Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"Can I go, Da?" Kate asked him, needing to be there for Kell just in case he did pass away. "I can take Ciaran with me. I'm sure that he would go."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm going t'need Ciaran here. Th'road to Aberdeen is safe, so why don' you ask Annie if y'can take Ferrous so you get there quickly." Ferrous loved Kate as much as Phearson did, and she was one of only a handful of people who could completely control him.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate was soon at her sister's house, waiting as patiently as she could as Annie got Ferrous saddled and ready for the trip to Aberdeen.

"You should ask Alex if he wanted to go with you. I know Da said it's safe, but it's always nice to have someone travel with you." Annie commented as she glanced over at her sister.

Alex had been adopted by their Uncle Theo and Aunt Valentina when he was a toddler. His mother had died from cancer one winter and his father had never been in the picture.

"I don't think he would go." Kate said softly as she took the reigns from Annie. "He only travels when he has to."

"It'll be good for the both of you. Trust me." Annie said as she hugged her sister's shoulders and sent her on her way.

Kate made her way to the house in the woods where Valentina and Theo lived, relieved to see them both at home. She had always liked their home. It smelled of wood smoke and herbs and was always clean and tidy despite having very small children running about.

"Uncle Theo." Kate called out as she spotted him working outside. "I'm on my way to Aberdeen and I wanted to know if Alex could go with me."

 

[KieranSoares]

Theo turned from his large garden of herbs, many rare or hard to find in the isles, and he cleaned his hands on a kerchief from his pocket. "Al!" He called before coming to Kate. "What's takin' you t'Aberdeen at a time like this, lass?" He knew she wasn't the sort to run off unless something immensely important needed to be done.

Alex, now nearly twenty, appeared from the shed where Theo, an avid fisherman, smoked fish and prepared certain types of dried and smoked herbal remedies for Valentina to use. Alex was a forester by trade, his work making him a hunter and a guide and s general keeper of the wilder parts of Brogan's land.

"Hey, Kate," Alex said in his usual quiet way. He was no huge powerhouse, but like David who was his dear friend, he was lean and athletic with a hidden strength. Alex had always been a little thin but he was immensely agile and the finest archer in the family if not the whole town, having been trained by werefolk. It was easy to tell he wasn't an Ambrose or Irons thanks to his red-brown hair, but he'd developed the same dark tan skin as Theo over time.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Kell is ill." Kate said softly as her uncle asked her why she was going to Aberdeen in such a hurry. "Da says that the road there is safe, but Annie suggested I find someone to travel with. Da needs Ciaran to stay here."

She glanced over at Alex as he appeared and greeted her in his usual gentle way. It would make her feel better knowing that there was someone there that could help her if Kell were in bad shape. Valentina had taught Alex practical healing since he was old enough to know the names of the different herbs that they grew. It was how her own father had trained her.

 

[KieranSoares]

"The same plague, him?" Alex asked softly. "I'll be ready in ten minutes." He, like Valentina, would never turn down treating someone for any reason. He headed inside to get everything he needed, and Theo took Kate inside as well to pack up some things they'd need for Kell, the majority of which was painkilling and anti-inflammatory herbs to help him breathe. By the time they got there, he'd be in a critical state and nearly suffocating without proper treatment. Alex only packed the essentials and money, soon going out to saddle his horse Falk. Falk and Valentina's horse Giovanni were her old stallion Raul's last two colts before Annie retired the trusty horse along with Phearson. Raul still often came with Valentina as her riding horse while Gio acted as a packhorse, but Falk was raised to navigate forests with Alex. He and Ferrous would absolutely eat up the distance through wood and plain.

 

[heartofcourage]

By the time that Kate had the herbs packed into her saddlebags, her younger cousins were clamoring for their father's attention. Viola was a little beauty, clinging to Theo's pant leg as her much more vocal older sister, Francesca, made her intentions known.

"I wanna go to, Papa!" Francesca insisted, looking up at him with her mother's dark eyes that seemed far too big for her seven year old face. "Please? I promise to be good."

Francesca was the loudest of their children, letting her opinions be known since she was an infant. She was the baby that they had waited so long for and it seemed that all of their persistence had manifested in a little spitfire. Viola was her complete opposite, tiny and quiet at three years old, content to follow her father to the loch to fish or to help him around the garden. She had been helping more and more since their little brother had been born the past winter.

"Franny, this isn't the trip for you." Kate said softly to her young cousin. "We have to ride hard and fast to make it."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Francesca," Theo said with a sigh. He never called her by her full name unless he was being serious with her. "Kate's goin' off t'take care o' someone who's very sick. She an' Alex can't spend time playin' or explorin' with you. This isn't fer fun."

 

[heartofcourage]

"But I can help too." Francesca said, tears already gathering in her dark eyes as he father told her no.

"Franny, I promise that I'll bring you something special back, but you have to stay here this time." Kate said softly as the little girl tried so hard to understand why she couldn't go with her brother. "And you too, Vi."

 

[KieranSoares]

Alex had a special relationship with his family, a sort of quiet shoulder for them all to lean on and a constant listener. He was immensely protective of them all, and he was often the one who kept them all together when outbreaks struck and forced Valentina and Theo to be away for days at a time. He knelt down and pulled Viola and Francesca in close, knowing their attachment to him would make his time away tough for them when Valentina was gone every day too trying to keep ahead of the werefolk plague. Theo only spent a little time away, needing to be home to care for the baby while Alex could handle the girls.

Alex kissed his sisters' cheeks. "I'll be back as soon as Kell can make it home too." He took off the Venetian locket Valentina had given him when she'd taken him in. "Look after this for me, okay?" He always left it with the girls when he was going to be away for a while. It gave them a sense of duty and a promise he'd come home to get it.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'll take care of your hens." Viola whispered against his ear, promising to collect all the eggs as she helped him do every morning. "And your special plants in the window."

