anyone knows about this.”
“About this room, you mean?”
At the far end, three Aeternae were unconscious, lying in their beds, with wet cloths on their foreheads. A Rimian nurse cared for them, wiping them down and trying to keep them as comfortable as possible. It didn’t take long for me to quickly recognize the symptoms.
“About them,” Valaine said, nodding at the Aeternae.
Their skin was pale, almost white as a sheet of paper. The glow of life was gone from it, replaced by the pastiness of a sickly nature. Black veins traveled down their slender bodies, which had been partially wrapped in delicate, white silk ribbons, probably to make them more comfortable. The Black Fever victims—two young males and a female—were in and out of consciousness, barely aware of their surroundings.
“Wait, I thought…” My voice trailed off. “This is what you meant. It’s starting earlier, isn’t it?”
Valaine sighed as we reached the three beds. The nurse offered us masks, which we used to cover our mouths and noses. “These are the first,” she said. “They fell last week.”
“Is this any good?” I asked, pointing at the mask on my face.
The nurse nodded, looking stern and pensive. “The Black Fever usually spreads through touch and blood. The mask is more of a precaution. Make sure to keep your distance,” she warned me, then scowled at Valaine. “You shouldn’t have brought the foreigner down here.”
“He and his people might be able to help. Just don’t tell Petra or anyone else about our visit yet. I’ll need to consult with my father before I speak to the Lord and Lady Supreme about this,” Valaine replied.
“So, they know,” I breathed.
“They know. Petra is trying some new mazir spells to slow the Black Fever’s progress, but the results have been minimal, at best,” Valaine explained. “We need your help, now more than ever, while it’s still early. While we can still beat it, before it becomes unstoppable and claims too many lives.”
Amal would certainly have her hands full, I thought. And so would Nethissis. Based on what I’d read about the symptoms and how the disease manifested, it was a complicated project to undertake, one which required both the scientific advances of Strava and the power of the Word. Maybe a combination of these could finally bring the Black Fever to a halt.
“Have you identified the source yet? The carrier?” I asked.
The nurse shook her head. “No. But we are doing health tests this week,” she said. “We’ll use it as an opportunity to see if the carrier is in the palace.”
“I take it the Aeternae are from here, then,” I concluded.
“Young maid and two squires,” Valaine said. “Their parents have yet to be notified. We will have to tell them soon, but they will be sworn to secrecy, in order to avoid mass panic.”
“Why is it happening sooner?” I replied. “The cycle seemed pretty specific.”
“We don’t know.” The nurse sighed. “But we are not prepared for this.”
Valaine turned to look at me. “Do you understand why we need your help?” she asked. “We’re a proud nation, and we do not do this often, but we need you. Even the Lord and Lady Supreme will admit it. We dare not say it aloud, in front of people, and many among our nobles still refuse to acknowledge it… but…”
“I know,” I said, giving her a soft smile. “You need us. I’ll have to tell the crew about this, though. They need to understand what they’re getting themselves into.”
“Yes. Just keep it within your group. No one else knows I’ve brought you down here, except Lina here,” she replied, glancing at the nurse.
I didn’t have words left in me. After the horrors I’d read about in the library, after seeing victims of the Black Fever with my own eyes… how could I say no to Valaine? Naturally, I wouldn’t have dreamed of guaranteeing any kind of result, given that this was a disease we knew so little about. But we could still try, and I knew that Amal and Nethissis would pull out all the stops to cure this disease.
They had Amane and Lumi within reach, thanks to Telluris, if they needed additional support. We could send blood samples to Strava through GASP; we could even advocate to bring more witches to Visio in order to work faster against this emerging outbreak. Despite what Acheron and Danika had said last night, I figured curing Black Fever was more important than keeping an extra five or six GASP members away