79, Working hard

The following days Ayya spent trying to analyse the water samples while Firlea helped out in the clinic and Hinat tried to find patterns in old weather reports and farmers’ almanacks. 

“You are working too hard,” Tenac pointed out late one evening as Ayya sat bent over the table in the room they had cleared out for her to work with the water. She looked up at him and frowned.

“I haven’t found anything useful. I would say I’m not working hard enough,” she replied. He sighed.

“Ayya, you come in here straight after breakfast and start to work. If it weren’t for me getting you food and reminding you to eat, you would skip both lunch and dinner. You work until you can’t keep your eyes open and then you go to bed to repeat it the next day,” he told her. She shrugged. To her, it was in these samples the answer was to be found, and it irritated her she couldn’t find it. 

“It’s important,” she said.

“I’m not saying it’s not. But you need to rest that brain of yours. Brilliant as it may be, it needs a break. Things will seem clearer after,” he insisted. 

“Tenac,” she objected. 

“No. You are getting up from there and you are spending the hour before dinner in the common room, then you will eat dinner with the rest of us and then you can decide what you want to do after dinner. As long as it’s not working,” he told her. She looked at him and she knew he wouldn’t budge. Ayya hated to admit it, but he was right. She felt exhausted, but stepping away from her work made her feel like she was letting down the people of the city. “Come on,” he said, reaching out a hand towards her. She nodded and got up and took his hand. He gave her a little smile and a kiss. They sat down in front of the fireplace, and Ayya tried to relax. Hinat and Firlea joined them and all four sat in silence for a while. A rider walked into the room and handed Ayya a note. She read it and sighed. 

“The king says the unrest in the city is showing. He wants us to know and tells us to make sure to be safe,” she told the others and crinkled the note and tossed it into the fire. 

“From now on, no more walking on foot. It’s either the carriage or on horseback,” Tenac told them. They nodded. The four of them ate dinner with the riders and the mood was sombre. They all felt the responsibility on their shoulders and they all dreaded an outbreak of unrest in the city. After dinner, Ayya went back to her room. She felt like her mood would affect the others. 

“Do you want to be alone?” Tenac asked as he closed the door behind them. Ayya sighed and gave him a tired smile. 

“No, but I’m not good company right now,” she warned him. He shrugged, and they sat down on the couch and he put his arm around her. They sat in silence, looking at the fire, engulfed in their own thoughts. 

“Do you want to talk about what is irritating you?” he asked. 

“There hasn’t been a reported new case of the sickness since we closed the wells,” she told him.

“And that is bad?” 

“No, that’s good. But it means we were right. The source is the water. So why can’t I find it? I have used every way I know to try and find any trace of a bacterium or virus, and I can’t find squat,” she told him, her frustration seeping into her words. “I even tried to find parasites. But no luck. Nothing. But I feel there is something there. It’s so frustrating,” she said. 

“You will find it. You have been looking for two days. Patience, Ayya. We all believe in you and you are not alone in this,” he told her. 

“I know. Thank you for reminding me. It’s just hard to pace myself when I feel like we are so close,” she said with a sigh. Tenac kissed her temple and gently pushed her head until it rested on his shoulder. “What about you? How are you feeling?” she asked. Ayya knew he was just as affected as the rest of them. He was just better at hiding it, so it was easy to forget. 

“I underestimated how much it would affect me,” he confessed. “I knew it would be bad, but I thought since it was strangers in a city I don’t care about, I could keep my distance.”

“But it wasn’t that easy,” she said.

“No, it wasn’t,” he agreed. 

“It’s because of your big heart,” she told him. She heard him chuckle.

“I don’t know about that, but thank you for thinking highly of me, sweetheart.”

“No, you don’t get to smother me in compliments and expect me to accept them, if you won’t accept mine,” she objected. 

“I’m sorry, you are right,” he said. Ayya could hear the smile in his voice. 

The next morning at breakfast, they all tried to brighten up the mood. Ayya felt better after taking the previous evening off, but she still knew she had been pushing herself too hard. 

