Page 34

CONCERN

S he was gone in the morning when he woke up. Cas dressed and hauled ass down to the village to see that not only had she taken the escort that he’d given her, she’d taken the rest of the soldiers and had raised the militia as well.

They were all running around in something that looked very like chaos, but if you focused on Emryn as the center, it all resolved into something very different.

A large canvas construction was going up in the center of the market square, bedrolls laid out in a very precise grid that Emryn was in the midst of dictating as he walked up.

“What can I help with, Healer?” His wife deserved the title, even if the Head in the capital had tried to strip her of her vow.

“I need the beds laid out,” she said, gesturing. “I will give the word that the sound are to bring the sick, but I need a safe place to put them.”

“Done,” Cas said, going to pitch his lot in with the soldiers who were measuring the distance between the beds.

Emryn wanted them precisely a foot and a half apart, which felt too close, but his wife knew what she was doing.

It took the best part of the morning before the structure was in place and the beds were laid out. And then Emryn had the town bell struck, and the ill started leaving their houses.

Some could walk, but the better part of them were being carried by their families. Cas couldn’t see that this sickness discriminated; it looked like all ages and stations were affected evenly.

And once again, Emryn was in the middle of it all. The sound brought the sick and laid them in the beds she indicated, rank after rank of them filling with the sick until the entire tent was full of hacking coughs and groans.

It was nightmarish, but Emryn just stepped into the middle of the tent and gestured.

The guard nodded, taking the ties off the sides and letting the canvas close until there was no way to see inside the tent.

But there was no way to miss the blast that took the nearest guards from their feet when Emryn took the blocks off her healing.

Cas knew what she was doing. Moving from bed to bed, taking the sickness away from the people en mass.

Blast after blast, fluttering the tent canvas as Emryn healed the people. But the blasts were getting weaker as the day went on, and weaker still until the sun dropped below the horizon and she finally emerged to look at the people that had managed to avoid getting sick.

“Pull the sides back,” she managed in a dry voice. “The people can return home. The sickness will not return to them.”

The guard did as they were told, revealing a tent full of people struggling to their feet. No longer grey no longer coughing and feverish, they had been healed.

But Emryn looked awful and Cas was the only one that saw it. He was the only one she allowed to see that she’d done too much and was on the verge of collapse.

So while the village celebrated the return of their loved ones, he lifted his wife in his arms and took her back to the manor.

Made sure she ate, tucked her in bed, and came to hold her shaking body. “You are incredible, Emryn.”

“I can’t let people hurt,” she told him.

He curled around her, trying to warm her up. “Just rest. Tomorrow we’ll look at the cause.”

It took two days before she was up again. Cas just saw to it that she ate and rested and he started researching what could have possibly brought the sickness to his land when it seemed as though it was not affecting anywhere else nearby.

On the third day, when Emryn was able to get up again, Cas brought her his findings and they discussed it. He hadn’t been able to find anything with just his research and proposed taking it to the headmen of the village.

She agreed, and together they went down to the village and spoke to the headmen.

Who gave Emryn all the deference she deserved for saving the lives of the greater part of the village.

But, to hear them tell it, nothing had changed in the village. There had been no alterations to the food, nothing had gone wrong with the water.

It wasn’t until they were leaving to go back to the manor that they were stopped by and old woman with a limp and a strange looking bundle.

Emryn took one look at the bundle and backed up, shoving Cas to the wall and planting herself firmly in front of him with fire leaking from her hands.

“Burn it,” the old woman said, looking at Emryn. The old woman was blind, her eyes completely milky white. “I managed to condense it, but I cannot destroy it.”

Emryn nodded, reaching for the bundle with hands that leaked flame.

“Stop!” Asan’s voice came from the street and everything froze save Emryn’s fire. “Do not touch it, Emryn, it’s a trap.”

Emryn jerked her hands back, looking at Asan as he walked through the now frozen crowd. “What is it?”

He said a word, but it was nothing that Cas was familiar with. “It is a poison from the Empire, and it is the same poison that was embedded into the letters you were sent.”

Emryn looked back at the old woman who had fear on her face now. “I pulled it from the water.” She stammered.

“How do I destroy it?” Emryn looked at Asan who was looking down at the bundle with utter disgust. “It’s wrong, I can’t let it exist.”

“You don’t,” Asan said. “We are going to return it to the Empire, let them know that their trick did not work.”

“But-”

“Is it wise to bait the Empire?” Cas asked after a moment, reaching to pull a shaking Emryn into his arms.

“I imagine it was sent without the knowledge of the Empress, and she should be notified if her lackeys are trying to destabilize a sovereign nation.”

“I will-”

“You will not,” Asan countered Emryn. “I want none of your power making it to the Empire.”

“Explain it to us later.” Cas nodded. “Is there anything you need from us?”

“I will join you at the manor once I finish with this.” Asan said. “I have uncovered some things that you need to know about.”