77, Unrest

“It’s the water,” Tenac said. “We have mapped out three of the waves of the sickness. What you see before you is the second wave,” he continued.

“That’s the one…” Zerden said.

“That killed my parents,” Ayya finished the sentence for him. “Yes. As you see, the sickness appears in clusters,” she continued, and then she explained what they have found for the king and Zerden. 

“But there is a single household on this map,” the king pointed out.

“Yes, my father insisted we get our water from the timber ward,” Ayya said. She saw the king’s eyes move over the map to the white area that was the timber ward. 

“That was what made you certain,” he said. 

“Combined with the wells in the centre of the clusters, is too much of a coincident to not be true,” Tenac said. 

“I think your reasoning is sound. The question is, what do we do now?” the king asked. 

“We should make sure the wells we know are infected are sealed. We can’t have more people drinking water we know is bad,” Hinat said. The king and Zerden exchanged a look. 

“What?” Ayya asked. 

“The city is a powder keg waiting to go off,” Zerden said.

“If the people think we are starting to limit the watersupply, it can set things off,” the king explained. 

“You would let people keep drinking polluted water?” Firlea asked. Ayya could clearly hear the outrage in her voice.

“No, it’s not ideal,” the king admitted. 

“Not ideal?” Tenac asked. 

“Rick, we have found out how people are getting sick. But we still have no idea as to what is causing the sickness or how to cure it. I understand you don’t want to cause unrest, but we need to stop people from dying or there will be no one alive in the city,” Ayya told the king. 

“You are right,” the king sighed. 

“The good news is we now know the sickness doesn’t infect by touch or by air. There is no reason for people to shun the sick,” Hinat pointed out. 

“That is good news,” the king agreed. 

“We still need to do more research to see if we can find the pattern that can lead us to new knowledge. The outbreak eighteen years ago, it was the first one, right?” Ayya asked.

“Yes. I have had people going through all our historic records and they can’t find any trace of an illness like this before that outbreak,” the king was adamant.

“So something changed eighteen years ago that caused the first wave,” Firlea said. 

“Can you think of an event or a major change around that time?” Ayya asked the king.

“No, everything was quiet a couple of years prior to the sickness,” the king said. “The only thing interesting or major around that time was the old bishop dying and the current one being elected. But that would have been a little over five years before the sickness. As I said, it was a peaceful period.” Ayya sighed. She hadn’t hoped for a big, obvious clue. But one could dream. They were just going to have to do this one step at the time.

“We will continue working on the pattern and trying to aid the ones caring for the sick. If you seal off the wells and spread the news about the sickness not being contagious, we will take samples from the wells and see what we can find,” Ayya said. 

“We will do that. Zerden, make sure we have two men at each of the wells at all times. The only ones that are allowed to go near them are the aari and the grey riders,” the king said.

“Yes, your majesty,” Zerden replied. The king and Zerden took their leave to get started on their tasks. Ayya and her friends continued looking at the map. 

“Lets look at how it grows between each outbreak,” Firlea said and took out the notes they had made. “The first wave affected these wells,” she said, placing a piece of paper on each of the wells. “The second wave affected all of those and then these,” she said, adding more pieces of paper. 

“Add an X to those to mark they are new,” Ayya said.

“The third wave affected all of these and then some new ones,” Firlea continued. On the new pieces of paper, they added a circle. They continued until they had mapped all the wells. 

“I keep saying it, but this is strange,” Hinat said. 

“Yes. I can’t figure out how the infectant becomes dormant for years. Then flair up and not only that, spread to other wells without any type of pattern,” Firlea agreed. 

“There isn’t even a regular cycle between the outbreaks. The first two were five years between them, then it was seven until the next one and four until this last one,” Tenac said. 

“Can it have something to do with the weather? Dry periods or unusual amount of rain that affect the quality of the wells?” Firlea asked.

“Maybe. I don’t think there was anything special about the weather during the second wave. But the third happened during an unusually cold year. I remember as it affected the food situation,” Ayya said. 

“Maybe we can look into it. There has to be some sort of record,” Hinat said. 

“Good idea. Could you take two riders and go to the castle library tomorrow?” Ayya asked. Hinat nodded. “Firlea, can you help the nuns at the centre and Tenac and I will collect the samples,” Ayya continued. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Firlea agreed. 

“And remember, no one goes alone. At least two riders should accompany you, especially if the city is in unrest,” Tenac reminded them. 

“He’s so cute, it’s like having an older brother,” Firlea said and pinched Tenac’s cheek. Ayya and Hinat laughed. It felt nice to have a not so serious moment. Ayya was lucky they all had agreed to go with her on this mission. She would be lost without them. 

“Feeling better or worse than yesterday?” Tenac asked after the others had retired for the day. 

“Better actually. I feel like we have accomplished something today. Both for Jason and for our mission,” she told him. He smiled at her and nodded. 

“I think you are right. Just so you know, I have asked for the carriage to be readied tomorrow,” he told her. 

“Did you just try to slip it past me as if I wouldn’t object?” Ayya asked, mostly amused. 

“It was worth a try. We are going to be transporting important samples. They will be safer in the carriage. As will you if the citizens start to revolt,” he told her.

“Tenac, we have walked all across the city today. Have you seen one citizen in unrest? And wouldn’t the carriage just make us stand out more?” she asked.

“Ayya, I’m not going to argue with you about this. This is what is going to happen. You will sit in the carriage tomorrow or you will sit in this room and I will send riders to collect the samples,” he told her. Ayya stared at him for a while, then she sighed. 

“Fine, I’ll sit in the damned thing. But do you know how strange it feels to sit in it when your mother isn’t with me? Like I have stolen it or something,” she whined. 

“It’s good practice for when it will become yours,” Tenac simply said. Ayya started laughing. She really and truly loved him. 

“Fine, you win. I will try not to complain. Thank you for keeping me safe,” she told him and kissed him.