"He's fine. He's looking after Lily and has been friends with Feon, so I think he can be trusted."
Ralph wasn't sure if he should take that statement as a compliment or not. It almost sounded like he could be trusted to hear what Cithis was going to say because he was like the furniture.
Although to be fair, he essentially did block her from entering Embris' house. Which he doubted made him one of her favorite people. Especially since he had a feeling if Embris hadn't woken up, she'd have eventually backed off. Since it was clear that she certainly wasn't getting past him, no matter what she was going to try.
"Whatever. Tchisa told me to get you. One of-" Cithis started to say, but then stopped as she glanced at Ralph. "Oleania has the spotted plague. Tchisa wants you there when Amelia treats her."
Embris blinked, while Ralph sighed. This was what it was about? He wasn't sure who Oleania was but he at least recognized that she had to be important if Tchisa seemed so worried about her that she was getting someone to keep an eye on Amelia while she was being treated.
Ralph looked back at Lily. Suddenly he felt torn. He wanted to see who this Oleania was but doing that would mean leaving Lily for who knew how long and he couldn't be sure that she wouldn't wake up during that time. If he carried Lily, he suspected that whatever she had could get worse or not allow her to recover from as quickly as it would otherwise.
Which meant that he'd need to stay behind because he did promise her that he'd be watching over her while she slept. Something he was confident was important for him to do, even if it meant missing out on meeting someone rather important from around here that he was certain he hadn't met up to this point in this settlement.
"I'll get up," Embris said without hesitating, though her movements were clearly far from being as limber as they had been before she'd come down with the spotted plague.
Ralph watched at Embris got up and made her way to the door, looking like she might fall over if the slightest breeze struck her. Ralph couldn't help but wonder how she'd be able to make it to wherever it was that Oleania was located. At least not without taking longer than she would otherwise.
Ralph was tempted to offer to help her there, but even if Lily wasn't a consideration for him, he doubted that Cithis would be happy with him doing that. Not that he cared much about what Cithis thought. Once they were done with this settlement then he wouldn't have to worry about seeing or dealing with Cithis again.
_
Embris did her best to put one foot in front of the other without falling down. Why she was so unsteady when she had been fine when she'd gone to the central building the day before wasn't something that she could quite understand.
She managed to make it out the door before she realized that she wasn't going to be able to make it on her own. Not with how far she still needed to go. Maybe if there wasn't any urgency for her making the trip she'd be fine with moving at this pace, but not when it involved one of the Blue Rose's stand-ins. Besides, as far as Embris knew, Oleania could be the Blue Rose herself and was just using stand-ins so she wasn't having to deal with all that she had to deal with every day.
While Embris doubted that the Blue Rose was Oleania, she couldn't discount that it was possible at least.
"Uh, Cithis? Could you go get someone to help me? I'm not sure how long it'll take otherwise."
Cithis looked at her and sighed. "Okay, but maybe we should move you to the central building until this is over. We can't be sure how long it'll be before we're done with this illness."
Embris nodded, feeling conflicted at the idea of sleeping at the central building. She at least understood the reasons behind it, but she couldn't say where exactly she'd have her bed set up. After all, there was only one room where she'd be able to truly get any privacy there and that was with the Blue Rose's stand-ins. Something she certainly wouldn't think to ask for. Not when she was merely someone who was supposed to guard them.
Then there was the fact that she'd have to leave the home where she knew her siblings were. She didn't want to be away from them like this if she could help it, but she doubted that they'd begrudge her this, considering how it could potentially help her advance in ranks if she did well at this. Not that she was certain she wanted to go about doing that this way.
However, she knew that Cithis was likely going to suggest it to Tchisa, regardless of any reservations she might have herself.
Although, she couldn't help but wonder why she'd been selected for this job. She knew most of the other guards were doing well and had been segregated from the rest of the settlement to keep them from contracting the spotted plague, even though Embris had a feeling it was only a matter of time before they did. As that's how the spotted plague always seemed to go. At least with any story Embris could recall hearing about it since she was old enough to understand what the spotted plague was.
While she couldn't be certain, she suspected that she was being called simply because she'd already had the spotted plague, which meant that she couldn't get any worse by being in close proximity to it. Something that made her feel like she was being used as a stand-in of sorts given how weak she felt right then.
