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"Jy
The third man glared at her, but the other two smiled.
"Tell us what happened, Jy
She shrugged, and finally she was crying, her vision clouding. "They all just got sick," she told them. "First Mama and then Papa, and then Delon and Blayne. They're my brothers."
"Were they fevered?"
"I think so. They were… they got sick to their stomachs. All of them."
"The pestilence," the young man said, spitting out the word as if it were a curse.
"Then strange things started happening," Jy
"What strange things?" the third man demanded. He still sounded doubtful.
She took a long breath, trying to calm herself. "They started to use magic." She shook her head, knowing that wasn't quite right.
"You mean trying to heal themselves?"
"No, it wasn't like that. They couldn't help it." They stared at her.
"I don't understand," the older one finally said. "What do you mean, they couldn't help it?"
Jy
"T'Noth," the oldest one said. "Get her some water."
The young one left the room, only to return a moment later with a cup of water. Jy
"My father has healing magic," she began again, speaking slowly. "But last night it tore his skin open. I think he might have bled to death." "Could a fever do that, S'Doryn?" T'Noth asked.
The older man shook his head. "I've never heard of it before."
"But they're Y'Qatt," said T'Kaar. "They've hoarded their magic all their lives. Who knows what a fever might do to them? It may be that her mother and father-"
"It wasn't just them," Jy
For a long time, none of them spoke. The oldest of the three men was watching her, his face grim. The other two were eyeing each other. At last, the older man stood. "All right, Jy
"No."
The smile faded. He nodded once and patted her leg through the wool blanket that still covered her. "I wouldn't be either."
With that, he stood and led the other two men out of the room. The young one was the last to go, and he glanced back at her. But he didn't smile or say anything, and he made certain to close the door behind him.
Jy
So she concentrated on the room and on the wardrobe that stood in the corner near the door. The clothes belonged to a man, someone taller than her father. Maybe they were the young man's; he was the tallest of the three men who had been speaking to her. T'Noth. She thought his name odd. In other ways though, this could easily have been a room in Tivston. The clothes looked similar to those she was accustomed to seeing. So were the blankets and bed cloths. Jy
The door opened and T'Noth poked his head inside. Seeing the empty bed, he frowned. When he spotted Jy
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing!" she said. "Just looking around."
“Why?”
She shrugged. "I don't know. I was bored."
Clearly, he hadn't expected that answer. "Well… you shouldn't look through other people's things."
"I'm sorry. Is this your room?"
He frowned again, but after a moment he nodded.
"Do you live here by yourself?"
"Now, what kind of-"
The door opened and S'Doryn walked in. Seeing that Jy
She shrugged again, her eyes flicking toward the younger man. He turned to T'Noth. "What's going on?"
"She was… she was looking at my things."
The older man raised an eyebrow. "And?"
T'Noth shook his head. "Never mind."
S'Doryn held out his hand to her. "Jy
"And then will you help me? Will you come back to Tivston with me?"
He faltered, though only briefly. "We'll go back with you. Some of us at least." He started to lead her out of the room, but then stopped and faced her again, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eye. "I don't know what we're going to find there, Jy
She finished the sentence for him. "They'll all be dead."
"It's possible, yes."
"Then can I come here and live with you?" She started to cry again, though she tried hard not to. "I won't have anywhere else."
S'Doryn pulled her to him and held her as she sobbed. "Yes, Jy
She was still crying, but she nodded.
He held her for a moment longer, then gently steered her out of the bedroom and into a small common room. There was a hearth in the far wall, though no fire burned there, and beside it a narrow space that must have served as T'Noth's kitchen, though Jy
"This is Jy
"Yesterday?" one of the women asked, her pale eyes widening. "All of this happened yesterday?"
S'Doryn looked down at Jy
The woman actually stood and stepped toward the door that led outside. "She could still be contagious! How could you have allowed her into the village, much less this house?"
"She's shown no sign of being ill," S'Doryn said evenly. "From all she's told us it seems that the disease came upon them swiftly and with great force. If she were carrying it, she'd be dead by now."