When the spell passed, I dressed quickly and fumbled to pull on my boots. I wasn't really certain what I felt about Batu being ill, except that he seemed too strong for this to be possible. The images of him fighting were in my head, the various times where he'd saved my life flashing so vividly, I began to think it was a joke a simple bug could take him down.
But no one was immune to aging or illness, especially not in an age when there was no modern medicine. We had gone to the trading post, and Batu was ill.
I wasn't going to let him be sentenced to the plague tent to be made comfortable with the assumption he was already dead. We had been through too much together, and he was my connection to this world.
I can't do another Taylor. The idea of losing someone else left me rattled and my breathing uneven.
"I'm ready," I said as I left the tent.
"You are certain you wish to go to the plague tent?" Suvdin searched my features. "Yesen Yeke will be displeased."
"He can come out and drag me back," I said with wry humor. "And yes. I am certain."
"Very well. I have some supplies you can take. Ghoajin will be out later." Suvdin appeared concerned. "Moonbeam, you will not fall ill?"
"I will not."
"If you are truly a goddess, then you must not let Batu go to the sky yet."
I offered a small smile, sensing her restrained emotion. There was a part of her that still loved Batu, and I had a feeling I was her only hope to help him. "I'll do what I can," I replied. I really wish I was a goddess.
She led me to the edge of the camp, where two horses waited. One was packed with food, herbs, milk, blankets and water while the other was saddled for me to ride. I paused, heart pounding as I gazed at the distance between me and the plague tent.
There was a chance, however slim, that I didn't survive this, either. What if the Great Plague and whatever Carter immunized me against was something different?
My entire life on the steppes with the Mongols had consisted of one near-death experience after the other. How civilization as a whole moved past eras like this and survived, I'd never understand. Reading about history definitely didn't convey the sense of danger people before the twentieth century faced every day.
"Take care of Flowers," I murmured and approached the horse waiting for me. "She's a good girl." I mounted. For once, my aching body wasn't at the top of my thoughts.