“Would you say Senectus Subita is a disease?”
“No one knows for sure, Miss. Kriegen. I have read every book we have in our local library, and there was never a mention of Senectus anywhere.”
Alissa had suspected as much. There were only a hundred books in Bryniard’s local library, all of them manuals passed down from generation to generation, teachings from farming to fermentation, to ensure Bryniard remained self-sufficient.
Mr. Hamit sighed. “I would say it is a curse, if not in the literal sense, then certainly in the way it burdens our people.”
She was surprised by his admission; she had never seen him as a superstitious man.
“Enough with the questions now, woman,” he said, moving to the door to open it for her.
“One last thing.” Alissa walked towards the door. “Do you know where I could find the answer to that question?”
“Definitely not in Bryniard. My great-grandmother used to say there were rumors of a sacred place outside the walls of our city. She often talked about these ‘canyons’ and how they could offer the answer to all of life’s secrets.” He looked at Alissa for the first time with soft eyes. “Not that we’ll ever find out if that’s true, right?” Mr. Hamit chuckled, and she saw his grumpy expression ease a little.
Alissa couldn’t help but let this last answer take root in her mind, like a seed being placed in fertile soil, waiting to be watered to flourish into something else. She gently tucked her notebook back into her bag.
“Thank you. Mr. Hamit. You were very helpful.”
Alissa was already at the door when he called her name. She glanced back over her shoulder for one last look at the cranky old man.
“What is this for, Miss. Kriegen?” he asked in suspicion.
“Just research, out of curiosity.” She shrugged.
His skeptical murmurs were proof he didn’t believe her, not even a little bit.
“Be careful, girl. Mysteries are only mysteries because they are always better left unsolved.” His low voice carried a warning that sent shivers down her spine as she left the apothecary shop.
Chapter 4
Mistakes of the Past
Alissa walked to Freyah’s to pick Dhalia up with her notebook in hand. An orange, pinkish sunset was already replacing daylight, the moon still shy in the sky. She read and reread all of Mr. Hamit’s answers, as if reading her notes would magically turn them into the answer she needed to save her child. None of them was exactly that, but three of them intrigued her.
The first one was the mention of a dream featuring a princess. Could it have been only a coincidence that Dhalia, only one day after being marked by this known evil, would also have such a dream? Then, the fact that he believed that never before had a child been a victim of Senectus Subita.
And lastly, but most importantly, was his mention of a supposed sacred location—one that held the answers to life’s deepest secrets. From the moment she’d first heard of this place, her thoughts were drawn there. No matter how hard she tried to focus on other things, her mind kept circling back to the canyons. They could be another myth, one of the countless stories the people of Bryniard loved to spread about the world beyond, but the more Alissa dwelt on it, the less itfeltlike mere speculation.
For a moment, she considered the absurdity of it all. How could she truly consider leaving Bryniard, in search of a place she didn’t know if it was real? How could she risk missing out on Dhalia’s last living moments based solely on the word of a man and her own intuition?
Leaving was the last thing Alissa wanted to do, but she knew deep in her heart that the cure could not be found in Bryniard. If it could, hundreds of people wouldn’t have lost their lives to this illness. When faced with the certainty of her daughter’s death if she stayed and the possibility of her salvation if she left, she had no doubt in her mind—this was where she needed to begin her search.
The realization of what she was about to do hit her at once. A knot formed in her throat, and goosebumps ran freely along her arms and legs when the memories of the worst night of her life rushed back, like a punch to her stomach.
Alissa knocked on the dark wooden door, summoning Freyah on the other side. Her long red waves were splayed along her shoulders and chest, and the sweat on her forehead and neck caused the wild strands to stick against her skin. Her apron was stained with sauce and beverages, and the strong smell of ale was another sign of a day of hard work at her family’s tavern. Her hazel right eye surveyed Alissa from head to toe with concern; the left was hidden under a white eyepatch, a sunflower drawn where her eye should have been.
Every time Alissa saw Freyah, she wore a different eyepatch. She had a collection of those with various designs and colors. She had worn them since she lost sight in her left eye due to a wild boar attack when she was sixteen. Alissa was the one to find her best friend in the woods, the enormous animal on top of her, about to shred her to pieces. Alissa quickly shot the boar in the head with an arrow.Not fast enoughwas all she ever thoughtwhen glancing at her friend’s eyepatch and the huge scar that crossed the left side of her face. The guilt still chased her.
“Did you finally decide to apologize?” Freyah asked.
Alissa rolled her eyes. “I’m here to pick Dhalia up.”
Freyah’s smirk was gone as soon as she noticed the anxiety rushing through Alissa, evident in the tapping of her feet and the biting of her nails. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, why do you ask?”
“You look… weird.” She looked down as Alissa shifted her weight on her heels. “What are you planning?” Freyah asked, like she could read her friend’s mind from the way she stood there.