Chapter Forty-Five: Scoundrel Protector

 Nicodemus led Sunny back into the tent. The women had carefully placed the quill needles in small boxes and the bottles were in large vats of boiling water and plucked out and placed on clean linen when they were dry they covered them with another clean piece of linen cloth.

 Sunny sat down on a cushioned chair and made herself comfortable. Nicodemus perched on a stool next to her and laid her hand over his forearm. He covered her hand with his and extended his energies to her. She closed her eyes and let her thoughts grow calm as she began to travel to Lucy.

 Almost immediately, she found Lucy working in the medical tent. As she felt a presence, she turned to greet her visitor. She was slightly surprised to see Sunny. Lucy held out her white dress and apron for inspection, "I am a chief nurse here at the Ballencoo quarantine facility."

 Sunny opened her eyes, "Congratulations!" she cheered, then looked around and was impressed by the orderliness of the tent. 

 The tent flap slithered open, and a figure backed in. He was carrying a metal tray draped with white cloth. When he turned around to face them, he nearly dropped the tray. "Sunny?" 

 "Aye," Lucy said and looked over at Sunny's image. "Sean has been with the sick day and night."

  "Has the thrall completely worn off?" Sunny asked.

 "It has, but he has refused to leave," Lucy replied. "He telephoned his clinic and has volunteered his time to help with the sickness."

 "It's the least I can do," Sean said more to himself than to anyone in the tent. He went over to the table with his tray and slid the contents into a large cooler. "The serum you left is working on the most serious cases, for the others we're treating symptoms and keeping them as comfortable as possible. Your Aunt Fiona's antibodies are not as potent, but they are helping with the less severe cases."

 "Everything looks like it's coming together well," Sunny said. "Sean, I need to know about a few things. We have the collection vials, and we have needles, but we need to know how long they need to be for when we're ready to do injections." 

  Sean thought for a moment then held up his index finger, "Make some no longer than the first section of a man's index finger. The others leave them longer, especially for the collection. It will be less messy and more sterile."

 Sunny glanced up at Nicodemus and he nodded. He left her side and went to let the women know what to do. Sunny then closed her eyes and returned to where Lucy and Sean waited. "I need to learn how to take a blood draw, spin it out, and then how to administer the serum to patients when they come for treatment."

 Sean rubbed his hand several days' growth of beard on his face. "Tell me what you have so far." 

 Sunny ticked off the items they had assembled, and Sean nodded his approval. "Will these quills be strong enough to penetrate the skin and vein?"

 "Let's find out," Sunny replied. "Can you see where I am?"

 Sean and Lucy moved closer to where Sunny was now sitting. Sean moved closer, "It's like watching a movie," he replied. "It looks like you're in a triage tent, a little like this one."

  "We are," Sunny responded. Nicodemus had returned and he brought with him a set of collection tubes and a few of the long quill needles. Sunny found a length of cloth to use as a tourniquet and Nicodemus looped it over and drew it up snugly around her upper arm. He handed Sunny a pad soaked in grain alcohol. She swabbed the area. "Okay, I see a big blue vein will it work?"

 Sean nodded. "Yes, that looks good."

 While Sunny felt the vein, Nicodemus handed her a long quill in a pad. She took the quill needle and turned the sharp point up. 

 Lucy approved of the quill needles they were using; it would be less painful than the metal needles they were using. Sunny held the quill needle at a shallow angle and taking a deep breath, she thrust it into the skin and found the vein. Nicodemus was right there to place the vial container to begin collecting the flow. It ran steadily into the vial. When it was half full there was another vial waiting. The women took the first filled vial and placed a small piece of linen dipped in beeswax over the opening then poured more beeswax to seal the vial completely. Then the vials went into the newly built cooler.

 Sean nodded in approval as he watched what they were doing on their end. "That's good, honey and beeswax both have natural disinfectant properties. Don't collect more than you can use, Sunny. The potency of the serum will deteriorate quickly—it doesn't have a long shelf-life even if you can manage to keep it refrigerated. Since you are the only source for now, you will weaken if you draw too much at one time. You should administer the serum to your volunteers and then to the people who show the most serious signs of illness." 

