"Sleep sounds good," Kayleigh admits. "Did anyone get poisoned in the book shop fight? I noticed when I collected the cultists' sickles that it looked like something had been smeared on the edges."
Nebbin shrugs at Kayleigh's words, not sure how he should respond to them. She makes it sounds like it was no big deal, but he knows better.
He glances over at Tassira and wonders how she can ever forgive him. He'd say something, but she has enough to deal with right now, and he doesn't want to make things worse. Maybe in the morning.
"But I was the wicked one here," he replies, still miserable.
"...I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea things were going so badly at home." She swallows a knot that formed in her throat. "Is there... is there anything I can do?"
"For me? No, Tassira. You and your friends have already delivered me from the consequences of a terrible mistake I made. I won't make it again. And the things that lie between your father and I are ours to solve... or, not."
"Now get out of here. No offense, but you look like hell. I'm going to stay here for a little while longer before heading home. Your father will have passed out by then. I'll try again in the morning to break through his obstinance."
Cassandra smiles, wiping away some lingering moisture on her cheek and thanks the whole party for their concern on her behalf. Then she turns to the Brunswold manor and makes her way to the front door.
By the time the group leaves the Heights and makes its way down the slope to the Narrows Wall the evening is well on. Thankfully most of the streetlights in the Heights are still functional and a bright moon does its part to light the party's way.
Emi trudges along, disappointed the carriage ride didn't end in a place to sleep.
"I'm all for the shortest distance between here and a place to lie down."
"Bed," says Regeris very simply. "Wherever the closest one is. I'll spring for an inn if we need to. If Madame Carington set us up then we can take our revenge or whatever after we've slept. This has been a... very long day."
Tassira watches her mother enter the Brunswold manor and close the door behind her.
"...I agree with Regeris. Bed. Don't care where, as long as it's warm and nearby."
Nebbin shrugs listlessly.
He's pretty sure Madame Carington will be gone by the morning, but maybe that's for the best? She'd probably just make him kill someone else anyway. At least if he's sleeping, he can't hurt anyone.
Regeris glances over at Nebbin, seeing the turmoil on the young man's face. He stays silent, trusting Kayleigh has things in hand as the group wearily trudge through the night time streets of Korvosa in search of anywhere to sleep.
"If you were truly wicked, you wouldn't be beating yourself up about what happened."
Kayleigh simply nods when the others all vote to call it a night. She's so tired, in fact, that she has to do a head-count on her fingers to get an accurate total of the number of people present.
"There's six of us--three boys, three girls," she announces. Never having stayed in an inn before, she turns to streetwise Regeris and asks, "So...how many beds are there usually in each room at an inn?"
Before entering the inn, though, she channels positive energy one last time to heal the lingering wounds on herself and her friends.
By Korvosan law, the only Inn allowed in the ritzy neighborhoods where the Vantyev and Brunswold estates lie is the Posh and Turtle. But it is notoriously expensive and unlikely to let the party in dressed as they are. On the backside of the hill there are others, but in the end the shortest route to a bed is back over the Narrows and into Old Korvosa.
The guards at the Great Tower wave the group back through with curious looks but no questions. A brief search along the Narrows front soon yields a disreputable looking dive with the dubious name of 'A Fine Kettle'. The house is nearly deserted, so it's not an issue finding accommodating rooms. In the end, the party is so exhausted they don't even mind the straw bedding and lousy sheets.
In the morning, Nebbin wakes. He slowly puts on his clothes, wondering if they're going to serve breakfast here. Picking up his fine sword, he holds it in both hands, examining the blade, which still seems to be tinged with blood. Finally, he sheathes it, though for the moment he continues to hold it by the sheath, not willing to buckle it on just yet.
Leaving his room, he looks to Kayleigh's door. He should probably go talk to her -- but she might try to talk him out of doing what he needs to do next. He goes to Tassira's door and knocks quietly.
"Tassira? Can I talk to you?" he says.
Tassira emerges from her room, her hair looking messy and with the faint outlines of dark circles under her eyes.
"...yes?"
"Um," Nebbin says, looking down, shuffling his feet. "I -- I wanted -- I mean I --"
He looks up, his eyes full of tears and then speaks in a rush.
"I understand if you hate me and want me to leave! I almost killed you, and I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, but -- but I ... I didn't know what I was doing and I'm sorry! I don't want to every hurt you again, so if you need me to leave, I can! Or ..."
