The Element of Fire, page 200 by Martha Wells
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ed, "What is it?" Her voice was unsteady and she hated herself for it.
The doctor glanced back at her, but said nothing.
Lucas said, "Answer her."
The lieutenant's tone was even and reasonable but the doctor looked up at him and blanched. He said hastily, "I can't find a wound serious enough to cause this. It has to be elf-shot. There's nothing to be done."
Sensation returned and hit Kade with the force of a hammer. She stumbled and steadied herself against the wall. "Get him out of here," she said.
Martin consulted Lucas with a quick glance. He saw something in the other man's expression that constituted agreement, and caught the doctor by the thick collar of his cope and slung him toward the door.
The doctor had a highly developed sense of self-preservation. He scrambled to his feet and darted out without a threat or protest.
Kade went to sit on the bed. She touched Thomas's face. His skin was hot but his sweat was freezing. Distractedly she noticed that the striped wool of the bedclothes was faded, but the plumes topping the canopy were still pure white and the headboard had a design of twining laurel leaves. It spoke well for Aviler. She knew Denzil would have been too petty to provide his enemy a decent place in which to die.
She found the elf-shot by finding the hole it had burnt through his trouser leg. Elf-shot never appeared to leave a mark, and the tiny fragment was lodged just under the skin of his lower thigh. It must have glanced off the heavy leather of his boot top and entered his flesh at an angle. It was why he was still alive. The stone had not had time to work its way further into his body on its eventual track toward his heart.
She said, "I need a silver knife. It doesn't have to be pure, but it should have as little base metal as possible."
Martin said, "That's an alchemy tool. Where would--"
"Or a piece of family plate," Lucas interrupted. "Berham."
"No sooner said." Berham dropped the wood and hurried for th