The conversation stopped as the Boah and the woman saw the pair arrive. Boah immediately turned on his smile. “Appo! Good to see you haven’t run off in the night. Hope you are well!” The last time Appo saw Boah, he was fuming and frustrated with the situation. He wondered whether Boah was repressing his true feelings or had just moved past them already. Boah put his lanky arm around Appo’s shoulder and pointed at the crowd he had been speaking to. “Allow me to introduce you to the most industrious men and women in Ash and some of my closest friends.”

Boah introduced the rest of the crowd, though Appo already figured out their names well beforehand. Jere had done a good job. Harran was an old feeble man who wore an intricate cream robe, though it paled in comparison to his long white mustache. Nami’s attire was far more modest, wearing an olive-green robe. She was a young woman with luscious brown hair and stood in an uneasy and stiff posture. Both Harran and Nami bowed politely when introduced.

The thin woman, Mendalla, was introduced last. She held her head high, looking down on Appo despite her shorter height. She didn’t bow, instead greeting him with a curt “hello.”

Boah continued. “Unfortunately, Shimsusa wasn’t able to make the meeting on account of her being occupied with Holiday business. I'll relay any necessary information to her and the rest of the Heads as soon as they are available.”

“Of course, that won’t really be necessary.” Mendalla paced the group as though she owned the courtyard. From what Appo could glean, she probably did. “I believe I can speak for her and the others when I say that the crisis is solved. We have the shaman. She and her curse will be exiled tomorrow. The only matter of discussion is why this hasn’t been done already.”

“Dates on exiles are particular, Mendalla.” Boah responded in a polite and friendly tone, though with an undercurrent of frustration. “The priests are the ones that decided that, and we would be wise not to challenge their authority on such matters.”

Mendalla scoffed. “You’re as green as the walls, Boah. In time you’ll learn how to ask the proper questions to get what is needed.” Appo was surprised at how abrasive this woman was. From what he had seen, Appo figured Boah had been the final authority on all the town’s affairs. Yet this woman was speaking to him like a servant.

“That is another issue,” Boah said. “Please, we should stick to the matter at hand.”

“Ah yes, the matter of paying for a healer whose job was already done by the time he arrived. You’re welcome to pay him as much as you like.”

Appo was used to the petty politics of those in the desert. He knew by now that the wisest choice of action was to avoid involvement. Towns all had a different method of choosing leadership, whether by being the strongest, having the most money, or charming the biggest army, but in the end, they all settled into petty arguments over titles and naming everything after themselves. None had any idea of how to deal with medicinal issues. He knew he just had to wait for a lull in the conversation or until he was called upon, and then offer advice. By then, it was up to the leaders to deal with it.

“It is true that the curse is being handled, but Appo is being diligent,” Boah spoke with passion. It was hard to believe how stubborn he was just the night before. “We need to pursue every person that has met the witch and confirm that they themselves are not spreading the curse to the rest of the city. Appo has generously offered to examine the very nature of this curse so that it cannot happen again.”

This time Nami spoke. She didn’t speak with confidence, but she was direct. “Suppose you continue this inquiry for the curse. What’s to say that it doesn’t affect the markets? The last thing this town needs is an uproar over a ‘plague’ that has already been dealt with.”

“Are you not a man of the people, Nami? You don’t converse with them every day as I do. Believe me, there is nothing to hide from Ashfolk, for they are aware of what we’re doing.” Boah was a little more condescending to her than he was with Mendalla. She was nothing more than a representative after all.

Mendalla gave a hearty laugh. “Ah yes, the ‘Big Man for the Little People.’ Is that still what you call yourself in those speeches of yours? Come back to Ostior, Boah, you don’t speak directly for Okkan.”

Harran spoke up in a voice that registered just above a whisper. “What Boah says is true, Mendalla. They speak of the curse in hushed tones, but they speak everywhere. They are frightened to leave their homes. They pray to Okkan, and to us, that we will save them.”

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“If they are so afraid, why is everyone out in the streets? Did you all forget the crowds you had to push through to get here? Did you all forget how much coin the stands have been bringing in? They are not afraid, because the situation is under control.”

