Citadel of Shadows

Chapter Six

Anae

It was perhaps two decades or more when I first arrived at the Citadel. It was at my mother's request. She believed that my education should be amongst the elves, her people. I had spent the majority of my life ignored by my mother, but as she learned my natural talents for healing and medicine, she decided I was worth her attention. My father had also passed away, but due to my 'bastard' status, I could not inherit his estate and title. My older brother, a selfish person, took over the merchant affairs and threw me to my mother.

I was infatuated with the Citadel when I first saw it, by the culture and the language. My mother spoiled it, by forcing me indoors most of the day and shoving lessons down my throat. Her name was Feile. I think it meant selfish, but I can't remember. It wasn't important.

I found most of the lessons easy, but tedious. I learned elven, reading and writing included. I was taught about the laws and politics of the Citadel. Being the daughter of a Council member required that knowledge, I assume. I've never used it to the extent that she wished me to, but I have benefited from it. I learned about healing, which was my talent. I enjoyed it.

My tutor was the healer at the time. He was Kaida's father, a good and honest man. He was patient and didn't mind showing me the ropes. Feile, my mother, did not enjoy me learning from a human, but he was the only one willing to teach me about my chosen subject.

The next few years were a blur, but I remember Feile's funeral. She had passed away under mysterious circumstances and it left me alone. Despite my dislike of her attitude, she did keep a great deal of the hate at bay. This was before they were more welcoming to half-elven children, so there was cruelty. A lot of it and I fought to keep my place in the Citadel.

Kaida's father noticed the mistreatment and he announced that I was his new apprentice. This offered me protection against the naysayers and allowed me to further pursue my interests. I learned a great many things under his wing. He admitted that when his wife had a child, he would retire, so he had chosen the best candidate to take over after he left.

When that time came around, I noticed that a few more Council members had grown quite ill. Not the normal kind of illness that went away after a week or so, but one that lingered and only showed symptoms when it was too late. They died, and we struggled to fill the void.

I took on more patients and eventually, I could accept no more rather quickly. All had similar signs and they were too close together to be a mere lurgy floating around. I did research and I helped where I could. Some died, sadly, but most live to tell the tale. I discovered that it was poison. It was also intentional, so I had to find who was doing this and why.

I tried to warn the Council, but they all dismissed my claims and said that I needed more proof. I focused more of my time on what plant caused this and who could possibly be trying to kill so many people. Kaida's father stepped in and told me his theories, claiming that this had happened when the Citadel started accepting refugees from the Ashadrin Kingdom and the Wasteland.

I did a bit more digging and found that there was a new influx and that my current patients came from under her rule. I tried to show the Council, and yet again, they turned me away. They said that I should focus on my role, rather than mess with things I did not understand. I did not bring it to their attention again, not until I had solid proof that I could present and they would not refute.

I narrowed down the suspects to four people. All formerly under the Queen's rule and all able to access and concoct the poison. The first was a young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, who claimed that she had left the Queen's rule when she was quite young. She said that the only life she knew was the Citadel. I marked her off and moved to the next one. It was an older man, who admitted that he knew of the poison, but he only had the recipe, so that he could make an antidote if need me. I asked for his help and he gave it, curing what patients I had left.