 After collecting five vials, Nicodemus took a soft pad of cloth and pressed it firmly over the area where the needle had been, wrapped a sterile cloth around her arm, and tied it snugly.

 "I think a tabletop spinning wheel like Cassie had will work best. The centrifugal force will separate the blood samples so you can draw off the serum. You'll need to spin them longer than we did. Draw off the clear plasma and cool it as quickly as you can. It breaks down quickly and you won't be able to use it." 

 Sunny nodded in understanding, "Before I get too tired, tell me how much serum to give to a person?"

 "Well, I wasn't sure how much either," Sean told her, "So I started an adult male with a serious infection with 2 ccs about a half of an inch of your plasma each day and after the third day, he was sitting up feeling fine." He shook his head in disbelief. "Plasma immune injections usually require a lot more time to work, but your plasma sure must pack a punch! We still treated him for his symptoms but all together, he recovered to a point where we could move him to the recovery tent. I'll continue to monitor him and the others in quarantine for about a week. If everything still looks good after that time, we'll release them. I'll run an antigen test on the people who recover so we'll have a record of who might be potential donors. Recovered family members should be compatible with one another."

 Sunny conferred with Sean and Lucy to resolve how to create a syringe to use to inject the serum into the patients. Nicodemus continued to monitor her. His presence was supportive and comforting. Sunny was both appreciative and surprised at how much he had changed since taking her away from Fra'mora. When she made her farewells, she looked over at Nicodemus and smiled faintly. "I think we can do this. I hope with the help of the Sirens we can calm those that are ill to accept the inoculation."

 He waved over a young woman with a tray of food and drink. He seemed to already know she needed nourishment. She accepted the cup and thirstily drank the fruited wine. "Do you know yet how to make the syringe?" He asked her.

 She shook her head. "Not yet," she replied wearily. "You've seen how small the syringe was in Ballencoo. We need something like that, a glass tube with a plunger and a seal that won't leak to draw up the serum and then inject it into a vein. I wish we could get a supply of the syringes Sean had!"

 "Perhaps something along the order of the collection vials?" Nicodemus suggested. Sunny frowned slightly in thought. She looked around for something to write with and Nicodemus produced a stylus and a piece of paper from one of the men who was taking inventory. "Draw what you need, and we will see if we can produce it."

 Sunny sketched out the parts of the syringe and labeled each part. "The needle needs to fit tight to the end, so nothing leaks. The plunger should be made of glass, the same as the vial, there's a rubber tip on the end of the plunger and it needs to be out of something solid and hold a seal good seal. It must be able to draw up the serum into the vial and made of something that won't absorb the serum or contaminate it, then can push it out through the needle into the vein."

 Nicodemus took her drawing, frowning at the parts, "I may have someone who can duplicate this."

 "You've made a lot of contacts haven't you?" Sunny asked, looking up at him with renewed respect.

 "When you have been around as long as I have, you do," Nicodemus replied already thinking of the next thing in a long list of tasks to complete. "They will have to work fast and put aside whatever they are working on. That means compensation."

 "A lot?" She asked, feeling uncomfortable at what the expense could be.

 He studied her drawing a bit longer then looked at her appraisingly. "Yes, of course. This prototype must be built immediately."

 He folded the drawing, tucked it into the inner pocket of his long coat, and sat down. They ate a light meal before preparing to go to Fra'mora. Orion came down from his watch and waited for Sunny to approach. Nicodemus collected his mount and joined them. He assisted her to Orion's back and then mounted his horse.

 "We're going down to Fra'mora," Sunny told Orion. "We need to make sure everything is prepared for those who are sick and need the serum."

 ["Will all be given the serum?"] Orion asked.

 "Yes," Sunny replied. "Everyone needs to be inoculated to be safe."

 "It will be difficult to get everyone," Nicodemus said with a sigh, "Especially those high in the mountains."

