Temple of the Winds

"Blue cohosh," she mumbled to herself as she squinted at the cryptic marks on one of the leather pouches. "No, I don't think it would do, and she'd have to drink cups of it." She took out several more leather pouches, before pausing at another. "Pearly everlasting. Might work, but we'd have to get her to smoke it, somehow." She sighed irritably. "That won't do." She considered a horn. "Mugwort," she muttered as she set it aside. "Feverfew"?" She put that horn in the damp sling of her dress in her lap. "Yes, betony might be of some good, too," she said as she considered another. She added the horn lo her lap.

Kahlan picked up one of the horns Nadine had set aside and pulled its cork. The pungent smell of anise made her pull back. She pushed the cork back in and set it down.

She picked up another. Two circles were deeply scratched into the patina of the horn. A horizontal line ran through both circles. Kahlan wiggled the carefully carved wooden stopper, trying to pull it free. Nadine slapped the horn out of Kahlan's hands. "Don't!" Kahlan looked up in surprise. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snoop in your things. I was-"

"No, it's not that." She picked up the horn with the two circles struck through with a line and held it up. "This is powdered canin pepper. If you aren't careful when you open it, you could get it on your hands, or worse, in your face. It's a powerful substance that will immobilize a person for a time. If you had opened it carelessly, you would have been on the floor, blind and gasping for air, convinced you were about to die.

"I thought about using it on Cara, to stop her shaking by paralyzing her, but I decided it best not to. It immobilizes a person partly by interfering with their breathing. It feels like it's burning your eyes out of your head; it blinds you. Your nose feels on fire, you're sure your heart is going to burst, and you can't get your breath. You're helpless. Trying to wash it off only makes it worse, because the powder is oily and just spreads.

"It doesn't cause any real harm, and you'd recover completely in a short time, but until then, you're disabled and totally helpless. I don't think immobilizing Cara in that fashion would be good, since she's already having trouble breathing. In her state, it might make her worse, instead of helping her."

"Do you know what to do, to help her? You do know what to do, don't you?" Kahlan asked, trying not to sound critical.

Nadine's hand paused on the edge of her bag. "Well, I. . I think I do. It's not so common a problem that I'm sure, but I've? heard of it. My father has mentioned it in passing."

Kahlan wasn't reassured. Nadine found a small bottle in her bag and held it up in the torchlight. She pulled the cork and turned the bottle upside down on a finger. "Hold her head up."

"What is it?" Kahlan asked as she turned Cara over. She watched Nadine rub the substance on Cara's temples. "Oil of lavender. It helps with headaches." "I think she has more than a simple headache."

"I know, but until I find something else, it might help ease the pain, and that might help calm her. I don't think I have any one thing that by itself will do it. I'll need to try to add things together.

"The problem is that with the convulsions we can't get her to drink decoctions or teas. Motherwort and linden help calm people, but we can't get her to drink a whole cup of it in water. Black horehound would help stop the vomiting, but she'd have to drink five cups a day. I don't see how we can get her to drink the first until we stop the convulsions. Maybe we could get her to swallow some feverfew. But there is one thing I'm hoping…"

Nadine's long, damp hair hung around her face as she pawed through her bag. She came up with another small, brown bottle. 'Yes! I did bring it." "What is it?"

"Tincture of maypop. It's a strong sedative and also a painkiller. I've heard my pa say that it settles people who are in a state of nervous shakes. I think he may have meant shakes like convulsions. Since it's a tincture, we can put some on the back of her tongue; she'll swallow it, that way."

Cara shuddered violently in Kahlan's arms. Kahlan embraced her tighter until she settled a bit. She didn't know if she liked the idea of having to rely on Nadine's "I think," but Kahlan had no better solution. Something had to be done.

Nadine was working her thumbnail at the wax seal on the little brown bottle of tincture of maypop when the shaft of light coming from the doorway above darkened. Nadine's hands stilled.

A motionless, silhouetted figure filled the doorway, seeming to consider them at length. With nary a flutter of his long cloak, he wheeled and started down the ladder. In the silence, but for the hissing torch, Kahlan absently stroked a protective hand over Cara's brow as she watched the man in a hooded cloak descend the ladder.

CHAPTER 13

Nadine paused at her work on the wax seal. "Who. .?"