"How long can she sustain the crowd?"

Red knew that someone had asked him that question, but for the life of him, he couldn't respond. He was outside the smithery with Reu and Ballare. Their cloaks were hiding their faces, but no one would bother to pay attention to the group of men.

Only one person was being stared at right now, and that person was Merin. She was surrounded by sick people clamoring for aid.

A child had slipped off her hood in the commotion, and her long silver hair looked like threads of moonlight. She spun smaller similar strings onto the sick, injured, and weak.

"This was the plan all along, son." Reu's voice finally broke through Red's concentration.

The plan to use Merin started the day he met her. He had too many ideas, but nothing was perfect until he learned that her healing had gone beyond her own body.

So, the goalpost moved. Her healing capabilities would bring out his father. His father was still scarred from Febris, like countless citizens of Habrin. The vain man wouldn't let go of the chance to be rid of his scars. He'd tried every method known to mortal man, but nothing worked. Elan's curses didn't fade with time; they only grew stronger. Like any roach, the Emperor would come out with the proper bait.

That bait was Merin. The rumors of her healing capabilities had spread organically until his allies grabbed it.

His father would have heard about it by now and would be in this crowd watching or have a puppet nearby. His father's puppet magic was stronger than that of the previous Emperor because he ate and drank the blood of countless people with Elan blood. The curse had crippled him like it had others, but his body was so full of victims the monster went almost unscathed.

Hence, the creation of Febris. Elan's God hated the Emperor of Habrin and made him the first to burn from the inside out.

Red fed Merin some of his strength through their bond and watched as her spine straightened and color returned to her cheeks.

"It was supposed to be next week. She didn't get much sleep last night." Red said as he monitored her through their bond. Her heart was beating strong.

"That's on you," Reu said. "Do you see him yet?"

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Red shook his head. He had one eye on Merin and the other eye out for his father. He couldn't feel the pull of blood telling him a relative was nearby.

"If we do it again, he should show up," Reu said. "This was just the first time, and with more proof, it will work."

"It has to," Red said. He needed to end things once and for all and kill his seed donor.

When Merin and Red left the marketplace, it was with a cart. Merin lounged in it on top of piles of silk, gold, jewels, and other gifts.

Red had covered her with the thickest silk, hiding her from view but not the cries of the ill. She could barely keep an eye open to respond, let alone care.

She didn't know who was pushing the cart but she enjoyed the journey as grapes were dropped into her mouth. She was thirsty, hungry, and in need of a long bath. Merin settled for sweet grapes while she waited to head back. Her Pangolin friend had his bowl of bugs thanks to one thankful man. Acuzio had a platter of weird things that the dragon was enjoying. All of them had earned some grub.

"You did good," Red said. He lifted the silk to peek at her with his fathomless inky black eye. If he wasn't pushing the cart, then who was? She looked and saw it was Bellare and Letha.

Merin smiled tiredly in response. "Thanks." She knew he fed her energy through the bond; how else would she have been able to reset so many times? Both were exhausted, and she motioned for him to join her in the cart. He shook his head. She settled for offering him a grape which he accepted.

"Elan created Febris, right?" She said in her native tongue. The desire to know had been burning within her, stoked by every sick kid she saw.

Red gave a curt nod. "Those who have eaten the flesh or drank the blood of Inni for power were damned." He said, responding likewise.

Merin felt the sweetness in her mouth turned to ash. "A lot of children were covered in those scars..."

"Their parent's sins were passed down to them. This is why many women don't want to marry into Habrin. Their future husbands could be hiding under camouflage magic the horrors that will infect their children."

"The Sosia has the same scars," Merin said, recalling the face mask.

"He is a replica of the Emperor. The Emperor was the first to contract Febris."

Merin felt the food she'd eaten want to make its way back up.

"How come you and your brothers don't have those scars?" Merin said as she eyeballed his skin.

"My brothers were born before Elan cursed Habrin with Febris. I was not." Red said with a stiff smile that elaborated nothing.

Merin blinked rapidly as she processed that. She knew that Red was of Elan blood, and that came from his mother. That was on top of a cannibalistic father who ate people for power. What effect did the Elan blood coursing through his father have on Red? What kind of being could that conception create?

Another question she didn't want to answer came to mind. It made the woman close her eyes and pretend she fell asleep. Still, it rattled in her head, granting her unrest and unease.

What would happen if someone with her strange combination was eaten?

Silently, the woman moved death by digestion or being cooked and eaten alive to the top of her worst way to die list. It was disgusting how it seemed to keep coming up, she thought. It would be best to put it at the top and ensure she never fell to such a fate.