The Codex Lacrimae: The Book of Tears

Chapter 11: Trouble in the Library

i. Jacob, the Norns, and the Hoplitarch Healer: A Poisoner Revealed

"Old Nick," Jacob asked, a half hour earlier as he and the monk left Arcadian's quarters, "will this potion help my mother as much as it did Brother Mercedier?"

Brother Nicholas smiled. "I assure you, Rebecca will recover as Mercedier did."

The two companions rounded the corner into the hospital ward and almost walked into the caravan leader, Ghannen.

"Oh, hello, Jacob," the man said, holding a hat in his hand and speaking in a hushed tone. "I've just come from your mother's room, and she wondered where you'd gotten to."

"Hello, Master Ghannen, this is Brother Nicholas, a physician here."

"A pleasure to meet you Ghannen," the doctor said, then frowned with concern. "How did you think she looked?"

Ghannen shifted uncomfortably. "She's paler than she was on the way from Antioch."

"Ah, I see. It's that first draught of the potion you gave her an hour ago," Nicholas explained to Jacob. "This final dose will certainly end the sickness, but we ought to administer it quickly."

"I must have arrived soon after you left," Ghannen said, "because I had to help her clean up after she threw up—"

"Oh," Brother Nicholas said, "that's not good at all." He looked at Jacob with irritation. "Remember that I thought we should've given her more? This time, we'll stay longer so she keeps it down."

Jacob hesitated, and then looked at both men. "If you don't mind, I'd like to see her alone for a few minutes."

Brother Nicholas paused, thinking. "You know, Jacob, why don't you keep one of the vials for your mother — perhaps give it to her after some hugs and kisses — and I'll keep going to Master Khaldun's quarters? You can give me the rest of the vials, and I'll get the dose to Ríg when he awakens. That way, we could help two people at the same time."

"Thank you, Old Nick," Jacob said, "that seems thoughtful. Efficient. Here they are — oh, I've only got two vials left."

"More than enough, and we can always mix whatever's needed." Brother Nicholas bowed and bade farewell.

When the Hospitaller turned the corner at the opposite end of the hall—heading in the direction of the scriptorium — Ghannen kept his voice lowered and looked intently at Jacob.

"I don't like saying this, lad, but I have to say she appeared to be worse than I've ever seen her. When you came to the fortress, she could at least walk around and seemed herself. Now, after half a day, she's barely able to speak."

"What?" Jacob asked, his eyes blurring with tears. "She wasn't that bad an hour ago."

Ghannen took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips. "I'm sorry, but I don't see how there's anything anyone can do at this stage of the sickness. When you go to see her, I'd try to say all the things that you want to say."

"She's not going to die, Ghannen!"

"I hope not," Ghannen replied, "but, I've seen enough death that I'd be lying to you if I didn't try to prepare you for this possibility ... so go on inside and see your mother."

Jacob steeled himself to watch his mother die. With a surprising resignation, he realized that he'd somehow come to expect little else from this castle; from the deaths of those who'd gone with Brother Mercedier on the ill-fated mission to Baghdad, to Ríg's killing of the assassins near the gate, to the slaying of all those physicians, nurses, and patients in the destroyed hospital, the Krak des Chevaliers lay under a cloud of death whose final purgation seemed heralded by the rumbling thunder outside.