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“I hope King Marius takes the warning seriously,” I said fervently.
“He’s a cautious king. He won’t dismiss a message from Hayes lightly,” she said. “But either way, there’s nothing we can do about it until the weather changes. We only encountered one storm, and that was bad enough. I wouldn’t want to try again any time soon.”
ChapterFour
Iwoke up groggy. For a moment, my thoughts were muddled and confused, and then I shot out of bed as my memory fully returned. Scrambling into the first clothes I could find, I peered at the light coming in the windows. I had meant to sleep for just a few hours, but it didn’t look like late afternoon. Apparently I’d slept through the rest of the day and the night as well. From Ember’s warm presence curled in the sheets, I guessed morning must be well underway.
I hurried off in search of the others, but thanks to the size of the Constantine manor, it took me some time to track anyone down. Eventually I found Amara in the room we used for breakfast.
She smiled at me over a steaming cup of tea and gestured for me to take one of the empty seats around the table.
“Isn’t it too hot for tea?” I asked, slipping into one of the places across from her and reaching for a slice of toasted bread. “I’ve barely drunk the stuff since I got to the island—and this is winter!”
“It’s never too hot for tea.” She assessed my face as she spoke, checking my condition.
I glanced uncomfortably out the window. “How long was I asleep?” I tensed as I waited for her answer.
“Just since yesterday,” she replied, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You weren’t in a comatose state from overusing your power,” she added, “but you must have been pushing yourself a lot to need that much sleep. Now that I’m here, there’ll be no more of that.”
I shifted in my seat, considering her words. On one level, they were just what I’d been longing to hear. I couldn’t wait to hand over responsibility for the island and its inhabitants. But I suspected it wasn’t going to be that easy. Emergencies didn’t care if you were an apprentice or a proficient.
“What’s going on in the town?” I asked, sidestepping the issue of my exhaustion.
A cloud settled on Amara’s face. “Hayes and Clay worked most of yesterday and then took shifts through the night. Luna, at least, was sent back here to sleep the night through, but she’s already eaten and gone back into town this morning.”
I straightened, stuffing the rest of the toast into my mouth. “I should be off too,” I said around the mouthful.
“Absolutely not,” Amara replied without any change in her steady tone.
“Amara!” I stared at her. “There are only three of them, and the whole town is sick. Four healers is better than one, but it’s still not enough for an epidemic of this size and strength.”
“I know you’re powerful, Delphine, but you’re still largely untrained,” Amara said. “Even Luna is more experienced than you are, and Hayes and Clay are both masters. They can heal more people with less power than you can.”
“Still,” I said, clinging stubbornly to my point. “If they worked through the night, they must be getting tired. I’m sure they could use fresh assistance.”
“Freshis not a word I would use to describe you, even with all that sleep.”
When I glared at her, she just raised an eyebrow, and I slumped back in my seat with a sigh. It had only been a matter of weeks, but apparently I’d already forgotten what it meant to be an apprentice with a master. It wasn’t all positives.
Looking at my dejection, Amara relented, putting down her teacup and leaning forward.
“Costas and I were also tired enough to sleep most of the day and night, but I did manage a conversation with Hayes yesterday evening.”
“What did he say? Did he recognize the illness?”
She shook her head, and my anxiety surged. So we really were dealing with something new.
“Apparently new illnesses sometimes appear out of the jungle,” I said. “There was a fever a few years ago, but back then the Constantines…”
She nodded, allowing me to trail off uncomfortably. I still didn’t know how to think or talk about the deceased Constantines who had lived terrible lives and met a terrible end.
“There is good news,” Amara said. “It might be a new strain, but Luna was right that it bears many similarities to typhoid. So they aren’t dealing with something entirely unfamiliar. By the end of yesterday, Hayes and Clay had finished their assessments and agreed on the best approach to treatment as well as a plan for general epidemic management.”
“Already?” Tears welled behind my eyes.
Thank goodness two masters had arrived. I was used to relying on my strength to make up for my lack of knowledge and experience, but that could only get me so far. This had been a disaster far beyond anything my strength could compensate for.
