The Broken Halo

Chapter 976 - 975: The Medicinal Bath

”Your medicinal bath is ready, Rowan.”

Rowan lifted his arms from the cushion.

”Can we go now?”

Celeste laughed at how quickly he sat forward.

”In a moment. Adrian has been telling me about your visits to the academy’s junior sword class.”

”What did he say?”

”That Martin is having trouble finding things to teach you.”

”Oh.”

”And that you beat every student in the class.”

”I lost to the instructor.”

”I think every student in the class is meant to lose to the instructor, Rowan.”

Rowan rubbed the back of his neck, unable to hide his smile.

”Adrian says he’s never seen anyone learn so quickly. I’m glad you went with him that day.”

”So am I.”

”If you keep learning like this, we should be able to find you a very good teacher. Someone who can help you make the most of it.”

He didn’t quite know where to look while she praised him.

”Thank you, Saintess. For all of this. I wouldn’t even have known where to go.”

”You’re welcome. Though I’d be happier if you stopped training until you collapsed.”

”I didn’t mean to.”

”I know. That’s why someone needs to keep an eye on you.”

She stood, and Rowan followed her out.

Adrian was waiting in the corridor. He took one look at Rowan’s face and chuckled.

”Feeling better already?”

”Ask him afterward,” Celeste said.

They headed downstairs. Rowan wanted to ask where the bath had been prepared, but Celeste began speaking before he could.

”You’ll need to stay in the medicinal bath until it stops hurting. That will tell us the strengthening process has finished.”

”How badly will it hurt?”

”Enough that you might want to get out.”

She waited for him to catch up before continuing.

”You may feel very hot, then cold. Sometimes it’ll feel as though your muscles are being pulled apart. I mentioned the pain before, but I want you to understand what you’re agreeing to.”

Rowan remembered how his legs had failed after fighting Martin.

”I’m ready.”

”You can take a break, Rowan. Getting out doesn’t mean you’ve failed. You can go back in when you’re ready.”

”Would I lose anything by doing that?”

”Some of the medicine’s strength fades while you’re outside. You’ll get more from it if you stay in from beginning to end, but don’t force yourself beyond what you can bear. Adrian and I will be there.”

He nodded.

They stopped at a room near the back of the residence. Adrian opened the door, and the smell of boiled herbs reached Rowan before he stepped through.

A square bath had been set into the tiled floor. Its amber liquid gave off a faint golden glow, bright enough to reveal the submerged steps. Towels and a change of clothes lay on a bench.

Rowan bent to look.

”All of this is for me?”

”All of it,” Celeste said. ”Undress behind the screen. Keep your boxers on.”

When he returned, Adrian was beside the steps. Celeste had pulled a chair close enough to speak without raising her voice.

Rowan put one foot into the bath, and the tip of his toes stung the moment it touched the liquid.

He paused, then continued down until the liquid reached his waist. Holding the rim, he lowered himself onto the submerged seat.

Amber liquid rose to his shoulders.

For the first few breaths, he felt only a mild itch. It travelled along his arms and over his back, and it was irritating enough that he wanted to scratch it.

The little hole in his chest remained as it was. It neither hurt nor bled.

”Is it working?” he asked.

”Give it time.”

Warmth slowly began gathering beneath his skin.

It was pleasant at first, particularly around his aching forearms. He opened and closed his hands, relieved to find that the soreness was easing.

Then the warmth became heat.

Rowan stopped moving his fingers.

It spread through his arms in a slow burn, sinking deeper with each breath. His calves tightened. He tried stretching one leg, and a sharp pull travelled from his ankle to his knee.

”Ah...”

His heel scraped along the bottom.

Celeste leaned forward.

”Try to breathe normally.”

He meant to tell her he was fine. Instead, a groan escaped as the heat reached his back.

The medicine was entering his muscles, repairing the strain left by his training and strengthening the fibres. It spread into the tendons around his joints, nourishing tissue that had struggled to bear the demands he placed upon it.

Rowan gripped the rim.

He could feel the pulling beneath his skin. His thighs twitched without his permission, and when he tried to hold them steady, the ache deepened.

Then he began shivering.

He stared at the steam above the bath. The liquid hadn’t grown cold, but his arms felt as though they had been thrust into freezing water. His teeth knocked together.

Adrian moved closer.

”Want a hand getting out?”

Rowan shook his head.

The cold passed through his legs and settled painfully around his knees. He bent forward, elbows locked, and breathed through his mouth.

It eased.

He had barely loosened his grip when the heat returned.

This time, he couldn’t keep the cry in.

Celeste reached toward his wrist, checking him before withdrawing her hand. The medicine was working as intended. His body was enduring it, though every muscle seemed determined to tell him otherwise.

”Look at me, Rowan. Can you hear me?”

He nodded.

”You can rest.”

”Not yet.”

He managed the words between breaths.

Black beads gathered along the back of his hand.

Rowan blinked at them. They thickened, joining into an oily smear that slid toward his wrist.

More rose from his submerged arms, clouding the liquid around him.

”What’s that?”

He lifted a hand. Dark fluid clung to the hairs on his forearm.

”Impurities,” Celeste said. ”The bath is drawing them out of your body. There’s nothing wrong.”

”That came out of me?”

”Yes. It’s normal during a first treatment.”

Rowan looked down.

Black trails rose around his knees. He rubbed his forearm with his other hand, only to find more gathering in its place.

”Why is there so much?”

”Your body hasn’t been through anything like this before. Let the medicine work.”

He tried to accept that.

Then a cramp seized his back, and the black fluid became the least of his worries.

His hands slipped from the rim. Adrian caught his shoulder before he could sink farther and helped him settle against the seat.

”Easy. Shall we get you out?”

Rowan drew a shaky breath.

”No. I can handle it.”

He put his hands back where they had been.

Adrian glanced at Celeste.

He had expected the boy to last a few minutes before asking for help. Rowan had already passed that point, and the treatment had grown worse. His cries made it clear he felt every bit of it.

Celeste watched him with her hands clasped in her lap. She’d seen children refuse to return after their first few moments in a strengthening bath. Some had prepared for years.

She hadn’t expected this much endurance from him who was a village boy and had no preparation.

Rowan kept his shoulders beneath the surface.

When a stronger spasm struck, he nearly lifted himself out. He hung there on trembling arms, then lowered himself again.

He wanted stronger hands. Stronger legs. He wanted to see an opening and reach it before it disappeared.

But at that moment, he would have been grateful for a single breath without pain.

He concentrated on taking the next one.

The golden glow weakened as more of the medicine entered him. Beneath the film of expelled impurities, the liquid was losing its amber colour.

Rowan stopped trying to count how often the heat returned. He watched Celeste’s shoes instead, listening whenever she spoke and answering when he could.

Adrian brought another towel to wipe his face.

Eventually, a spasm passed without another following it.

Rowan waited.

Warmth lingered in his arms, but the tearing sensation had gone. He eased his fingers from the rim, one at a time.

Nothing hurt.

”Saintess?”

Celeste was already examining the bath.

”It’s stopped.”

She checked his wrist again, then passed her hand over the surface. The last flecks of gold had disappeared. Only cloudy water and the dark residue remained.

Rowan moved his legs beneath it, almost afraid to trust the relief.

”Is there more coming?”

”No,” she said. ”You’re finished.”

He had absorbed all the medicinal nutrients in the bath.