He holds out the massive blade, still sheathed, in both hands to the woman.
"If you want to stab me, you can. I won't do anything to stop you."
He finally meets her eyes, and the anguish eating him up is clear to see.
Tassira blinks several times.
"...Nebbin, calm down."
She shakes her head and pushes his blade back into his hands. "I believe I remember that we got hit with a confusion spell during that last fight. I know you wouldn't have attacked me otherwise."
"It wasn't your fault."
"But I couldn't stop myself! What if it happens again?" Nebbin asks, still holding out the sword for Tassira to take.
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Emi passes Nebbin and Tassira on her way from her room to get some water. She side-eyes them as she goes by but says nothing and doesn't slow down. It looks weird, and it's too early for weird already.
"Nebbin--" Tassira firmly pushes the sword back into his hands. "--it won't."
"I've come up with a spell that'll keep it from happening again. Failing that, Kayleigh's more than smart enough to have something that'll fix it before it gets out of hand."
"Now settle down and put that away."
Kayleigh emerges from her room looking like she didn't sleep very well: Her hair is disheveled and her eyes wild and unfocused.
"Anyone have any weird spider-infested dreams?" she asks her friends before getting excited and making an announcement.
"Everything has changed! Milani has granted me the power to defeat the blood veil!"
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Regeris emerges from his room looking like he always does. However, his eyes widen as Kayleigh starts gushing about her new powers.
"Blessed be the Everbloom. We'll plant a new rose for this. This is wonderful news! Our faith will win the day!"
He openly smiles at Kayleigh. "I feel motivated. Let us go speak with our favorite tarot reader, if she can still be found."
Nebbin finally accepts the sword back at Tassira's insistence, with a quiet "OK, but ... I'm really sorry! I didn't mean it!"
He mopes for a bit still, but Kayleigh's news brings a wide smile. "That's amazing! Then we're finally going to be able to stop this stupid disease! I knew you could do it!" he exclaims.
When the others are ready, he -- hesitantly -- buckles his sword on, ready to find the tarot reader.
Tassira breathes a sigh of relief when Kayleigh tells the group of Milani's newest blessing. "Let's get going then."
Desnus 4
By daylight the rooms of the seedy inn are shocking in their dilapidation. Despite the personal optimisms that come with newfound powers, the group can't help but rush through the process of collecting their things and escaping out into the street.
Outside the party is greeted by a hot, breezy spring morning with hardly a cloud in the sky. The scent of the sea and the sight of sunshine helps banish lingering thoughts of lumpy mattresses and the persistent coughing of the innkeeper. The group finds themselves mere blocks from Helvara's House of Silks and Madame Carington's Oneiromancy, and uncomfortably close to the Artist's Overground. The ramshackle domain of Pilts Swastel can be seen from the doorway of the Kettle, and the group loses no time putting the place with its bands of roving, watchful guards behind them.
At first it seems that the party's worst suspicions of the harrower may be confirmed as no one answers the first several tries at the locked door. Just as the group is on the verge of quitting the place the door opens and the halfling servant Felix ushers the group out of the street and into the gloomy studio. Without speaking he motions for the group to take seats at the madame's table and bustles off down the hall. He returns a moment later pushing Carington's creaky wheelchair. The madame favors the group with a crooked smile that quickly falters when she reads the expressions on the faces she sees.
"What news, friends? Has something gone amiss? Were you not able to find the tome?"
Nebbin crosses his arms and scowls, resisting the strange urge to grab and shake the woman. She might be as responsible for what happened in the bookstore as he was ... but he wasn't sure.
"We found it, but ... they attacked us!" The words burst out of his chest, despite his intention to let the far more capable Emi and Regeris talk.
Kayleigh puts a restraining hand on his arm and he tries to subside.
Tassira clears her throat. "What Nebbin means to say is that we were ambushed when we went to the shop to search for the tome. We prevailed, and we have the book now."
"A-Ambushed?! How...?"
"I assure you, I didn't know. In my dream walking the place seemed filled with shadow. Maybe I should have... suspected."
"Was Jorgun there? He was part of it?"
She shakes her head sadly.
"I knew him... well, I thought, when we were younger. He was always so eager to prove he was more than his heritage led people to assume. His intelligence, even charm so often caught people by surprise. I suppose in the end, he succumbed to bitterness, though."
