40
Her hands shook as they clung to her velvet covered knees. Were they being attacked by bandits?
She nearly dared to peak out again but shied away at the thought of discovery. There were soft padded footsteps that came closer and closer making the girl shiver in anticipation. There was a familiar clack of steel and it was instantly obvious the man was armed. She thought of the unprotected man lying on the bed beside her and found she could not sit still and allow an innocent man be slaughtered.
"Hello!" She popped out from her hiding spot using the element of surprise. The assailant visibly startled by her appearance. The dagger in his hand caught Cecilia's attention the most.
She could only see the eyes of the masked man while the rest of him was hidden under dark clothing. It was almost impossible to guess who the person was if she ever saw him again.
"Get away from us or I shall scream,"She threatened in her usual fashion. The man, realizing she wasn't much of a threat, disregarded her entirely. He swiftly crossed the tent to reach them but he was not fast enough to stifle Cecilia's practiced screaming. It was the only weapon she had but it was an effective one. She could hear guards rouse from their slumber outside.
"Stop," She took off her shoe and threw it at the man's fast retreating back but missed as the man rolled away into oblivion. As soon as the man disappeared Barrings entered along with the guards.
"There was an intruder in here,"Cecilia explained taking deep breaths. She had had done enough screaming today. Her throat was already feeling sore.
"The only intruder I see here is you.Look you've even managed to wake up the nearly dead," Barrings spat, gesturing towards the bed.
Her green eyes met the stranger's brown ones as she was dragged away and out of the medical tent.
"There was an intruder in the tent,"The girl hastily explained again as a crowd gathered outside the tent. Their camp was large but not enough to keep anything hidden.
"Are you certain? Maybe you were hazy from the sleep," Russell asked with his usual curtness.
"Most of his face was covered. I could not even tell if it was a man or a woman but he was there."
"Tell the guards to check the perimeters," Russell ordered looking alert as if it was not the middle of the night. Cecilia often wondered whether the man just sat himself in his large wardrobe waiting for dawn to appear instead of losing his strictly starched self to mere sleep.
"It's probably nothing," Lord Fanning whined like a two year old looking as unkempt as one.
"I am not lying! I clearly saw a figure as real as you or me."
"Why do we have this woman following us everywhere? Being a nuisance. Not only do we have to put up with this inconvenience but of her strays as well?" A less notable researcher groused from within the crowd of men gathered around them.Cecilia glared at him even though he was well hidden since only a few torches lit the area.
"Yes, because it is my feather bed that requires an entire cart to transport. Oh no, we all know it is a falsehood I uttered since I am not the one responsible for it."
"I have a weak back-" Barrings blustered with a face growing steadily ruddy as he joined the party.
"How unfortunate," The redhead cut him off curtly.
"It is highly improper to be woken up so late at night. The entire country is facing a terrible terrible disaster, My Lady, we cannot dilly dally further over bloody peasants and imaginary assassins," Clyde Chester announced snootily stepping out of the circle with a sneer.
"Imaginary? And as if I of all the people do not know of the plague," Cecilia rounded on the man, her temper flaring up further.
"This is not a pleasure trip for some spoiled noble. The plague will devastate the entire country if the bounds of the quarantine are broken. And there are more and more cases turning up everywhere. Poor souls come to the capitol seeking a cure when there is none."
"But there is one. As you say we are not wandering barren landscapes for a pleasure trip. We need to find an obscure flower to complete the medicine for the sick. It is the only way," The Lady spoke, her voice dangerously wavering, all her temper mysteriously disappearing.
"I see you well informed," Russell answered coolly, "But it had to be since you are related to the Princess."
"She was the one who found the cure,yes."
"The Princess is an dexterous young lady-" Barrings added trying to sound self important.
"She singlehandedly found the cure.Do not try to undermine her struggles. Nobody else had the foresight to realize that this newfangled disease was not new but a centuries old foe," Cecilia hissed with her voice lowering even further. She did not need to use more volume since all the chattering of guards and researchers alike had died out completely.