"Don't go." Francesca begged as she took his locket and held it tightly to her chest.

Kate felt bad since the girls depended so much on Alex when Valentina was busy. She knew that when she got to Aberdeen it would be hard to care for Kell on her own, however. By the time the two were saddled up and leaving the woods, Francesca was a sobbing mess.

"I'm sorry I'm pulling you away when they need you home." Kate said softly to her cousin. "Franny will understand in time though."

 

[KieranSoares]

"She will," Alex nodded as he glanced back once more to wave to his sisters. "It's tough for her just to let me leave to do my job. But I don't intend to go off on my own until they can make it without me." He had grown up very quickly even though Valentina and Theo did everything they could to let him have a good childhood. When other children were distracted from their lessons and squirming to go outside and play, Alex was always impatient to get back to his books and plants and he was probably one of the most educated people in Inverness. And though he wasn't so terribly shy anymore, actually rather fearless, he was still quiet and reserved and many people underestimated him for it.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You know you never have to go off on your own. They love you very much." Kate said softly as Alex spoke of striking out when the girls were old enough.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm still deciding whether I should... Journeys like this, to a place as close as Aberdeen... They don't bother me. But I don't want to end up far away. I love Inverness, but more than that, I think I'd break Ma's heart if I went too far off. Still, it's a possibility I might end up somewhere else. This plague is taking a lot out of Inverness and requiring a lot of charity. That means a lot of people are going to be scraping to get by after it's over. As much as your father can try to pay for it all, his treasury doesn't have that much money. Inverness might be flourishing but it's never been rich with silver and gold. That means when push comes to shove soon, a lot of people might have to find new jobs, including myself."

 

[heartofcourage]

"There will be some lean times but in a year or two everything will be back to where it should be." Kate said as Ferrous lead the way towards the main path to Aberdeen. "Your Ma would be proud of you for going somewhere to help others but she would be very sad not to have you around. You help her and Grandpa more than you'll ever know."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I couldn't very well say no to you, especially considering how much Kell means to you and Brogan." Alex gave her a small smile. Their journey was swift, pushing the limits of the powerful horses. They made Aberdeen in record time of only two days. They arrived about dusk the second day and when Kate went to Aberdeen Castle to find Kell, she was directed to a guest room in the castle where Kell lay motionless aside from the uneven rise and fall of his chest, and there was a terrible sound coming from his lungs and throat that Kate had heard all too often among the worst afflicted. An immune Kalma healer was there with him, but she looked exhausted from caring for him nearly constantly. Despite the plague not being able to affect humans, the lord of Aberdeen had asked only a few healers be in contact with Kell so to limit the possibility of spreading among the few werefolk in the city.

 

[heartofcourage]

It was terrifying to see Kell in such distress, but she knew that she had to stay calm to help him in any meaningful way. Kate was next to him in an instant, sitting at his bedside as Alex got the supplies ready for him.

"I'm here, Kell." Kate whispered against his ear as she took his hand in her own and squeezed it. "Hold on for me a while longer. You'll be up on your feet in no time."

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell's usually-clear and sharp golden eyes opened, now dulled with pain and sickness. He gave her a smile. "You didn't have to come, Kate... a few more days and I would've been home."

 

[heartofcourage]

"A few more days and you wouldn't be here any more." Kate said as she glanced towards Alex as he started to prepare the herbs that they would get Kell to drink. "And you know how angry I would be if you left me after all this time."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know," Kell nodded slightly. When Alex set the kettle over the fireplace to boil, he came over to help Kell sit up as the Wolf just didn't have the strength. "Who's this...?" Kell asked quietly. He'd seen Alex before with Valentina, but never properly met him.

"Alex Irons," Alex said softly. "Kate asked me to come along to help."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Alex is my cousin." Kate said softly as Alex introduced himself and helped Kell to sit up. "Ciaran had to stay behind in Inverness to help and Alex knows as much about herbs as anyone else in Inverness. Aunt Valentina has taught him very well how to be a healer."

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell nodded slowly at her explanation. It seemed everything was going in slow motion for him. Alex took a look at his throat and his nose where the most inflammation seemed to occur in the other werefolk. That decided what herbs were going into the tea, but Kell had drifted off to sleep before it was even ready. "Keep listening and make sure he doesn't stop breathing," Alex told Kate. That was half the battle, staying focused and listening closely.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate nodded, leaning down to press her ear against his chest to listen to his heart and his breathing. She had never been more frightened to lose someone in her life. It didn't seem real that she was there, keeping Kell alive. If she lost him now, she didn't know what she might do.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell's breathing remained ragged and uneven, but constant until Alex woke him to drink the herbal tea. It was a bitter brew, so Alex had taken a page out of his mother and grandfather's book and sweetened it with honey. The honey would soothe the dry burning of Kell's throat too. Kell drifted in and out of consciousness after he'd finished the mug, the pain no longer an issue and his breathing a little smoother. Alex stoked the fire to make the room warm as possible as he knew the plague victims suffered from terrible chills, and he went off to make something Kell could eat without too much trouble.

While he was gone, Kate saw for the first time that Kell talked in his sleep. She caught his sister's name a few times, and soft calls for his grandfather and mother.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Mary's gone, love." Kate said softly as she heard him calling for his sister in his delirium. "And your mother too. I'm here for you, though. I'll always be right here for you."

She had no idea if Kell could even hear her in his sleep. Even if he couldn't, it meant a lot to her that she was there with him in his time of need. This might very well be the worst of their relationship and if it was, she was determined to make sure that they both came out unscathed.