A single tear runs down her nose. She raises a knotted hand in a failed attempt to intercept it and it drips onto her dress.
"What will you do with the tome now? It should be studied, as disturbing as that sounds. Surely it may contain hints as to what this cult means to accomplish. If you will leave it with me, I will study it. But I understand if you prefer to keep it yourselves. Were the circumstances reversed, I would find it difficult to trust..."
"Whatever you do, it seems clear to me that I must redouble my dream walking. If the shadows I saw around the shop are signs of focused occult energies, I may be able to find the next best place to investigate. Clearly if you follow any other leads I'm able to feed you, you must use more caution."
"He was part of it, yes. He attempted to drive us to madness and kill us with cultist backup." Tassira nods in affirmation.
She looks at the rest. "What do the rest of you think we should do with the tome?"
Thank the Gods.
"We study it. Perhaps with protection from evil spells active," says Regeris cautiously. "I'm unsure what affects it may have although it's not magical in and of itself."
He looks to Madame Carington. "Tell us about the dream walking. Where do you go? Are the dreams a different plane from our own like the Abyss or the Ethereal? Or is it something different? This Brotherhood of the Spider summoned a... thing from it to fight us; sacrificed one of their own to complete the ritual. The magic was tied to a clock we destroyed. There's so much I don't understand."
Nebbin has always been a trusting sort, but too many horrors lately have made him more suspicious. Nothing in this city is going right, and it seems like no one can be believed.
He scowls at the Harrow reader and her ... her ... her fake! tears and what nearly happened to them. He wants to make her tell them the truth but Kayleigh continues to rest a hand on his arm. He tries to relax as Regeris and Tassira seem to accept her words.
"To the best of my understanding, my dreamwalking occurs on the Dimension of Dreams. It's a sister plane of the ethereal. Sacred to Desna and her followers, but changeable and treacherous to the unfamiliar. A persons dreams will extend it and change it. The same place may be reinvented many times through a person's recurring dreams or nightmares. By observing the contents of the dreamscapes a slumbering mind creates I can often help interpret the thoughts of the subconscious mind and help my patients gain clarity."
"This shadow-Korvosa is uncommonly persistent and I cannot understand it. There are persistent places in the dimension. Strange and foreign places that human minds are best kept away from. But most dreamscapes lose their form as slumbering minds move to other forms of expressions and anxiety. But shadow-Korvosa seems to always await me on my sojourns."
"The mind, or minds that maintain this dreamscape have knowledge and intent. And it seems there is some magic at play that might sometimes bridge the gap between dreamscape and reality. Such a bridging can have horrible effects. Things escaping into reality that should not be. Chaotic dreamscape energies infecting waking minds. Delirious slumbering minds being loosed among us. The possibilities are many and almost universally bad."
"I also don't understand what's happening. My hope is that book may provide some clues. I've no doubt now that this cult and its practices are contributing to the phenomenon, though."
"Do you know where the leader is? Maybe we go make him stop!" Nebbin says. "Can you get us to this shadow-Korvosa?"
Emi waits a while to say anything. The conversation isn't about subjects she can understand well, and it takes her a while to sort out what she has to offer. Besides, if anyone else is going to cover the things she can think of to bring up, they're probably going to say it better than she can.
Eventually she adds a few looses ends that are left.
"Does the name 'Mog Lathur' mean anything to you? The one we caught, she said the cult is Mog Lathur's sons and daughters, the 'brood'. Now she's crazy as a s#&%house rat, but some of the stuff she told us fit with what we've experienced."
"She said..., I guess what she was saying is Mog Lathur is a dream made real. It can cross over eventually because it senses, or feeds, on dreams affected by shiver. Like, it starts with the dreams most affected by the drug, and as it gains strength, it takes less shiver, or maybe no shiver for people to get pulled in by their dreams. And maybe 'Shadow Korvosa' is becoming a place that is stable outside any particular dreamer? Bits and pieces of dreams are, uh, kept by Mog Lathur and used for building it?"
"Does any of that make any sense?" she asks Madame Carington.
To everyone present Emi adds her thoughts on who might be at the top of the layer cake.
"I think we have some hints on where to start looking. At the book shop there were things about Vudrani demonology. The Arkona family is Vudrani by origin. They're the ones taking over street enforcement in Old Korvosa, and they're interested in keeping the Guard out. We can't trust anyone keeping order, the Market Guard and so on, to not be in cahoots with the cultists. That comes from the one we caught, her own claim. And Nebbin sure got no help."
