Read Online Ghost's Dilemma by Morwen Navarre - Free Book Online

illness or to the Witch, I'll contact you. I promise." He could sense the smile in Zereda's mental voice.
    "The Witch always said your promise was a thing of value. You do not offer promises lightly, and you do not break oaths. I will accept your promise, and thank you for the trust. Now go, little brother. Do what a Ghost does best and look between the known and the unknown," Zereda said. "And I shall look in my formulary and ask my questions about this outbreak of yours." She broke off as a new mind joined the conversation.
    "Ghost, brother." A new sending appeared in the mirror, an amber flame joining the blue crescent. Kerree's mental voice was brighter than Zereda's voice, her accent lilting.
    "Kerree, thank you, sister," Ghost said, welcoming the witch from the East Marches. The Witch had told Ghost the East Marches were more a chain of islands than an actual land. Many from the East preferred to live on their swift ships, never setting foot on soil if they could help it. Landbound in the high valley of the Heartlands, the East had seemed a wondrous place to Ghost when he was small. Perhaps he had a touch of the Witch's own wanderlust. But that was a thought for another time, and he dragged his mind back to the conversation. "Do you have any knowledge of this plague?"
    "Your outbreak sounds more like one of the legendary engineered illnesses, rather than a natural disease." Kerree sounded quite firm. "We've seen such things before. You take a virus from this and some bacteria from thus, and you make a new contagion, like blending extracts to make a serum. The few relics we have are not the only ones that survived from the ancient cities. Stories abound of spinning devices used to combine phages and bacteria."
    "And such things are best not discussed on an open sending." Zereda's words took on a stern edge in Ghost's mind.
    "It's not a mystery, Zereda. Unless you've Seen otherwise. I want to help our little brother."
    The mirror flickered and Ghost registered a surge of contempt as a red dagger gleamed for an instant and vanished.
    "Oh, lovely," Kerree growled. "Sri popped in, didn't she? Wester hag."
    Zereda's mental snort was eloquent.
    Ghost sighed. Sri of the West Reaches was one of the louder voices declaring him an abomination. He knew she had let herself show only to keep him on edge and give those witches who would speak with him pause for thought.
    Ghost shrugged it off and returned to the conversation. “Thank you all for your help. Until I hear from you, I'll do the best I can. My mate's traded a night's work for more herbs, and I'll make good use of them, I'm afraid."
    "Did you make it official?" Kerree sounded delighted. "Joy to you, Ghost. May the Moon shine on you both. Now, let me go check my notes and prod the godsman. I'll send to you if I find anything." The amber flame disappeared.
    "I too must go, my brother. Be well, and do as I have said, little Ghost. Answers exist even when we cannot puzzle out the meanings. Clarity will come." Zereda's crescent faded, and the mirror was merely a polished piece of silver once more.
    Ghost's head ached, and the stones of his spiral felt hot and raw. He stood up with care, his whole body feeling tender. He wrapped the scrying mirror in its runner hide and returned the bundle to the drawer of his formulary cabinet.
    Ghost didn't want Gerry to see him like this, and so he reached up for one of the pottery jars. He took a few of the leaves, put the jar away, and went to the kitchen to make a tisane. It wasn't often he resorted to so potent a remedy, but the scrying had been difficult. If Zereda was right, he would need to open himself to See later tonight, and starting with an aching head wasn't wise.
    Kerree had ventured the possibility this illness was artificial. Ghost remembered something from the Witch's notes about engineered illnesses. Now, more than ever, he needed to talk to the Witch. He would have to use his Sight to find a clever witch who didn't want to