Someone dragged him from the pyre.

"One of them is Starborn."

"How can you begin to explain this desolation, didn't you see the desert dragon over the horizon? The fallen star?"

Billows of smoke set the oasis alight and burned it among the sand. Children cried out. Families broken apart. Flames bounced across his fingertips in small meteors.

Yes, it was the desert dragon... that creature which laid waste to my home and I was powerless against it...

"Let me go," a young child rasped without water.

"Let him go!" a young girl's voice screeched and smacked against the shadow from her own spot, her foot kicking their shins with the ferocity of the flames. "Let my baby brother go! This isn't his fault!"

Sand blasted from the point of impact, a hissing screech of a blaze set loose upon the world. Embers fell from his fingers, but he found the energy gone from his heart when the flames turned pitch black. It curdled on itself, sparked and swallowed the alabaster city into the dunes and left a smoking crater from an indiscriminate blast from the heavens, or from the mouth of a draconic beast. Embers floated with volcanic fury, and he woke himself up from playing too far into the flames. Reyes sat up from the bed once used by a dead man, and he rubbed his back.

Haven't had that nightmare in a long time. Reyes unfurled his hand and willed for a spark, but it died before it began, an old, dead coal. Bells tolled through the city of Tervale with its pointed roofs through the small window which barely let in the morning light through the overcast sky. He drew his hand over his brow, where black strands stuck between his fingers when he gripped it. Ugh... if they weren't stomping during their guard shifts, I might've gotten better sleep.

Though it was more accurate to describe the past couple days as the precursor to a bout of chronic insomnia — along with spending most of his time in a dinky, disorganised necromancer hole he tried his best to clean out and sweep out errant dust bunnies not used in sacrificial rituals. Windows open to let the minimal sunshine of Tervale through the thick blinds, his hosts were gracious enough to provide him adequate attire, not that he was one for fashion. If it kept him from the elements, he considered it suitable clothing, though he could've done away with the uppity style in the silver hemmings tipped with black. It screamed 'I'm a puffed out rooster', but at least the casual, outside wear was something more modestly applicable that wouldn't get him stared at more than he already was. Clasps fastened, he returned to the front area of the physician's quarters, closing the wood wrought with iron door behind him, sighing at the silence and the chirps of birds finding uncomfortable perches on pointy roofs.

He left his yesternight's work sprawled across the desk. One tome detailed Tervalen native herbs for substitutions, and the growth formula doubled for not one, but two staves. Mathematical measurements filled his notebook, though he'd need to weigh the actual herbs present within the formula for an accurate brew. And knowing my shit luck I won't have access to a lot of this... He trailed off his thoughts as a different pair of distinctly not armoured footsteps approached the door into the physician's quarters. He half-expected Prince Senko to burst in with aplomb and to remind him of the whole 'dead necromancer hole' he found himself residing in, but he stiffened when it turned out to be the complicit stave-breaker, Chancellor Dajen. Here we go. Didn't even get to eat something. "What is it? Did Emperor Hovolo not enjoy my report on his son? Are you going to break a bone next?" He scribbled down the list of substitute herbs into the ingredient list.

"On the contrary, Mr. Drazir," Dajen said, his hands wrapped tight around a thick scroll. "You've made a good first step for the Crown Prince. He has stopped attempting to kill his guards, and seems to enjoy your company."

"Joy." Reyes tickled his temple with his fingers, ignoring the blank of face chancellor. "I'm glad to have helped prevent the murder of hapless, defenseless knights." He hesitated in his work when Dajen refused to leave. "If my results are already satisfactory, why are you here?" He rested his cheek in his palm when Dajen unfurled the scroll with proprietary. "Oh, come on..." He drove his face into his hands when Dajen licked his lips.

"Emperor Hovolo has decided that with the matter of the post of Court Physician vacant due to the unforeseen death of the previous—"

"Just say he was a necromancer who more than likely got eaten by a test subject."

