To Be Grand Maestro (Book 5) (14 page)

When the final volunteer, Balic Cassosoon Kon, stepped away, Jennel placed her right palm against Daniel’s forehead. “Acceptable,” she declared and took a step back.

The last round of infusions had been deliberately scheduled to take place in the Health Wing, so Daniel could immediately begin giving folks their new limbs, and he appreciated the Lead Healer’s foresight in choosing the location. He was sitting on a chair of solidified air in Wardroom three, where more than two hundred people who had lost their limbs in battle sat or lay waiting for him to do what no one else could. Each person was wearing blue silk robes rather than their regular silks or uniforms. A barrel of water was beside each patient.

Sherree and his mother had eaten dinner with him and then conveyed to the naval facility with his father, leaving Daniel in the company of Leah, Simon, Carlos, and the pair of Teki while receiving his final fill of donated life force energy. He could feel the joy from Sheen and Glimmer at seeing his parents return.

“I give my thanks to you, Jennel, for coming up with a way for me to remain functional as an Accomplished. Every person who receives new limbs this evening has you to thank,” Daniel said while standing up from the chair and making an effort to speak like a cultured leader rather than a young man fresh off a mountaintop. “And I give thanks to all of you who have given of yourselves to make me strong,” he added and waved his arm in the direction of the ones he was about to help. “These people will walk out of this ward with all of their limbs, thanks to your generosity.”

“It was our pleasure to serve,” the reply from fifty-one voices, including the Lead Healer’s, answered him back. Each had spoken softly but together it came out quite loud, but he was getting g used to it.

Jennel and the donors exited the ward and Simon touched Daniel on the shoulder. “If you teach one of us the necessary spell, the chore will get done faster,” the Chief Aid suggested.

Daniel already discussed the matter with Leah and had not changed his mind. Restoration was a Symphonic spell he composed by adding so many harmony lines that it was no longer recognizable as being a derivative of Tarin Conn’s single line spell, Condemnation. Daniel had discovered after much revising, that no matter how many lines of music he added, the mental domination part, the one that made the victims slaves and passengers trapped within their own bodies, could not be totally removed. “As much as I trust you three,” he began and gestured to include Carlos. “Restoration is a spell restricted to the Maestro. Thanks for the offer of help, but replacing body parts or restoring Condemneds to humanity are both jobs belonging to me, and those particular chores must remain the responsibility of the Maestro.”

Simon nodded his acceptance and Leah, of course, surely was not surprised at the answer he received. Without further discussion Daniel walked over to Sentinel Barrison Benladel, who needed a new right arm and leg. An amethyst hue radiated from Leah, moments later a wall began to encircle them, and stopped short of closing completely to provide an opening wide enough for a person to walk through. “I will lend Daniel the potential to help Sentinel Benladel. Carlos, you can assist him with the next patient. Simon, you can do so with the third and we will keep the rotation going until the job is finished. You two, along with Silvia and David can wait outside the circle,” the First Accomplished spoke with the voice of authority.

The four stepped out and Leah closed the opening in the wall. “Thank you Maestro,” Barrison said from the cushion of air upon which he lay.

Daniel smiled at the Sentinel. “The chore isn’t done yet. Besides, helping in situations like this is what I do, and you suffered the loss while following my orders. It is you who deserves the thanks and I who now owe you.”

Daniel opened the silk robe, exposing the abdominal region of his patient and then placed one hand on the tummy over the navel and the other on the forehead. He summoned the potential for, What Is This, and a rainbow of energy radiated from him while he cast the spell upon himself so he could monitor the contents of his own vat, and then focus on the needs of his patient. He added a Da Capo and cast, Pain Relief, a spell modified into a Symphonic from, Easing The Pain, a single line spell of the Aloe Guild he learned from Jennel. Barrison was not in pain at the moment but would be once, Restoration, was flowing into him and his body was forced to grow new appendages. Sleep Time, would also spare him the pain, but not Daniel, who would otherwise be feeling the agony while the patient slept. The benefit of, Pain Relief, over, Easing The Pain, was the symphonic with a six part harmony required a fraction of the potential of the single line Melody, and Daniel needed to be very conservative with the amount of energy he was expending. He decided, going forward, to add more harmony lines to the spells in his repertoire.

