The guard’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Iannis held up a hand and the man stopped. His lips moved, but no sound came out, and I gathered that Iannis had frozen his vocal chords just like Fenris had done to me back when I’d been mouthing off to the Council.
“Vyagari,” Iannis whispered, and the guard’s eyes glazed over. “You will open the door and let us through, and you will not tell the other guards about this.” Power resonated in his voice, sending chills down my spine. “When we come out again, you will lock the door behind us and forget that we were here.”
The guard did as he was commanded without hesitation, stepping aside and holding the back door open for us. We stepped into the kitchen, and I grabbed hold of the knob and closed the door myself, making sure that it made no sound so that the guards out front wouldn’t hear anything.
“You have to teach me how to do that sometime,” I said under my breath.
“It’s not as easy as simply speaking a Word,” Iannis said dryly. “Suggestion magic requires many hours of practice to become even passably good.”
“Well I guess that’s why I keep you around,” I muttered as I passed him. There was little point in searching the entire house when I could follow my nose, which had quickly caught the stench of sickness and the underlying scent of a male. I traced the scent upstairs, and Iannis followed close behind me as I led him to a bedroom at the end of the second-story landing.
“By Magorah,” I muttered, clapping a hand over my mouth as the stench grew stronger. “Maybe you should wear a mask or something, Iannis.” I couldn’t catch human illnesses, but the sheer intensity of the smell made me wish I had something to cover my nose and mouth.
“I’m afraid these handkerchiefs will have to do,” Iannis said, producing two large ones from his sleeve. I took one from him and pressed the piece of silk to my nose, then sighed in relief. My sense of smell was too keen for it to block the stench, but it made the smell slightly more bearable.
With our handkerchiefs over our noses, Iannis pushed open the door, and we entered the sickroom quietly. The air was stuffy and hot, which wasn’t surprising because the two windows were tightly shut, the drapes closed so securely that not even a sliver of moonlight filtered into the space. My eyes could barely pick out the shapes of the furniture, so I focused on the large bed that dominated the rear half of the room and the occupant within it.
Raising my hand, I conjured a ball of flame to provide some illumination. The blue-green flames flickered in my hand, just bright enough to permeate the darkness, and I could clearly see the man who was bundled up in the bed. His long, yellow hair was plastered to his head with sweat, and angry red scabs marred his already sallow complexion. Dark circles rimmed his closed eyes, and he let out a reedy moan as we moved closer.
“Damnu air,” Iannis swore as he gently pulled back the blanket. The Minister’s pajama pants and shirt shielded me from the worst of it, but the open collar and exposed hands and feet showed that scabs had spread all over his body. “He has chicken pox.”
“Chicken pox?” I scowled, searching my memory for what little I knew about human disease. “Isn’t that something only children get?”
“Generally, yes. But if one hasn’t had it as a child, they can be infected later on in life, and the disease is often fatal to adults.” Iannis pressed his left hand against the Minister’s forehead, and the man groaned again. “It is also highly contagious in the early stages, and extremely resistant to magic healing.”
Iannis spoke several Words aloud, and I pressed my lips together in thought. “If it’s so contagious, I suppose it makes sense that he was placed under quarantine. Shouldn’t the Minister’s office have demanded the other mages be tested for the disease, since they were all likely to have been in close proximity with the Minister for at least a week?”
“Yes.” The hand Iannis placed on the Minister’s forehead began to glow. “The fact that they didn’t do so is highly suspect.”
I pressed my lips together, but said nothing more, only fetching a chair for Iannis so that he could sit and focus on healing the Minister. I opened the door to the corridor wide to let in some cleaner air before we all choked, then stood by and watched as Iannis worked his magic. A good hour passed as Iannis fought to drive the infection out, sweat beading on his brow as his jaw clenched with the strain. Watching Iannis heal the Minister gave me a new appreciation for him – he’d done this for me several times now, but because I’d been unconscious I had no idea it was such a strain on him. Or perhaps this disease was especially tough to beat, as he’d said.
Finally, Iannis removed his palm from the Minister’s forehead and sat back in his chair. “It’s done,” he exhaled, sounding both pleased and tired. There was an undercurrent of relief in his tone that suggested this healing had not been a sure thing at all. I wondered if other mages without his Tua heritage could have managed.
The Minister blinked open chocolate-brown eyes, and in the light of my flame I could see his complexion was much healthier. All the scabs had fallen off or disappeared, and there was no trace of pockmarks on his now-smooth skin. Confusion filled his expression as he pushed himself to an upright position.
“W-where am I?” he asked a little more loudly than I would have liked. His eyes fixed on me. “And who are you?”
“Shhhh.” Iannis’s voice was hushed, but soothing, as he drew the Minister’s attention to him. “It’s Iannis, the Chief Mage of Solantha. This is my apprentice, Sunaya Baine. You’ve been very ill, sir, and we came here to heal you.”