Mendalla turned to Appo, who was standing silently behind Boah. “Young man, I appreciate that you’ve traveled all this way to get here. Boah will pay you for your services and you will be on our way. That’s all you want, I’m sure of it.”

Appo said nothing. He had a feeling he was still waiting for his turn, though he was getting frustrated at everyone’s insistence that the town had a ‘curse.’ Sure enough, Boah spoke for him “It would be foolish not to look into the matter! What if there are more like the witch? What if someone is attacked? All the work we put into this holiday would be for naught! The town would dry up, and we would lose favor with Okkan. The most faithful would certainly return to the old, barbaric ways… The last thing we need to do is nothing!”

The old woman stepped forward and shook her head. “Enough with your games, Boah. You’re lucky you even have a place at the table. You're ungrateful, and I know what you want. You don’t care about the curse, and you don’t care about the people…” She looked up at Boah, reaching a little over half his height but looking far more imposing. “You want to be me. Stop pretending otherwise.”

“He’s not wrong.”

Everyone’s head turned to Appo. Mendalla sneered, as though she had stepped in yak shit. For a moment, Appo wondered why everyone was suddenly looking at him before he realized that his words escaped his lips yet again.

“Well, he is wrong. But less so than the rest of you.”

Mendalla didn’t say a word, instead nodding to the guards that stood behind them. Two of them moved towards Appo, about to grab him by the shoulders before Jere blocked their paths. He held out his hands.

“Forgive the idiot,” Jere said, “he knows not where he is.”

Mendalla spoke with spite. “You have quite the nerve, Jere. Speaking out of turn could land you a moon in the pillory; interfering with the guards could land you three. And last time I checked, going to the pillory would make you bedfellows with a witch.”

Appo seized the opportunity. “Boah is right to be cautious. We need to consider our options and take the opportunity to discover the nature of this plague. Continuing the holiday without precaution would be dangerous, especially since we don’t know where many of the cases come from.”

Appo expected Mendalla to react defensively, but not for Boah to speak up first. “You speak of caution, Appo, despite having thrown it to the wind. The audacity that you would come in here and mock us this way, speaking out of turn. You embarrass me with your outburst.”

“Forgive me, but I’m afraid we have no time to sit around discussing how we’ve already solved it. The plague is spreading right under our noses.”

Nami seemed confused. “There’s that word again: plague. You refer to the curse as a disease?”

“I admit it is unlike any disease that I have seen before. Its effects are far more potent than anything I’ve come across. But from what I’ve seen it operates like one. It spreads from physical contact, and it can be contained. If I can find its source, we will know who has it and how we can stop it.”

After a brief silence, Mendalla raised her chin and spoke. “So you claim it is not a curse, then. What would you have us do? Be honest, healer.”

There was no hesitation in Appo’s voice. “If it were up to me, we should cancel the Day of Akkavan, or celebrate it later. We don’t know how the disease spreads other than by blood, but it could travel by other means. Many diseases I have worked on spread by just being in the vicinity of them. We should advise foreigners to travel elsewhere, and support the townspeople to stay at home. Let me investigate and determine a list of all known symptoms so we can close off those who have the disease. That would be the beginning, and we could go from there once I find out more information.”

There was silence. Appo hoped that he had gotten their minds turning. From the looks on their faces, however, Appo couldn’t have answered more wrong.

“Healer,” Mendalla began, “if Shimsusa was here to have witnessed your blasphemy, she would have called for your death. Canceling the Day of Akkavan? Are you mad? If I were you, I’d leave Ash as soon as-“

At that moment, a guard burst through the iron gates. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, and he was exasperated. It looked as though he had sprinted across the city. He trudged across the courtyard before falling to his hands and knees near the Mendalla. “Madam… urgent message…”

Mendalla was annoyed but concerned. “What news do you bring?”

“There is an attack… main street… inside the gates.”

Boah stepped forward. “What is it, son? Are we being attacked by raiders?”

“No… woman… crazed woman… she is attacking the stands… she won’t stop screaming.”