Plague of Mybyncia (24 page)

God help me if she reaches for him like that
one more time, though.

“I… uh…” Reid is looking around the room for
help but Jace merely smirks at the scene. Werzo and Booker aren’t
sure what to think and Mae and Pratt seem afraid, their focus
flickering between Mallup and Reid and me, as if awaiting the hair
snatching and wall tossing to begin. Sampson, Clarence and the
queen share similar worries and it might be why Sampson finally
breaks the silence.

“Well,” he turns to Clarence, “you said it
earlier. There’s no time like the present. Shall we?”

The queen turns to Chancellor Keller. Gazing
over him, she asks in softer words than I expect, “Are you
ready?”

“Yes…” a deep inhale, “…your Majesty.”

“A little more Dilly before he goes out?” she
looks to Mae.

“Of course,” she sprints over, feeding the
chancellor heaping spoonfuls of the green plant. He finally holds a
hand up to stop her.

“Save some…” a large breath, “for the
others…”

“What about Tucker?” I ask, glancing to him
still asleep in the coral bed. He hasn’t moved since Reid tried to
put him on the Millix before and that thought makes me nervous. I
wish there was a doctor who could look at him. What if it’s a
concussion? Does he need medical attention? Or just rest for
now?

“He will be fine here with Mallup and my
daughters,” Queen Ravan says. “If his condition does not change, we
can have the Healers can take a look in a bit.” She stands back as
Clarence and Reid both help the chancellor to his feet. Once he’s
secure, they drape his arms over their shoulders, moving behind her
as she heads for the coral door. Before she leaves she turns to the
rest of us. “The reserve of Dilly is located on the bottom level of
the FH. There should be three barrels, but that is all I have,” she
goes to say more but stops, a solemn expression emitting. “Be
careful.”

She nods and then heads out, Clarence, Reid
and a hobbling chancellor right behind her.

“When Clarence and Reid return, we shall
depart,” Sampson looks from me to the others.

“Hey sir limps-a-lot,” Pratt laughs, making
her way over to Jace, “you coming with? Or you going to stay
behind?”

He scoffs, clearly offended. “Coming with.
Not staying behind with the ladies and sleeping beauty over there.
What about you Werzo?” he turns to him, “you going to puss out
again?”

“I’m going!” Werzo sneers. “And I only
‘pussed’ out to help administer the Dilly.”

“Yeah,” I roll my eyes. “
That’s
the
reason.”

“Will you ladies be alright here?” Sampson
turns to Mallup and both princesses. Sansa seems to be as out of it
as Tucker, so Ariana and Mallup simply nod. Satisfied with their
response, Sampson offers a reassuring grin. “We’ll be back
shortly.”

“Are they going to know what it is?” Pratt
asks. “When we bring the barrels up—they’re not going to swarm us,
are they?”

“No,” Sampson shakes his head. “I think
between the lot of us, we’ll manage. But we need to have the Dilly
closer at hand for the administrators to deliver the dosages.”

“Are you certain I cannot assist you?” Mallup
tries. “I can lead you down to the lowest level.”

“That actually may not be a bad idea,”
Sampson scratches his chin. “It’ll make getting there and back
quicker.”

“Anything I can do to help, Fychu,” Mallup
says just as Clarence and Reid return.

“Alright,” Sampson glances back to the
newcomers. “Mallup is going to help us with retrieving the barrels
of Dilly. I had an idea of the layout, but it’s been quite some
time since I visited the FH,” he turns to her. “Ready when you
are.”

“Then let us go,” she heads for the door,
smiling wide at Reid. “This will give me a chance to thank you for
your heroic actions.”

“Uh,” he grins uncomfortably, “…you’re
welcome.”

“Nonsense,” she hooks her arm with his,
leading him out of the room before he can protest. Clarence
follows, tossing a look back at Sampson and me before leaving.

“Well that was awkward,” Jace laughs, jumping
to his feet. “Thought you were going to go bat-shit crazy on
her.”

“What?” I feign ignorance.

“Seriously,” Pratt nods approvingly, heading
for the door. “Way to go on not kicking her ass.”

“She’s terrified…”

“Well you’re better than me,” Pratt laughs.
“She’d have two black eyes if it was me.”

“I will inform her…” Ariana tries to sit up,
her breath still coming in labored gulps, “that he is taken. She
does not…” another full breath, “…know yet.”

