Chapter Six #2
Titan started to speak, but Leonore suddenly burst out in a harsh coughing fit, covering her mouth with her hands in the process. That had Titan grunting with realization as he pointed to the injured, and now ill, woman.
“He must have caught it from her,” he said. “He has a fever. The woman with the crossbow sent someone for food for him, but I do not think he can travel. Not in this weather.”
Estevan and Kaladin, followed by Titan, made their way over to Mateo, who was lying flat on his back against the stone wall. His eyes were closed, but he was rattling as he breathed. When he coughed, it sounded as if his lungs were full of mucus.
Estevan knelt down beside him.
“Matty?” he said. “How do ye feel?”
Mateo’s eyes rolled open. “I’ve been better,” he admitted. “Strange… strange how it came on so suddenly. I did not feel ill yesterday.”
Across the sanctuary, Leonore was coughing up a storm. They could all hear her. Estevan sighed heavily.
“I think we know who made ye ill,” he said. “Titan says ye shouldna travel today. He’s probably right—’tis still raining.”
Mateo cleared his throat quietly, trying to cough up some of the mess in his lungs. “I suppose I could do with a day of rest,” he said. “But if the nuns want us removed, then I shall have no choice but to comply.”
Rodion, who had been at Mateo’s feet, motioned to the men standing around. He stepped away from Mateo and they followed, eventually huddling in a concerned group.
“He cannot travel,” Rodion said seriously. “He started breathing heavily only a few hours ago and has deteriorated quickly.”
Estevan was looking over at Mateo, lying flat on his back, breathing loudly. “The woman he carried from the river is also ill,” he said. “Whatever she has, she gave it tae him.”
Rodion looked at Titan. “You know that Matty has always had weakened lungs,” he said.
“He has since he was a child. Any chill he caught went to his chest, and I can remember Aunt Amabella using hot water and mint and rosemary to help him breathe. Remember how we could not play with him in the winter?”
Titan nodded. “Aye,” he said. “If there was an illness around, Matty would catch it.”
“Then I need things to help him,” Rodion said. “If we do not, I fear this may grow worse, and I cannot explain to Uncle Markus and Aunt Ama how I let their son die on the cold floor of a nunnery.”
He had a point. Even though Markus de Wolfe and his wife, Amabella—Mateo’s parents—weren’t actually Rodion’s aunt and uncle, the families were so close that the familial distinction was simply accepted. Affectionate terms of address were used by all, regardless of bloodlines.
“He’ll not die here if I can help it,” Estevan said.
He gestured between Rodion and Kaladin. “The two of ye decide what needs tae be done tae help him and what medicaments ye need. I’ll speak tae the mother abbess and ask if we can stay here until Mateo is well enough tae travel.
Titan, ye come with me. I may need yer skills of persuasion. ”
Titan nodded, and he and Estevan headed back over to the opposite side of the sanctuary, where Mother Michael was still trying to glean information from Leonore.
They seemed to be having quite a conversation as Estevan and Titan walked up, but Leonore’s chattering ended in a coughing fit, sounding much like Mateo had.
Listening to that cough, Mother Michael shook her head.
“The poor lass is ill,” she said to Estevan. “To be truthful, I’m surprised she is not dead, given what she has been through.”
“Oh?” Estevan said. “Ye’ve learned more about her?”
Mother Michael nodded. “Aye,” she said. “According to her, she’s a queen to her people, from a place called Sodra oarna. She says that is the name of her home.”
“That’s one of the southern isles,” Estevan said. “I’ve heard of it.”
“Are you certain?”
Estevan nodded. “Ye must remember that my father is the Earl of Torridon, far tae the north, so he must deal with the lords of the isles frequently,” he said. “We know the names of many of the isles they rule.”
“Is he peaceable with them?”
“For the most part,” Estevan said. “He does not bother them and they dunna bother him.”
Mother Michael nodded in understanding, her focus moving to Leonore as the woman continued to cough.
“She says that she was given or sold to men to the west,” she said.
“A hostage for an alliance, I believe. It is difficult to know what she means, but however she came to live with them, she has escaped them. She was trying to go home when her boat went ashore and she nearly drowned.”
“And that is when we found her,” Estevan said.
“Aye, you did,” Mother Michael agreed. However, she kept her focus on Leonore. “She keeps drawing something in the dirt and speaks of aleam.”
