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Indaturan was waiting for them in a quiet bed chamber which Talira had guided them to as soon as they arrived with Ken. Once Ken had been settled on the bed, Indaturan sat beside him, and laid a hand on Ken’s forehead and closed his eyes. After a moment he swore harshly in draconic and reopened them to stare at Sarah.

“The person who did this to him did it with a single psychic spike?” he asked.

Sarah nodded solemnly. “She did, and I’m sure it was deliberate. I’ve no idea how she managed it since it didn’t seem very controlled at the time but the damage seems targeted.”

“And she is his mother?” he asked.

“That’s right,” Adrian said.

“I see…” Indaturan tutted at that. “It sounds like she was expecting him then. Doing something like this in one spike is only possible if you prepare it advance and know the target’s neurology intimately.”

“Like an astral mother would know her son’s.” Sarah hissed angrily. “I’m almost tempted to think she deserves what Caroline did to her. Almost.”

“Ah yes,” Indaturan said. “Adrian mentioned that. Quite impressive really.” He glanced at Adrian. “I can see why your grandmother was so feared in her original life.”

“Well, she never did anything like that before, as far as I know,” Adrian said. “Can you help him?”

“I think so.” Indaturan closed his eyes, obviously concentrating. “Yes, I can fix his motor functions and shore up the autonomic stuff Sarah-alra has already dealt with.”

“What about his psychic abilities?” Arnold asked anxiously from the other side of the bed.

Indaturan sighed heavily. “Those will be more tricky,” he said. “I should be able to rehabilitate some of them – perhaps even most of them with time – but they’ll never be quite the same and he’s in for a long, slow recovery.” He gave Arnold a thoughtful look. “You’re his brother, aren’t you?”

Arnold nodded. “I am.”

“Good, he’s going to need your support during his recovery.”

“He’s got it,” Arnold said.

“Good,” Indaturan said. “That will help a great deal. I’ll get started then.” He closed his eyes again and white light engulfed him and Ken.
***
Andrew watched Indaturan work on Ken for a while but there wasn’t much to see. He felt pretty useless here, now he wasn’t needed to help manoeuvre Ken around, so he slipped out of the room as soon as he could and went to find Naria, who’d hurried off to find her family. He wasn’t sure of his way around Ystelyan’s palace but he followed the tugging in his head that came from his and Naria’s bond through the cool caves of Ystelyan’s palace until he reached a large wooden door. Even as he walked towards it, certain Naria was there, it opened and she grinned at him.

“Drew! Get in here,” she said cheerfully. “My mother wants to meet you.”

Andrew ground to a halt, suddenly nervous. Naria giggled at him, grabbed his hand and dragged him into the room.

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