Leeta...
"Mother?"
Leeta...
"Mother? Is that you?"
Beware the invisible death...
"What...what do you mean?"
Beware the invisible death...
Leeta jumped up in her bed covered in a cold sweat. The Princess looked around her room to see if there was anyone else there. She was alone. It was just a dream, or was it? She slowly got out of the bed and walked to the balcony. It was at least an hour before sun rise, and the sky was still dark. The Princess rubbed the side of her arms and sighed. It had been a little over a week since Cole and the Knights had left. She hadn't gone five minutes without worrying about them. "I wish I knew if they were all right," she whispered to no one.
She sighed again and went back inside and into the bathing chamber. Some time later, she emerged from the Royal chambers and headed for the Council chamber. The Princess was wearing a pair of silk tan slacks, a dark blue silk tunic, a silk tan vest over it, and her blue blond hair back in a pony tail. Her mother's pendant hung around her neck.
The sun had risen by this time, and the Palace was beginning to stir. Servants and officials greeted Leeta as she strode through the halls. The Princess smiled each time and continued on her way. She arrived in the Council chamber to find several ministers already there. "Good morning, gentlemen. What have we today?"
"Nothing really pressing, Princess," said Minister Holamar. "A report is at your seat."
"Thank you, Minister," she answered with a smile. Leeta sat in her chair and began to skim over the daily report. She mentally checked off the normal things such as the different annual guild meetings, funds for the building up the military, trading statistics with other kingdoms...
"What's this?" she asked.
"What?" said Minister Tasid.
She rose and placed the report in front of the gathered ministers. "Look at this. There has been a request for increased medical attention in the eastern section of the city. Why?"
Tasid began to shuffle through a stack of papers. He found one and started to read. "According to the actual report, there is some sort of flu going around. Several families have been infected and the district representative requests we send some priests and doctors to aid those afflicted."
"Why wasn't I notified about this?" demanded Leeta.
"Well, Princess, it didn't seem like something you needed to be bothered with," replied Minister Garanna. "We are, after all, at war," he added with a snide tone.
Leeta's face hardened. "I am well aware of that, Minister . However, we cannot win a war if our people are sick, can we?" She walked back over to her chair and signaled for a page. Then she began to dictate. "Send a message to both the Palace physician and the head priestess of the city temple ordering them to meet me in front of the palace in a half an hour." The page bowed and scurried off.
Leeta returned her gaze to the gathered ministers. "I believe that you gentlemen can handle the other mundane matters." Before they could answer, she strutted out of the room in a most royal fashion.
As soon as the ministers were out of sight, Leeta broke into a dead run for Carla's room. Running through the halls, Leeta couldn't help but remember her mother's warning the night before. Beware the invisible death , she had said. Death didn't get more invisible than a virus. Finally, she reached Carla's room and started to bang on the door. "WHAT IS IT!!??" came Carla's scream from inside. She was obviously annoyed by the interruption.
The door opened, and Carla appeared fuming. She was wearing a pair of blue and red pants, a white and yellow shirt, and a red and black robe with arcane symbols on it. Her face softened when she saw who it was. "Oh, Leeta. What's the matter?"
Leeta quickly explained about her dream and about the report. Carla's face darkened as she went on. When the Princess finished, the dark haired Premier grabbed a staff leaning on the wall and stepped out of the room. "I'm coming with you," she said flatly.
A felling of relief came over Leeta. "Thank you, Carla. I'm going to need all the support I can get."
Carla patted the Princess on the shoulder, and the two women headed for the Palace gate. They soon met up with the head priestess of the local Temple of Althena and the Palace physician. The small group, followed by a detachment of palace guards, went into the city to investigate the sick families. As they entered the East district, Leeta was distressed by what she saw. The people in the streets looked horrible. Men and women that passed by were pale and sickly. "This doesn't look good," said Carla. "I think that we're too late."
Leeta couldn't say anything. She knew the horrid truth. As they continued down the streets, it kept walking by. The group finally arrived at the first family's house. The entire house was sick from the children, to the parents, to the grandparents. After an hour of examination, the priestess and the physician came to Leeta and Carla. "There is nothing we can do," said the priestess. "It is definitely some form of plague and not the flu."
The physician nodded in agreement. "Although, we have never seen a strain such as this. Neither of us can figure out how it is transmitted, or what we can do to prevent its spreading."
Leeta went pale from what they were telling her. "Then there is only one thing we can do," she said in a quiet voice. She motioned to one of the palace guards, and he came over. "Send out a city wide warning that the East district is off limits to all, and that no one is to leave the city. As of this moment, Lucitania is infected with the plague."