Catching the plague

[Raegan Brice]

It must have been the clerk at the candle shop that I’d gotten it from. I’d heard of the illness, but we needed candles. I refused to let anyone else in the house dare it so I’d made a quick trip to the shop. The man behind the counter had looked alright, but as he was boxing up my purchases he’d begun to cough and sputter.

Half a day later I was running a fever and curled in bed, my midsection hurting so intensely it was making me cry. A healer had been sent for but I knew they would be so busy it might be a day before one came. Burrowing in the covers even though I was sweating, I prayed silently to any god who would listen.

[Raegan Brice]

The healer had come and gone, leaving a selection of remedies that didn’t really seem to be helping. My fever continued to rage and my hear felt like it would beat right out of my chest. Food was not even a consideration, and it was only small bits of liquid that I could keep down.

I heard the servants speaking of all the reported deaths when they thought I couldn’t hear them. My fear grew.

[Raegan Brice]

Eventually my fever broke and a day later the healer that visited reported I was over the worst of it and from here out it would be recovering for the most part. I was left a different set of medicines, including a balm for the rash, and given a list of things I was and wasn’t allowed to do.

Fortunately, one I was allowed to do was go through my correspondence that had backed up while I was ill. I sorted through the more formal items before looking to the personal ones. There were two there that drew my attention. One from my father and the other from Decimus. I read through my father’s letter first, saving the one that made my heart flutter until the last.

Then, already smiling, I opened the letter from Decimus. I read it quickly and then through a couple more times, my smile growing each time. My finger traced lightly over the parchment, picturing him as he wrote to me.

I called for a quill and my personal stationary. Then, on the strawberry infused parchment, I penned my reply. When it was dry and sealed, I sent it for immediate delivery.

Then I sank back into the pillows for a nap, ordering food and a bath for afterward, a wide smile still lingering on my lips.