Naamah's Blessing - Jacqueline Carey [189]
“No.”
“Lady, the lives of my people are at stake.” Machasu did her best to make her voice firm this time. “I am no more afraid than Cusi to do my duty.”
“No,” I said again. “I do not dishonor your courage, Machasu. But we are a long way from Qusqu yet, and many things are uncertain. If it is necessary when the time comes, I will accept your offer.”
“It is true that many things are uncertain, lady. Because of that, you may not be able to choose the time.” Before I had any inkling of her intentions, Machasu picked up a thorn and dipped it into the mixture, jabbing the soft flesh of her inner elbow. A pin-prick of blood blossomed. “Better to know now.”
“Machasu, no!” I cried, too late.
She essayed a faint smile. “It is done.”
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as we waited together. The sun moved sluggishly above the courtyard. Beneath my gown, sweat trickled down my back. The lizard in his cage blinked and dozed. The ants foraged idly, eating leaves that had fallen.
I was on the verge of concluding that the proportion was ineffective on a human when Machasu began to shiver.
“Machasu?” I said urgently. “What passes?”
“I do not know,” she whispered. “I feel… weak. It is hard to move my arms. My legs, too.”
“Can you breathe?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Good, very good. Keep breathing, low and steady, and all will be well.” Praying it was true, I felt at the pulses in her wrist as Master Lo had taught me. For a short time, they raced and her skin was hot to the touch; and then her pulses dropped, and her skin grew cold beneath my fingertips.
Machasu’s eyes rolled back in her head, showing only the whites.
“Stupid girl!” I muttered, dashing away tears. “You did not need to take such a risk. Not here, not now.”
Limp, she made no response.
Her pulse continued to beat at an alarmingly slow rate. Laying a leaf atop her slack lips, I saw that it fluttered faintly. I cradled Machasu’s head in my lap and glared at the skittering ants in the courtyard. “Stay away!” I warned them fiercely. “Lest I stomp your queen to death!”
Although it seemed an eternity, it was no more than an hour before Machasu stirred, her eyes returning to their proper orbit. Her skin warmed, her pulse quickening and her breath deepening.
“Can you hear me?” I asked.
She blinked.
I whispered a prayer of thanks to Eisheth, the D’Angeline goddess of healing. “I am very, very glad. You should not have done that, Machasu.”
Her breast heaved in a shallow cough. “But now you know, lady. It works. One part to three, aye?” One feeble hand rose, feeling at her throat. “It is only that it takes longer to work on humans.”
“Aye,” I murmured. “So it does.”
It took the better part of another hour before Machasu was strong enough to walk with my aid into our quarters. Slipping her arm from my shoulders, I lowered her to rest on her pallet in the antechamber, where she slept long and hard.
In the courtyard, I tidied away the evidence.
The white-boned carcasses of the lizards did not concern me. They were the ants’ rightful prey, and no one would question their deaths. But I was careful to measure out the amount of wurari poison in the stoppered jar, pouring it into the mixing bowl, which I had cleaned. I added three drops of chicha for every drop of poison. When it was done, I tipped it back into the earthenware jar, and shook it, shoving the wooden stopper in place, making it ready.
Lighting a taper, I sealed it with wax. I gathered several dozen more spiny thorns, wrapping them in a length of cloth. I stowed away both the jar of poison and my roll of thorns in the bottom of a satchel, and washed the mixing bowl one last time.
By the time I had finished, the sun was beginning to set. I checked on Machasu, and found her sleeping soundly. Her skin was damp and overly warm, but her breathing was reassuringly steady. I sat beside her for a time, breathing the Breath of Ocean’s Rolling Waves, stroking the hair back from her brow, thinking on how the courage of these Quechua women humbled me.
When the shadows began to gather in the corner