"—He has decided to name you—" Dajen nodded in his direction. "Reyes Drazir of Abraxa—"

"Zuris." Reyes resisted the urge to spit out his bitterness.

"—as standing Court Physician during your time here. You will be duly compensated for the work of the post."

Reyes barked out a laugh and found himself unable to stop at the very idea of never getting away from Fate and Circumstance. "Are you the court jester as well?" He wiped his thumb underneath his eyes and suppressed his next fit of giggles, but they died in his throat at Dajen's lack of laughter at his own comedy. "Me? Tervale's Court Physician? You might as well put yourself forward as Court Jester along with me. You're funny."

"I'm not joking, Reyes Drazir," Chancellor Dajen said with a tighter expression. "You are now the only one with medical knowledge within this palace and court and you have proven as such with your skill when dealing with Prince Senko... who is not known for being an agreeable patient for any physicians we brought into our court on a temporary basis. He made a choice kick into the last one's private area. Recently we were beset by a strange plague and we have not been able to determine the source."

"Have you tried quarantining and washing your hands?" Reyes chewed on the tip of his pencil. "That might halt most of the spread."

"That still doesn't explain the source."

Reyes shook his head and returned his head into his hands. "Am I to assume my compensation is my life?" He lifted his head up when Dajen tossed a heavy pouch of clinking metal in front of him.

"You are being compensated with coinage, Drazir."

"Here I was thinking you'd give me food."

"That's enough to buy you several helpings if it's your appetite that's the issue," Dajen said, back to the passive cold. "I advise you to take the post, Mr. Drazir. You are not going anywhere else without someone knowing about it. At least with this, you might feel a little useful instead of wasting away down here." Chancellor Dajen examined the hovel, where his gaze switched to the organised stacks of books on bodily anatomy and herbs along with magic afflictions. "You've done quite some work on it already. I daresay you can make yourself at home."

"Is the mean Chancellor bothering you, Reyes?" a different voice purred.

Reyes and Dajen both jumped at the voice which snuck up on them. Senko rested his elbow on the door, then used it to swing the door closed with a hard thunk. He heard the guard outside curse when it slammed against his heel. Chancellor Dajen was quick to keep up appearances with a sweeping bow to the Crown Prince of raven's, though he found his legs locked in a horrible affliction of laziness when Senko approached. "Don't be so surprised to see me," he said, then held out his bandaged hands. "I am only doing what the physician ordered." His arms sat loose at his sides when he turned to Dajen. "Now, why are you bothering him, Chancellor?"

"I assure you, Crown Prince Senko," he said with yet another bow, and Reyes found himself worrying for the future back problems he'd be struck with that as Court Physician he'd have to explain the probable reason. "I have only brought news to our esteemed guest—"

"Prisoner, but thanks," Reyes mumbled into his pages.

"—He has been offered a position at court," Dajen repeated the spiel he gave to the Crown Prince of the entire kingdom. "And he has shown a lackluster response at the honor, Your Highness. Even though this position would give him some freedom to do as he wishes as long as it is in the confines of Tervale, and he may be allowed to tread outside the walls for herb gathering purposes as long as he's accompanied."

"You're going to stick me with Gilded Jackass and I don't want to deal with him complaining."

Prince Senko looked between the both of them, then hooked his ankle around a seat to draw it in front of Reyes, causing Dajen to hover over his shoulder. "As Court Physician, that's a step past the cell, Reyes. You would be treated with a little bit more respect than you are now, and you could, arguably, tell the knights to fuck off if they bother you while you're trying to work," he pointed out, through the honeyed words of a man trained in ferocious diplomacy. "Besides, I like you and I like what you have done with the place. You're a breath of fresh air, Reyes. You're a Healer with cold bedside manner..." Senko folded his hands in front of him, before stretching out his fingers. "But you are one, nonetheless. It's not the compensation that's the problem, is it?"

