“We can start. A shame we can’t let the army know to dig for us. But none of the cries are designed to carry that message.”
“We can’t risk exposing them.”
Epor shrugged. “We will do what must be done. We can use fire as well, if we can find a clear clean place to build a pyre. Fire is my preference. We will finish our search tomorrow, then start on the dead.” Epor drained his kavage. “You will stay in here, with them?”
“Yes.” I finished mine as well. “I will tend them through the night, catch sleep when I can.”
“Then I will take first watch. Isdra—”
“Needs a bath.” Isdra stood, securing her weapons. “There is a well and buckets and I am going to bathe.”
Epor laughed softly. “As you say.” He stood. “I will watch… to keep you safe.”
Isdra smirked at him, and reached over to scratch him under the chin, her finger rasping in the hairs of his beard. “As you say.”
Epor acted offended. “I must keep an eye out for the crazed one. What other reason would I have to watch?”
I had to chuckle, even as Isdra rolled her eyes. She rose, with a last look at the babe, and headed for the door. But Epor did not move. I looked at him, curious.
He sighed, and lowered his voice. “Lara, I would ask for your token.”
Startled, I fumbled in my pocket and pulled out a stone. He took it gravely. “I would speak a truth, Lara.”
“I will hear your truth, Epor. And answer it.”
He shook his head. “No answer is needed. This is a truth of our ways, that I would tell you, and have you consider, yes?”
I nodded.
He focused on me, holding my gaze with his. “Bonding is not an easy thing, Lara. It takes a lot of work for a couple to maintain a bond.” I nodded again, and he continued. “One of the things you cannot do is lie to your bondmate.”
I flushed, embarrassed, and looked away. I opened my mouth to retort, but Epor touched my knee and silenced me with his words. “I do not know your ways in this, for I have learned that those of Xy bond early, and for life. Maybe this is the way of your people. But Keir is of the Plains, and for us, the bond must come first, the bondmate being due your first thoughts, eh?”
I nodded, still looking down at my hands.
“So.” Epor reached over and tucked the stone back into my hands. “I ask that you think on my truths, Lara.” He stood and stretched as I fidgeted with the stone. “Now I will go and watch Isdra’s back, yes?”
I nodded again. He put his mask in place, gathered up his weapons and left without another word. I waited until he left to wipe my eyes. I’d been right to stay silent. If I’d told Keir about the forty days he’d never have allowed me to enter this village, never have stopped on his way to the Plains. I plucked at a rough spot on my tunic and tried not to hear the tiny voice in the back of my head, the one that was pointing out that I’d never given Keir a chance.
Once I’d checked everyone and set up my pallet, I realized we’d need more water. With empty bucket in hand, I eased the door open and slipped into the main room.
Shrines to the Goddess are designed with small, high windows to allow her light to shine within. The moon was not full, but the soft beams of light filled the room with a silver glow.
The doors out to the square were open. I stepped out into the doorway, and stopped.
The same silver light made the square glow, casting faint shadows. Epor was seated on the well, his club in one hand. The light made his hair seem an even brighter gold. He’d lowered his mask again, I could see the gleam of his smile.
Isdra was naked, a slim silver figure in the light. Her braid shone in the moonlight. She was using one of the buckets to splash water over herself. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but Epor’s eyes held a light that needed no explanation.
Captured by the sight, I watched as Epor stood, caught Isdra with his free arm and pulled her close. She moved eagerly, plastering her wet body against his and pulling his head down to hers. Their kiss was long and deep and—
I stepped back and hid behind the door, embarrassed. A longing blazed within me, for Keir’s strong body, for the taste of his lips in my mouth. I bit my lip. And took a step further away from the sight, for I wished so very much that it was Keir and I by the well, in the moonlight.
Yet, here I was alone and by my own choosing. Events demanded that I do this and I had made the right choice.
These people were ill, and needed my help. It had been the right thing to do, of that I was certain.
The emblem of the Goddess gleamed on the far wall, the Lady’s calm face serene in the light. I sent a silent prayer to her, for the lives of my patients and the people of this village. Legend has it that the Goddess, the Lady of the Moon, is wed to the God, the Lord of the Sun. Then-relationship is a fierce one, filled with storms and rumbles.
He’d been so angry. So furious with me. But I’d done the right thing after all. There was illness here, deadly illness and it could not be ignored. We’d help those we could, bury those we couldn’t, get the information we needed, stay isolated for the required period and then be on our way. All would be as it was before. Keir would forgive my actions. Wouldn’t he?
I gnawed at my lip, suddenly filled with doubt. What had seemed like such a small thing before now seemed—
A sound came from the other room, and I hurried back to my patients.
“Those barbarians will kill us in our sleep.”
“No, they won’t.” I was trying to sooth the old woman as I wiped her face. She’d woken, drenched in sweat, the heat and stink radiating off her body in waves. I’d added rose oil to the water, and it seemed to help with the smell. Her weak eyes were wide with fear, and she clutched at me with what strength she had left as I bathed her face and chest. “Can you tell me what happened here?” She squinted up at me, confused. “Who are you?” I decided to keep my explanations simple for now. “Lara, Master Healer, trained by Eln of Water’s Fall.”
Isdra entered, hair damp, but fully dressed, carrying more water. The old woman tensed, sucking in a breath. “That’s a Firelander!”
“It is, but she will not harm you. She is my friend.” I tried to block her vision with my body. “Who are you? What happened here?”
“Rahel, Healer, trained by Thrace of Lake’s End.” Ra-hel answered me almost absently as she tried to see what Isdra was doing.
“What happened here, Rahel?” I repeated.
Her eyes moved back to lock on my face. “It’s changed, the Sweat. Too fast, too fast!”
“Tell me.”
“Three days ago, two strangers were found on the main road, ill and feverish.”
Three days? These people had all sickened and died in the last three days? My throat went dry.
Rahel grasped at my arms, her gaze fixed on my face. “We had no warning, no time to act. There’s those that left for the city two days past, but all we could do was close the gates and pray to the Goddess. My fault, all my fault that they died…” Her voice rose in a shriek, waking the baby who started to cry. Isdra moved to pick her up, and soothe her.
The babe’s cry seemed to clear some of Rahel’s confusion. “Whose baby is that?”
“We don’t know. We found her next to her dead mother.”
“How old?”
I rinsed my cloth out in the cool water. “Some six months is my guess.”
Rahel lay back against the pillows and stared unseeing at the ceiling. She drew in a long shuddering breath.
“Meara’s get, then. So Meara’s dead.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I birthed her with these two hands. My babies, all my babies. I tried so hard.” Her voice trailed off in sobs.
I wiped her face with soft strokes. “Tell me about the illness, Rahel. I must know.”
“First the sweat, where water pours from the body in rivers. Then the madness, a delirium like I have never seen. The soul raves and rants with unseeing eyes and horrible anger.” She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, as if reciting a lesson she’d forced herself to memorize. “Then a sleep so deep that they respond to nothing, not pain nor noise. Deep, deep, past any hope or will to live. They are just…” She opened her eyes, and clutched at my arm. “They all died. I tried everything I knew, but they all—”