 "If they won't come down, then we'll have to go to them," Sunny replied.

 Nicodemus glanced over at Sunny, sensing something had changed in the young woman. "What is wrong, Acushla?"

 Sunny sighed heavily and she nodded. "I am suddenly feeling ill-equipped to handle all this. It's not just taking the role of the Dannan when it's time, it's even bigger than that. I have something inside me that can eat me alive, and I don't know the first thing about how to control it."

 "That is why you have me," Nicodemus told her. "While I am loathed to say it; you also have Gaddis."

 "It's difficult to think he has anyone's best interest in mind other than his own," Sunny quipped. "But I think he is trying to be helpful."

 "That is what most would say of me, Acushla," Nicodemus told her gently. "I will protect you, Siobhan - believe that."

 "I do!" Sunny declared. "I've never doubted you, Nicodemus."

 "Then first things first," Nicodemus replied. "We check to see how many have come to the camps at Fra'mora."

 She nodded and together they rode on toward Fra'mora. When they reached the tents that had been set in an area of pastureland, they saw that there were ten caravans encamped near the quarantine tent. When they rode into the camp three soldiers rode up to greet them before they could dismount. 

 Nicodemus looked around and did not see any of Gabriel's men and caught the flash of the gold and red device of the Ard Ri on the captain's chest. Everything else seemed to his specifications. "How many are here?"

 "There are fifteen in the quarantine tent," one soldier reported. "We allowed their families to camp here as requested. Since yesterday, there have only been two others fall sick from the encampment."

 "Have you seen my brother?" Nicodemus asked the soldier.

 "No Rom. We last saw Rom Gabriel two days ago when he ordered the tents brought and pitched here as you requested."

 Sunny looked over to the quarantine tent and prepared to dismount. It was Nicodemus who sent a mental warning. ["These are Rory Affaron's men, not Gabriel's – something is not right here!"]

 Nicodemus continued to chat with the soldiers as if nothing were amiss but allowed his mount to prance in an agitated way to keep distance between himself and the soldiers. "Well, it seems everything is well in hand here," Fury replied with a smile. He turned to Sunny, "Shall we continue with our tour?"

 "Tour?" questioned one of the soldiers.

 "Indeed," Fury returned cheerfully, "This young lady is my special guest for this season."

 The two soldiers nodded sagely and chuckled knowingly at Nicodemus and then nodded to Sunny. She gave Fury a little coy smile and reached out to touch his sleeve. "Rom has graciously shown me the family estates. I am impressed."

 The men grinned and Fury nodded toward Sunny, "Well my pet, I think it is time we were on our way. I do not want you to be so fatigued that you cannot enjoy this evening's plans I have for you."

 Sunny laughed softly and Orion began to shift and move away from the soldiers. As soon as they were out of hearing she leaned forward. "We need to get away without raising alarm."

 Nicodemus lifted a hand in farewell and joined Sunny. "Do not be in a hurry," He leaned toward her and caught her hand in his, drawing it to his lips. "When we get over the hill, do you think you can transport us to Ranjai Tor?"

 Sunny glanced back and saw the soldiers still observing them. She laughed lightly and smoothed her hand over Fury's shoulder and down his arm. "Did you find out why they're here instead of your brother's men?"

 "No, they do not know why they were sent," Nicodemus replied and returned a flirtatious chuckle, and captured her hand in his once again, "Only that they were to keep watch on who came and went. I need to find out what is happening in Tara'Nechtan to understand why Affaron is involved."

 They dropped below the hill and Sunny tightened her grip on Fury's hand. He held it firmly and in a few heartbeats, they were in the protective walls of Ranjai Tor. Nicodemus' mount only balked a little as they appeared in the courtyard of the castle. He dismounted and as Sunny dropped to the ground he smiled over at her. "This new talent of yours makes carriages and horses near obsolete!"

 "Yeah, but it takes it out of a girl, though," She replied. She was feeling a little lightheaded and Fury immediately was at her side and escorting her into the hall, calling out to whomever was within hearing to attend him.