Embris did her best to continue making her way towards the central building while Cithis ran ahead. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea for her to get help from someone in general, but given the urgency of why she'd been called, she doubted that it would be refused. Not to mention she couldn't be sure if this was a new development of her condition or if it was merely just that she hadn't slept for the amount of time she probably had needed to otherwise.
While she knew she was unsteady on her feet, Embris was surprised at how far she was able to make it before Cithis returned with Maelias. Embris had met the smith enough to remember her name, but she had to say that she hadn't expected this woman to be the one who came to help her. If anything, she'd have expected Tchisa to have given one of the Silverthorns an order to help her out. Although, if everyone refused, she supposed that there wouldn't be anything that Tchisa would have been able to do about it herself.
"Looks like we meet again," Maelias said cheerfully as she took Embris' arm and put it over her shoulders, easily lifting Embris, as if she weighed hardly anything at all. Which Embris couldn't help but wonder if she really did weigh that much given how she felt and how long she'd been in bed for, even though she probably hadn't been in bed for as long as she felt she had.
"Yeah," Embris said, wanting to say more but couldn't think of anything that sounded like it'd be worth actually saying. After all, she knew that her mother had some smithing skills and Embris wouldn't mind learning some, but at the same time, she knew that her duties as one of the guards for the Blue Rose's stand-ins took up pretty much all of her time and whatever free time she had was spent with Rephis and Nymis.
If she did ask Mealias to help her learn smithing, she probably wouldn't have any time at all for her siblings. Which she didn't want to have happen as she worried about becoming a stranger to them.
"Last time you seemed much more talkative. What happened? Did this disease get to you more than I thought it would have?"
Embris shook her head, unable to keep from smiling. One thing she found about this smith was that she enjoyed her humor if nothing else. "Maybe. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not or if it's simply because I didn't get enough sleep like I was supposed to."
"Well, if you need looking after, I can ask my husband to check in on you every so often. He's quite good at tending to our sick children and I'm sure he wouldn't mind checking in on you," Maelias remarked. Then in a teasing tone, she added, "Just keep in mind that he only has eyes for me. No matter how much younger you are than me, he's not going to leave me for someone younger."
Embris couldn't help but chuckle. She certainly didn't have any interest in Hiliash, though she would freely admit that she wouldn't mind getting someone like him, given how he was around his children. Something that Embris could only hope to find in a husband, even though she couldn't help but find her thoughts going towards Ralph whenever she thought of a possible husband.
When they arrived, Embris couldn't help but feel astonished at the difference with how fast she'd traveled with Maelias' help versus on her own. It was such a stark contrast that Embris couldn't help but wonder if maybe whatever illness she had was actually getting worse. Not that she let herself think about that as she pushed that thought out of her head the moment it appeared.
Although, the walk did make her legs ache more than she could remember before. She wasn't sure if it was because of the illness or if the activity she had engaged in the day before was also playing a part.
"She's a lot lighter than she appears," Maelias remarked as they entered the building. "Either she's been in bed too long or she needs some good food to eat."
Embris wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but she didn't feel like commenting about it. Not when she herself was feeling like sitting down with how tired her legs were feeling right then. She supposed it was because they stopped moving that she started to become aware of that happening. Though, she didn't entertain the thought of sitting down. After all, she had a task to complete that she needed to fulfill.
"I assume Amelia's waiting upstairs to enter the room?" Embris said, starting to take a step away from Maelias, but at that moment her legs gave out and she crumpled to the floor, surprised more than anyone else present.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Tchisa asked, concern in her voice.
"I'm sure it's just that I got woken up before I would have otherwise," Embris said, trying to catch her breath as Tchisa helped her to her feet. "I'm sure I just need some rest and I'll be fine.
"You're starting to sweat," Tchisa remarked, her tone appraising. "If I didn't need you to help with this I'd send for someone else."
"I assure you I'll be fine," Embris said, trying to sound as positive as she could, even though she could hear the fatigue in her own voice.
"I'll let Amelia decide on that, but until you're well enough to move again, you'll be staying with the stand-ins," Tchisa replied firmly.
Embris wasn't sure if she should be happy about that or not, but her thoughts did drift back to her siblings and Lily. Ralph appeared in them as well, but she quickly pushed him out of her mind. She didn't have time to figure out why he appeared in them at this moment.
