Her question seemed completely random yet surprisingly accurate. “Yes, how did you know?”
Desi pressed her lips together. Whatever she had to say wouldn’t please Alissa at all.
“Would you be able to tell me if the blade used to stab your leg was rusted?”
“It was—that thing was older than Mr. Hamit.”
Even though Desi had no idea who Mr. Hamit was, she nodded with sorrowful eyes.
“What does this mean?” Eldric interrupted, his voice carrying an urgency Alissa hadn’t noticed from him before.
“I’m afraid Alissa contracted Ferrugia.”
Eldric cursed under his breath and punched the closest cabinet.
They stared at him, puzzled by his unexpected outburst. “Ferrugia?” Alissa asked.
“It’s a disease caused by an infection spread from injuries inflicted by rusted steel.”
“Is she going to be okay?” It was Freyah who spoke this time.
“Ferrugia is a very rare, fatal disease here in Heldraine. However, for your luck, I have already developed an experimental potion to treat it. It had a fifty-percent success rate for the patients I’ve treated,” Desi said while she removed the bandages wrapping Alissa’s leg to check the injury.
“Fifty percent? What about the other half?”
Desi’s silence fell heavier than any words. Alissa swallowed in response.
“Give her the damn potion, woman. What are you waiting for?” Eldric rushed to the potion cabinet, skimming the labels, rummaging through the glass vials, desperate to cure her.
Freyah placed her hand on his shoulder to calm the man down. He was acting oddly anxious and impatient since Alissa fell ill.
“Will you please stop messing up this cabinet? It took me months to organize it, sir,” Desi said, her hands on her waist, holding the position of a mother reprimanding their child for misbehaving. Even though Desi wasn’t much older than him, Eldric must have felt like a child because he did as she said.
“I will administer her the potion, but it is not that simple. I will need to handle the treatment every day for about nine days. She will need to stay here in full rest during this period.”
“Nine days? There’s no way!” Alissa snapped. “I can’t lose that much time. I need to leave.” The possibility of having to sit back for that long while her daughter died triggered her biggest fear: wasting precious time and not getting back to Dhalia in time.
Before all this, Alissa had the perception that nine days was a short period of time. Now, when her daughter’s life was at risk, those days were too precious to waste. Even if they meant she would be risking her life as a consequence.
She made a movement to stand up, but Eldric and Freyah stopped her.
“Do you want to die, miss?” the healer asked, the softness in her voice still unwavering. “You will, if you leave before I end your treatment.”
Desi started walking toward the exit. “I’ll give you all some privacy to decide.”
When the woman left, Alissa stood, moaning in pain, limping to retrieve the rest of her clothes from the chair. Freyah stoppedher before she reached it. She leaned forward and embraced Alissa tightly.
“You need to stay alive to be able to save Dhalia, Lissa,” she whispered in her ear.
“I can’t,” Alissa murmured. She pushed back, her eyes filling with tears.
“Will it be of any use to our purpose here for you to die before we do what we came here to do?” Freyah said, her voice louder and more serious this time.
It caught Eldric’s attention, and he narrowed his eyes, curious about what could have been so important to make Alissa fret about having to delay their trip to the capital for a little over a week.
Freyah’s words hurt. They hurt so badly because Alissa knew them to be true, and once again she found herself stuck in that miserable duality of feelings; she was losing precious time and risking not getting back in time for Dhalia, but would any of it matter if she died trying?
Dhalia would end up fated to death as a consequence of her decision.