 Falco appeared looking confused. "Rom! I did not expect you back so soon!"

 "A change in plans," Nicodemus said. "Siobhan is feeling unwell."

 "What do you need Roma?" Falco asked her.

 "I need a little something to eat," Sunny told him. "And a lot of something to drink, I'm so thirsty!"

 "Right away!" Falco hurried from the hall and Nicodemus took her into the study and led her to the sofa.

 Nicodemus was studying her. Falco came in with a tray and set it on the low table and disappeared as quickly as he had come. He closed the doors of the study and Sunny lifted the cloth covering the food and happily found everything she needed to make a sandwich. Nicodemus watched her for a moment longer then went over to the liquor cabinet, pulled a decanter from the collection of bottles, and poured himself a hefty serving of a golden amber brandy.

 He finally came and sat down across from her and watched her eat. She licked her fingers appreciatively. "I think I'll live another day!"

 "Traveling physically is more taxing on you than spirit walking," Nicodemus commented.

 Sunny angled a look up at him. "How did you know I'd be able to 'blink' us out and back here?"

 Nicodemus shrugged his shoulders eloquently. "I did not know with certainty," he told her. "But your powers are similar to those of the Da'ark magickers I have dealt with in the past."

 "But I'm not tapping into the Da'ark am I?" She asked.

 "I am not sure," He replied with a worried frown creasing his brow, "I hope to have answers soon."

 A long silence passed between them then Sunny pushed the momentary thought away and returned to the conversation they had begun earlier, "I think you're right, about the traveling part, but it all takes effort," she said, "What information do you expect to find out as to why there are kings' guards posted at Fra'mora instead of your brother's men?"

 "It is certain Affaron now knows about this illness," Fury said. "He may even think it is deliberate and directed at his family."

 "Well, he's right about one thing, it was directed and deliberate, just not at his family," Sunny said talking around a piece of cheese she had popped into her mouth.

 "It has been done before," Nicodemus replied. "It is something he would do if he knew how."

 "He thinks that you would be behind this?" Sunny asked. "That maybe you aspire to place yourself on the throne?"

 Fury shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose. I have been approached before, and I have let it be known that I have no interest in ruling."

 "What about your brother, Gabriel?" Sunny questioned.

 Nicodemus had to stop and consider it and then he rose to refill his glass. "I do not know what Gabriel has in mind. He is the quiet sort of man that would dream of sitting on the throne. He is just ruthless enough to go about it and would be a kindly if not pompous monarch."

 "Tully said that you had quite a few supporters," Sunny said off-handily, "That all you would need to do is give the nod and it would happen."

 "Tully talks too much!" Fury growled. "But yes, Tully is right."

 "Tully said no woman has ever been called," Sunny remarked tearing the slice of bread into manageable pieces. "Never?"

 "Not to my knowledge," Fury replied, "Tully would know better than I." He angled a critical look at her, "It appears that you and Tully did a great deal of talking."

 Sunny chuckled. "We were together on the trail a good bit just before the ceremony. We talked a lot about a lot of things."

 Nicodemus nodded. "Tully has always had an easy way about him. He could make friends easily."

 "While you had difficulty because of your reputation?" Sunny guessed.

 "As you saw at the quarantine area in Fra'mora," Fury replied. "I have a reputation."

 "It doesn't look like you've done anything to dispel that opinion," She remarked. "Those soldiers assumed I was yet another paramour!"

 "The creation of a ne'er-do-well has served me well for many years," Fury told her. "I suppose it is now so firmly established, that I could never be taken for anything else but a scoundrel."

 "Well, I do not buy that backstory of yours!" she quipped and winked at him.

 He frowned at her but did not say anything more. He instead leaned forward and took a piece of bread from the tray and began to nibble on it. "Do you think you are recovered enough to get to the palace?"

 "You're worried," Sunny said abandoning her plate. She wiped her fingers on the cloth and tossed it to the side of the tray. "I think I can if you give me a visual target."

 Nicodemus nodded. "I can put us in my quarters in the palace. It will be familiar to you."