"It was the Arkonas behind Vancaskerkin's butcher shop. We've heard rumors they're involved in distributing, maybe producing shiver. They'd be the people to look at first."
Carington nods as she listens to Emi's musings.
"The name means nothing to me, but that doesn't mean it's useless. Often times the key to discovering something in the Dimension of Dreams is meditating upon a name or vision as one fades into the dreaming world. It could be that this name will lead me to a useful discovery. Perhaps this being's will holds shadow-Korvosa together in the dreamscape."
She sits quietly for a moment, contemplating her own theory before continuing.
"Certainly I can focus my search of shadow-Korvosa upon the Arkona estate. If the family is involved, I may pick up traces of the shadowstuff there. That would be incriminating."
She turns to Nebbin, her demeanor taking on the air of forced patience.
"I can't take you there, no. You hold that key yourself, deep in your subconscious mind. If the footsteps of your dreamself lead you into shadow-Korvosa, I rather suspect it will be as one of the countless victims of that realm. I can observe others trapped there, but I have no way to help them. In the same sense, I'd be no help to you."
"As your observant friend suspects," with a nod back to Emi, "I think consuming some of this tainted drug might take you there directly, but not in any condition to act. I think your best bet at stopping whatever is happening in the real Korvosa is to find the bad actors here and eliminate them before they can complete their goals."
"Indeed. I'm definitely in no hurry to fall off the wagon, so to speak."
Regeris frowns as Emi explains her theories. "The desecrated Calistrian shrine was done so by a cult of Drajit which is Vudran. Perhaps the desecration of the shrine and this Vimanda are tied to the Arkonas? Regardless, I think we need to spend some quality time into this book. There are enough agents on the material plane for us to deal with rather than going to their territory."
Nebbin nods, not sure what else he has to add to the conversation. Kayleigh frets, but is actually somewhat glad that there's no real reason to go to the shadow world, since they have enough to deal with here.
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Kayleigh, like Tassira and Regeris, believes Madame Carington is genuine in her surprise about the ambush at the book shop. Nebbin's desire to travel to the Shadow-Korvosa to directly confront the cult's ultimate leader causes her breath to catch in her throat briefly, for she'd been harboring similar thoughts, but Madame Carington's warning hits a nerve.
"We have another Vudran who might give us some guidance," the cleric finally speaks up. "Helvara's associate Anpujit knows more than he's told us about the spider cult; perhaps he can give us a lead."
Turning to Nebbin, she asks if he had an opportunity to speak with Tassira yet.
Regeris snaps his fingers. "Good catch Kayleigh. Let's go pay a visit and ask some better questions. I shudder to think the Arkonas are involved in this. Ileosa may be Queen of Korvosa, but the Arkonas rule Endrin Isle and are not to be trifled with."
Back at Helvara's, the doors to the common room stand open and the place bustles with cleaning activities. One of Anpugit's daughter-in-laws pauses her task of beating out rugs to smile and curtsy for the group as they approach. Inside, the heavy scents of spice and frying meat dominate as his kitchen staff (more family) begin the long process of putting together today's stew. Part of the floor is now taken up by one of the gaming tables from the old Tiger's Tail, and another of his sons busies himself under it, evidently trying to level the thing.
When he sees the party, the old man dispatches one of his grandchildren upstairs to the House of Silks to fetch Helvara. He nods in recognition, wipes his hands on a nearby towel and comes over to speak.
"Greetings, friends of Madame. You come to see her, yes?"
Not waiting for a reply, he plows on.
"You, priestess," addressing Kayleigh, "Helvara says you helped cure her young Cassie of the 'Veil'. Is this true?"
The look of worry on his face, coupled with the changed demeanor speaks volumes. Someone close to him has the disease.
"Yes," Nebbin replies to Kayleigh, though it's clear the conversation hasn't completely calmed him. He's restless, muscles seemingly clenched almost all the time.
Back at Madame Helvara's, he bites his tongue. He was about to demand answers from Anpujit, but is forestalled by the old man's question. Maybe they can trade for the information. He knows Kayleigh will help whoever it is no matter what, but Anpujit may not.
Nebbin's curt reply to her question tells her all she needs to know: The incident is still eating him up inside. Saying anything more on the matter seems redundant and pointless; perhaps time will heal the wound.
