Kingdom of Scourge and Shadow (The Sightstone Series #1)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Alina

"Diseases are like puzzles; once you find the key, they're surprisingly easy to solve."

- The Science of Disease, Saint Adelaide the Fair

***

 As the days turned to weeks, the reports began to trickle in from the front. More and more witches had been struck down by the Scourge, and the Healers were overwhelmed. Despite the fact that the testing serum worked and so far no Healers had succumbed, the sheer number of new patients had them in trouble.

Soon enough, everyone in the lab sported a golden dot on the inside of their wrists, and Alina prayed nightly that none of the dots would turn red, not that she thought God or the Saints were listening. They'd never answered her prayers before.

Then, two weeks after they sent samples of the serum west, Nikolai came tearing into the lab, his hair mussed, his jacket unbuttoned, a feverish glint in his eyes, frantically waving a piece of paper in some combination of excitement and desperation.

"I just heard," he gasped, breathing heavily. "They're sending the first group of patients here. We've been asked to set up a special hospital and quarantine zone outside the city walls. They'll be here in two weeks. Demyan, I want you to lead the construction."

"What?" Demyan squawked, and Marina looked vaguely green. "Two weeks to set up a sealed hospital facility? Why not just ask us to travel to the moon?"

Alina hid a smile behind her hand.

"I have every faith that you can do it," Nikolai said absently. "Recruit any Inventors and Alchemists you need. Marina, I'll need you here because, as soon as we can get regular samples from the patients, we're going to need to be ready to start working on a cure. In the meantime, we need to compile everything we know about the Scourge so we don't have to waste time later. Alina, are you alright to help her?"

Alina nodded.

"Good," Nikolai said, absentmindedly rubbing the back of his head as he consulted the letter in his hand. "Liliyana, I want you helping Demyan, along with all our other healers except Sofiya. Sofiya, I want you to work with Alina and Marina."

Alina glanced around, trying to figure out who he was talking to. She didn't know who Sofiya was; she wasn't one of the Healers she'd been working with over the past few weeks. In the far corner of the room, a young woman who looked about eighteen was nodding.

"Is that Sofiya?" Alina whispered to Marina, who glanced up at the young girl and nodded once, then turned back to her work.

Alina frowned. Sofiya looked too young for a project like this, with rich, auburn hair, a smattering of freckles, and a button nose. When she caught Alina watching her, she gave a shy smile, then turned away.

"Alright," Nikolai said, folding the letter and shoving it into his pocket. "That's it for now. We have a lot of work to get done, and the sooner we start, the better. Finish up whatever you're working on and go find Demyan, Liliyana or Marina to figure out what to do next. Got it?"

There was a murmur of assent, and the lab burst into a flurry of activity like a beehive that had been kicked. Everywhere Alina looked, people in Healer's green bustled about as everyone hurried to finish whatever they'd been working on and tidied up the lab. Then, slowly, people started stopping by Demyan and Liliyana's workstations, and, sitting near Demyan, Alina heard him discuss how to proceed with everyone who came to him. She half-listened as he outlined plans for a hospital, then sent people to see to whatever tasks needed to be accomplished.

Slowly, people began to trickle out of the lab, and, soon, the only other people still there were Marina and Sofiya. Alina had been analyzing samples under the microscope, but set them aside when Marina shut her notebook and put it away.