Page 76 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume Two

“I’m perfectly fine sounding desperate,” Cameron pitched in darkly. There was a pained frown gathering across his brow. “Alric’s been neglecting himself the past several days, jumping from one thing to another, and I can’t get him to slow down enough for me to apply the salve every morning. He’s in pain and ignoring it.”

And the mage was clearly upset his mate was carrying that pain. Sora could see it clearly in Cameron’s eyes. He’d not had a great deal of interaction with the consort of this clan, but in this moment, he didn’t see a consort. Just a man who was deeply worried about his husband.

Sora’s heart went out to him, even as his mind revved up to tackle the problem. “Ravi has mentioned some of it to me. What is his condition, precisely?”

Cameron answered readily, his dark eyes intense. “A spell hit him along the back and left shoulder, damaging the nerves and leaving a wicked burn mark along that area. Alric believes it was some mix of fire and lightning spells, but it’s hard for us to know for sure. It was enough to get past a fire dragon’s hide, though.”

“Two, in fact,” Lisette corrected grimly. “Alric now suffers from pinched nerves and tingling sensations, and his grip strength in that hand is basically nonexistent. If something’s over a pound, he can’t lift it. He doesn’t have full range of motion—even lifting the arm above shoulder height is difficult.”

It sounded like nerve and muscle damage to Sora. “But there’s no indication anything is wrong in his skeletal structure? Specifically along the spine?”

They exchanged bewildered glances.

Lisette offered slowly, “I think his bones are fine? Why do you ask?”

“The symptoms you’ve just relayed to me suggest that there is a compression to the c-spine. Weakness in the arm and hand, burning sensations, numbness—all of that is commonly linked to compression. It would make perfect sense to me if the spine were pinching nerves and pulling muscles and tendons out of whack.”

Cameron sat up abruptly, eyes alight. “Does this mean we can counter those symptoms if we can decompress the spine?”

“Not a hundred percent, perhaps, but we can certainly improve the situation by leaps and bounds. I hesitate to promise anything until I can examine King Alric myself. But I think it’s very possible to alleviate the worst of these symptoms.” Sora now itched to lay hands on the man himself, but it wasn’t the easiest of tasks to ask a king to strip down for a stranger’s examination. “What have you been using to treat him?”

Lisette popped up and fetched a sheet, which she passed to him. It detailed the potion elements and recipe in neat handwriting. Reflected sunlight, untouched snowflake, distilled frankincense, and carrier oil. There was a scribbled note on the side: Willow bark. Ah, a good addition. Willow bark acted as a topical pain reliever all by itself. Add that into this mixture, and it could only enhance the other elements.

“You added in willow bark recently?”

“Tori’s addition,” Cameron explained. “Tori, frankly, knows more herbology than most of us combined. He’s the one who suggested it, and it has definitely helped.”

“Yes, it would. He’s mentioned to me he’s interested in becoming a healer. I didn’t know what to say when we first discussed it, and he’s not brought it up since.”

“Tori would jump at the chance to learn, if someone was willing to teach him.” Lisette eyed him as if wondering about Sora’s intentions. “He has a very keen mind, that one.”

“If not myself, then someone of my family will be happy to teach him more of the trade. We believe that knowledge should be passed along to those willing to learn.”

Sora made a mental note to bring this up with his parents. Heaven knew, they needed more healers, and his parents were always excited at the prospect of teaching. If they were going into an outright war, then the healers would be at their wits’ end. Sora set the thought aside to be handled later and focused on the here and now.

“I see no issue with what you’re using. But I do have a few thoughts. Something we can use in addition to the salve. I suspect there is a build-up of scar tissue interfering with the nerves. I have a potion that can help break it up and then keep it from rebuilding.”

“That sounds promising, too.” Lisette propped her hands on her hips, clearly thinking hard. “A maintenance potion to keep trouble from reaccumulating in the future.”

“Yes, that’s precisely what it is. It’s not a complicated potion, and if we apply it before the pain-relieving salve you have here, then it will significantly cut into King Alric’s numbness.”

Cameron was so excited he practically vibrated in his chair. “That sounds amazing. We’ve never been able to do anything about the numbness. You know what? I’m calling him. Right now.”

Before either of them could say a word, Cameron had his phone in his hand. It rang twice before he said quickly, “Hey, where are you? I want you in Lisette’s workroom now. What do you mean you’re only ten steps away, why are you—Ravi?”

The door opened, and Alric stepped through, a half-smile on his face. He pocketed his phone as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “Ravi insisted I was meant to be here about this time, for some reason. I’m almost afraid to ask. Why am I here?”

Of course Ravi would orchestrate the king’s presence, having known about this meeting beforehand. Sora wasn’t even surprised.

Cameron bounced out of his chair and immediately grabbed King Alric’s shirt. “Off with that. Now.”

King Alric protested, trying to bat away his hands. “Wait, wait, why are you trying to strip me?”

“You like it when I strip you,” Cameron pointed out, still wrestling with his shirt.

“Not when there’s an audience, I don’t!” King Alric’s voice had dropped to a low hiss as if he didn’t want everyone to hear.

Sora decided to step in before this became ridiculous. “King Alric, I believe I can mitigate most of the symptoms you’re suffering. May I examine you?”