"Well, yes, but it is now up to us to find this rare flower and make the cure in vast quantities. The quarantines are filling up as we speak."
"Oh, I suppose you will with your own capable hands deliver your cure to the unfortunate souls."
"Even you know that is impossible.The plague is highly contagious. No one can face a person bewitched with the plague and live to tell the tale," Barrings said,pompously.
"Are you sure, Barrings, are you so very sure of your claims?"
"Yes, unless obviously..." The older man trailed off, realization hitting his face. His other companions did not grasp her meaning and continued to look at her blankly.
"It starts as a mere sniffle and a polite cough until one day the person infected finds large boils forming over their body. Those devastatingly itchy bumps grow larger and larger until they burst, seeping vile liquid everywhere. And we finally get to the truth. How would you gentleman like me to break the news that you are indeed traveling with someone who has seen the plague as close as one can get to it," Cecilia words echoed ominously to the mute men.
Lord Fanning jumped backwards as if ready to run away while the entire circle of men surrounding them also widened their diameter unconsciously..
"Is this why we were sent to this trip? To find a cure for the Princess' sister," Russell asked.
"No, do not be foolish, I am already cured. I survived. And my last memory of it are those wretched roses strewn everywhere as if garnishing my corpse and masking the smell of death. You just lie there in your own filth as people wait for you meet your demise."
"Stop," Fanning whispered.
"Why, handsome Lord Fanning, afraid are we?" The girl taunted the man.
"N-no."
"My cousin Delilah was the only one who fought for my life with me. She found the cure in a old book with a very very rare flower pressed in the pages. She saved it for she would save anyone, even a dead flower but it was that very flower that held the key to the cure. And that's the flower we are looking for aren't we all? She used that flower to save me but now we need more."
This announcement was met with continued stunned silence.
"I am the only person who has visited the quarantine after I was cured and as you put it, indeed lived to tell the tale. I am only one who has seen the flower and I am the only one who can survive delivering the cure," With her head held high Cecilia walked away, limping, because she still lacked a shoe on one foot, "Please take care of our guest. I am not exaggerating when I say his life is in danger."
She turned around with a sweep of her woollen cloak and marched down the grassy terrain of the camp. Half the encampment had heard the argument and none of the men could even look her in the eyes. She felt truly cursed but their rejection was not as painful as the one she had suffered when she had needed support the most.
Foolish tears ran down her cheeks which she furiously wiped. She had survived, what did she have to cry about? Entire families were sitting inside the quarantine watching as their loved one died slowly and painfully. She was barely scarred from her illness which was almost the truth. The skin down one of her arms still occasionally hurt.
As she arrived at her tent she found Simon was whispering in her maid's ear obviously filling the gaps in her knowledge.
"I would not mind if you find other lodgings, Beth," Cecilia pretended to be calm and magnanimous, "I had a frightfully dangerous ailment you know nothing about. It is natural to be disgusted."
"Is that why..." Beth gestured to her arm where only she knew what hid under the cloth, "I thought it was an animal attack."
"I nearly scratched off my skin so you are half right. I was almost feral in my last days."
"Oh, my Lady, they were hardly your last. You are well and alive."
"But I shouldn't be," Cecilia threw off her cloak in a fit of stubbornness.
"I wouldn't leave you for the world, My lady, even if you are being silly."
"Beth you needn't be so brave,"Cecilia tried again. The consequences of associating with someone almost a leper could be devastating for the young girl. Her budding romance with Simon could be ruined just because of her loyalty.
"And you spat in death's face. I am not half as brave as you but I will try."
Beth's plump hand landed on her mistresses' shoulder signaling her support.
Simon looked at them mouth agape. He stared for a few more moments and finally steeled himself. The boy held his hand out almost seemed to be motion to copy Beth but withered under his mistresses' glare. There no way Cecilia would allow Simon to place his grubby hands on her body but on the inside she was feeling ever so pleased.
