"I got...better?" Drusus's answer came out like a question.
"Obviously. But how? As Bel said, your injury was beyond help. I checked it myself!" Flint puffed out his chest. "So tell me, Dru, how are you whole again?"
"You aren't the only healer in the world," Syrce frowned.
"But I am the best!" The surly Master challenged without hesitation.
"Flint!" Noble sent some calm with her reprimand, but the man rejected it.
"No, really! Just look at those in the caravan. I assume you brought the best healers with you to give you the greatest chance of success. No offense, but those men are all but useless." Flint rolled his eyes. "It doesn't take a genius to see something doesn't add up."
The Saint straightened her shoulders.
"What are you suggesting?" She challenged.
"I'm not suggesting anything. I am demanding to know the source of this miracle!"
Flint was genuinely overcome with emotion, unlike anything Noble had seen in him before. Healing was something he was proud of, and to have someone do what he could not was a great blow to his ego. Flint had been undermined, and he needed to know by whom.
Stepping forward, Flint moved to grab the collar of the man's tunic. Perhaps he could shake an answer out of the lowly soldier.
But before he could take hold of his victim, Drusus grabbed his head.
"Oh!" His face paled, and his eyes went completely out of focus. Noble remembered how Drusus had looked when he was in the cocoon of the widow.
Except for blue lips, the visage before her was identical.
'Oh no!'
Drusus swayed. Seeing what was going to happen, Noble rushed forward. With a combination of her arms and her ability, she caught him before he crumpled to the ground. The man was surprisingly light. Syrce was right, he had lost weight. His face looked positively boyish.
Oblivious to her thoughts, the young soldier shut his eyes as dizziness finally overtook him. He came to a moment later with a fantastic gasp.
"Where am I?" he repeated his initial question with new fervor.
"You are at Mirage's palace. You are safe." Escorting him over to a bench by the wall, Noble helped the fainting man take a seat.
"Calm down, Drusus. You've had a long journey." Noble spoke to him gently.
"A long journey," he repeated, smacking his lips. "My family!"
"They will be informed very soon about what has happened. I promise you, you do not need to worry about them." Syrce placed her hand on her heart in a solemn oath. That quieted the man slightly. He touched his lips.
"I..."
The words would not come. Drusus frowned and coughed.
"Do you need some water? We have some here." Child of Promise accepted a canteen that had been slung over Roan's shoulder. "Thank you."
Gently, she helped Drusus sip while Helie sat beside him and propped up his shoulders.
"Perhaps he needs something to eat?" Aether offered. "I can go get some food."
Tucking the Mirror back into her belt, Syrce shook her head.
"This happened to Maelys, too. She was helpless as a newborn for a short time, but it does wear off. He needs some rest. I will take him to lie down. I know the perfect place. I found it when we were exploring. Come, Drusus. It isn't far." Syrce took the young man away from Noble and Helie. "I will be only a moment."
With a dip of her head, Syrce left with her weary charge, her steps receding down the hall alongside Drusus.
"That was...unexpected." Noble chose her words carefully.
"Indeed. People coming out of mirrors isn't something you witness every day," Roan added thoughtfully.
"It's a shame that Drusus was so confused." Aether glanced at the spot where the mirror had been.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he still thinks he is in some fantasy and is going to wake up," Helie shrugged. "It's unfortunate."
Flint looked around the group. "Unfortunate? You have to be joking. That faint was intentional!"
"I can assure you the emotion was real." Noble turned to Flint with warning in her eyes.
"The pallor of his face was too. He was paler than a synthetic page." Helie touched her cheek.
"Ha! I can't believe he has you all fooled. Drusus's act was to avoid answering my question. He faked the whole thing. He's hiding something, and you fell for it." Flint clicked his tongue. "I thought you were smarter than that!"
"Silence is golden, Master Flint," Roan balled his fist, "Perhaps you should start collecting some of its riches. We will talk later."
"Later? Why not now?" The surly Master jutted out his jaw.
"Because…" Roan lifted his eyebrows meaningfully, but his companion was already on to his next thought.
"And that's another thing! Why are you always telling me to hush and not the rest of the group?" Flint poked his finger at their leader. "First, you want me to stay quiet about that unfair competition, and now this. What? Do you have an aversion to hearing the truth?"
"Just because you say something doesn't make it true," Noble put her finger to her lips. "Don't be foolish. We can discuss this later! You seem very tired."
"I have never been more awake in my life! I tell you that Drusus is hiding something," Flint persisted. "And if Lady Mae acted the same way, she is likely hiding something, too. Maybe that's how she won the competition. Through lies and deceit!"
"Enough!"
The word was so loud that it rattled the few windows in the hall. Flint whirled around. Syrce's grey eyes were filled with energy.
"You have said more than enough, Titus. Speak no more."
"But..." Flint defended himself. "Surely even you can see there is a problem! Drusus..."
"Is whole again." The Saint's expression darkened as the air in the room became heavy. "And that is thanks to the mirror, not you! As for Lady Mae, she won because I deemed it so, not from any trickery on her part. The gall! Why are you so prideful that you must always be right? Do you think that you and you alone are the dead gods' gift to humanity?"
"I mean, I wouldn't put it that way exactly..." Flint realized too late that he should not have opened his mouth.
The Saint pounced upon him. Syrce raised the looking glass. It began to glow faintly.
"The mirror has given blessings. Perhaps it will bless you with some common sense!"
Flint looked up, seeing his own fear mirrored in the flawless glass. The terror in his eyes paralyzed him. He could not react to anything that was happening around him. The reflection stared at him, both pleading for help and forbidding him from seeking it.
He couldn't look away.
"Wait!" Noble stepped between the Saint and the object of her ire.
"Move aside, Bel," Syrce warned.
Noble felt the emotions of Roan, Helie, and Aether spike. They would jump in if she wanted them to, but Noble waved them off silently.
"I cannot. I do not want you to break that mirror on Titus's head. We worked too hard to make it whole for it to shatter over some careless words." Noble shut her eyes.
Syrce lowered the mirror, her face unreadable for a moment.
Then, the most unexpected thing happened.
Syrce laughed.