“Oh she knows,” Mae nods with the first purse
to her lips I’ve ever seen. “Don’t think she cares.”

“How do…” a large exhale, “…you know?”

Mae offers her some more Dilly, “She’s had
her eye on Reid since yesterday.”

“Well…” Ariana frowns, declining the plant,
“I will tell her…” another deep breath, “…he is spoken for.”

“Alright guys,” Sampson gestures us toward
the door. “Come on. We need to get those barrels.”

“We’ll be back soon,” I say, following the
Rogues out as Sampson closes the door behind us. Falling to the
back of the line, I join up at the Fychu’s side. “I know you said
they wouldn’t swarm us but—”

“We’ll bring them back through the queen’s
private Docking Station and keep them in her quarters for the time
being.”

I nod, keeping pace with him. “What happens
when we run out?”

“Well…” he inhales with a solemn expression,
“that’s something we have to figure out quite soon.”

I want to ask more, to know what we’ll do
when the Dilly resources have been used up, but I decide not to.
Sampson is in deep concentration, probably working out the same
issue. Besides, we need to take things one at a time. That’s what
Granny Ruth always said. One thing at a time, one day at a time.
Just like on Harrizel—just like now. With this war between the
Arizals and Vermix, I have no idea where I’ll end up or what’s
going to happen. When it’s all over, will we return to Ellae and
rebuild? Or head back to Sampson’s home, Dellapalania? And that’s
only if the war ends in our favor.

But what if it doesn’t?

You’re only setting yourself up for
failure.

Granny Ruth’s words ring in my head, her
majestic smile as clear as the golden glowing tunnel filled with
sickly Mybyncians around me. Would she believe where I am? Right
this instant? If I could tell her what I was doing, what I’ve
done—would she believe me?

Things happen every day you don’t expect.

But this is different. Ever since waking up
to Clarence, it’s
been
different. It’s been… unreal. How
could she understand any of this? And yet… and yet I’m dying to
tell her, to share with her everything I’ve been through,
everything that’s happened—the one person I need most to know. Even
if she couldn’t empathize, at least she’d listen. At least I could
let it all out. At least I could share with the one person who
knows me best, the one person who would know what to say.

My chest constricts.

Help me, Granny Ruth. I miss you.

If only she were here. Even for a second—I
could wrap my arms around her and tell her what she means. I could
tell her how sorry I am for not being there, for talking with Becky
and Sandi after work and arriving home later than I was supposed
to. If I hadn’t been late, I could’ve done something. I might’ve
seen her one last time. I might’ve been able to help… to stop…

“You know, Fallon,” Sampson clears his
throat, “you and the others… you will always have a place with us.
I’m not quite sure where we’ll end up at the end of all this, but…”
he risks a glance at me, “we’re family now. You understand that,
right?”

I nod.

“I know you all have lost those important to
you—we all have—but we’re in this together. Me and Clarence and the
girls and the Rogues... we’ve got to stick together. If we do that,
if we work as a family, we’ll get through this and win the war for
the Arizals,” he risks another glance at my hesitation. “You
believe me, don’t you?”

I nod again.

“Good,” he exhales, making for the end of the
tunnel. He starts to say something but clears his throat. “This
way.”

We pass through the Great Hall and into the
passage leading back for the queen’s chambers. When we arrive, the
rest of the group is in the private Docking Station, one of the
giant Stancimis’s already wading in the pool.

“Mimi or Gala?” I ask.

“Gala,” Sampson moves forward. “Qippert
advised she is more accustomed to transporting strangers. Now,” he
climbs on the Stancimis, “let’s make this quick. We’ll strap the
barrels to her here,” he taps on her cratered back, “and bring them
right back to the queen’s chambers. Everyone got it?”

“What’re we going to strap them with?” Pratt
asks.

“Qippert supplied us with some twine,”
Clarence shows a handful of long rope. “It’ll be a slow ride, but
it’s the only way we can move all three barrels at once.”

“And we need them up here quickly,” Sampson
says. “Alright, let’s get your headgear on and get going.”

We all do as he says and mounting the giant
Stancimis. She sets out, descending into the thick depth of
floating Mybyncians, heading straight for the FH’s lowest
level.