"What about my siblings? I need to be there for them," Embris protested, not sure if she really should or not, seeing as what she knew her duty was in this moment.
"Yeah, you're not going to be able to be 'there' for them if you're in bed all the time. This way you can stand guard over Amelia and protect the stand-ins as much as possible while you get treated as well."
Embris sighed. She couldn't say that she was surprised with this development, but she did wish that circumstances could have been better. She wasn't sure what would have been needed to change her circumstances but she thought that there should be something. Even if it was merely a faint hope.
"Well, would you help me up the stairs then? I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to do that on my own."
Tchisa nodded, but rather than helping her, Embris felt like she was carried up the stairs. She wasn't even sure her feet touched the steps at all. Though, she couldn't say that she'd be surprised if she'd lost all feeling in her feet. It seemed like it would be something that would match what seemed to be happening to her. Something that made her wonder if her theory of why she felt like this was just a hope while the reality was going to be something much worse.
At the top of the stairs, she saw Amelia waiting, looking rather impatient while the guards for the stand-ins were barring the door, looking like they would tie Amelia up if she tried to get past them. Something Embris recalled as part of her instructions when she first started as one of the guards for the Blue Rose's stand-ins.
"About time you showed up here," Amelia said sourly as she turned to see Embris with Tchisa reaching the top step. "I could have already treated whoever you said has the spotted plague in there if you'd have just let one of these guards accompany me instead of waiting for Embris."
"We already explained that," Tchisa answered patiently. "We can't risk them catching the spotted plague when we still don't have a treatment or anything for whatever it is that's been happening after."
Amelia shook her head, clearly not accepting what she was being told, but looking like she also realized that nothing she said or did would make this any easier. "Well, you could have at least let me know it'd take this long! I have others that I could have been looking after while I waited instead of just wasting my time here!"
Embris couldn't argue with that, but she supposed that it wasn't like they really knew that she would have taken so long in the first place.
"We're making arrangements so it won't take this long in the future," Tchisa replied, not addressing Amelia's complaint directly. Though, Embris couldn't help but wonder if Amelia would let it go or not. After all, she'd seen Amelia hold onto subjects like a dog with a bone.
"Well, why'd you select someone who clearly needs more rest? Did you pull her off of some other position here without letting her get some sleep before you called her here?"
"Actually, the last time I got up was when I was here yesterday to see if I could be of use to you in helping in some of your duties," Embris chimed in, wishing she hadn't after she started speaking with how filled with fatigue her voice had gotten.
Amelia stopped talking and walked over to Embris with a purpose, putting her hand on Embris' head before starting to slide it down her body, startling Embirs. She hadn't seen Amelia do this before, but somehow it felt like she was doing something indecent in a rather public area. Especially when her hand slid over Embris' chest and down her stomach before stopping over her hips.
"Yeah, I don't think this is regular fatigue," she said, not sounding happy, which Embris wasn't sure if she liked or not right then. "Get her in the room and she can wait until I treat whoever you have in there before I get to her. I have a feeling others are going to be like her before long."
Embris wished she hadn't heard Amelia say that. Somehow it felt like she was making a death pronouncement or something. That she was either reaching the point where there wasn't anything that could be done for her or that there wasn't any point in doing anything for her because she already had reached that point.
"Open the door," Tchisa commanded the guards, who immediately opened the door.
"See? That's why you need to wear it!" Embris heard Oleania whisper harshly to someone as the door opened. The someone likely being Roesadra, though Embris wasn't sure what the reason for what was said, but she doubted that she was the only one who heard it.
"I'm not wearing it. Not when some other girl is going to be looking at you. I need this," Roesadra whispered in response firmly. Though, Embris couldn't help but wonder if they were aware how much everyone outside the room could actually hear them.
Even knowing what Roesadra was getting at made Embris feel a little uncomfortable, as she recognized the implications of what was meant.
"Whatever you're doing, I'm coming in," Amelia declared as she walked towards the door and past the guards as if she hadn't been prevented from entering up to this point. "You did get a pot of water to boil while I waited, right?"
"Of course," Roesadra replied.
Tchisa 'helped' Embris through the door and she could see Oleania in her bed, bright orange spots covering her face, which made Embris wonder just how long she might have had the plague without having even noticed it. Or if maybe they'd been in denial. Though, as she glanced at Tchisa, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe they just weren't sure how to handle the situation altogether.