"Those of us who don't spring forth from the mud have families, yes."
If she even heard me, she missed the joke. She hesitated a moment to deal with another wave of pain, then said, "This can work."
"It cannot work. It must not work, Della. If you leave, you'll get others sick too."
Her face darkened. "I know about the Colony--you don't! The things the governor says in her speeches, they're not true. Why do you think I considered running away? I don't want to spend the last days of my life in the Colony."
Governor Felling often talked about the Colony in her speeches. Scourge victims were housed in the old prison, but that was only out of necessity and it did provide a single place to care for the growing population of victims. Besides, the prison had been redesigned to feel like rooms, not cells. Though Keldan had little money, the governor had redirected what resources she could to provide food for the victims, and care was provided by shepherds--volunteers from the churches who had dedicated their lives to caring for Scourge victims in their final days. The disease always ended in death, but at least it wouldn't be a cold death, one without love.
If all of that was wrong, then what was the Colony really like? And was it true that getting the Scourge was now inevitable for me? Everything I knew about the Scourge told me I was infected now.
Yet it had been one hour and I wasn't feeling sick. I had passed the test. Warden Brogg had promised I could go home now.
"Here they come," Della said. "Think of it, Ani, you can change your life today. The prettiest new dresses, a better home for your family. Think of the best reward you can imagine, and I'll make it happen. All you have to do is tell the wardens that we're both fine."
I got to my feet, and Della stood beside me, though she was leaning on me to keep herself upright.
"Please, Ani," Della whispered. "Please. Anything you want. Just tell them I'm not sick."
Anything I wanted. What would I ask for? Money? There was never enough. My mother needed new shoes and a dress that wasn't made of patched-over holes. Food? I knew what servants for the wealthy carried out of the markets: breads and cheeses and sweets that made my stomach ache for how wonderful they smelled. The possibilities for what I might want were endless.
Warden Brogg walked up to the cell with a young warden whom I'd spotted searching for me last night. While that man fiddled with his keys to find the one for our door, Brogg hefted his oversized belly over the top of his britches, looking at me first, and then his eye rested on Della. Her hand was pinched around my wrist. Based on the way her nails dug into my skin, I knew it must've been extraordinarily painful for her to even stand upright.
"So," Brogg said, "how are you both feeling?"
"Excellent," Della squeaked out.
Brogg arched a brow and looked at me. "Ani, perhaps you can tell me."
Della's nails dug in deeper, a reminder that the right kind of lie could change my life. If I told the truth, she would ruin it.
The fair-skinned warden unlocked the cell door and held it open, though neither of us moved. Della was at serious risk of falling over if she did, and I was having trouble keeping my thoughts together. Her offer was more tempting than I wanted to admit.
Brogg walked up to me. "How are you feeling?"
"Perfectly well," I said. "I don't have the Scourge."
His eyes brushed over me again. "You seem to be all right, though the physician must make the final judgment."
That didn't worry me. Unless he was as stupid as a stone--always a possibility--he'd see that the drink in that cup had failed to produce any symptoms from me.
Della, on the other hand ...
"I'm fine too," Della said. "Tell him, Ani."
She sucked a harsh breath of air in through her nose. Even if the wardens couldn't hear the pain in her voice, I certainly could.
Brogg folded his arms and looked back at me. "She says she's fine, but her face is pale. You'd know if she was having symptoms, grub. Is she?"
Surely he knew that Della was sick, so if he was asking my opinion, it was only to test whether I'd lie. My heart was pounding, but I lowered my head and murmured, "She has the Scourge. She's sick, sir."
In rage, Della's nails clawed against my arm. I snapped my arm away and held it with my hand, waiting for the sting to pass. Now that she didn't have me to support her weight, Della fell on the ground and screamed with pain. "If it's the last thing I do, Ani, you will pay for that!"
"Sir Willoughby has just finished meeting with the governor," Brogg told his companion. "He'll try to come back here for his daughter, so it's best if you bring her to the dock another way. Don't let her be seen."
"No!" Della screeched. "My father promised to get me out of here! You can't send me to the Colony!"
Considering how much pain she was in, she put up a fair fight before the warden scooped her into his long arms and carried her out of the cell, into another nearby building, one I now suspected led to a dock that would take her to the Attic Island colony.