It takes about twenty minutes to load up all
three barrels which are made of stiffened seaweed and stand as tall
as Sampson. He and the boys do the majority of the work, moving the
Dilly closer to Gala as Pratt, Mae and I assist Clarence with tying
the barrels to her cratered back. Mallup stands nearby, watching
the Rogues transport the barrels from the end of the dark
basement-like room to the mini Docking Station on the other side.
Once we’re finished, and we’ve cleaned the FH of all the available
Dilly, we head back the queen’s chamber where Qippert is waiting
for us, several seaweed-woven bags in hand.

“Ah…” he watches us climb off Gala, already
freeing the barrels from her back. “You have brought them. I have a
few bags we can fill to start the next round of dosages. We can
keep the remainder in here.”

“How’s the chancellor doing?” Sampson
dismounts the giant Stancimis.

Qippert sighs. “He is as he was.”

“And the princesses?” I ask.

“I am not sure. I have been with the queen,
the chancellor and Princess Varille in the Great Hall, trying to
keep everyone calm.”

“We should go check on them,” I turn to
Sampson. “And Tucker too.”

He nods. “Pratt, Mae—if you could stay and
help Mallup administer some of the Dilly, I would appreciate
it.”

“You got it, Fychu,” Pratt nods, heading to
grab a bag from Qippert. Mae follows, and right after her, a sullen
faced Mallup. Qippert passes out a bag to each as Sampson pries
open the first barrel, distributing the Dilly.

“I’ll take the kids back to the attendant’s
chamber,” Clarence says, leading us toward the Great Hall. When we
reach it, we find nothing has changed—sickly and healthy Mybyncians
fill the room until there’s no available space. Clarence carves a
path through the crowd and we all follow until entering the
attendant’s quarters.

Sansa is still out, but Tucker is awake and
sitting beside Princess Ariana’s bedside, the two leaning close to
one another. They’re in deep conversation and barely notice as we
enter. Clarence clears his throat.

“How’d it go?” Tucker jumps to his feet. “You
get a lot?”

“All three barrels,” Clarence nods.

“How are you feeling?” I move toward the
princess. She’s gotten a little color back. “Better?”

“Better…” she blushes with a deep inhale.
“Tucker has…” she gulps, “most graciously… been keeping…” another
gulp, “…me company.”

“And what about you?” I direct my question to
him. “You’re awake and moving around. That’s good.”

“Yeah…” he rubs the back of his head. “Woke
up a little after you left.”

“Good to see you, man,” Reid claps him on his
shoulder.

“Sorry I wasn’t able to help.”

“You didn’t miss much.”

“It looks like you had a nice time here,
though,” Jace grins, sitting on the bed with a large exhale.
“
Jesus
I’m tired.”

Mallup flies through the door, one of the
woven bags in her hand. She looks from Clarence to Reid to Ariana.
“The Fychu advised I should assist both princesses.”

“I think that would be good,” Clarence
agrees.

Smiling at Reid, Mallup passes him, crossing
the room to the coral beds and begins feeding both princesses the
Dilly. A little while passes before Chancellor Keller arrives with
an arm around Queen Ravan and Sampson. Mae and Pratt enter behind
them, carrying two empty bags.

“Alright, we’re ready for more.”

“Pratt and Mae have done an excellent job,”
Sampson beams. “But we need another two bags out tonight. Any
volunteers?” he glances around the room. “How about…Tucker? You
seem to be well rested and moving. And…Reid? If you’re not too
tired. Think you could manage another sweep of the Docking Station
and Great Hall?”

“Not a problem,” Reid says, moving for
Pratt’s bag. “We’re still working from the first barrel?”

Sampson nods. “Nearly to the end of it
already.”

“I’ll take the Great Hall,” Tucker takes
Mae’s bag and heads for the coral door, Reid on his tail and the
two disappear from the room.

“And Mallup,” Sampson turns for her, “why
don’t you take one to Qippert and Princess Varille. They’ve been
watching over Salva, Maris and a few of the guards. I’m sure they
could use some more on their end.”

“Of course, Fychu,” Mallup bows eagerly,
rushing out of the room after the boys.

Ignoring her eager departure, I take a seat
next to Ariana, where Tucker had been previously sitting. After a
bit, Qippert arrives with an exhausted Reid and Tucker behind him.
The Dofinike makes his way to Sampson’s side while the Rogues keep
to the front of the room.