"Be wary, Warleader. For you do not hold my token, and I might take offense."
Marcus chose that moment to emerge from the sleeping area, his arms full of weapons andarmor. He moved next to Iften, and dumped it at his feet. Before the blond could react, Marcushad ducked back under the tent flap. Iften had a snarl on his face, and took a step as if tocon-front Marcus, but Keir stopped him. "There is no time for this." Keir's voice cut throughus all. "This is no senel, and no truths will be addressed. The old ways of dealing with," hehesitated slightly, "of dealing with the sick will not work, for all of us have been exposed to theenemy. Alone, we will all die. Together, we will defeat this enemy. This is battle and I will beobeyed."
That was that for most of the warleaders, although Iften scowled and a few others lookeduncertain. But all focused on Keir's commands.
"All who are ill are to be brought here, to the shore. The lake will be used to cool the fevers."
"Ortis, pull the scouts in. Set a guard within the camp, with no warrior alone. The rest of thescouts, send to the Warprize, to learn the signs and treatment of this illness. They will spreadthe word in the camp so that all learn the enemy."
"Food, Warlord." Sal spoke up, grim and anxious. "How can I send out hunting parties if theymay die at any moment?"
Isdra spoke up. "The village had animals. We released those we found outside the walls. Andthere were herds beyond the walls, to the south. Cows, sheep and goats."
"There'd be pigs in the woods as well." I added.
"That will work well." Sal relaxed slightly. "But I'll save a milk goat for the babe, eh?"
There were a few brief smiles at that statement. But the smiles faded and faces grew grimwhen Isdra spoke, her voice flat and hollow. "Some must gather wood. There will be a need forpyres." No one drew a breath in the silence after her words. Isdra continued, relentless in herhonesty. "The village still smolders. We can burn the dead there."
"That is as may be." Keir looked at her with understanding, not offended by her comment.
"We will start by teaching everyone what Gils and the Warprize have learned about thisillness. Set up the Warprize's stilltent as quickly as possible. Until then, use this area. Fill thetent with messengers to learn from them and spread the word." Keir continued speaking,issuing orders to all, but I was already considering what had to be done. It was only when hetook my cold hands into his that I realized he was kneeling before me, and the tent had clearedof all but us and Marcus.
His eyes were clear and grave, the blue of the early morning sky. "I must go, Lara. There willbe trouble over this, and I must be seen and heard to counter the rumors that will be spread."
"See to the army." Marcus placed a hand on my shoulder. "We will see to her."
Keir cupped my face in his warm hand, letting his thumb stroke my cheek, feather-soft andgentle. With a swirl of his cloak, he was up and gone.
Within moments of Keir's exit, warriors crammed into the command tent to listen as Gils and Iexplained how to treat the ill, what to watch for, and what to expect. We sent them out all overthe camp to repeat our words. Thank the Goddess for their memories. That, and then-strictobedience to Keir's authority.
As the messengers left, more warriors filled the tent. Gils and I started them on the hunt forwillow bark, as much as they could gather. Luckily, the army had cut down a number of willowsto make their camp. I sent warriors off to strip bark from all the firewood and tem-porarytables and chairs. A small army of warriors would stir pots and pots of the stuff, boiling it downfor fever's foe. We'd need every jar we could fill.
Again the tent filled. I sipped some kavage that Marcus forced on me, then Gils and I startedthe herb lessons. I already knew that the supply of lotus wouldn't be big enough to serve theentire camp. We needed alternatives, such as sleepease, tree butter, or comfrey. So thesewarriors became the gatherers. We held up the herbs we were seeking, and gave examples tothem so that they knew what to look for. Rahel may have had a healing garden outside thewalls, so I set them to searching for whatever they could find.
When gathering herbs the general rule is that you never strip an area of all of the plants thatyou are gathering. You try to leave enough that the spring will bring new growth and renew thearea. But I didn't have the luxury of leaving anything behind. I told them to bring meeverything they could find. Should I pass this way again, I'd re-seed the area myself, to makeup for the damage. But we needed those herbs and we needed them now.
Within hours we had a hundred sick. By the end of the day the number tripled. Men and womenfell dead as the wheat falls before the scythe. It struck with the sweat, the headache, and thestench as it had in the village.
The fever was the worst. Using the cold waters of the stream or the lake only seemed to work ifthe fever had built to its highest point. Too soon, and the fever returned, prolonging the illnessand exhausting the patient. Gils ran himself ragged, helping to make the decision of when apatient was ready to be immersed. He gained far too much skill over a very short period oftime.
Outside, the shores of the lake filled with people using its cold waters to bring down the ragingheat of fever. And the sick kept coming as more and more fell victim. I could see no reason toits effects, either. One would be sick for days or hours, each with as likely a chance of dying asthe other. But we learned, Gils and I, that if the person made it through the initial fever, hischances of survival were much higher. Once past the coughing stage, the individual recoveredstrength fairly quickly.
I'd enough strength to manage supplies, and train warriors to tend the sick. So I commandedfrom the stilltent, checking the quality of the fever's foe and using the gathered herbs to makean alternative to the lotus. One of the draughts, the one based on sleepease, was milder thanthe lotus, and seemed to work better, so I concentrated on making that mixture. The familiarscents and surroundings of my stilltent were a comfort in those dark hours.
Poor Gils was the one to actually tend the sick, wearing himself to the bone with the patients,making sure that the right doses were given, that the fevers were brought down, that thedrumming on their backs was done on a regular basis. His was the hardest task, for since hewas out and about, everyone turned to him for advice, or when a patient took a turn for theworst. He'd return to my stilltent frequently, to ask questions, and restock his satchel, and thenhe'd be off again.
The raving seemed less of a problem than it had been in the village. Perhaps because of ouruse of the lake waters to bring down the fever, perhaps due to the use of the other sleepingdraught. Or maybe it was the presence of warriors at the bedsides, well able to subdue anycrazed by the fever. Still, I insisted that those who were ill not sleep with their weapons. Thiswas resisted strongly, not that they'd disobey exactly. It was as if I had attacked their pride,that their weapons be taken from them. There was disagreement as to how far away theweapons were put, but it only took two incidents for them to start obeying me.
In many ways, I felt disoriented during those hours, since I had limited contact with thepatients. Gils and Jo-den would report to me regularly, or other warriors would appear withquestions, or asking for supplies.
It was a heady feeling, to have such power, to see my commands obeyed, a feeling that I wasn'tused to. I'd never commanded a large staff, and had only truly been Queen for a few hoursbefore I followed Keir. This was a new experience for me, to be obeyed absolutely.
Yet, it had its drawbacks as well. They did exactly as they were told. I'd set a group of themlooking for a weed, and they'd bring me all the weed they could find. But they didn't have theability to tell me if there were other plants in the area that I could have used as well. So I wentthrough a range of about ten plants and herbs that I could use, trying to insure that I coveredevery possibility.
Keir was absent during these long hours, moving about the huge camp, explaining, issuingorders, sending us information about the state of the warriors. His presence insured that the illwere helped and that supplies were distributed where needed. He was the calm at the center ofthe storm, and the reason the warriors didn't mount their horses and head for the plains. But Ifeared for him, exposed to all and sundry, and working tirelessly among his warriors. I'd triedto have him wear a ginger mask, but he pointed out that it hadn't worked for Epor and I.
Worse, I didn't have enough ginger to mask the entire camp. Keir refused a protection thatwasn't available for everyone. Since he was absent more often then naught, Itook to sleeping in the stilltent, to be quickly available to any that needed me.