Hearts Beat As One, came next and Barrison’s bodily systems began working in synchronization with Daniel’s. He tied the Da Capo to his life force to keep the spell going and then focused, What Is This, into the patient, revealing helix-shaped recipe strands. Within each strand was a picture of what Barrison should look like at this point in his development, and that included all of his limbs. The spell, Hunger, came next and would be drawing the little worlds with their tiny moons from the water in the barrel rather than allowing Restoration to feed on the patient’s body. Daniel played the music for the spell, Restoration, in his mind, summoning the potential, and then focused it in conjunction with Hunger and What Is This. With all of the Da Capos in place, he could concentrate fully on his patient.

A warm tingling sensation swept through Barrison’s body and Daniel could feel the spells at work. His own vat was six-eighths full and slowly depleting. Leah’s hand came to rest on his forehead and her amethyst potential began filling the short fall in his reservoir. He could feel the arm and leg of his patient forming in accordance with the recipe strands and soon after knew the chore was complete. He spoke into the Sentinel’s ear, “Barrison, your brain and will are one. Your body is yours to command,” and then ceased all of the spells and began drinking from his golden canteen.

Barrison raised his right arm, flexing the muscles, and then began rubbing his new leg as if to be sure it was real. After a brief time assuring himself all was well, he stood up, and locked his gaze on Daniel. “I knew you could do it. You saved me before and now you’ve done it again.”

“I will do it again if it becomes necessary,” Daniel replied after lowering the canteen and wiping his mouth. “But let’s hope the need doesn’t arise,” he added and then thought about Silvia’s revelations. “I wish I could say the dangers are past and there will be no more need to risk life or limb.”

The Sentinel immediately snapped to attention and gave a salute. “I am ready and willing to risk both in the service of the Chosen Vessel,” he stated, clearly firm in his commitment.

Daniel returned the salute, Leah’s wall vanished, and Barrison stroked the full length beard that had sprouted during the limb growing process. “I think it is time for a shave and a haircut,” he remarked and then walked out on his own two legs, weary due to his body being forced to grow appendages. It was a small price to pay in order to be whole again.

The results of the healing became a public spectacle that drew applause and became an encouragement to those eagerly awaiting their turn to be healed. It was a testament to their training and characters that they did not clamor for Daniel to skip the order in which Jennel had placed them for treatment. Each person waited his or her turn without complaint, even the Aakacarns. Two hundred forty-three people received new limbs by the twenty-second mark of the night. Another hundred would be waiting tomorrow morning and then Daniel could convey to Shantear and begin the much harder chore of restoring the Condemneds to humanity. Growing new limbs was not near as exhausting as reforming an entire body, which was a little more time consuming and a greater drain both on Daniel and the patient.

Music, as always, could be heard as Daniel, Leah, Simon, Carlos, and the pair of Teki made their way out of the Health Wing and into the assembly area beneath Center Court. Aakacarns were natural musicians and so impromptu concerts were quite common whenever a group of them gathered. It was the same at the Benhannon Estate down south and the thirty Accomplisheds who lived at the Benhannon Naval Facility. Daniel was tempted to find a group and join in, but it was simply too late in the night for that sort of thing; and he preferred to spend the time with his wife.

Bonny Tell and Jaim Cutler were strolling around the assembly area and changed direction so as to causally intercept Daniel and his entourage, as if he could not see their intention. “I’m going to graduate tomorrow and become an Accomplished,” the sandy-haired female Aakacarn announced. “Maestro, I hope you can be there.”

