runando ~ A Thranduil Story

Healed

Everyone had been keeping a close eye on the patients in the healing halls. One by one, Laineth had administered her supposed cure to them, hoping that it would heal them to some degree. For some, she was too late. In the early stages, a few beds were emptied because some were just too ill. The cure did nothing for them. For others though, their faces had more color, their cheeks weren't as flushed as before. Even a couple were able to sleep through the night without waking up choking on their own breaths. While no one had been completely cured as of yet, the signs were encouraging.

Glorfindel, meanwhile, was completely over his head about how Laineth nor Annunor had fallen sick. Laineth especially had been out in the city, completely exposed to the sickly air and yet, she was as healthy as he was. It was something he and Cirdan had been discussing the odd situation while she had been deep in her studies.

"It's odd, isn't it?" He said, approaching Cirdan who stood at a window, "How Laineth has been out treating people yet hasn't fallen ill herself?"

Cirdan hummed, "It's not infeasible. You must think about her ancestry, her blood, mellon."

Taking a seat next to Cirdan, Glorfindel sighed, "Why would that affect her? She is still half elf."

"Yes, but you're not thinking of the other half. Why else would she be immune to this if she didn't have divine blood in her veins?"

"Ah." He simply put, "The Maiar."

Cirdan nodded, "Now you have it. Annunor hasn't fallen sick either, it would explain his immunity too, especially because he has been caring for his sick children."

As his accomplice stroked his beard, Glorfindel thought in silence. Laineth had never appeared to inherit much of her father's power, apart from the classic face changing ability she had seemed to have mastered. She wasn't much of a Maiar type, she very much took after her mother in that respect. Albeit, she did have a taste for cruelty that Eltariel had no part in hammering into her daughter's brain. Whether she liked it or not, Laineth was also very much her father's daughter.

Speaking of the devil, Laineth burst into the room, the doors almost breaking off their hinges. A wide smile was plastered on her face and in her hands, she held two vials. One was filled with a liquid so dark, it looked like the dead of night. The other looked like a plain vial of blood, nothing too spectacular about it.

"My Lords," She approached them, "We've had a success."

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The three of them sat around a table as Laineth diligently explained the situation to the two Lords.

"And so you see, by adding the herbs to the blood of a patient, they go from this," She motioned to the black vial, "To this!" She motioned to the normal vial.

"Huh." Glorfindel sat back in his seat, impressed. "I must say Laineth, I wasn't expecting you to be able to find a cure for this. Us Elves have never fallen sick before."

Placing the vials down on the table, Laineth smirked. "You see, that's what made it so easy. Elves don't fall sick due to natural elements or causes. So, the cause must have been something unnatural." Nodding to the black vial, she continued, "Only something significantly evil could cause the blood of an Elf to discolor so painfully. For it to turn completely black? Unheard of, save for perhaps a poisonous wound from a great spider, or a poisoned blade."

"So you are saying that the population has been poisoned?" Cirdan queried.

Laineth shook her head, "No, my Lord. At least, not in the typical way a poisoning is conducted. I have reason to believe it is the air that has been poisoned. When Glorfindel and I were passing through Bree, the men of the town were already falling sick. However, very few traders pass between Mithlond and Bree, they go to Annuminas instead. I am inclined to believe that a poisonous cloud of air has passed over the region, and then it can be passed between peoples. Ridiculously contagious is what I'm trying to say."