in well-stuffed chairs, and talked magic. His head had finally stopped aching from the Burkhard Fire Wine he’d over-indulged in last night. He was quickly learning his lesson when it came to listening to Cassie’s suggestions. They were more dangerous than Ravi’s impulsive ideas.
Thank Kami-sama Ravi had planned ahead and kept two hangover cures next to the bed. He’d spent the night with Ravi—as he normally did, now—and woke up to a ringing head, his mouth tasting like something furry had crawled inside and died, messily. Ravi, apparently better at processing alcohol than his puny human body, was already up and coaxing the cure down Sora’s parched throat.
Definitely an upside, having a dragon lover who was a morning person.
In the peace of Lisette’s private sanctuary, Sora could comfortably enjoy talking with his peers. He’d always loved this part of being in a magical clan—the ability to sit like this and discuss theory. To work together in tandem with others to create something truly magical. He loved this process more than anything, this pitting of intellect and possibilities against a problem.
And this was definitely a problem in need of a solution.
“I’m so glad you came.” Lisette wore a sad smile on her face even as she oriented to face him more directly.
The mage looked comfortably attired, today, in a dark green dress that hugged her from collar bones to ankles in a flattering way, and she clearly had multiple things stashed in the front pockets, judging by the way she clinked.
“We didn’t know how to ask for your help without sounding desperate, but Ravi encouraged us to do so. He was adamant that you wanted to help but weren’t sure how to ask.”
“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