Chapter 96: Chief Healer Wode
Encrid did not return to the Third Office after leaving the healers’ hall.
He had spent enough time looking at Ansel Corr.
Whatever questions Corr might eventually answer would have to wait. Encrid still had a Council seat to secure, and there were only a few days left before the vote.
His next destination was the quarters where the Chief of Healers lived.
The Chief Healer held two votes on the Council.
That alone told Encrid how much authority the position carried. The Lord Commander had three votes, the Far Watch Captain had two, and the Chief Healer had two. It was not a position given that weight without reason.
The Chief Healer was also the one man on the Wall whom almost nobody wanted as an enemy.
The reason was simple.
Everyone on the Wall eventually got hurt.
Men fell from the walk, soldiers came back from the forest with wounds that would have killed them anywhere else, and even ordinary work around the Wall was dangerous enough to leave a man missing fingers or worse. When that happened, the healers were the difference between returning to duty and being carried away.
And all of them answered to the Chief Healer.
Nobody wanted to discover what happened when the man who controlled the healers decided that he no longer cared about them.
Encrid had never met him.
He knew only that Elder Wode was eighty-one years old, had served the Wall for longer than most of its current commanders had been alive, and was considered a master healer even by people who rarely praised anyone.
If anyone could help Encrid secure the seat, it was him.
The Chief Healer’s quarters were on the second level of the eastern bastion. Encrid climbed the stairs and found a waiting room outside the wards, already occupied by several soldiers and two apprentices carrying trays of instruments.
He approached the nearest attendant.
"I would like to speak with Elder Wode."
The woman looked at him for a moment before answering.
"My lord, Elder Wode is not receiving visitors."
Encrid frowned - Elder Wode was his final hope, and he wasn’t ready to lose it that easily.
"I only need a few minutes."
He insisted.
"I understand, but he cannot receive you."
The woman was also very adamant about it.
"Ok, when will he be available then?"
The attendant hesitated.
"I do not know."
Encrid studied her face.
"Is he treating someone?"
There were only a few reasons why the Chief healer would be busy, and Encrid couldn’t think of a better reason for refusal than this.
"No."
But that wasn’t the case. Encrid also noticed something strange. There was something in the way she answered that made him pause.
"Then what is the problem?"
The woman lowered her voice.
"Elder Wode is unconscious."
Encrid’s expression changed.
"Unconscious?"
"He collapsed yesterday."
"What? Why?"
The attendant glanced toward the ward before answering.
"Ansel Corr."
Encrid went still.
The woman seemed to understand that he had already heard the name.
"You saw him?"
"I did."
"Then you know how bad he was."
"I know he was badly injured."
"That is not quite the same thing."
She set down the tray she was carrying.
"Corr was barely alive when they brought him in. His injuries had already begun to turn septic, and the damage to his body was so severe that none of us could treat him properly."
She took a breath.
"Elder Wode had to step in himself."
Encrid glanced toward the closed doors of the ward.
"Elder treated him for more than ten hours and continuously used his star energy."
The attendant looked tired now, as though she had already explained the same thing too many times.
"Elder Wode is eighty-one years old, my lord. His body cannot handle that kind of strain anymore. He knew it, and we all knew it, but Corr would have died if he stopped."
Encrid let out a slow breath.
"So the Elder saved him and collapsed?"
"Yes. When Corr’s condition finally stabilized, Elder Wode collapsed. We carried him to his room ourselves."
"Is he in danger?"
"No."
The answer came quickly.
"He is not dying. He simply pushed himself too far, and his body needs time to recover. The healers have been monitoring him since then. He needs rest, and a great deal of it."
Encrid nodded slowly.
His eyes moved toward the ward again.
Two votes.
He had seven and needed ten.
But the only man who could have given him those votes was unconscious.
For a brief moment, an idea entered his mind.
If Elder Wode remained unconscious until the Council, there was still technically nothing preventing someone from carrying him into the chamber.
Encrid imagined it for no more than a second.
Four men carrying the old healer into the Council room. His unconscious body placed in a chair while someone cast his two votes on his behalf.
The thought was absurd.
Worse than absurd.
It was wrong.
Encrid immediately pushed it from his mind.
There were things a man could do because the rules did not specifically forbid them, and there were things he should not do simply because he was capable of doing them.
Dragging an eighty-one-year-old unconscious healer into the Council chamber for the sake of two votes belonged firmly in the second category.
He had not spent the past week asking people to trust his judgment only to cross a line the moment it became convenient.
"Thank you," Encrid said.
The attendant picked up her tray again.
"My lord."
Encrid turned toward the stairs.
He still needed ten votes.
The Chief Healer’s two were now uncertain, but the Council was still several days away. Elder Wode might wake before then. If he did, Encrid would have his chance to speak with him properly.
There was no point trying to force an answer today.
Besides, he had another meeting tomorrow morning.
Ysolde Marr.
Encrid descended the stairs with that name already occupying his thoughts.
He would wait for the Chief Healer.
Tomorrow, he would deal with Marr.
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