Through The Door

Troubled Waters

Two days after Annora’s arrival, they met once again in Rionen’s quarters for breakfast. Kirian, Maia, Rionen and William were already there, they were just waiting for Annora. Kirian poured himself a glass of water and gulped it down. He walked over to Maia, who was half asleep on one of the chairs.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said.

She shook her head. “Oh, what?”

“Mutton.”

“Ah, whatever.”

Will looked at Kirian strangely. “Kir, did you just say ‘mutton’?”

“Yeah, it’s just a joke of ours from a long time ago. Long story short, we said some funny stuff, and now, in our language, mutton means nothing.”

“That is some strange joke of yours,” Rionen said.

Kirian laughed. “All our jokes are strange. But only if you weren’t there when the joke was born.”

Maia looked at the glass in Kirian’s hand. “Hey, I’m thirsty. Could you pass me a glass of water?”

“Here you go.”

Maia took the glass of water from her brother, paused, and sniffed it. “It smells funny.”

“Uh, you kind of aren’t supposed to sniff water.”

“May I?” William held his hand out, and Maia gave it to him. “It does smell funny.” He passed it to Kirian.

He frowned. “That sure is a strange smell. Rionen, do you want it?”

Maia looked at him incredulously. “Kir! What kind of -?!”

“I didn’t mean it that way!”

“Oh good.”

“Just hand it over,” Rionen said, holding out his hand. He almost dropped the glass when Kirian gave it to him. “I didn’t expect it to be this heavy.”

“It isn’t -” Kirian started, but stopped just in time.

Rionen sighed inside. I’m not strong enough to even hold a cup full of water without almost dropping it? Am I really that weak? He threw away the negative thoughts and switched his focus back to the cup of water. He sniffed it. Three words returned to his mind.

Poison. Alexander. Prison.

No. He can’t be here. Not now. Not yet.

His mind took him back to his prison cell. A strange smell reached his nose. They had used their foul poison to get rid of one of the other prisoners. Again. The dungeon’s door had opened for a few seconds, and he had heard words.

“They’ll think … Taridius … but … Arsenios.”

Then two guards had opened the cell door and dragged him to...

“Rionen? Are you alright?” Maia’s voice cut through his thoughts.

He was suddenly aware of his surroundings. The cup lay shattered on the floor. The covers on the bed and a bit of the floor were wet.

“The water… it’s poisoned.”

William’s eyes widened. “How could that be?”

The room fell silent. They all knew that could only mean one thing...

Kirian moaned, breaking the silence. “I drank it.”

William stood up quickly. “What?! Oh no. I’m going to get Marcus. All of you ju- just stay here and don’t move, alright?”

“Alright,” Maia said.

William rushed outside and saw Marcus passing by the gates.

“Marcus! Hey, Marcus!”

William’s friend stopped in his tracks. “Oh, no. You too?”

“If you mean the poisoned water, then yes. Has it been spreading all over the city?”

“I’m afraid the answer is yes. I can’t stay long, but I can give you a bit of advice. Some cases are fatal, some are not, so it’s not certain that your brother, friend - or whoever it is - is going to die. Get out of the city. And quick.”

“Is there a cure?”

“Yes. Grind one of these leaves and make him - or her - eat it,” the apprentice healer said quickly, giving William three fresh green leaves. “It doesn’t taste great, so you might have to force them. Give it to them with a glass of boiled water once a day. Boiling it will kill the poison. At the worst, they’ll have seizures and muscle spasms - rarely, the victims will die. The most common effects I’ve seen right now are vomiting, fever, sometimes high, and coughing. I should go now, Will. But the best piece of advice I can give you is to get out of Arsenios. And quick. They are coming, and they will attack when we are weak. Farewell.”

“Farewell, Marcus.”

William ran back inside. When he got back to Rionen’s room, Annora and Rionen were there, but Maia and Kirian weren’t. The broken cup seemed to have disappeared, and the covers had been tossed onto the floor.

“Where did they go?”

Annora pointed to the door to the washroom.

William nodded. “Annora, pack up your things, and if you have a chance, go to Maia and Kirian’s rooms and pack up their things. We’re going to leave Arsenios.”

His sister’s eyes widened, but she went out of the room and did it anyway.

Maia and Kirian emerged from the washroom. Kirian’s face was pale, and he was almost too weak to stand. Kirian sat down on one of the chairs.

“How is he?”

Maia shook her head. “Not good.”

“We’re leaving the city.”

Maia pulled Will out of the room and pulled the door closed behind her. “William, are you crazy? If you need a review of what’s just happened in the past… ten days, we’ve got two men down, one poisoned, while the other has a broken arm, leg and rib, plus wounds on his back because of… things! And with Edmund gone, there are three of us left, two girls and one man. Face it. We can’t do this!”

William’s face was determined. “We have to, Maia. Alexander can attack any day now. It’s because of him that all the water wells have been poisoned! Don’t you see? If we stay here, we die.”

“But if we leave, we die.”

“No, that is uncertain.”

Maia sighed. “Alright. We still have that wagon, don’t we?”

Will nodded.

“That’s good news, we will need it.”

“We definitely will. Marcus gave me something for Kirian. Once a day, take one leaf, grind it, and give it to him with boiled water.”

Maia nodded and took the three leaves. She followed Will back into the room.

Annora appeared, carrying several packs. “Where do I put these?”

“You’ll find a wagon outside. Load them in, but make sure we have space for all of us,” William said.

His sister nodded and went outside.

“Hey Maia, could you help me to the wagon? You need to help Will, and I’ll just be a burden if you don’t do it now,” Kirian croaked.

“Kir, you’ll never be a burden,” his sister said, standing up.

“Maia, when you’re done, can you tell Annora take care of our provisions? And we’ll need to boil some water.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Thanks.”