Woe stood, stunned, over the parcel that had been delivered to him. He almost couldn't believe it. He thought he'd had Fleaface caught between his thumb and forefinger for seasons. How long had he been planning and plotting. How did he manage to keep all of this secret from Woe, and most importantly, who exactly was he working with. But the fact of Fleaface's betrayal and deception wasn't the worst of it. Woe had blinders on for quite some time. He couldn't make the connection at the time, but the person Blodwen, the little hatchling girl that he'd fished out of the ice that fateful Cylus, had been sent to kill him. Worse than that, she didn't have to, if this letter could be believed.
Woe never felt so caught in a conflux of influences, pulled in seemingly every direction, paralyzed by innumerable invisible tripwires. This had Webspinner fingerprints all over it.
He should have seen it, Sintra had sent Fleaface not only to keep a tab on him, but also to ensure he didn't betray her again. How could he have been so foolish, for so long?
The letter in front of him told the entire story. That Blodwen was the daughter of Woe and that girl he'd met in Erastus' house, Lacrima. The letter was stated to be from Lacrima herself, and confessed it all. Woe looked at the letter wondering if it might be encrypted, as the Webspinners so loved to do. He tried looking at it sideways, counting the letters in sequences that were nonsensical. But he had no eye for code. He had to take it for face value, and investigate it on those grounds.
Lacrima claimed to be dying of some disease that was causing her to waste away. She'd sent Blodwen along, away from the Weebspinners in the hopes that she'd be safe with her 'estranged father', who was Woe. Woe never expected that he'd be biological kin to anyone. More of one to adopt strays than make his own, he'd never once imagined that he was a father. Yet it was all there in the letter, in black and white.
He held his temples in his hands, agonizing over the letter. Would he tell Blodwen then, that she'd been deceived? No, this would not prove anything to her. Nothing short of bringing Lacrima here to confront her daughter, and tell her story herself would serve that purpose. She wouldn't believe Woe.
Speaking of Blodwen, she'd been behaved of late, almost too much so. Woe noted as she entered, there was a smudge of something on her hands. She brought him his tea, and made it a habit, bringing him tea day after day since about the 32nd. Woe didn't think much of it at the time, but now a note of caution played into it. However, if she had designs on poisoning him, it would come of nothing. He watched her, as he took a sip of the cup.
"How goes it, Blodwen? Any news from..." Woe stopped in his speech, as Blodwen's face began changing color, and her hands began changing color too. "Blodwen?"
She fell to the ground before he could reach her, and began convulsing.
Woe felt a thrill of surprise, but went to action immediately. He rummaged through his medical supplies in the cabinet. There were some anti-toxin and venoms that he could use, and of course he had to stabilize her.
As he approached, he noted that it must have been a ingested poison, for her to be reacting in such a way. He opened her foaming mouth, and put a drop of tincture in there. To empty her stomach. He laid her on her side, allowing that the vomit wouldn't choke her, anymore than the foam flowing from her mouth would.
As he made contact with her hand, and the toxin she'd used, he noted that it was a compound toxin, probably containing more than one. He would not be able to simply cure her by removing one of the toxins. He had to choose which was the more critical, but he couldn't do that without knowing exactly what kinds she'd used.
In the end, he decided to remove the nerve toxin, as the more critical one and fast acting. The ingested convulsive toxin would have to be treated until it could be removed entirely.
He concentrated on the most virulent strain of venom that she'd foolishly infected herself with. He didn't care that she'd tried to poison him, at this point. She was as much a victim of Fleaface's deception as he was. He couldn't find it in himself to blame her, and besides her method of murder was horribly flawed. A novice poisoner couldn't handle such a potent toxin, couldn't hope to without bungling it. What was she thinking. He almost mused that he'd have to give her lessons in the proper way to dispose of people that were not a benefit to her. But now he was more concerned about saving her life.
He lifted her up, and carried her to the bed that adjoined the office of Egilrun Confidential. He spent many long nights working on his business, and so needed a place to rest from time to time, as the night grew long.
Once she was in the bed, and tilted to the side, he continued removing the toxins from her, channeling Kuvarakh's power to control that poison. Once it was isolated, she kept convulsing, and vomiting the contents of her stomach. He had only to care for her, for those five long bits, trying his best to mitigate the damage of the secondary toxin. By the time the five bits were up, and he had time to remove the secondary toxin, she was falling into shock. A deep sleep.
Yet he removed the toxin before her heart stopped entirely.
Over the next few breaks, he watched her, looking for signs that she would recover, or wake. But nothing. No response. He had half a mind to enter her dreamscape, to see if there was a mind still inhabiting her body.
However, he held himself back. To do so with a damaged person might hold dangers he wasn't prepared to face. Caution won out over courage, in that instance.
He had Iago run to Jan, and to the Egilrun Order Outpost. To gather Soraia, Nason, anyone who could help treat a toxin. Woe couldn't wait, though. He'd done all he could for Blodwen for now. If she survived, if she woke, she'd need to be reunited with her mother. Woe took the parcel that had been given to him, and put it in his satchel. As Nason, Jan, and Soraia arrived a half break later, Woe bid them goodbye, without much explanation, beyond, "She mishandled a poison of some form. Check her hands, and see what you can do."
"Where are you going?" Jan asked.
"I'm going to fetch someone else. I'll be back before long."
So saying, he made his way to the stables. There, he found Opal, who he swiftly saddled and rode out into the street. By then, the moon was high in the sky. Good timing if ever Woe knew it. Astride Opal, he concentrated on the one he longed to see, of Lacrima, and was transported under the light of the moon, far away, to where Lacrima was supposedly held up. Even knowing it was a trap, he couldn't ignore her need. And if he couldn't prove to Blodwen the truth by bringing her mother to her, and having her confess, then all was lost anyway.
