Chapter Twenty-Six
The pews had been pushed against the walls to make room for rows of makeshift beds.
At first light, Seraphina and Rune were on the road.
They took the horses and left the carriage, and Seraphina paid the stable boy another gulden.
The innkeeper’s wife had prepared two bundles for them containing dark rye bread wrapped in cloth, hard cheese, a few smoked sausages, and hard-boiled eggs.
She’d added a flask of beer. The provisions wouldn’t last them long, but Seraphina tried not to think about it. She and Rune had always managed.
They avoided the main roads and other people, directing the horses through the woods and fields.
On horseback, they made good time, and Seraphina relaxed and enjoyed the feel of the beast underneath her, its strong muscles moving rhythmically, swaying and lulling her senses until she could lie to herself that all was good, that she was a child again, learning how to ride in Hyde Park.
She and Rune rode in silence for hours. At first, she’d been worried about him.
When they’d mounted, she’d asked him if he’d ever ridden before, and he’d said no.
Somehow, he had no issue with it. He didn’t struggle.
On the contrary, he sat atop his mount like he’d been born to ride.
She and Rune nibbled on the food, not wanting to finish it too soon.
They drank beer with more vigor, both of them parched.
There was water in the stream, but beer was safer.
Anyone who knew what was good for them would always choose beer if the option existed, even children.
Once rested, they mounted again and resumed their journey.
Seraphina couldn’t help but notice that Rune was keeping his back straight and his chest open.
His hood was down, as was hers, and he didn’t hunch and cower when the trees gave way to fields, and the sky spread wide above their heads.
She felt proud of him, and of herself for having come up with the right methods to help him.
She didn’t think he was fully healed, but he was getting there.
It was late afternoon when they were forced to veer east and prolong their journey to Freising, maybe by another day.
There was a military checkpoint up ahead, and Seraphina recognized it by the bark of orders, the stamping of horses’ hooves, and the murmurs of travelers waiting to be questioned.
They were getting close to enemy territory, and the resistance soldiers were everywhere, patrolling and making sure no one passed to the front lines that had no business to.
Seraphina cursed under her breath, but she knew this would happen.
She and Rune would have to go around and find a way to cross without being stopped or noticed.
At some point, they might have to leave the horses.
The shadows lengthened and darkness fell early.
Dusk was upon them, and Seraphina started to grow restless.
Her back hurt, and she felt slight chaffing between her thighs, where they rubbed against the leather saddle.
She hadn’t ridden in too long, and she wasn’t used to so many hours on horseback.
Rune, on the other hand, seemed to be perfectly comfortable.
“We should stop somewhere,” she said. “I’m not sure where we are, but maybe we can find the main road, ride along it, and see if we come across a village or town.”
“All right,” he said, pulling the horse’s reins to follow her lead southwest. “It is quiet, don’t you think?”
“Yes.” She inclined her head, considering.
“No more checkpoints?”
“I don’t know. It does seem awfully silent.”
They rode for another hour, following the main road but keeping out of sight in case anyone passed. No one did.
“I see houses,” Rune announced. “A church tower in the distance.”
“Good. Let’s try our luck.”
They approached, and soon Rune could confirm it seemed to be a small town. They entered it proper, passing a few scattered houses, when a woman shouted at them, her voice shrill and panicked.
“No! What are you doing? Turn back, turn back!”
Seraphina saw her shadow run toward them, waving her arms desperately.
“What?” Seraphina asked, bewildered
“What is she saying?” Rune echoed her confusion.
The woman stopped in front of the horses, arms raised.
The horses halted, neighing and stomping their hooves in agitation.
Seraphina thought the woman was strange, mad maybe, shouting at them things that made no sense, but she didn’t seem to be dangerous.
She jumped off and approached her, using her walking stick to make sure she didn’t step into a puddle.
But the stick was more for light defense in case the woman made a move Seraphina didn’t agree with.
