Page 35 of Alora: The Wander-Jewel (Alora 1)

“You there. Stay away from my patients. Do you want to come down with the plague? And carry the sickness across the countryside?”

“I don’t intend to touch anyone,” snapped Vindrake, even as he pulled his hands inside his cloak and backed away.

“We’ve had many cases of plague around Laegenshire. Have there been many occurrences in your shire? I didn’t hear where you’re from.” Laethan positioned himself between Vindrake and the closest patient.

“Waenshire.”

“Waenshire? That’s quite a distance from here.”

“Look at him,” whispered Alora.

Kaevin peered through the crack and shook his head. “It’s not him,” he whispered.

“Look again. I’m going to help you see him.” As Kaevin squinted through the crack, Alora placed her hands on either side of his head and concentrated on peeling the mask away, as she had done before.

Kaevin gasped and turned back to her, his eyes wide. “I saw him!” he whispered.

Raelene moved closer to Laethan and the stranger.

“Laethan, the young girl who died several weeks ago … wasn’t she from Waenshire?”

“Yes, Mirraena was her name. The poor child didn’t even have three years. There were several cases in Waenshire. Your own family wasn’t afflicted?”

“Hmmm,” said Vindrake, but he wasn’t listening to Laethan. His eyes were on the storeroom. He moved toward the closet with deliberate, stealthy steps, cocking his head to one side. He reached out to grasp the wooden handle with one hand as the other hand slid to the hilt of his sword.

Raelene held her breath. Without thought she attempted to transport Kaevin and Alora to safety, forgetting her wander-jewel had long since lost its spark.

He jerked open the door.

It was empty, but for the supplies on the shelves.

“Is there something you need from the storeroom?” asked Laethan.

“No,” said Vindrake. “I thought I heard something.”

“We’ve had some problems with rats,” said Laethan.

“Yes. Well, let me know if you find Lena,” he said to Laethan. And, turning to Raelene, he said, “Thank you, Bearer, for your assistance.”

“It is considered rude to address me as Bearer when I am no longer active. Are no manners practiced in Waenshire?” Raelene kept her voice even, though she had a strong urge to wipe the smirk from his face.

“Forgive me.” He made a deep bow of obvious feigned repentance. “That was thoughtless of me.”

A quick search confirmed Raelene’s fears. Alora and Kaevin were nowhere to be found. “We have no way to determine where they’ve gone,” she said. “We can only hope they arrived at a safe place.”

Darielle asked, “Should I urge the expedition to return? They surely have not progressed too far.”

“I think not,” Raelene replied. “It is most likely the girl has returned them to her home in the north.”

“What of these other men who are also searching for a girl of fifteen years?” asked Bardamen. “Do you believe this is mere coincidence?”

“They are supposedly searching for a different girl, by the name of Lena,” said Laethan.

“I detected no hint of malintent,” said Darielle.

“Just before she transported, Alora insisted one of the men was Vindrake in disguise,” Raelene admitted. “She contended she could see their true visages, and their actual eye color was blue.”

“Perhaps a bit of hysteria from a girl of fifteen years who’d had a traumatic experience?” Laethan suggested.