The Scourge - Page 78

As I searched for the last person of our group, I noticed Brogg staring at me, clearly hoping to be chosen. "I was wrong," he said. "And you can force me to live with that for the rest of my life, or you can allow me to begin fixing it."

I folded my arms, still uncertain. "How can you fix it?"

"The wardens guarding the governor will know me. I can draw them away, letting you get close to her. Nobody else on this ship can do that. You must trust me, Ani."

He used my name. And as insignificant as that might seem, it made me think that perhaps I should give him a chance, so after a few moments of consideration, I nodded my permission at him.

"I need to come too," Della said.

I shook my head. "You're still too weak. You'll be safer here on the ship. Once everything is settled and safe, we'll send for you. The dinghy is full anyway."

"Governor Felling is from my class of people," Della said. "Unfortunately, there will be some in that crowd who will not listen to you. But they will hear me."

She made a good point. "All right," I said. So we would make room for seven of us.

With the extra weight, we rode low in the water, but those with the oars were strong and carried us swiftly to shore. From there, it was a two-mile hike into town. That would be a lot for Della, but she insisted she was strong enough for the journey. To her credit, she kept pace right along with the rest of our group.

As we walked, I explained what I wanted. Brogg would create distractions for the wardens closest to the governor. Clement, Jonas, and Weevil's father would see that the path was clear for me to get to the governor. Della and Weevil would come with me.

The town looked nearly abandoned at first, which made me nervous. "The wardens I overheard said Governor Felling would be speaking here tonight."

"That's where everyone is," Weevil said. "Maybe she's already here!"

"Then let's hurry," Della said.

We made our way toward the center of town, and while we were still a few streets away, we heard the applause of a large group. I breathed a sigh of relief. We were not too late, then. We hurried onward, and as we approached, I motioned for everyone to get to their respective places in the crowd.

As we entered the town square, Governor Felling was easily visible, with an elaborate orange dress, and her hair piled so high on her head, I wondered how she could balance beneath it all. She was on a wide wooden dais that clearly had been built just to accommodate her for this speech. Steps led up one side and also up the front, and it was draped with Keldanian flags. It infuriated me that she would offer herself as a symbol of a country she had betrayed with such cruelty.

"The Scourge is much worse than we previously thought," the governor was saying. "My dear friends, if we are to control its effects, we must be more vigilant than ever! You're afraid--I can see that in your faces--and you are right to be afraid, for I have just received information that conditions on Attic Island are worse than I had known."

"Were you on the island?" a woman shouted from the audience. "I heard your ship was seen traveling back to Keldan."

"I could not go to the island--obviously nobody can safely return from the Colony," the governor said. "But a message was returned to me from that ship. The Scourge victims weathered last night's storm as bravely as they have endured the disease itself. However, their peace and order was upset by the presence of some River People. They have nearly destroyed the entire Colony."

"My wife was in the Colony!" a man yelled. "What happened to her?"

"The wardens on the island got everyone to safety," the governor said. "But it shows the danger posed to Keldan by the River People. Therefore, I make the following proposal. First, I ask for expanded authority to test for the Scourge in your towns. It is not enough to ask people to voluntarily come in for testing or to test only those we suspect of being exposed. I wish to begin random testing so that we can weed this disease out of your town even earlier. Will you agree to this?"

"Yes!" the people shouted.

"Random testing," Della muttered beside me. "As if you were random, or me. Who in this crowd will randomly get the Scourge next?"

Still unaware of our presence, the governor continued. "Second, I am asking for any volunteers to test a new medicine for the Scourge. If you think you have been exposed, you can save the lives of your loved ones by offering up yourself as a test subject." She pointed into the audience at Thomas Cresh, the same physician who had given me the Scourge. I hadn't even realized we were standing so near each other, and I quickly edged farther away. "Doctor Cresh has led the research against the Scourge. He has just created a new medicine that may one day offer us a cure."

"It's a lie," Weevil hissed. "The medicine is only weakened spindlewill."

"I believe he did create something new," I whispered back. Not spindlewill, but a Scourge test filled with snake venom.

Hands shot into the air while Doctor Cresh beamed with pride. The Scourge is not a disease! I wanted to scream at them. But that medicine will make you think you've got it. My guess was that most families would get flasks full of harmless liquids that did nothing to protect them, but offered the family a feeling of false security. As long as they supported the governor, she would protect them. And then other families--those targeted families whom Della had mentioned--would be given flasks full of Doctor Cresh's new medicine. It would convince them they had the Scourge without the governor ever needing to administer a direct test. She was cutting out a step in her evil agreement with Dulan.

"Finally," the governor said, "we must remove those who threaten the safety of Keldan from within. We cannot fight both the Scourge and those who believe it is not real. There are two men who have been sneaking through our towns, taking shelter in your homes and barns and making wild-eyed claims about the Scourge. Perhaps you have heard them and even been convinced by them. But they were not telling you the whole truth, for both men had a personal stake in persuading you to believe their lies. Both men lost daughters to the Scourge a week ago. They hoped if you would follow them, you would join them on a quest to invade the Scourge Colony and bring their daughters home, and bring the disease back to your families in Keldan. Can we tolerate that?"

"No!" the people shouted.

I went weak in the knees. She meant my father and Sir Willoughby. Why would she have brought them into this conversation?

With a wave of her arms, two wardens came onto her platform, the first escorting my father and the other leading Della's. They were bound in chains, gagged, and showed evidence of having been beaten. I felt sick, but in an entirely different way than I did at the Colony. Still at my side, Della gasped and grabbed my arm.

Tags: Jennifer A. Nielsen Fantasy
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