Reyes stared at him.

"You're dismissed Dajen, I can handle Mr Drazir." Senko closed his sharp, pale grey eyes.

With one more back-breaking bow, Dajen left the infirmary.

"I was brought here to deal with your malady, Prince Senko," Reyes reminded him. "Not to deal with everyone else's. I do not have eight arms, nor can I split my being to be in several places at once."

Prince Senko's sharp gaze never left him, and when he tipped his head forward, the raven-likeness became more visible when his pupils drew over his face. Without another word of dangerous, diplomatic logic, Prince Senko held out his hands over the table. Reyes unravelled the bandages to check on the blisters, which had gone down considerably since his last check on the Crown Prince. "You know," Senko whispered. "You wouldn't have to be in several places at once. Most would come here. You're a matter of convenience."

"Not for those that need me the most," Reyes whispered as he disposed of the old bandages, handing Senko a cloth to wash his hands. "Not for those who suffer the effects of Dajen's 'strange plague'." He threw his thumb over his shoulder to the open window.

Senko's eyes widened. "Tervale has a couple other physicians among the general populace. You would just be the Court Physician."

Reyes washed his own hands as well. "And I'm sure those physicians also can't be in several places at once," he said. "So, if I am going to take this post, as if I ever had a choice, if I'm one of the only ones in the city with extensive medical experience, and going to be duly compensated to giving that quality to the nobles, then it'll be your nobility that'll be paying for the care of those who don't have access to it. "

"You are strange, Reyes." Senko held his hands over the table, then picked up his paper before he could swipe it back. "What's all this for?"

"Herbs." Reyes sniped it out of his hands. "For a growth formula so I can make a stave for each of us."

"You don't need a stave to do your magick, Reyes."

Reyes decided not to honour his comment with a response, instead sparking up the dead coal at the tips of his fingers. It curdled and hissed in his palm, with the screech of the desert dragon's cruelty while it burned down his home. In the throes of fire, he ignited it, but when he tried to throw it down into the bandages as it swallowed alabaster pillars, it came out a sparkle of a children's toy. It dripped onto the bandages and died on the flammable fabric. He grinned at the haughty Crown Prince and set his arm on the back of his chair, indicating to the bucket. "I need a stave, and one might help you."

"I did not say it wouldn't help me, it's just that usually magic user's don't need one."

"That's not how I was taught." Reyes rolled up his sleeves for another, expectantly painful demonstration. Senko gazed at him with curious intent when he focused on the bookshelves above. Magic poured through the connection of planes when he focused on a certain title, he curled his fingers with his intent, but when the unseen twine slingshotted itself, he grunted when he got a faceful tough paper in the face instead. The chair legs squeaked,he tipped over and his back hit the ground. He tossed the book off his face when Senko came around the table to kneel over him.

"See what I mean? If I had a stave I could've aimed that."

Senko shook his head. "You told me that magic doesn't just disappear. That once you have it it's a part of you," he reminded him. "In Tervale, we are taught that stave's aren't points of focus, but more weights to regulate a body's mana. Without a stave, it's so much harder to regulate such things... unless you were a Starborn or a Shadowblood. That, Reyes, was just you having shit aim." He turned to the bucket with the unburnt bandages. "As for that..."

I can't even light a candle. Reyes set his head against the rock floor, but stopped when Senko held out his no longer blistered hand. "What?"

"Wouldn't want to have the court physician found flattened on the floor." Senko heaved him up by the arms, patting his shoulders. "And... if you want to help the common folk as a compromise to taking that post... I might be able to help you with that."

"How?"

"It's a little thing I like to call mutual benefit," Senko said with a widening smile. "You remember when you told me that I needed to get some sun, but I'm not allowed anywhere without a guard myself?"

"...I don't like where this is going."

His smile softened, which spoke more trouble than what he was willing to put up with.

Which wasn't much.