At Helvara's place, it's as if the young couple are sharing thoughts. Kayleigh indeed considers trading healing for information from Anpujit, but ultimately she relents. That's just not her nature, and she wants to live in a Korvosa where its citizens do the right thing out of a sense of community, not one of immediate reward.
"Is Cassie fully healed then?" she asks the Vudran. "Has anyone else become infected since I was last here?"
The man's fear is written right across his face. His head bobs in that uniquely vudran form of affirmative.
"My brother, Rajeek, and his wife. And their daughter, my niece. They all carry the plague! They're upstairs, secluded in his rooms. Please, Miss Priestess, say a blessing over them and cure them, before it kills them or spreads to the rest of us! My family would owe you a great debt, and may you know we would pay it!"
His voice breaks and tears well in his eyes as he speaks. The sickness plainly terrifies him.
"She carries the blessings of the Everbloom. Do as she says and her healing touch will do what it can," says Regeris. Somewhat vaguely as he tries to figure out the extent of Kayleigh's new powers. "Once done, we will need to speak with you."
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Kayleigh nods at Regeris's words and asks Anpujit to lead him to Rajeek and his wife. "And my name is Kayleigh," she whispers to the Vudran man, not wishing to fully embarrass him in front of others.
When the couple is gathered, Kayleigh enters the room alone, though she leaves the door open in case anyone wants to witness Milani's glory and power. Although the dream/vision she'd had the night before had turned nightmarish and ended badly, in it the priestess had healed several web-cocooned citizens of the blood veil and even dispelled whatever dark dream magic was turning these same locals into monstrous ettercaps. The latter feat had seemed like a real stretch of the extent of her powers, but removing the blood veil had seemed real and within the powers of a merciful healer dedicated to Milani. And during her morning prayers--when she'd realized that her goddess had blessed her with additional spells to do her will in the city--Kayleigh had felt other blessings from the goddess. Her healing spells would be more potent now, and she'd be able to remove disease from two people within range when she channeled positive energy.
Drawing forth the holy symbol on the necklace she wore constantly, the priestess calls forth the positive pulse without any pomp or circumstance, adding an extra mental blessing over Rajeek and his wife. As soon as the channel ends, she knows in her heart that it has worked...and that Milani has granted her a mighty boon.
After gathering the couple's daughter and Cassie , Kayleigh repeats the process. She warns everyone afterward that she's merely removed the disease: Any damage already inflicted by the blood veil will have to heal naturally (or be fixed with another spell, if the family can afford it from the Church of Abadar). Also, her power doesn't instill immunity from the blood veil, so everyone will have to be on guard against catching it again. She suggests wearing a covering over the nose and mouth, keeping a safe distance from strangers who might be carriers, and washing hands and highly-touched areas often. To that end, she offers to use magic to create water in any large bowls or laundry tubs that might be lying about.
Lastly, Kayleigh takes pains to properly introduce each of her friends by name. While she thinks that healing members of Anpujit's family from the likely death sentence of the blood veil should be enough to get the man to cooperate in regards to the spider cult, Kayleigh's still not quite convince he'll fold easily to someone he called 'Miss Priestess' just a few minutes ago. So with her sweetest smile, Kayleigh introduces Anpujit and Rajeek to the final member of the party.
"And this is Regeris," she tells the two men. "He'd like to ask you a few questions about another scourge that's currently affecting our fair city...."
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Nebbin nods at the mention of masks, thinking he should put one on. Maybe he could even get them for the others too? If only there were some better way of curing this disease, though. Maybe something involving demons? Or really bright light? Or maybe they could drink some lye. He shakes his head to clear it of his unproductive musings. Surely the blood veil would all just disappear one day.
Emi isn't sure anyone is taking her seriously when she adds her two coppers on subjects like magic and places that only exist in dreams except when they do exist outside of dreams, nor is is particularly convinced anyone should. But she does have one more thought for Madame Carington.
"There was a lot of very powerful magic inside the bookstore. It had been fixed up for summoning that spider man, the clock was there, and needed to bring the spider man here. They had invested a lot, not something quickly thrown together."
"If you see any other places like it in the dream version of Korvosa, you should let us know. We might not be able to go to the dream world, but if places like it here show signs in the... dream place, we might be able to track them just as well by using what you see as a locator, a beacon fire more or less. It might cut down on footwork."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Emi finds a place to make herself comfortable and waits. She occupies her mind by making a list of things she needs to remember to take on the dive to the ship, and wondering how a book of the sort they have now can be studied to tell them anything practical in the here and now.
