Casket of Souls

silent, head bowed over Illia’s hand as if he were silently praying. Perhaps he was.
    “Valerius hasn’t found a cure. Thero suspects magic.” The words felt like shards of glass in his throat as Seregil watched the fragile hope die in Kari’s dark eyes, just as it had in Eirual’s. “Have there been any strange beggars at Watermead?”
    “Beggars? None that I’ve seen.”
    “Are you certain? Could Illia have met someone on the road while she was out riding?”
    “I suppose so. Seregil, what do beggars have to do with this?”
    It was Micum who answered. There were tears on his stubble-covered cheeks, but his voice was deep and steady as ever. “There are beggars here, called the raven folk, who trade odd things with people, things they use to work this foul magic.”
    She stared at her husband. “Is that what Seregil called you into the city for?”
    “Yes.”
    Fury suffused her pale cheeks as she rounded on Seregil. “Knowing all that, you brought Micum into the midst of it?”
    “It doesn’t spread through the air,” Seregil told her gently. “We haven’t made any trades, and neither has Micum. It’sthose who do that who fall ill. That’s why I asked about the beggars.”
    Kari shook her head in disbelief. “If you’d only warned us, I could have told the children to beware of them.
You
could have said, Micum! You could have sent word!”
    Seregil clutched the door frame as the weight of the words struck home. Another failure. “Micum didn’t know before he got here.”
    “We thought they were only in the city,” Alec said softly, voice trembling.
    Raw pain coursed over the bond to Seregil. He knew Alec must be feeling the same from him. Illia! That, combined with Kari’s anguish, and Micum’s, threatened to unman him.
    “We
will
find a way to fix this,” he told her, but the words sounded weak and hollow.
    “Then get out and find it!” she cried. “If Illia dies, I’ll never forgive you. Any of you! Get out!”
    “Go on,” Micum told them, not moving from his daughter’s side. “I’ll be up later.”
    Seregil and Alec climbed the steps to their rooms in silence except for Seregil’s strained voice whispering the words of passage past the glyphs.
    Striding into the bedroom, Seregil threw off his disguise and pulled on a shirt and breeches.
    “Maker’s Mercy,” Alec said as he did the same. “If Valerius had heard of any spread of the sickness outside the city, wouldn’t he have told us about it?”
    “Yes. Something’s very strange here. First Myrhichia, now Illia. Does anything strike you about that?”
    “The first time the sleeping …” Alec couldn’t bring himself to say the word. “Those are the only times it’s happened outside the poorer quarters.”
    “Yes, but also to people associated with us.” Seregil squeezed Alec’s shoulder, then headed to the door. “Elsbet should be here with her mother. I’ll send Tomin for her.”
    “I’ll wait downstairs for Micum.”
    After assuring Tomin that the affliction was not contagious, Seregil ordered him to the Temple of Illior to fetchElsbet, but not to tell her why. When he was reasonably sure the man would do that instead of disappearing, he slowly climbed the secret stair back to his rooms.
    Micum sat at the dining table with Alec, head in his hands, looking shattered. Alec didn’t look much better. Three silver brandy cups had been filled, but neither of the others had touched theirs.
    “She’s right, you know,” Micum groaned. “I should have sent word.”
    Seregil sat down and took his friend’s hand. “We had no way of knowing, Micum.”
    Micum pulled his hand free and downed a gulp of brandy. “One too many secrets, after all these years. Something finally followed me home.”
    They sat in glum silence for a time, then Seregil raised his cup and took a sip. “Go back to Kari. Stay with her.”
    “She doesn’t want me there.”
    “Maybe not, but she needs you. Alec, take him down.”
    Alec took Micum by the arm and drew him from the room. Seregil set his cup aside and went to the window overlooking the front yard. The full moon was rising. Nearly two precious days had passed since Illia had been stricken. Seregil sent up a silent plea to Illior for her life.
    Alec returned and closed the door.
    “How are they?” asked Seregil.
    “Kari let Micum hold her, thank the Light. Do you think she meant it when she said she’d never forgive us?”
    “I wouldn’t blame her.”
    “We