Page 78 of Earthbound

Rayan drew the flower for Jay while Yeeran watched Furi. The queen had shrunk into herself, her hand still stroking the cat.

‘He’ll be all right,’ Yeeran said. ‘I remember that the animals recovered quickly.’

‘That’s good,’ Furi said, though when she looked up her gaze was bleak. ‘But what about my citizens?’

She didn’t question her own health, but Yeeran did.

‘How are you feeling?’

Her hand had stilled on the sleeping cat.

‘Fine.’ She answered too quickly. Too forcefully.

‘Furi…’

The queen shifted, removing her hand from her neck, revealing a streak of purple flesh.

Oh, no.

Yeeran began to go to her.

‘Stay back!’ Furi shouted. ‘I mean it, Yeeran, don’t come near me.’

Tears splashed down her cheeks.

‘I’ll be fine, I didn’t catch it when Lettle had it,’ Yeeran said.

‘No, please, Yeeran.’ Her voice cracked on Yeeran’s name and the sound pierced her soul. ‘I couldn’t bear it if I gave you this.’

Rayan’s own eyes brimmed with tears. ‘We’ll get you the cure.’

Furi shook her head. ‘You said it takes weeks to brew. And we don’t even know if it grows here. We need to start quarantining the sick. Immediately.’

There was silence as her words sank in.

‘She’s right,’ Rayan said.

‘Jay, will you help? Your expertise in healing will be invaluable,’ Furi asked.

‘Of course, but you realise we’ll need to sequester you too? You’ll have to stay apart from Amnan, we don’t know how this will affect the obeah.’

Furi smiled sadly. ‘I’ll be OK. I’ll have Miller with me.’

The world is a sadistic place to tear us apart so soon after we have been reunited, Yeeran thought, as she stared at her beloved.

Jay didn’t delay. With Rayan’s help they sent messages to every household in Mosima alerting the citizens to the disease. Haba, small, possum-like creatures that the Jani dynasty could call on, were used to carry the letters.

They then selected a corner of the city where they could house the sick.

‘This whole section has been abandoned since the blight,’ Jay said, sketching a circle on the map spread out on the table. ‘There are enough rooms and houses for a hundred at least.’

There’ll be more sick than that by the night’s end, Yeeran thought.

‘We need to close off the boundary. Block it with wood. They may have thought of other ways to infiltrate Mosima with animals,’ Furi said faintly. Yeeran had been watching her throughout the preparations. As each minute passed, the purple rash on her neck spread further. She was hunched over a tea that Jay had brewed for her which the healer hoped would lessen the symptoms–so far it didn’t seem like it had.

Miller still slept on her lap.

‘We can’t, not yet. We need to give the obeah we’ve recalled time to come back to Mosima,’ Rayan said. ‘We’d be condemning all the fae whose obeah still roam beyond.’