Pt’this extinguished the lamps in his study and rubbed his eyes. It was late. Having four kids plus a houseful of runaways to look after didn’t give him much time for scribe work. He wondered if he should retire from it. Once Remtani and Jaidu were married, Nim would be recalled as an emissary and Pt’this would lose his help. He hated to give up being a scribe. It was something he’d done all his adult life. And he was working with Thailyn on a book. For a long time, he’d assumed he would retire from being an advisor when Remtani was crowned. He’d had trouble forgiving the prince for hurting Sapphire and hadn’t wanted to work with him. But things had improved since the spell had been removed and Remtani had worked hard to redeem himself. Pt’this had come to the point where he could work with the prince and knew the prince would need his help. And it was still a good idea to have dragons at the palace to influence the royal family, even if he wasn’t there as often. Maybe once this book was finished, he’d cut back on his scribe work. Maybe the council would find another reason to keep Nim in Sen-gan. They seem to prefer him here. They might have him stay to keep an eye on Thailyn. Nim was the only one involved in the trouble during the war that the council didn’t try to persecute. But he’d stayed out of Baj-tisk until recently, and then he’d been sent here. Did the council want all of them gone? Pt’this shook his head. He must be more tired than he realized. He was seeing conspiracies. He made his way through the darkened house using his night vision. He was heading through the kitchen to the bedroom when he heard someone pounding on the door. He looked out and saw Ruzi. He used a bit of magic to light a candle near the door as he opened it. “Ruzi?” “Pt’this?” Ruzi looked up at him or at least he tipped his face to him. Looking at the boy’s eyes, Pt’this wondered if he could see at all. To say his eyes were bloodshot would be an understatement. There was no white left at all. “Pt’this, my eyes hurt. I can’t see.” Thailyn, Pt’this sent. “Where’s your dad?” He guided the boy inside. Ti, wake Lamdi. “Dad’s at the palace. It’s his night to work.” Thailyn, Pt’this sent again. Ruzi needs you at the home. Now. Lamdi, Dae, Ti, and Sapphire all came into the room. Lamdi saw Ruzi and hurried over to start examining him. Shield his eyes, Thailyn sent. Pt’this had Ruzi cover his eyes. There was a flash of light and Thailyn appeared. He knelt by Ruzi. “What happened?” He asked as he read his son. Lamdi moved out of his way. “I woke up because my eyes hurt. It was really dark, and I realized I couldn’t see. I came over here for help since I knew you were at the palace.” “You came over by yourself without being able to see?” Thailyn asked, surprised. “He’s been practicing,” Lamdi said. She and Thailyn had been healing Ruzi’s eyes for five years. They all worried he’d eventually lose his sight. “I healed you two days ago. Was that the last time?” Thailyn asked. “Yeah.” “You’re going to need emergency healing. Lamdi, if I explain what to do, would you?” Lamdi nodded. She was good with emergency healing. It was an intense, rapid form of healing reserved for extreme situations. It was hard on both the healer and the patient, with immense pain and the risk of shock or heart attacks. Because Thailyn had a bad heart, he couldn’t do it anymore. He often had Lamdi do it for him. “Is this going to hurt like last time?” Ruzi asked. He usually didn’t complain, but the last time had been especially traumatic because he hadn’t known anyone, and Lamdi had been untrained. “Lamdi knows what she’s doing now, and you aren’t sick this time, so it shouldn’t be so bad. It will hurt. It always hurts.” Ruzi sighed and lay on the floor. Lamdi started healing him. He convulsed and she grimaced. She didn’t like hurting him. Thailyn put on his gloves so he wouldn’t interfere and held his son down. Pt’this turned away. He couldn’t watch a child in this much pain and not interfere. Sapphire took his hand, knowing what he felt. Finally, they were done. Thailyn checked Ruzi’s watering eyes again. “How do you see now?” “I can see. But it’s not as good as before.” Thailyn nodded and sighed. Pt’this could tell he’d expected that answer. “Is there anything else you can do?” Pt’this asked. Thailyn shook his head. “I don’t know.” The answer surprised Pt’this. He’d never heard Thailyn admit to not knowing something about healing. He knew more than anyone. “We’ll ask around and find something,” Pt’this assured him. You don’t understand, Thailyn sent telepathically. I know what needs to be done, but I can’t do it without his parents. Then we’ll find them, Pt’this promised. “Do you need to go back to the palace?” Sapphire asked. “Ruzi can stay here so we can keep an eye on him.” Thailyn nodded. “Thank you. That would be a great help.” He turned to Ruzi. “Will you be okay?” Ruzi nodded. “Sure, Dad. I’ll be fine.” Then he smiled. “But maybe Lamdi should stay with me just in case.” Four dragons growled at him, which was what he’d wanted. They were distracted from his eyes. He hated them worrying about him. *** “Will Ruzi be able to use his mage sight, like I do?” Andy asked. “You’re a rare case,” Thailyn said. “Most people who are blind can’t use any alternate sights. But since the flaw is so small, you got lucky that your