MENDING - Rayaari FanFic

Part 30 - The Outbreak

Santos went to check on Raya who was peacefully sleeping. He smiled at her and slowly approached. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder and then he noticed something...the ring on her finger. He gasped and said to himself, "Raya's engaged?"

Before he could have a closer look at the ring, the door opened. Iona was shocked to see him and she raised a brow. Santos went outside the room and Iona followed behind and once out the room, she said, "What in the name of Kumandra are you doing in the princess' room?!"

"I- she fainted and I was just going to see her...just to check up on her." replied Santos.

"She will be fine, Santos. And you were a little close to her. TOO close for comfort. I'm pretty sure someone else would see you trying to...do something to her."

"Sorry, I was just a bit caught of guard that she's engaged and was having a closer look at her ring."

"She's not exactly engaged as yet but why the shock?"

"I mean...she's like...my type so I was thinking to...maybe tell her how I feel."

"Sorry to shatter your hopes but she's in a relationship as you saw. Plus you're like 7 years older than her. And I'd advise you to not let people know about your feelings because it'd be serious trouble for you if Chief Benja or her lover found out and I'm sure you don't wanna put your job and reputation in jeopardy." said Iona.

"Which is right. But um-  who is she dating?"

"I guess you'll know in due time but for now, I have to go by what the princess requested of me and keep things anonymous." replied Iona.

"Understood." It was obvious that Santos was a little sad by the fact that Raya was already in a relationship. He'd have to keep himself neutral around her because he surely wouldn't want to face the wrath of Chief Benja or 'whoever' Raya's lover was.

He went back to carry out his duties for the day while the princess rested.

................................................................................

"Your majesty, may I have a word?" 

"Yes, General. Any clues?"

As Namaari walked towards her though, she backed away and said, "Please...don't come near me. I don't know how this would be possible but I- I'm not feeling so well and look..."

She took off her black glove and Namaari was shocked when she saw rash on her. "Have you touched or seen anything strange? Anything at all?"

"I'm trying to retrace all I did and everything was fine but I started to feel ill about half an hour ago and wasn't really paying attention until I rapidly got worse since the last few minutes." replied the General.

"We need to get you back home and everyone else as well. Are you strong enough to go by foot?"

"Yes I am. After all, we're Fang Warriors. Resilience is what we are."

Namaari smiled at her and said, "Right. I hope you'll be fine. I'll do everything to help you get better, okay?"

"Thank you, princess."

"Of course." 

Namaari instructed one of the nearby guards to follow her at a distance just to be sure that she is okay. Namaari then went to the others and said, "An announcement everyone..."

Everyone immediately diverted their attention to the princess who then said, "Unfortunately, it seems as though the General has contracted this new disease. She is on her way back to the palace with assistance. If anyone is feeling ill, please let me know. Am I clear?"

"Yes your highness."

"So...are we going to head back?" asked one of the warriors.

"We haven't had any luck and I don't wanna put anyone in danger so yes we will." replied Namaari. While getting ready to head back, Namaari saw some people approaching in the distance and immediately got on alert but was relieved when she saw that it was Chief Benja and his warriors. 

She gladly went to him and said, "Chief Benja, it's great to see you."

"Great to see you too, Princess Namaari. We're here to help investigate for any clues on the sickness." said the Chief.

"Well, while doing so, the General fell ill and is on her way home. And we're well suited against this since the means of transmission are unknown at the moment. We're about to head back too."

"Hmm...this is pretty serious. How are the other patients?"

"Not doing well, I hope they will all end up being okay."

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out."

"Oh! And uh, where is Raya?" asked Namaari, concerned.

"Back home, I want her to stay safe as she can."

"Oh..." expressed Namaari, hints of sadness in her voice.

"I know you two miss each other but you will see her soon, don't worry. Now, you can go back home and rest and Heart will take over the investigations."

"Okay Chief, you are welcomed to stay the night here if you desire so."

"Thank you, Princess."

Heart took over from Fang and in the evening hours, there was no luck but samples of soil and water were collected for examinations by practitioners of Fang.

.................................................................................................................

Raya was not doing too well back in Heart and Dalia along with healers have been doing all she could to ensure the princess was comfortable. At that point, it wasn't just about her being worried but she has been throwing up all evening and had a bad fever. It was after she went around to check on how everyone was doing and ensured things were fine around Heart. She was very weak and Dalia got extremely worried. What was weird was how there are no reports of anyone else feeling sick but Raya was. It almost feels...targeted. She went to Chief Benja's office and wrote a letter to him, alerting him that Raya was probably infected. She sent it off then quickly returned to the infirmary. She wanted to hug Raya but she couldn't.

"Someone did this. Someone is doing this and we need to find out who it is and stop them!" exclaimed Dalia. 

"I can agree, Ma'am. Out of nowhere the princess is ill with this and it's all the way from Fang? A typical setup. But thankfully, she is doing a little better. We will keep treating her."

When word got to the warriors and other servants in Heart, panic began arising.

"Everyone, calm down. I want you to be on the lookout for any suspicions, even amongst yourselves." instructed Dalia. 

Santos got very worried and he went to the infirmary to see Raya but a healer stopped him. "Woah, hold up, you can't go in to see the Princess right now. This thing could be contagious" 

"Will she be okay?"

"We're hoping so. We'll do all that we can."

"And I'll do everything I can to protect her too."

"Good, now back to your duties. We'll take care of Raya, you take care of Heart."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poor Raya🥺 Who could be doing such a thing to deliberately harm the princess? Stick around to find out and please leave a vote if you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to more!