Isolation
POV: Lucien
Boreous Disease was not something any King wanted to hear during his reign yet I was being told that a small child had been diagnosed with it. My grandfather had to deal with it during his reign, it was one of those illnesses that was likely a death sentence. It was very deadly and the only way he was able to squash it was to gather the great mages in all of Vellum to heal the people but even then, there were many lost. My grandmother was one of those who were taken from him during that time. My father had it too but he was able to recover with time. I drew in a deep breath, “So what is being done to keep it from spreading?” I looked over at Alexandra but she had no reaction which meant she was never told about this disease. Doc sighed, “Right now, we have the child taken away from the general population but we need a med tent on the far side of the glade valley to house the infected. It is one for now but we won’t know if this will spread like it had last time.” I looked over at Mordred, “Are the witches still immune to this?” Modred shrugged, I really don’t know, Your Majesty. I think so though. I suppose you want me to summon the powerful ones?” I nodded, “If you will, it would be best for our people to get this eradicated as quickly as possible.” Modred smiled at me, “I am already ahead of you, Your Majesty. I have summoned the top ten mages that are in my coven kingdom. They will answer shortly. I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see the first one very soon.”
As if on cue, a portal opened up in the room. As soon as that happened, Derek jumped in front of Alexandra and Garrett jumped in front of me. Out stepped Dorothea and Derek relaxed his shoulders then he tapped his brother, “She’s a friendly.” Garrett relaxed his shoulders as well and both of the men stepped out from in front of us. Dorothea looked over at Alexandra, “Oh it’s good to be a Queen candidate it looks like. You are surrounded by pretty boys. You got the hunky lycans, the King, and most importantly that hunk of a General next to you. Surrounded by hunky men, I’m so covetous my dear.” Modred rolled his eyes, “Can it Dorothea, you were summoned here for a very serious reason. Play grab ass when there is an epidemic starting.” She placed her hands on her hips and glared up at Mordred, “It’s called lightening up the situation, Your Majesty.” She said his title with a level of sarcasm that had Alexandra was stifling a giggle by biting her bottom lip. Any other time I would have found that really cute but I was thinking the same way Mordred had. Dorothea continued, “You are so freaking solemn when the situation for some of these people is going to be dire. You need to have a great bedside manner. Just ask your little niece. Do you think she was always so serious in talking to the patients here?” He shook his head, “No, I know she wasn’t that way.” She tapped him on the elbow, “You could stand to learn from her when dealing with this issue.” He shook his head, “She won’t be going anywhere near the death tent.” Doc gasped, “I remind you that we shouldn’t be calling it that to the patients. You’ll cause panic and upset them further.”
Alexandra cleared her throat, “Shouldn’t I be the one to decide to help out with the sick?” I shook my head, “I’m afraid not. We are sending Melody and Rayla home but you have to stay here since your work requires you to be. I can order that you not be allowed to step foot in that tent. Please don’t make me use my authority on you, Alexandra. I would prefer not to.” She sighed and slumped in her chair, “Fine but only because you asked so nicely.” I patted her on the shoulder, “I know it is in your nature to help those in need. It is one of your endearing traits. You have to understand that since you have lived out of Vellum your whole life, we won’t know how your immune system will react to this disease. Had you even heard of it before today?” She shook her head and I sighed, “It is highly contagious and highly deadly. I don’t want to see you harmed.” She looked up at Mordred then back at me, “I was already exposed though. I was there when the child was diagnosed. How would we know I wasn’t already infected?” I looked up at Doc with a questioning look and he rubbed his chin, “We would probably have to do a diagnosis on you tomorrow and quarantine you and Derek for one night since you both were exposed. Also since everyone here has been exposed, we will all need to quarantine. I guess we should stay here together since that seems logical. Mordred, do you have a witch that specializes in medicine?” Dorothea hopped forward, “I am Doctor Hunky. What do you need?” Modred rolled his eyes yet again, “Obviously, he wants you to take over his duties until tomorrow.” Dorothea elbowed Mordred in the thigh then kicked his shin, “Shut up, will you! I’m trying to flirt with the nerd.”