“How about we go over to see Jason this afternoon?” Tenac suggested. Ayya knew it was a way to make sure she didn’t work all evening, but she didn’t mind.

“That sounds good. Do the two of you want to join us?” Ayya asked Hinat and Firlea. 

“I would like that,” Firlea agreed.

“So would I. It will be nice to think about something else for a while,” Hinat said. 

“Let’s meet back here and eat lunch, and then we can head over together,” Ayya said. 

After another unsuccessful morning, they had lunch and rode off to the orphanage. Ayya could feel the shift in the city as they made their way through it. There was a tension that hadn’t been there before. It was a beautiful winter day. The snow was still covering the ground, and the sun was shining. As they reached the orphanage, they could see the children outside. They were playing under the supervision of Sister Loise and another nun.

“Mary, how nice of you to stop by,” Sister Loise said as she walked over to them. Ayya introduced her friends to the sister, and they all stood looking at the children. Jason was playing with two other boys. He had his wooden sword and his friends had sticks they played with.

“How is he doing?” Ayya asked the sister.

“He is doing okay. He is a sweet boy, has good manners and most of the time he is in a good mood. But you know how these children are. Sometimes reality comes over him and he withdraws. But a couple of hours later he is back to playing and laughing again,” Sister Loise told her. 

“Thank you for taking such good care of him and of the other children,” Ayya said. “Do you mind if we join in?” The nun laughed.

“Not at all.” Ayya smiled as she signed for both her friends and the riders that had come along to follow her. As Jason saw her and Tenac, he smiled and waved. Ayya waved back and before she knew it, Hinat and two of the riders were engaged in a snowball fight with a group of children. Tenac and another rider were showing Jason and his friends how they should use their swords. Ayya and Firlea were helping build snowmen with the smaller children. 

“Look at my dog,” a little girl said. She had formed a lump of snow into a shape that vaguely reminded Ayya of a dog, using a twig for a tail and stones for eyes and a nose. 

“It’s adorable,” Firlea told the girl and looked at Ayya. Ayya winked at her friend and let her magic flow into the snow-dog. It shuddered and then started to jump around. The children around them squealed and then laughed as they started playing chase with the snow-dog. Soon, the other children noticed what was going on and came running to join in. The riders and Ayya’s two friends joined in as Ayya focused on keeping the dog moving. Even the nuns were laughing. They didn’t seem to mind this obvious show of magic. After playing for almost an hour, they all were tired, but the mood was far better. Ayya let the dog run towards the other snowmen and then removed her magic from it. There was a disappointed whine from the children as they realised the game was over. 

“Now, now, children. Let’s go inside and have some hot milk and fresh bread,” Sister Loise told them. 

“Are you coming?” Jason asked as he came running up to Ayya. His cheeks were read from all the running, and he looked like he was having fun.

“If Sister Loise will have us,” Ayya said. Jason looked at the sister.

“Of course they will join us,” the nun said. “We have to thank them for tiring you lot out for us,” she joked. Jason smiled and took Ayya’s and Tenac’s hands and walked them into the dining hall. He made sure they sat next to him and then he told them everything that had happened since they had been there last time. It was quite impressive to see him eating and drinking and still be able to talk. 

“He reminds me of Jontak,” Firlea laughed. Ayya laughed as well, happy she wasn’t the only one that saw the similarity. They were all happy, sitting and enjoying a good snack after playing in the snow, when there was a hard knock on the front door. It was hard enough that it echoed through the halls. Everyone went quiet as Sister Loise stood up and walked out to see who it was.

“Should we go with her?” Ayya asked Tenac. 

“I will go, stay here,” he said and got up. He had barely walked across the hall when they could hear angry voices. Ayya got up from her seat.

“Stay here with the children, make sure they are safe,” Ayya told her friends and the riders. They all nodded and when Ayya and Tenac were walking out of the dining hall, they had started to gather all the children into a group. Tenac walked in front of Ayya as they walked to the front door. Sister Loise stood in the opened door, one hand on the door as to block the way for the ones outside.