Chapter 33. Lock them in the outbuildings and burn them all
*****
"Hi, there. I just stopped by to drop something off."
"...."
Again, 3 remained quiet, treating Ihedia as if she didn't exist.
Her guarded demeanor made Ihedia cringe a little.
The two stayed silent for a moment, as if they were in the same room but couldn't see each other.
"Sister!"
It was Aurora who broke the awkward silence with 3.
Aurora's face lit up as she set the bucket full of water down with a thud on the floor.
"How long have you been here?"
"Uh, just now. I had something to deliver."
Ihedia held out a bag of berries from today's harvest to Aurora.
Then she tilted her head to look at 3, who was silently scowling.
Ihedia took Aurora's and walked over to 3 with the remaining bag of berries.
It was the first time she had ever seen her this close.
3's pale eyes were dark with shadows under them, and her lips were red as if she had been biting them.
And her hand, holding the broom, trembled slightly, as if she were suffering from a form of tremor.
Ihedia's gaze shifted to her fingers.
They were too callused to be a woman's hands.
'Those don't look like they're just the result of harsh slavery...'
Ihedia's eyes turned back to 3's face.
"You know, the food they give out here is pretty crappy, and I'm sure you'll be hungry. You could try this."
3 fumbled in her pouch as Ihedia handed it to her.
But once again, 3 ignored her favor.
3 shooed her away, harshly cursing Ihedia's persistence.
"Why do you have to be so rude? We can't even get these things around here."
Aurora, who had been watching 3's behavior, snapped.
But 3 remained silent, like someone who didn't want to talk to anyone.
It would be a long time before she opened up to the people here.
Ihedia started to say something, but Aurora interrupted her.
"Come on, you should quit, too. We have a hard enough time living here, why do you have to take care of someone like that?"
Aurora's sarcasm didn't seem to faze 3, who remained nonchalant.
Uncomfortable with the way she was being looked at, 3 turned and walked away in the opposite direction.
Aurora glanced at the spot where she had disappeared and stepped closer to Ihedia.
"She's been like that all day, talking to herself but not listening. She doesn't look well, I've done more work than her, and she never says thank you."
"Well, she's still getting used to it."
"But what's this?"
Aurora asked, her eyes curiously on the fenec Ihedia was holding.
"It's an herb that's good for you. I found it while wandering around the mansion, and if you take it, it'll boost your immune system to the point where you won't catch a single cold in this weather."
"Sister!"
Aurora grinned at Ihedia and hugged her tightly.
****
A few weeks later.
"Ugh."
"Kolokolok."
"Mmmm."
Painful groans erupted from all sides.
Half of the women in the outbuildings lay prostrate with an unexplained illness.
The other half of the women went to work, but it was a messy affair, with sudden pains causing them to faint and make frequent mistakes.
At first, there were five people sharing a room.
The initial symptom was abdominal pain.
So Ihedia initially suspected that 5 had eaten something wrong.
But even after giving her herbal medicines for food poisoning and stomach pain, her condition remained the same.
After a day or two of stomach pain, she developed a fever, cough, and chills.
It was very similar to Aurora's endemic illness, and the medicines we used at the time didn't work at all.
After a while, 5 was immobilized by severe muscle pain.
The pain was so intense that she could barely move her fingers, and she had to stay in bed like a paraplegic.
"Ah, I'm not going to die, am I?"
5 asked Ihedia, who has been Netira's primary care physician ever since she realized her illness was serious.
Then, one by one, the number of people who couldn't get out of bed began to grow.
They all complained of the same symptoms as 5.
'Epidemic.......'
Ihedia was the first to notice and reported the situation to Ellie, but she didn't listen.
There weren't that many people sick, and plagues weren't that common in the north.
Even if it was, it was never as deadly as it was in the south, so Ellie thought Ihedia was talking nonsense.
Moreover, the three women who shared a room with 5 showed no symptoms, so her claim was not credible.
Not wanting to offend Netira by making a big deal out of it, Ellie dismissed her condition as nothing more than a passing ailment.
Ihedia, for her part, could find nothing to refute.
After all, everyone else in the room with 5 was fine.
Then things got serious.
3, who was expected to be the first to fall ill, was surprisingly holding up well.
No, "endured" is not the right word, but "premiered" is.
She didn't bat an eyelid and remained impassive throughout the entire ordeal.
A few more days passed and Ellie, who was otherwise healthy, began to feel sick.
Ellie began regretted ignoring Ihedia's warning, but it was too late.
More and more people began to fall ill, paralyzing all the work of the outbuildings.
Everyone was terrified that they would catch the plague overnight.
Within days, the Bayate was in shambles.
"Kekkek."
Then 5 coughed up blood.
Ihedia, beside her, quickly checked her condition.
5's face was pale.
Her eyes were now grotesquely bloodshot, the whites barely visible.
Soon after, 5's head dropped helplessly downward.
She had lost consciousness.
The air around her was consumed by death.
'Blood......'
As she wiped the blood from 5's face, something flashed through Ihedia's mind.
Once, long ago, a powerful plague had raged in Elmir.
It was said that those afflicted with the plague would vomit blood and die soon afterward, their eyes glowing a strange red.
The disease was so rare that even in Elmir, with its advanced healing arts, no suitable cure could be found.
Her grandfather, the emperor at the time, went to great lengths to find a cure for the disease.
The disease was transmitted by a tropical demon called Lantol.
It was only when all the nations of the south joined forces to exterminate it that the situation was finally quelled.
But it was unlikely that Lantol lived in the cold north.
It was a strange thing indeed.
But the real question was.......
‘I don't remember.’
There was a cure for this disease.
She just didn’t know what it was.
It wasn't a common herb she knew, that's for sure.
Still, it was hopeful that there was a cure.
A look at Southern records of the disease might hold the answer.
She hurried to find Netira.
She must tell her about this as soon as possible.......
"Why don't you just kill them all!"
Netira's shrill voice pierced through the door.
Hearing it, Ihedia stopped in her tracks before reaching her room.
"There are too many of them for that......."
"What do you know!"
Netira shouted again.
A servant from the main house was outside the door, briefing Netira on what was happening in the manor.
Netira, who had been confined to her room for some time due to her skin disease, was fortunately spared her anger.
The plague was noisy, but living with no one to attend to her was torture for Nerita.
So at first, a few entourage maids and Ihedia, who tended to her skin, were allowed in and out of her space, albeit infrequently.
But from the moment she heard of Ellie’s illness, Netira felt a sense of crisis, and she wouldn't let anyone near her, even at mealtime, when she would only reach through the crack in the door to be handed food.
She kept her servant standing at the door when she was receiving reports, fearing that she would be contagious if she came face-to-face with anyone.
Thus, Ihedia could clearly hear what they were discussing.
Their tumultuous conversation continued for a while longer.
"Kayan is okay, right?"
"Yes, Master Kayan is fine."
"Then kill all the diseased things right now!"
"There are probably some who are already infected and in a dormant state, even if they haven't shown symptoms yet. We can't tell them apart......."
"Don't distinguish them, just lock them in the outbuildings and burn them all!"
Netira seemed to think that killing the infected was more like exterminating pests than people.
The idea of burning people alive, not dead, and even those with no clear symptoms so it was unclear if they were sick.
Ihedia's heart grew cold as she realized the futility of what she was about to say to Netira.
***
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my personal kofi page
Join my discord to get notifications for updates https://discord.gg/KftaxqanE4
(If the link is expired, message me for a new link)
Write a comment