Estevan frowned. “Hazard?” he said, translating the Latin word. “Does she mean peril?”
Mother Michael nodded. “She could be speaking of her journey and how dangerous it was,” she said. “Certainly, it must have been terrible.”
“What is she drawing in the dirt, mother?” Titan asked. “May I see it?”
Mother Michael nodded, leading Titan over to Leonore, who was now being helped back to her cot by a couple of the other nuns.
The light was growing in the sanctuary now that dawn had arrived and a few of the candle banks were being lit.
Titan could see the scribbling and knelt down, peering closely at the dirt.
Mother Michael stood with him for a few moments until one of the nuns helping Leonore called to her.
She left Titan crouched on the ground with Estevan standing over him.
“What is it?” Estevan said. “Do ye see something?”
Titan didn’t say anything for a moment. He was staring at one of the drawings in particular. As he pointed at it, Estevan bent over his shoulder, giving the drawing a closer look.
“What do ye see?” he said. “It looks like water tae me. She’s drawn the waves.”
But Titan shook his head. “Those are not waves,” he said. “Waves do not usually have a head on them. See it?”
It took Estevan several moments to see what he meant. There was, indeed, a head on one of wavy lines. He knelt down next to Titan, his brow furrowed.
“A serpent?” he said, fishing for answers. He looked at Titan. “Think about this, now. She says she was sold, or given, tae men in the west.”
Titan was following his line of thought. “West of us is Ireland,” he said. “But southwest is the Isle of Mann.”
Estevan was on to something. That was clear in his expression, the way his eyes moved back to the drawing. He finally put his finger on it, literally. His finger was in the dirt.
“Who lives on the Isle of Mann, Titan?” he asked.
Titan didn’t even have to think about it. He knew. “Jesus,” he muttered. “They do. Ormsfolk.”
“The Serpent People.”
That realization was deeply concerning. Estevan stood up, and Titan with him, and they made their way over to Leonore, who had just lain down. But Estevan spoke to Mother Michael first.
“I think we may know what her drawings mean,” Estevan said. “May I ask her?”
“Please,” Mother Michael said, indicating the woman. “Please ask her.”
Estevan turned to the woman. “Domina mea,” he said. “Estne periculum homines vermium?”
My lady, is the danger the worm people?
That brought Leonore off the bed. “Ita!” she cried. “Me invenient!”
Aye! And they will kill us all!
Estevan looked at Titan as their concerns were confirmed. Mother Michael, who had been listening closely, gently pushed Leonore back onto the mattress before turning to the men.
“Worm people?” she said. “Who are the worm people?”
Estevan sighed heavily. “Ormsfolk,” he said grimly. “They are better known as the Serpent People. They are a clan that lives on the northern tip of the Isle of Mann. Ye’ve not heard of them?”
Mother Michael frowned as she thought on the question. “I do not know,” she said. “We do not get many travelers here. Information does not come easily.”
Estevan wasn’t sure how to delicately phrase what he had to tell her.
“These aren’t ordinary men,” he said. “They’re more beast than man.
They live in holes and breed eels in great ponds in their domain.
That’s why they’re called Serpent People.
But they are extremely territorial, and extremely violent, and if that woman belonged tae them, then they will come for her. ”
Mother Michael was listening seriously. “I see,” she said. “We shall fight them when they come, then. As you have seen, we can defend ourselves.”
Estevan cast Titan a long glance. When he didn’t answer, Titan spoke up. “They do not fight like normal men, mother,” he said. “They fight like mad dogs. They are known for hacking their enemies to pieces and then feeding those pieces to their eels. The woman is right—they are quite dangerous.”
Mother Michael nodded patiently, a gesture that suggested she didn’t take the threat seriously in spite of the rather grisly information. “We can easily defend ourselves,” she said. “But you should go before they come. There is no reason for you to risk yourselves.”
Titan almost laughed at the suggestion that they shouldn’t expose themselves to the danger.
“Unfortunately, we cannot leave at the moment,” he said.
“One of our companions is quite ill, something he must have contracted from the lady we found. He has a fever and is coughing the same as she is. We require shelter until he is well enough to travel.”
Mother Michael didn’t answer. She simply walked over to Mateo as he lay on the ground. She studied him a moment, listening to his breathing, before bending over to put a hand on his face.
“Ah,” she said, pulling away. “He is indeed feverish. You may leave him here while you continue on your way.”