Chief Yjorgan improved over the next couple of days and was able to get out and walk around the city to find out if anyone else needed help. Many of the people he talked to told him they had already been sick and recovered. No one had died and they all sang Sophie's praises, though they didn't quite understand what was in the water she'd given them.
He returned to his house. Eirik was still burning up. And Sophie was still diligently dripping small amounts of water into his mouth. "Any improvement?" he asked.
"No. Not yet." she said. Between feeding him her concoction, she bathed his face and arms with cool, plain water.
"I owe you an apology, Sophie," the chief said, sitting back down in his chair.
She was surprised and glanced over at him. She never would have expected him to say so.
"I think Eirik's right. I think you are the woman from the prophesy." he cleared his throat. "But I think you're also right that it's not about what we've all thought it was about."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You've saved us all." he said, ashamed of how he'd treated her when she'd come to him with her solution. "I should have listened to you."
"I understand how it must have sounded when I said I was going to use berries," she smiled.
"I've never heard of such a thing." he admitted. "How did you know it would work?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she laughed softly. "It's just something I learned.....a long time ago."
"Well, thank you," he said.
"You're welcome," she murmured. She turned back to caring for Eirik.
She'd barely slept for three days. Eirik's fever had raged longer than anyone else's and she worried he wasn't going to improve. She had nearly emptied the entire pitcher into him and bathed his face and arms many times, trying to cool his skin, but he remained listless and pale. She leaned her head onto the edge of the bed to rest her eyes. Just for a moment.
Someone was stroking her hair. She realized she had fallen asleep and she suddenly had the thought run through her mind that if there was a rat climbing across her head, she was done. She would go in search of that blue haze and jump through it even if she was electrocuted on her way through.
Lifting her head from the bed, she looked up at Eirik and realized he was awake. "How do you feel?" she asked, moving from the chair to the edge of the bed and feeling his forehead.
His father had heard her and hurried into the room. "He's okay?"
"His fever's broken," she breathed a sigh of relief, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye as Yjorgan leaned over and hugged his son.
"Did we lose anyone?" Eirik asked.
Sophie shook her head. "No. No one,"
He let out a sigh and leaned back on the pillows to rest. He felt so tired, as if he'd run the Trials all over again. "That's good."
"You didn't drink any of the water, did you?" she asked.
He smiled. "I was so busy looking after Father that I forgot,"
"Yes, and got sick in the process!" she scolded.
"But I'm alright now," he said.
"You could have died!"
"I'm sorry." he said gently.
She took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "If this ever happens again, you'd better listen to me, or I'll kill you myself!" she snapped. "Finish the water that's in the pitcher. I need to go check on my cat!"
Yjorgan chuckled as she stormed out of the house. "Well, you heard her. Drink up!"
It took nearly a week before everyone in the city was fully recovered and feeling their normal selves. Many of them stopped by to thank Sophie for what she had done and by the end of that week, she had taken to hiding out in the lists just so they wouldn't be able to find her.
"You're sparring again already?" Eirik asked, finding her practicing with a straw dummy on a pole.
"I know they mean well," she said with a sigh. "But they just won't leave me alone."
"You're the hero of Svangard." he grinned. "What did you expect?"
"Not this." she said. "Do you really think this is what the prophesy was about? The black plague?"
He shrugged. "It very well could be." he said. "You saved a lot of people, including me."
"Yeah," she sighed.
"Thank you, by the way."
"You're welcome."
"And thanks for not killing Ulriech, even though I know it was tempting."
"It really was," she said with a smile. "But I let him off because for once he wasn't blabbering on about himself."
He laughed softly.
"Do you feel up to sparring?" she asked.
"I could probably manage for a bit," he nodded, walking over to a nearby wall of weapons and choosing a sword.
They clashed swords, both going fairly easy on the other just in case. By the end, they were both out of breath and quite tired. Eirik called a truce.
"How's your kitten?" she asked as they walked out to the street.
"He's fine."
"Where's he been sleeping?"
"In front of the fireplace,"
"The fireplace in your room? By your bed?"
"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered.
Sophie laughed. "So, he sleeps on your bed."
"He has proven to be quite.....sneaky." he admitted.
"They always are." she smiled.
"He rubs against my leg and makes a strange noise."
"That's called purring." she said. "It means he likes you. You're his person now."
"Do I have to be?"
"Yes."
He smiled down at her. "I guess the good news is that I haven't seen a rat in my house in days."
"That's good. The less of them there are, the less likely we'll have another outbreak."
He nodded. "I'd rather avoid that if possible."
Several children ran up to them, all talking at once and trying to hug her as they thanked her for her special medicine. She hugged each of them before shooing them back to their parents. But the look Eirik gave her told her she'd be putting up with such things for the foreseeable future.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"I might be," he smiled. "They love you, you know?"
"Who would have thought," she murmured.
"I would have." He stopped and looked at her. "Ever since I saw you jump on Ulriech when he was threatening that little boy when we found you. You went back to hug them before we dragged you away. And I could see that they loved you."
"Eirik!" she gasped. "What if the plague reaches them?"
His jaw clenched. "Is there any of your water left?
"If we poured it all together, we could probably fill four barrels," she said.
"I'll gather some men and we can load them onto a wagon. If we ride horses, we could be there in five days. Hopefully we won't be too late."
"Thank you," she breathed. "I'll get ready right now."
"Bring your weapons, just in case."
She nodded and sprinted towards her house.
Eirik walked quickly to the great hall and announced what he was doing to his father, who absolutely forbid him to go.
"Father, she saved our entire city!" he snapped. "If those people hadn't saved her, she wouldn't have been here to save us! I'm going with or without your permission and I'm taking some men with me!"
Yjorgan let out a growl and leaped to his feet. Eirik didn't flinch and he quickly realized that he was completely serious when he said he would go even without his permission. He also knew that their best warriors were loyal to Eirik and would follow him despite being ordered to do otherwise. "Fine. But leave part of the army here!"
"I'll only take a few men. And Sophie."
The chief didn't like that either but knew he couldn't stop them. "Be careful."