Raising my hand, I conjured a ball of flame to provide some illumination. The blue-green flames flickered in my hand, just bright enough to permeate the darkness, and I could clearly see the man who was bundled up in the bed. His long, yellow hair was plastered to his head with sweat, and angry red scabs marred his already sallow complexion. Dark circles rimmed his closed eyes, and he let out a reedy moan as we moved closer.
“Damnu air,” Iannis swore as he gently pulled back the blanket. The Minister’s pajama pants and shirt shielded me from the worst of it, but the open collar and exposed hands and feet showed that scabs had spread all over his body. “He has chicken pox.”
“Chicken pox?” I scowled, searching my memory for what little I knew about human disease. “Isn’t that something only children get?”
“Generally, yes. But if one hasn’t had it as a child, they can be infected later on in life, and the disease is often fatal to adults.” Iannis pressed his left hand against the Minister’s forehead, and the man groaned again. “It is also highly contagious in the early stages, and extremely resistant to magic healing.”
Iannis spoke several Words aloud, and I pressed my lips together in thought. “If it’s so contagious, I suppose it makes sense that he was placed under quarantine. Shouldn’t the Minister’s office have demanded the other mages be tested for the disease, since they were all likely to have been in close proximity with the Minister for at least a week?”
“Yes.” The hand Iannis placed on the Minister’s forehead began to glow. “The fact that they didn’t do so is highly suspect.”
I pressed my lips together, but said nothing more, only fetching a chair for Iannis so that he could sit and focus on healing the Minister. I opened the door to the corridor wide to let in some cleaner air before we all choked, then stood by and watched as Iannis worked his magic. A good hour passed as Iannis fought to drive the infection out, sweat beading on his brow as his jaw clenched with the strain. Watching Iannis heal the Minister gave me a new appreciation for him – he’d done this for me several times now, but because I’d been unconscious I had no idea it was such a strain on him. Or perhaps this disease was especially tough to beat, as he’d said.
Finally, Iannis removed his palm from the Minister’s forehead and sat back in his chair. “It’s done,” he exhaled, sounding both pleased and tired. There was an undercurrent of relief in his tone that suggested this healing had not been a sure thing at all. I wondered if other mages without his Tua heritage could have managed.
The Minister blinked open chocolate-brown eyes, and in the light of my flame I could see his complexion was much healthier. All the scabs had fallen off or disappeared, and there was no trace of pockmarks on his now-smooth skin. Confusion filled his expression as he pushed himself to an upright position.
“W-where am I?” he asked a little more loudly than I would have liked. His eyes fixed on me. “And who are you?”
“Shhhh.” Iannis’s voice was hushed, but soothing, as he drew the Minister’s attention to him. “It’s Iannis, the Chief Mage of Solantha. This is my apprentice, Sunaya Baine. You’ve been very ill, sir, and we came here to heal you.”
“Ill. Yes.” The Minister pushed a hank of sweat-laden hair from his handsome face. “I do recall not feeling very well and taking to my bed, but I don’t remember how I ended up here.” He cast a dubious look at the humble room and wrinkled his nose.
“The story that was given out to the Convention was that you were too sick to receive visitors, in quarantine for your own good,” Iannis said tightly. “But after some discreet questioning, we have determined there is a more sinister plot behind your quarantine.”
“What do you mean?” the Minister demanded in a querulous voice. “Who would dare?”
“I think we should table this discussion until after we’ve gotten out of here,” I interrupted, casting a nervous glance toward the window. The Minister had lowered his voice a bit, but he was still too loud, and I really didn’t want to tip the guards off to our presence after we’d worked so hard to go unnoticed.
“Yes, I agree.” Iannis stood up, then helped the Minister to his feet. “Miss Baine, help me escort the Minister downstairs. Once we have him safely back in the hotel suite, we can go over everything and decide what to do from there.”
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