“No, girl! Get back on your horse.” The woman took a few steps back, seemingly terrified. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? Haven’t you heard?”
“Ma’am, we’re simple travelers. I think we lost our way. We don’t even know where we are.”
“This is Langenbach, the cursed town. Plagued, under quarantine. Everyone around these parts knows. People would’ve warned you about it. Turn back now, or the bone fever will claim you.”
Seraphina heard Rune get off his horse. She felt his presence behind her, and she turned to crane her neck at him, studying the shadow of his face.
He had his hood on, drawn low over his eyes.
Hers was down, and the woman must’ve noticed the scarf by now, but she didn’t comment.
From what she was saying, Seraphina understood she’d seen much worse, and mere blindness wasn’t going to impress her.
“Langenbach,” Seraphina said, feeling a tightness in her chest and a lump starting to form in her throat. “I passed through here two years ago. It was a bustling town back then. What happened?”
The woman’s arms fell, hanging limp at her sides. Her shoulders slumped, and she shook her head.
“The war. We held out for as long as we could, but four months ago, the town was bombarded. Then the Blasphemer’s army swept in, killed, raped, and raided.
We got reinforcements and the resistance took it back, but it was all in ruin by then.
This was mid-July. By the end of the month, we started noticing people getting sick.
They felt weak before, troubled by fevers that came and went, but then the bruises began to appear, purple spots behind the ears, around the wrists and ankles.
Then followed the bone-deep aches, a pain so hollow that it seemed to emanate from the marrow itself.
Around that time, the refugees that had fled to neighboring towns looking for shelter were returned by soldiers, marched in chains so they wouldn’t escape.
They told us the town was under quarantine, that the fever was contagious.
Some of the soldiers stayed as well, already feeling the sickness nestling in their bones.
By September, half of the sick in Langenbach had died.
Of the ones still alive, only a few are still standing and able to work and take care of the dying. ”
“Oh God,” Seraphina whispered. “That’s dreadful.”
The woman sighed. “I don’t know how you two ended up here, but it might be too late already. The sickness spreads through the air. We’ve been standing here, talking, and it’s probably inside you already.”
“But how... how did it start? I’ve never heard of the bone fever before.”
“They poisoned our wells. The church well, and the well in the market square. Most people use those, not a lot of houses have their own well. It took us weeks to discover what was causing the sickness. My husband carried water from the church well every morning and evening, and one day, he pulled the bucket up and inside it, he saw a lattice floating.”
“A lattice,” Rune repeated.
“No bigger than my hand. Langenbach is a small town. We don’t have any relic schools or lattice weavers.
The lattices we have are medical grade and donated by Kr?henstein Academy to aid at the hospital.
They’re all broken now. We used them to lower fevers and keep patients conscious, but we pushed them to their limit, and they fell apart.
So, when my husband, God rest his soul..
.” She made the sign of the cross. “He died a month ago. When he found the lattice in the well, we knew it was the Blasphemer’s work.
We checked all the other wells and discovered a second lattice in the one in the market square.
Their bombarding and raiding didn’t destroy the town, but two poisonous lattices did. ”
She fell silent, and Seraphina sensed she needed a moment to mourn her husband and gather her thoughts. She and Rune were quiet, but Seraphina’s mind worked.
This was the town where she and Matteo had stopped last before getting back on the road to Ingolstadt.
They were attacked hours after they left Langenbach, so Seraphina could say that this was where she’d spent the last peaceful, cheerful moments with Matteo, at the tavern where they ate, drank strong beer, and made plans for the future.
Matteo had told her about the lattice patterns he was working on, and she’d listened with fascination, asking him about bone cuts.
“Is the Black Eagle still standing?” she asked in a small voice.
“The tavern? Yes. It has its own well, so the family running it was spared for a while. Now they’re all sick.
The tavern keeper runs it still, with his two sons, but his wife is in the hospital, her life hanging by a thread.
The hospital is in the church now. The old one was bombarded, and we had to improvise. ”