Leah, David, and Silvia opened their mouths to answer the bold young woman, but Daniel had not yet attended any of the graduation ceremonies of his own guild. “I think it is high time for me to be at one and yours shall be the first,” he quickly replied before any of the three could answer for him. “Simon, work the graduation into my schedule.”

“It will be as you say,” the Chief Aid replied without comment. He, unlike the other three, had not attempted to answer for his Maestro, at least not this time.

The young couple separated, Bonny would be heading to the third level sleeping quarters of the Health Wing and Jaim followed Daniel and his escorts up into building two, where each person then went to their rooms. Sherree was waiting and told him most, but he was certain not all, of what she and his mother had been doing, and then he told her of the people he had given new limbs. “So with Leah, Carlos, and Simon feeding me potential, I have as much in my vat as when Jennel declared the quantity to be acceptable,” he told his wife.

An amber glow radiated from Sherree and she placed her hand on his forehead. “You have more than you had this morning, that’s for sure,” she stated and then the glow vanished and she kissed him, removed her clothes and slipped under the sheets. “I am not sleepy yet. Can you think of some way to fill the next couple of marks?”

They spent the time making love and afterwards, Daniel chose to sleep rather than check in with his non-human scouts. He needed rest and going by the slow and steady breathing of his beloved, she had chosen similarly. When morning came, they climbed out of bed and he hugged her, “What?” she gasped when he cast the cleansing spell. A warm tinge washed through him and he knew she felt it too. She was smiling by the time he ended the Melody. It really was much more fun than a hand to the forehead. “Let’s go eat,” she said after they were both dressed.

After a hardy breakfast of ham, eggs, fried potatoes, and buttery biscuits, Sherree wiped her mouth with a napkin and announced, “I have a meeting with Jerremy and Accomplished Togan. I will be at Shantear all morning and if your healing chores here in the Northland Holding are done by then, we should be able to meet up with each other for lunch.”

Daniel finished chewing his last piece of ham. “It will be as you say, First Lady,” he replied, seeing as he intended to convey to the mountain and begin restoring the Condemneds to humanity after healing the people here, so her intention to meet flowed well with his schedule.

She kissed him lightly on the lips and then stood up. “And it will be as you say, my Maestro.”

Sherree walked briskly from the dining room and it was time for Daniel to head to level four of the Health Wing, where classes for the Talenteds were conducted, and where Leah had created an auditorium. The former members of the Aloe Guild had volunteered to educate the Talenteds and so it seemed best to have instructors and students in the same wing, even though they resided on different levels.

Simon and Carlos intercepted Daniel on the way down. “I am coming with you,” the Chief Aid announced just before catching up. “Greetings, Maestro. Leah is meeting with Jeremiah Lassiter, Chas Herling, and Marcus Bower, and therefore could not attend the ceremony,” he informed while moving to walk on Daniel’s right and the bodyguard to his left. Carlos gave a nod of greeting but had no need to announce his intention to be wherever his Maestro was.

A small part of Daniel felt he should be in every meeting but the larger part knew such was impossible. “I know where they are. It is your schedule I was unsure of,” he replied, teasingly, knowing his sandy-haired friend had every intention of being with him this morning.

Simon’s lip twitched as if he was going to smile but then decided to make a more dignified response. “I managed to squeeze this change of your itinerary into mine,” he responded with his Barnabas Galloway impression. His former mentor in the Willow Guild had been a brief, yet influential, role model.

“Good,” Daniel said as they arrived at their destination.

The auditorium was nothing fancy, just a stage facing multi-tiered rows of comfortable chairs formed from the floor that could seat a thousand people. Daniel resisted the urge to smile. Not so long ago, as a mountaineer, being in a place like this would have filled him with awe.

The front row was reserved for those who were about to graduate, which at this time amounted to thirty-seven people with crescendos in their hands. One hundred forty-six Talenteds were scattered throughout the auditorium. The spectators were in their tan silks and hooded cloaks while the graduates wore the silk pants and shirts without the cloaks, and no belts, which was the reason they were holding their batons.