10

The next morning, Fiona and Natalie stocked up on a few supplies at the outpost that they hadn’t been able to bring from home. These would be necessary for the next, longer leg of their journey.

They considered asking Mari, the healer they had spoken to the night before, if she might travel with them—they were traveling to the same destination after all—but she had apparently left earlier.

The journey as a whole took about four days, and by the time they reached the gates of Spira City, Mari had already joined Sami and Hera on their merry little mission.

The two sisters had a different destination, however. At about the same time as Sami’s heart was racing at the thought of fighting a terrifying lake-serpent, Fiona’s was racing at the thought of who she and Natalie were about to meet in a few more days: the Duke of this land.

Natalie had told her a little more about the job she’d been hired for as they traveled. Apparently, the Duke was feeling rather under the weather, but none of the local magical healers had been able to figure out the cause or cure.

Instead, they had decided to try turning to more traditional remedies, sending letters to a number of herbalists in the neighboring towns in hopes that at least one of them had the unique local knowledge or herbs needed to figure out a solution.

Natalie had been surprised that they even knew of a doctor from such a backwater town as herself, but it was undeniable that she was good at what she did. Besides, if nothing else, she would be compensated for her troubles as long as she showed up and made an attempt.

* * *

They were met at the gate by a woman in a maid uniform, but rather than the usual tight bun that household servants usually wore, her brunette hair was simply tied up in a ponytail. Either the owners of this estate were less strict on their hired help, or she was of a higher position among the maids and allowed more freedom with her appearance.

Whatever the case, she was currently operating the mechanisms that opened the gates to let Natalie and Fiona inside. She then nodded and greeted them before leading them up the path to the manor itself.

The grounds leading up to the mansion in the woods were not particularly decadent. In place of a courtyard of any description, there was only a garden in front of the building.

It gave off the impression that the Duke in charge didn’t care about showing off his wealth. From the stories she had heard about royalty, she had been expecting much more than this

Noticing Fiona’s apparent confusion, the maid explained, “Duke Locke takes care of most of his business through mail, and holds very few meetings. Basically, he finds impressing others to be unnecessary, and I simply keep this humble garden by my own initiative.”

It was indeed a humble garden, but it had plenty of charm to it. The maid smiled when Natalie told her as much.

Entering the building, ascending a flight of stairs, and navigating a few hallways, they eventually came to what was presumably the Duke’s personal quarters. A young woman about Fiona’s age, presumably the Duke’s daughter, was leaning on the wall next to the door with her arms crossed.

Fiona found herself briefly mesmerized by her soft blue hair and sharp purple eyes, but looked away embarrassed when they made eye contact. She felt her face heat up a few degrees as the woman studied it and then peered curiously at the feline ears on top of her head, but after only a few seconds she nodded and returned to gazing into the wall at nothing in particular.

“Mistress Sami, I know you must be tired from our… outing earlier today, but at least greet our guests will you?” the maid chided her lightly before she moved to open the door to the Duke’s quarters.

One would have expected an indignant response from a Lady of the house being told what to do by a servant, but they must have been on good terms personally because all she said in reply was “Huh? Oh, right.”

Lady Sami uncrossed her arms and stood up straight, then made a curt bow of greeting, “One of you is the next doctor to check on my father, right? A few others have come by in the last week or so, but they couldn’t figure anything out. Hopefully you have more luck than they did.”

Natalie nodded. She didn’t know how much help she would be, but she would try her best.

* * *

Fiona and Sami sat in a nearby lounge while Natalie performed her examination, supervised by the maid who introduced herself as Claudia. Another maid brought them tea and biscuits, but Sami didn’t appear to be hungry.

Not wanting to make any moves that might be interpreted as rude, Fiona debated on whether she should take a biscuit before the Lady had. However, Sami gently encouraged her to take one and she did so, nibbling on it with as much dignity as she could muster.

Sami’s chilly and distant attitude melted as she watched the other girl’s nervous behavior. “Go ahead and relax,” she said to her, “we’re not exactly the most formal of families around here, Goddess knows your table manners are better than my little brother’s are even among important company.”

Fiona made an effort to loosen up a little, but it was difficult to do so in front of such an important stranger on their first meeting. Sami shrugged and made an attempt to spark some light conversation “So, where’re you two from?”

The two of them chatted for a while, the maids filling their teacups as necessary. After a few minutes of this, Fiona started warming up to the company. Sami and the maids were so much kinder and less… suspicious around her than the people of Prola had been, despite only having just met her. Not once did Sami ask any uncomfortable questions about her… less human features.

She was not only beautiful, but considerate as well. Fiona had never enjoyed spending time with someone this much, except for maybe with her sister, but that was different.

She had noticed passersby in the streets staring at her ears, but… If more people in Spira City were like Sami, Fiona finally felt like she was going to be able to actually enjoy their short time there.

If only things could have remained that way.

* * *

On the other side of a door a few rooms away, Natalie spoke with the Duke who was sitting up in his bed, making her best effort to keep her composure. She asked him questions about his symptoms, and performed a few other checks.

Strangely enough, it seemed that he had been doing better recently than he had apparently been before, according to Claudia.

Natalie was a little bit unsure what to say for a diagnosis. From what he had said, it seemed to be nothing more serious than a stomach bug, but it had persisted for far longer than usual.

She tried using a simple spell—no doubt one many others had tried before her—to check his body for any impurities, toxins, or internal damage, but found none. She did have with her the ingredients for a stomach bug remedy, but considering the number of healers that had failed before her she seriously doubted it was that simple.

Not knowing whether her remedy would react poorly with whatever he had already been prescribed by the others, and still unsure if it was the right cure, she had no choice but to leave him with her medicine. She recommended that he only take it if any other medication he was taking were showing no effects, just to be safe.

But, perhaps, despite the fact that the identification spell found nothing, he could still somehow be afflicted by some kind of poison—

Interrupting that thought, another maid hurried into the room. “Sir,” she spoke just as hurriedly as she had moved, “important message for you.”

Natalie felt like she should probably leave the room for this, but the Duke had already opened the letter and started reading. His face was already somewhat grim from the sickness, but it only darkened as he read.

Natalie awkwardly shuffled her feet and looked to Claudia for any cue as to what she should be doing, but both she and breathless maid were only intently watching their master’s expression. The master himself lowered the letter and, surprisingly, turned to Natalie.

“Miss Ferwell. I suggest that you and your companion consider leaving the city as soon as possible. We will be doing the same, as soon as we’ve prepared evacuation procedures for the people.”

He was silent for a few moments, causing the now thoroughly shaken Natalie to wonder if he was finished, then spoke again.

“We’ve received urgent warning of an attack on the city by the nation of Loma... in fact, they are already upon us. Tensions on the southern border have been high as of late, but it seems they’re now prepared to spare us no quarter.”