Marriage is Murder

Angus motioned for Marcus to Khaat, as a signal to move her at the first sign of the plant releasing its hold on her. Angus went to help Jack. He fired a spell at the roots of the plant to try to damage the plant at the roots.

Khaat heard what she thought was a high pitched screaming sound. To her, it was deafening. It was excruciating. Marcus saw she was suddenly in intense pain, but he and Angus clearly were hearing nothing. The only thing Marcus could surmise was that it was her seers powers.

Up on deck, Kate dropped her sculpture and her yarns, covering her ears, groaning.

"Robert!" she shouted, knowing something was terribly wrong.

Marcus saw the plant start to recoil, as if it were wounded, and as it began to relax its hold, he fired at it again and then yanked hard on her to pull her free. He could see she was somehow in a great deal of pain. He wrapped himself around her. As far as he was concerned, she was done diving. And he was hoping that she would give it up until she was well.

He glanced at Angus, who nodded, wanting Marcus just to get her to the surface before something else happened.

Jack heard nothing but a glance up told him it was working once Khaat was free he let it go and moved quickly out of its reach. Steven stayed a bit longer to make sure it would not follow once he was sure he swum back to the ship. Jack grabbed a towel as he stepped on board. " that was one weird plant" he said as he dried off his face as Steven climbed up and took off his gear.

"well that was not ho I wanted to go diving but it was refreshing...what was that thing?" he asked Jack shrugged as he finished drying his head off.

"Best guess some sort of enchanted plant trap, possibly another trap to capture unwary swimmers and ships" He said " I did see a lot of gold bullion behind it and around its roots" He tipped his head to get the water out of his ears. "Ghaa, I hate getting water in the ears" he said and shook his head from side to side.

Robert heard Kate shouting and he had raced up on deck. He had seen her in pain and was going to help, when she had pointed at the water. Before he could react, Marcus brought Khaat to the surface.

Robert went over and helped Marcus get Khaat on the boat. Khaat was in severe pain. Marcus pulled the diving mask off her face.

"Daddy," she gasped because of the pain. "Please..."

He laid his hands on her head and felt an overload to her seer's energies. He cast a strong pain relief spell for her, and it was so much so suddenly that her knees buckled under her. Marcus caught her.

"One moment," Robert said calmly. He drew off the energy overload. Then he laid his hand on her left side, casting another spell. Marcus heard a sickening grinding pop. He hated the sound of a bone being set. It was disgusting.

"Shall I ask how you broke a rib?" Robert asked her calmly.

"Killer sea vine," she gasped.

"There is no such thing," he frowned.

"I'm afraid she's got it just about right," Marcus said to Robert.

Jack walked over and looked at Robert " it was some sort of enchanted underwater vine." he told him " once we got to its roots it seem to do something and it let go of her" he added leaving the towel over his shoulder as he wrung out his shirt and let the water run off the deck and back into the ocean. Steven now stood in his swim trunks drying his hair as he walked over.

"He's right, here, I managed to get a piece " He said and held out a piece for Robert now in a bag "Thought you might want to study it" he said holding the green piece of vine in his hand. Cassidy looked at Kate noticing the pained look on her face.

"You okay?" she asked moving closer to her " want me to get Robert?" she looked over at her they all stood talking. " eww that thing better stay over there, it looks like a green slug" she said and shivered.

"No," Kate said, trying to recover. "The noise has stopped now, I think. Made my head pound."

"There wasn't any noise, Kate," Michael said.

"You didn't hear the screaming?"

"Uh...no," Michael said. Robert, who was still busy with Khaat's head and her broken rib, looked back at the plant sample they'd gotten. It was moving, wiggling. That didn't seem unusual to Robert. Magical plants did all sorts of things.

Khaat could hear a soft sort of tiny whimpering from the little piece of plant.

"Can I see it?" she asked.

"I suppose," he said, taking it from Steven. "Just be careful with it until I can identify it." He laid the sample just inside her right hand, knowing the left one could not feel the plant.

The instant the plant sample made contact with her skin, it started to growl and snarl and it buried down beneath her skin. Surprised, she gave a small cry of pain.

"Michael! Your knife!" Robert called, knowing Michael's knife had not been down in the water and was probably cleaner at the moment. "Quick!"

Michael drew his knife and flipped open the blade. He looked at Khaat's hand and could see the plant sample under her skin making its way up her hand towards her arm.

"Hold her still," Robert said, taking the knife. "This will hurt." He didn't have time to cast a numbing spell, and she knew it.

"Just get it," she told him. She could see it was growing with every instant that passed.

"Cassidy, go get Jess, and have her bring the wound kit from my bag straight away," he said. "Brant, get me a jar in a hurry. We've got to catch and contain this thing." Michael and Marcus steadied Khaat, and Robert made an incision ahead of the plant sample. It was painful, and Khaat jumped.

"Steady," Robert said to her quietly. "I'm sorry. But this is going to hurt one more moment." He had to dig a moment and, with careful precision, he managed to capture the plant on the tip of the knife.

The plant sample seemed to be angry and fighting, wanting back under her skin.

"The damned thing looks bigger," Michael scowled.

"It is," Robert said. "Parasitic somehow."

"It didn't bother you. Or Steven," Michael said.