mage sight works.” Andy had been born with a flaw in his optic nerves that caused blindness. His mage sight took over as a baby and he was able to see that using that. Thailyn shrugged. “It’s possible he might be able to do it also, given the nature of his problems, but he’s having trouble using his mage sight.” “Is it related to his eye trouble?” Nim asked. Thailyn shook his head. “I don’t think so.” “Won’t the eye exercises help?” Ann asked. Thailyn frowned. “What exercises?” “The ones to help you switch sights. Nim taught them to me.” Thailyn turned to Nim. “There are no exercises for that.” “I made them up. I talked to several healers about different things that might cause trouble and made up exercises to help.” He explained what they were. Thailyn nodded. “Impressive.” “I’m surprised you haven’t come up with some.” “I’ve never known someone who needed them. I didn’t realize Ann was struggling with it.” He let out a sigh of regret. “We’ll teach them to Ruzi, but it would be better if he didn’t lose his sight. While it’s possible he’ll keep his other sights, there’s no guarantee.” “Elos and I will be going through the treaties later. I’ve read the treaties between Erilu and Baj-tisk and Menthanla, but I don’t understand politics well enough to know what to look for,” Nim said. “How are Baj-tisk treaties going to help?” Andy asked. “Ruzi isn’t Baj-tisk, and neither is Thailyn or Shunati.” “Bobizevno is,” Thailyn pointed out. “He’s willing to go see Pisha and do what’s needed.” “What is needed?” Pt’this asked. “Fluid from inside the eye. The extraction process is harmless and you only need a minuscule amount. If I can get it from both parents, I can combine it in such a way that it will match Ruzi’s, and I mix it with a potion. It should repair his eyes,” Thailyn explained. He frowned. “I’m going to need to try to renew my license so I can make it.” “The potion license?” Andy asked. “I can make it.” Thailyn shook his head. “I need to infuse it with healing magic. It’s too delicate for both of us to work on.” “How long ago did your license expire?” Andy asked. “If it’s recent, they’ll work with you.” Thailyn grinned. “Five hundred years ago. I haven’t renewed it since before the War of the Living Night.” “That’s a little long,” Andy agreed. “Talk with Master Caltan,” Nim suggested. “He’ll help you, though if it’s been five hundred years since you made potions, you might need to take a few classes.” Thailyn waved him off. “I’ve made them. Darkham wouldn’t let me, but most of my other partners didn’t care. Sri used to come to buy them from me when I was in Illia.” “She knew you were still alive?” Pt’this asked. Thailyn shrugged. “I never saw her. Lial was our go-between. Her mate was my contact in Baj-tisk and kept an eye on Miri for me until he died. I can’t imagine he didn’t tell her.” “I thought Bob did that,” Ann said. “That wasn’t until after you went to stay there. He might have said something too. He and his sister are close. “I also made potions legally on Tricon. I made the razorberry potion to cure Ann and Bre.” “Talk with Caltan,” Nim suggested. “But when he asks about you making them, only mention Tricon.” “Do you think it would help if I told him I taught others to make potions? I had half a dozen apprentices.” “Did you ever think about being a teacher here?” Nim asked. “I am a teacher here. I’m mentor Lamdi. I don’t mind doing that and I’ll consult at the college, but I don’t want to be a teacher. I want to run a clinic and heal people. It’s what I’ve always wanted. “Maybe when my heart gets to the point I can’t heal more, I’ll think about it. It would be a way to indulge without the stress on my heart.” “Lamdi said she thought she could help your heart some,” Pt’this said. Thailyn nodded. “We discussed that. But it’s questionable if it will work. The theory is sound, but since she’s not an unreadable and a sensitive, the feedback shock is worse. The pain might do more damage than she heals.” Pt’this nodded. “She told me. She wants to practice on me. I said I needed to talk to you and Sapphire.” “You don’t have much scarring. We may not see much change. And we won’t see how feedback affects it.” “Isn’t there a potion to prevent feedback?” Nim asked. “It doesn’t exactly prevent it. It’s complicated. It has side effects, and it doesn’t always work well. I’ll consider it, though. We’re going to do more research. I spoke to the council and they agreed to let us try on the next dragon that passes away with an atrophied heart if the family agrees.” Ann raised an eyebrow. “The council agreed to that?” “I was surprised too. Atrophied hearts are rare, but they happen. It would help if we could heal them.” Nim stood. “If you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to meet with Elos.” He nodded a farewell and left. “I should find Caltan,” Thailyn said. “Even if I’m not making that potion for Ruzi, I need my license.” Andy shrugged. “I don’t mind making them for you.” “I know, but you have other things to do. This way, I can help you.” Andy nodded in agreement. In addition to making potions, he taught Augmenters at the wizard’s college, karate classes for both soldiers and civilians, and he helped Ann as ambassador. “I’ll help Ruzi with those exercises when he gets done with class,” Ann offered. Thailyn nodded. “Thanks.” They went their separate ways.