it right."

Maygus simply nodded, saving his breath for the set.

A flicker of worry passed over Fael's face, but she banished it as she reached into her kit and pulled out a flask and needle. "Let go of this one" she said quietly, touching Antaryon's left hand which he pulled away obediently. Fael pulled the flap of skin up and poured in some of the liquid, then folded it back into place and with one hand pushing hard on the flap quickly stitched around the ugly edge, the smooth precise motions of the curved needle and neat fast stitches revealing years of practice. "Ok press hard again."

"M'Lady?" Fael looked up to Angelica timidly, uncertain of trespassing on impropriety.

Angelica moved rapidly around beside Fael, her gloves off on the deck "what do you need?"

"Antaryon, two hands on that one. M'Lady help me with this." Fael deftly used her knife to slice away the cloth over Polite's side, the ugly rent in her flesh all too obvious. "Pressure". Angelica placed both hands on Polite's side, all too uncomfortably aware of the amount of blood on the deck. "Ready? Stop Maygus."

Fael peeled back the flap and poured some of the liquid over the inside, looking closely. She used her knife to flick out two pieces of fabric ripped into the wound from Polite's dress, then pushed the flap down with Angelica quickly helping to apply pressure to deter the myriad red dots that were springing up. "Go Seli."

"Should we cauterize that?" Angelica said urgently.

"No, she would certainly die from sepsis." Fael replied "Pressure and bandages are better, we have those." Fael quickly stitched the long edges, smiling at the blood appearing. "Doing great, keep it going" she whispered quietly.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Angelica pleaded as quietly as she could.

"Yes M'Lady, but it's forbidden." Fael replied.

"So is burning the whole world. Do it." Angelica commanded.

"Swap out." Fael directed Angelica, and Maygus stepped in, his big hands welded to Polite's side, in tune with the chest compressions.

"Explain" Angelica said simply.

"We take blood from someone, and put it in her." Fael said.

"Isn't that insanely risky for her?" Angelica replied, recalling her long ignored lessons in healing.

"Yes, but if the legends are true, your blood will always work." Fael replied "And that is forbidden."

"They can bite me. Let's do this." Angelica replied, cold fury threatening to bubble to the top.

"M'Lady, if I may be so bold, control." Fael whispered urgently.

"Thank you" Angelica lifted her blood splattered hands up before her face, closing her eyes, and swept them down and out with a slowly exhaled breath. They needed her to help still, vengeance on the world would wait.

Fael grabbed her bag and they moved to the windward rail, Angelica sitting with her back to it, arm bare and offered to Fael. The healer unwrapped a fine glass bottle with a neatly fitted stopper with two tubes though, to which she attached a flexible tube that had a sharp silvery hollow needle at the end. She tied a cloth around Angelica's arm, tapped inside the elbow a few times, then slid the needle into a vein.

Angelica felt the warmth of the liquid in the tube laying against her arm as it rushed down into the waiting bottle as Fael undid the cloth, the sharp sting less than she had imagined it would be.

"When we're done, just light pressure on your arm. And don't get up, you might be dizzy for a bit." Fael said evenly. "And make sure she drinks plenty of water."

Despite everything, Angelica's ever present guard was still watching over her, and nodded without turning to look at what the healer was doing, but kept their eyes out for mischief.

It took less time than she imagined until the bottle was over half full, at which point Fael pulled out the spike and put yet another small cloth on Angelica's arm for her to hold against the dribble of blood that escaped. "Remember, water." as she vanished back to her patient.

Angelica watched as best she could past the people between, wanting to return to Polite but knowing the healer was right. She needed to listen, just this once. She knew Fael would be doing the reverse, putting her blood into Polite; heresy by all the gods, Qin or other names. Or was it? Perhaps it was simply a rumour begun long ago, to protect her kin from the desperation of others. Angelica could see the bottle held above Polite, the level going down slowly as air was slowly allowed in by the second tube that had half a stopper in it. Very clever, I wonder if we will ever be able to make such things again? Do we even have anyone who can blow glass? Anyone who can make glass? How in Karcion do you make glass anyway?

Angelica allowed herself to cry at the unfairness of it all, the madness cast down upon them by their fate to be the ones to survive the end of everything.

"M'Lady, drink." Vittoria offered her a goblet, filled with cold, sweet water.

"Thank you" Angelica replied, knowing she would be relentlessly pestered until she drank, and loving her Guard all the more for it.

"The Lady Olga is with Lady Violet, they are talking with the farmers about how to restore farmland after fires." Vittoria reported, the young guard stammering slightly at being in the role usually covered so well by her peers "Apparently if they add seaweed to the ash and turn over the soil, it will give better crops than just plowing it."

"What does she look like?"

"M'Lady?"

"Lady Polite. Describe her, as accurately as you can."

"They still do the chest thing and breathing thing, she looks pale, her lips are more blue than red. Healer has bandaged her good." Vittoria replied with not a little awe, then suddenly appended "They stopped."

"Let me up."

Vittoria laid her hand lightly on Angelica's shoulder "Apologies M'Lady, healer's orders".

Angelica did not move to resist, nodding instead, knowing that while they could never truly stop her, her guard would be deeply offended if she made them try. As much as waiting chafed, right now she served her people best by doing nothing.

Fael moved though the excited babble of voices, the young healer looked utterly spent, dark red half up to her elbows, her palms oddly clear thanks to wiping them on her blood soaked dress. Angelica waved for her to sit beside her.

"Thanks. M'lady, I am delighted to report that Lady Polite lives. Her breathing is fast and shallow, her pulse is weak and fast, and she's a bit clammy. But she is with us again, and managed to say thank you."

"Need more?" Angelica gestured to her arm.

"No M'Lady, you must not." Fael replied gently "you are in no condition to give more than you did, none of us are. At home well fed? Perhaps. But certainly not here and now. I will not risk losing you to save her. We will do all we can, but that is not much now other than keeping her cool if she goes hot, giving her water, and watching her dressings. And, if you are not opposed, we will pray for her."

Angelica laughed "You don't need to ask my permission, I could care less who you pray to. Pretty obviously they are not listening. If they were, they would give us a sign, or better yet a little help."

"M'Lady, do you not see?" Fael said earnestly, confusion on her face.

"No?" Angelica replied, perplexed. "What am I missing?"

"M'Lady, the Qin gave us you."