The walk back to the capital was full of silence. Every time that Einnar looked over Vaska's dark eyes were focused onto the saucer she had recovered from the lake. He was being a bit of a fool following her along like this with no promise of money, he knew but seeing his employer change like that. He shuddered, this had to be stopped. Not even the brine blessed waves had born anything like that. His eyes drifted to Vaska against, he had swallowed down his first instinct to pity her. If he had ever expressed that emotion to her, she would never allowed him to come along with her. She would hate him, and hold him in contempt.

He had left his home country three years ago, like he had told Vaska. He put his oar to his shoulder and started walking inland. He had meet a lot of strange people and seen some strange things, but seeing that in the inn had been the topper. He had braved the whirlpools and currents of the Weeping Coast and seen the waterfalls off cascading off the cliffs and crashing into the ocean. But he had never seen something like the curse cracking his employer open like a chicken being born. So when she had started to walk off like she knew what was happening he had no choice but to follow her to find out what was happening, and it had been worth it.

He had never been to the capital of this country before, and as expected it was stone covered with stucco to make the outside's smooth, and some were painted. The newer buildings were whitewashed wood. The air was sweet, and as he looked around he could see small lanterns burning incense? Something pungent. Each one was placed at a place where the streets crossed. Vaska led him to a large wall the blocked off a section of the city, and she showed them a badge on a leather thong. As they passed through the gate, Einnar noticed old pulley’s strung up along the walls. What was this place?

Inside there was plain streets, and small old houses. Some older people stood at the side of the street, some having tools in their hands, pottery knitting and the like, others were being tended to by youths in rough smocks. They walked down the streets and down to a two story house with black banner's outside of it. Vaska knocked on the door and a young boy answered it.

“You're back.” He said.

“Yes, is Rael in?” Vaska asked.

The boy nodded, but said. “She's with someone right now.”

“I'll wait.” She said stepping into the room. The boy walked off into a back room, presumably to tell this Rael that they were here. Vaska leaned up against the wall and closed her eyes. Soon enough a tall woman came back into the room. Her hair was pulled back and away from her face, tamed under a white cloth. She was also a tribeswoman of the Algranthi.

Vaska and the woman, Rael, exchanged greeting and started to talk. Einnar just blinked in shock, he wouldn’t have expected to see one of the Algranthi this far north, normally they lived deep in the south upon the Searing Plains. That was thousands of miles away, so how had she ended up here?

When Rael and Vaska finished greeting each other, Einnar greeted her with what he could remember of their language. First Rael looked shocked, then amused. “Wrong tribe. I’m from the Terrigani, which is further inland.”

“My apologies.”

“I’m surprised that you even got that close.” Rael said. “You are one of the Vikings?” She guessed. Vaska was eyeing them both while talking to the boy that had followed Rael.

“I was.” He said ruefully. She grinned at that.

“Let's get out of the hallway.” Rael led the three of them back into a room that was softly decorated, three couches pushed up against walls. Vaska, Rael and the boy that he would later find out was named Thomas and himself sat on the couches. Vaska and Thomas sat on one, Rael on the other and Einnar took the last empty couch.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“We found what is causing the recent upswing in incidents.” Vaska said, Rael's eyes glanced over at Einnar before looking aback at Vaska. Vaska explained what they had found in the little shack. Rael's eyes widened, as more and more details were revealed.

“This changes so many things.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

As Vaska and Einnar left to report their finds. Rael woke Thomas up and said “We have somewhere to be, so dress in the nicest things you have.” When he pointed out that all he had was the clothes he had come in and the mock uniform that he been assembled. She conceded the point and left to get herself ready. Thomas dressed himself wondering what was the issue going on?

Rael emerged looking the best that he had ever seen her. Instead of the blood stained robes of a busy healer, she was wearing a clean white robe tided around her waist with a black cord.

They left the house, the sun not yet peaking over the walls, the sky the color of a heron's feather. They walked through the shadowed alleys, Thomas following Rael. She had never taken him out this early, normally letting him sleep for a little while longer. Along the way they ran into other people, those that he knew through the tasks she had set him. They nodded to each other and eventually it turned into a stream of people all heading into a single building. Did this happen every day? Why didn’t he know about this before? He was going to ask Rael but she gestured him silent as they entered the building, it was a room full of long oval rows of rising seats.

The healer's all started to take their seats on the tiered seating. Rael took Thomas up tot he top tier so that they had to see look down over a set of heads to see the set of three podiums arranged in the center of the room. A older man came to the center podium and started to speak.

“Welcome to this weeks meeting of the Healer's association.” He went on to discuss problems that had popped up regarding the infrastructure of the district, theft’s that had taken place. Finally he reached the point of asking for developing information that had come up in the past week. Rael jumped to her feet immediately, and called out.

“There has been a development in the case of the Plague.” That rang out like a bell, and silenced most of the crowd. The speaker gestured for her to continue. “There is a someone who is deliberately spreading the disease using water from the Black Lake in beer.” That startled the group.

“What proof do you have?” Came the call.

“Vaska of Irelon brought notes from a cabin along the cursed lake.”

“That's no proof! Everyone knows that the girl is infected, what if it's simply her hope that the disease is not naturally getting worse?” That clearly came from a man across the room.

“Naturally getting worse?” Rael repeated. “The rate of outbreaks have more than doubled in the last year. More than twice the amount of numbers of those infected should be carriers. But we don't see those numbers.”

They were going to continue on with their arguments when the Speaker yelled “Silence!” When they quieted, he turned to Rael. “Do you believe that this new evidence will dissuade him from the plan to kill all those infected?”

“Yes, it should convince him that only through us that a solution will be found.”

While this conversation went on, Thomas sat confused and silent. He thought of Vaska, as she had looked on the day the his father had died. Dark eyes wide, blood covering her leather armor, as she stabbed down into his fathers back stopping him from getting to him. His feeling about Vaska would never be uncomplicated, she had saved him and brought him here to learn. But it was lost on him as to why the King would want to kill Vaska, who was a loyal follower and dedicated to doing the footwork required by both him and the healers.

Finally when all the shouting was over. The sun was just topping the walls, and everyone left to their own duties as required. As they walked back to their home, he asked.

“There are members of the court who believe that there is no cure. They would rather kill everyone who get's infected, and have done with it. We have been arguing against it and explaining the consequences of doing so.”

“What are those?”

“Well, you can't conceal people dying. Eventually someone notices.” Rael stared into the distance. “Someone always notices, and when that's done you can't contain the panic. When people are panicked, they run.”

“What's so bad about that?” Thomas asked.

“It's bad because they would be spreading the disease all over. Instead of being just our problem, it would spread out all over far beyond our borders,” Rael sighed. “And we would never be free of it.” Thomas was silent, and then he went onto the duties of the day.