"Don't you hear it?" Khaat asked, hearing its angry growling.

"Now you sound like your mother," Michael said. "She was complaining about the screaming."

"It was," Khaat said. "Hurt my head...."

"Wait..." Robert said. "You heard it, your mother heard it...."

"I still hear it," she said, "Its angry, and growling."

"The thing attacks seers," Marcus frowned. "Its the only thing that makes sense."

Cassidy dropped her weaving and dove down stairs where she found Jess just taking some pain killers. She explained and saw her grab the wound kit from beside her and she ran as fast as she could up the stairs. " so thats the noise maker" she said stopping and backing off a little " Wow, angry little bugger." she said handing the case to Robert. Brant watching Cassidy leave grabbed a jar out his bag and resized it large enough to hold it.

"Here this should do, its magic proofed so it can't get out." he placed the lid back on once the piece was in then placed it on a table. He watched as Jess backed away from it. " Buy how its acting yes it is" he saw the look on Jess's face.

"You don't hear the growls its giving off" she asked and saw him shake his head. she glanced over at Khaat then walked over. "Can I help?" she asked watching Robert as he worked to heal the knife wound on her arm.

"Yes," Robert said to Jess. "Haven't had time to even numb this for her, much less disinfect it. And we certainly need to do that before we seal this incision. Take care of this wound for me, would you? And she's broken a rib. Its been set but I should wrap a rib binder around it until tomorrow when the healing spell has it repaired. I have to see to that damned plant." He looked at Khaat. "You and I need to talk--seriously. Until then, no more diving for you. I can see it in your face. You feel driven to go after something down there. No more until we talk." He looked at Marcus. "No more. Keep her out of there for now. She's not fit to dive. That's an order."

"Yes, Sir," Marcus said.

Left to his own devices, Brian made it to his feet and slowly made his way up on deck. He saw the confusion going on, and he saw Khaat was hurt again. He didn't know what was driving her, but he was hoping to talk to her to find out. By the looks of it, he wasn't sure she understood the compulsion either.

Robert took the jar and looked at it. The thing seemed to look at him, and at the top end it seemed to open a mouth with tiny little teeth. Robert frowned.

"Well, you're a grouchy little bastard, aren't you?" he frowned. Then it began to screech and growl--a sound that everyone could hear. "Oh, so that's what you sound like. Interesting." He glanced up and saw Brian holding himself up in the deck doorway. "If you're going to be up here, sit down before you fall down." The plant seemed to be tapping on the glass, wanting out, getting angry. "Somebody needs to babysit this thing for a bit."

"I'll do it," Brian said, unable to do much of anything else. After all, how hard was it to watch a bug jar?

"Fine. You have the jar," Robert said, sitting it down on a table near a chaise. Evan helped Brian to the chaise to sit down. Brian picked up the jar and looked at it, and the plant seemed to be snarling and trying to bite him through the glass. Brian frowned at it and put the jar back on the table.

Brant saw Brian and made sure a chair was accessible for him to sit in. Jack watched the green slug like creature as it snapped and growled " we all said that about it Brian" he said " good to see you awake" he said and looked over at Jess who stood cleaning Khaats arm.

"Of course Robert." She cleaned and disinfected the wound. her focus on that when he he asked for a rib binder she accioed one and handed it to him. " here " she said placing it in his hand. Jess looked at Khaat and smiled a little to her " it will heal fine" she finished up and added some tape to the bandage.

"Thank you," Robert said to Jess. He looked back at Khaat. "I want you out of the diving gear. I don't want you going back down there. Not right now. Go get changed, and then I'm going to wrap that rib for today."

"I can do that," Marcus said, well acquainted with a simple rib binder. "I'll help her change and wrap her rib."

"Thank you. Then she and I need to talk," Robert said. Marcus nodded. He took her down to her cabin.

"Robert," Brian said. "If this is about me...."

"I don't know that," Robert said. "I don't know what this is about. Until then, we don't open that jar. And I especially don't want any of our seers fiddling with it."

"Are you sure that thing didn't do something to her?" Brian asked. "Parasites can do that. How do we know that...."

"We don't. Not for certain. I didn't find anything wrong, but its possible. We'll have to wait and see."

"Robert," Angus said. "What we found today was a series of traps and obstacles that grew more intense the farther we got in. It seems to me that we're not being attacked. It seems to me that we're on the trail of something that is being protected by enchantments."

"Damned dark ones," Robert said. "Perhaps we don't want to go any farther. Perhaps, if its been there all this time, its best if we left it alone."

"Maybe so," Angus said.

Brant watched as Jess finished with the wound and wrapped a bandage around it moving back she left the others to talk a she stood with Jack. She looked over at Brian watching for any sign he might be fatigued or unwell. Cassidy went back to her weaving while Steven sat next to her.

"looks good, what is it?" He asked and Cassidy shrugged her shoulders for a moment.

"Not decided yet, could be a place mat or a table cloth" she said and glanced to Kate. " its something for me to do" she added and smiled. Jack moved to stand close to Brian and Jess.

" how is he?" he asked her softly she looked at him and sighed.

" he seems fine but exhausted, he should be resting but being as stubborn as he is I'm guessing only Robert can get him to lay own right now" she said in reply.