While Kayleigh goes to deal with the infected family, Tassira finds herself waiting for Helvara with a tingle in her fingertips.
Regeris remains quiet as Kayleigh works her magic. For a moment as the channel spell fades, he's unable to speak and at the point of tears.
She is the one. We are here for a reason.
Once the family has had a moment to recover and realize they are cured, he takes Rajeek to a separate area so he can speak with the man without making anyone uncomfortable.
"You will appreciate this is sensitive. I am interested in the intersection between different forces in this city, and I want you to tell me what you know about any of them. My first question is if you know anything of Dradjit the Godslayer and if you aware of any of their followers in Krovosa."
"That's precisely my plan. I think if I'm armed with the name, and I have an idea now what signs to look for, that maybe I can use the cult's presence in the dreamscapes against them."
"Come back tomorrow, or as soon as you can after I've slept again tonight, and perhaps I can feed you a new location."
---
The room Angugit leads the party to is cramped and stagnant, the air hanging heavy with the mingled scents of body odor and sickness, partly swathed in a reek of incense. Rajeek is a smaller version of his brother, drooping mustache and all, but his skin has taken on an ugly grey pallor and when he tries to rise to greet his guests he devolves into a coughing fit and collapses back into his cushions.
The two women in the room are in slightly better shape, and the old woman shows classic form as she overrides her own discomfort to rush to her husband's side. Milani's blessing washes them both clean, returning color to the old man's face and easing his labored breathing. His wife falls to her knees in thanks and cries out blessings in her own tongue. Her words aren't comprehensible, but her meaning is plain and Kayleigh picks up the name 'Milani', prominent in her adulations.
After it becomes clear that Helvara's Cassie is mending from her bout with the disease, Kayleigh fills the little room with a second blessing that restores the daughter to health, and she soon joins her mother in giving thanks and praise to the Everbloom. It's hard to escape the conclusion that some souls have been won over to Milani's faith this morning.
Looking over at Ishan's face, the expression Kayleigh finds written there is... complicated. His amazement and delight at Kayleigh's newfound powers is mixed with something else. Not jealousy, she concludes, for he immediately stoops to help the old man, giving what aid he can. Perhaps doubt.
In the hallway, away from all the praying and crying, Rajeek sobers immediately at Regeris's question.
"The Godslayer! Yes, I know the name. He is the killer and eater of the God-queen of Andrasanji, an ancient and legendary queen from my homeland, Vudra. He is an earthbound evil, an elder lord and spirit of earthbound sin. A shapeshifter. An... incubus. Defiler of love and consumer of man."
"W-why would you ask this? Dradjit is a name and a shadow for another land! Surely he has no power here in Korvosa!"
---
Downstairs, Helvara seems relieved to see Tassira this morning. She kisses Tassira with warmth and leads the young mage by the hands to a table and booth under a yellowed window where they can talk in private. Once seated, she leans across the table to bring her face close, all curves and seductive scents.
"I was worried you were involved in that business in east Bridgefront last night. The gang war. I told you that things were becoming unbalanced. That Devargo had started something serious, and that by taking him down you could not help but get dragged in. Now it's happening..."
It becomes increasingly clear that Helvara has no idea of her paramour's adventures and close brush with death in the Nightmarket, and that Tassira is equally in the dark about whatever Helvara is talking about.
Seeing Rajeek's horribly weakened condition triggers Kayleigh's chronically bleeding heart: She uses the lesser restoration spell she had been saving for Carawyn on the fragile old man.
"Now let me know if the blood veil comes back immediately," she warns the entire Vudran family. "It's weakened Rajeek's constitution, so if he gets infected again it could hit him harder and faster,,,threatening his life. I've bolstered him some to be on the safe side."
When Rajeek speaks of Dradjit the Godslayer, Kayleigh turns and walks away, apparently deep in thought. When she turns and returns to the conversation, she seems unusually intent.
"This goddess--Andra...sanji, was it?--what was she known for? Her beauty? Was she the goddess of love? Was she the matron goddess of a certain profession...like a teacher, an artist, or maybe a healer?"
Though she tried to hide it by walking away briefly, Kayleigh had a strong reaction to Rajeek's words...one of shock and fear. Her reaction came when Rajeek referred to Dradjit as "A shapeshifter. An...incubus."