This time Alexandra could not hold in her laughter and tears were starting to form in her eyes so she was wiping them as the two continued to bicker about how each was really annoying which only prompted more laughter from Alexandra. I stood up, “Alright now, I will need to get messages to the soldiers for their orders. I will appoint Jess as the temporary commander until Garrett can reassume the command once he is cleared. They will construct the tent if that is okay with the General.” The General nodded, “It couldn’t hurt to have an area far from here to prevent the rest from getting infected. Place a level 0 on that, Your Majesty.” I pulled the wax out of my pocket and walked over to the desk they had set up for Alexandra and wrote the orders out and sealed it with Alexandra’s help in melting the wax so I could place my ring on the wax. I handed it to Mordred, “I hate to reduce you to my messenger but this is a necessity.” Mordred shook his head, “I perfectly understand. You want me to let Malinus know what is going on?” I nodded, “That would be great.” He looked down at Dorothea, “When are the rest coming?” She smiled up at him, “Whisperia said she needed to stop by Vanessa’s so I imagine they are coming together. Zeb should be here already.” He drew in a deep breath, “I hate to break it to them but we may need them to do the physical work of bringing beds into this room. We will need to seal this room and the child’s so that non-witches cannot get in. Whisperia’s magic should do. I will send her here when she shows up. Vanessa will do well in helping to set up this room for beds and I will enlist you and Zeb to help out.” Dorothea nodded, “Yes, sire. I will follow your orders faithfully from here on. You are my de facto leader since the King of Vellum is otherwise occupied.” She turned to me, looked at Xan, and winked.
Mordred left the room with Dorothea in tow but I heard him turn and cast a spell on the doorway, likely to tell anyone around not to enter the room. Alexandra jumped up from her chair, “Oh no!” Derek and Garrett pulled their hands to their swords, ready to protect her and she shook her head, “Relax now. I just remembered that no one has informed Tilly’s mother what is going on and our only means to do so just left.” I smiled at her, “Don’t you have some sort of psychic connection with Mordred?” She relaxed and sat down, “Oh, yeah. I forgot. Excuse me then. Oh, and I need to tell him that Lucy will be released to House Batiste today. He will be the only representative that can do that for now.” Doc nodded, “That’s very prudent since I already signed the order to release her at dinner time.” She nodded then closed her eyes to do that meditation thing she had done the other day. I looked around the room so that I wouldn’t be caught awkwardly staring at her again. I noticed the only one staring at her was Garrett. I cleared my throat, “So Garrett, I heard you were interested in Lady Ligidew.” He looked startled, “Oh, um…I don’t mean to impede on your territory, Your Majesty. I don’t think you need to worry about me taking her from you. My mind and heart have recently been more occupied elsewhere.”
Derek took the opportunity to step in front of Alexandra, “Oh? Do tell, brother, where is your eye at now?” Garrett shifted from one leg to another, “I’m feeling the House Batiste. Her to be exact. If she is not chosen as Queen, I shall ask for her hand.” My hands involuntarily clenched but outwardly I had to keep it together so that I wouldn’t show this man my partiality. Derek shook his head, “Reginald Batiste would reject you. He wouldn’t part with his most precious daughter to a jerk like you.” Garrett glared at Derek, “What makes you think he’d let you have her then?!” Derek rolled his eyes and sighed, “I already told you, Lex is my best friend, not a love interest. I had thought she was at one time but I realized Jess has always been in my heart. She helped me to realize that. Because of that, I will do everything in my power to protect her from the likes of you and the other jerk who is after her.” I looked up at him with widened eyes. Did he mean me? Derek caught the look on my face and shook his head and whispered, “Prince Blake.” I did not know that Derek had felt that way about my brother but it wasn’t surprising that he would protect her from Blake if he thought he was too obsessed with her as he seemed to be. I had not heard from my brother for a long time which meant that he was still upset with me. Garrett grunted, “You don’t know he would reject me.” I sighed and stood up, “I think you are forgetting something, Chalshin.” He looked at me confused, “What is that, Your Majesty?” I glared at him, “You cannot have any of my candidates while they are still being considered as Queen. Not to mention there is no guarantee that she will lose. You speak as if you know she will.”
Just like that, a memory came to the forefront of my mind about his conspiring with Rayla to get Alexandra on the throne. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities that he would conspire to rig this in his favor. I sat down and thought those troubled thoughts when a gentle voice reached my ears, “Your Majesty, what is the matter?” I looked up to see Alexandra looking back at me concerned, “Oh, it’s really nothing. I just thought of how I have a rat that I need to catch that is running around the camp.” The last words I uttered gave way to silence in the room as we each seemed to be deep in our own thoughts. Next to me, Alexandra gasped, “I forgot.” I asked her, “What did you forget this time, my lady?” She pointed at a small golden orb floating into the room, “I forgot that I was supposed to meet with Apollo today.” Just like that the tall, dark-haired man appeared in the room, “My baby girl! Why are you in a room full of dudes not called Derek and Ronan?” She giggled, “Derek and Ronan are here though, Apollo.” He shot a glare at Garrett and I thought to myself that I was glad I was not the target of his ire this time. He hugged her, “I’m talking about the nerd guy, the skinny Derek, and that man.” He pointed at me but didn’t look at me. She punched him lightly, “That is my King, Apollo. Be nice!” He chuckled, “I just wanted to pick on him once more for old-time's sake. I know what you all are here for and I wanted to come down to let you know that Aphrodite will be down later on. She has urgent business with someone here.” She smiled up at him, “She could have just come, I will always welcome her in my presence.” He shook his head, “Not you, daughter. There is someone here infected with a virus.”
