The queen watched from her throne as the mercenary company was brought before her. She knew of only one reason why the captain of her royal guard would bring these mercenaries, which she supposed would save time in asking why they were here.
Although, she couldn't say that she was impressed by these mercenaries. She had added them to the list, in part because of the insistence of her daughter, but she didn't see whatever it was that her daughter saw in them.
To the queen, the 'Silverthorns' looked younger than she'd have liked. Even the one who appeared to be in command hardly looked like she'd had any experience in lifting a blade, let alone being able to fight with one.
However, she had agreed to let them on the list. If they proved they had what it took to be an elite guard, then the queen would acknowledge that she was wrong about them. Though, at least only to those whom she had already expressed such doubt, which was only Pohlea. Who also had reservations about this new mercenary company.
"Your majesty, I'd like to introduce…" Pohlea said, introducing everyone in the small group that had approached her throne.
"You can't expect me to believe this is all that could be spared of your company," the queen said, wondering if she should use that as an excuse to dismiss them altogether. They might be the first from among the list to arrive but that didn't mean the others would pass up the chance to be among the queen's guard, even if it was for only a short period, until her actual guards were able to recover from whatever was ailing them.
"Your majesty, this is all they could spare due to an outbreak of spotted plague in their main camp," Pohlea answered, surprising the queen.
Typically Pohlea would let mercenaries flounder on their own and try to come up with excuses or whatever until they had to take their leave because of how they'd been caught in trying to… whatever it was that they would be up to. The queen hardly had time to figure out every scheme that had ever been brought before her, let alone remember each one. Yet, the fact that her captain answered told her that Pohlea at least believed whatever excuse they'd cooked up.
No small feat if it wasn't true.
"So, in other words they'll be significantly reduced in numbers before too long," the queen summarized what typically happened with the spotted plague. Not that she'd ever heard about anyone surviving the plague and being able to continue such an occupation as being a mercenary. As for whatever reason, it sapped their strength and anyone who recovered was never the same as before they'd caught the plague.
Then on the other hand, she hadn't ever heard of more than a few people surviving it in the first place. Which meant that the Silverthorns were already doomed as a mercenary company and wouldn't be able to fulfill the requirements of being her guard anyway.
Yet, there were rare instances of the plague only appearing in a small number of people before going away. The queen doubted that this would be one such instance, but one never knew when the rare occurrence would actually occur.
"When we're finished here, I can go get more from our main encampment since the quarantine should be over and I can bring any number of our company that you require, your majesty," the girl, Jenn, who seemed to be the one in charge of this mercenary group said, kneeling before the queen before the others with her followed suit.
The queen couldn't help but smile. While she was young, the girl at least had the sense to show proper manners when addressing her. Though, it did take the girl longer than the queen would have liked for the mercenaries to kneel before her.
"You sound like you know for certain that the outbreak was small. What evidence do you have that you'll be able to bring as many of your company as I'd require who haven't caught the plague before?"
The girl shook her head, though the resolve in her eyes didn't falter. The queen couldn't help but think that she could come to like this girl. She certainly didn't look like the type to give up. It was almost a shame that she wouldn't be able to say anything that would change her mind.
"I don't have any. What I can prove, though, is that any who had caught the plague have been treated and are ready to resume their duties, whatever it is that they're required to do," the girl said, her claim so outlandish that the queen nearly laughed in surprise.
The claim that the spotted plague could be treated! If her healers hadn't figure out a way to treat the plague, then she was confident such a way didn't exist. Besides, if a treatment or cure was ever developed that she didn't know about, she would have expected it to come from another country. Not from a minor mercenary who probably had mistaken the plague for some common ailment. As it was well known that commoners were gullible, ignorant, and prone to exaggeration.
"So, you're telling me that you, a commoner, has found a way to treat something that healers who have tried for centuries couldn't treat themselves?" the queen asked, unable to hold back her true feelings on the matter, her voice reflecting how dangerous the ground this girl was treading was.
"Yes," Jenn answered simply, as if she had no fear at all, making the queen pause for a moment.
Never before had she seen anyone make such a claim so boldly. If the queen didn't know any better, she might have thought that the girl actually knew of a way to treat the plague when it was clear that she'd either been fooled or had mistaken a different illness for the spotted plague. Which meant that while she believed what she said to be true, she was been either tricked or fooled by whoever it was that had convinced her they could treat the plague.
"And who was it that you've seen treat the plague?" the queen asked, her amusement returning. While she knew for a fact that this girl didn't know how to treat the plague, she might as well learn who it was that had tricked this girl into believing such a fantasy. As that person could be more dangerous if allowed to go free than this girl could be just for believing something like that to be true.
"I treated myself," the girl answered without hesitation, shocking the queen.
"You… what?" the queen asked, unable to keep the disbelief out of her voice. It was one thing to claim to know someone who could treat the plague, but completely another to make the claim that they themselves could do such a feat.
"I came down with the plague sometime ago. I think the color of my spots was an aqua or something, but I might be thinking of someone else's color," the girl answered, sounding more like a little girl to the queen than a mercenary leader. "Though, I can't say how long I had it for, but I was in the middle of the Forest of the Lost with my friends when we all caught it. Then unable to think of anything to do, I used my magic to check what was available in the forest and found that the blue spotted mushrooms can be used to help, though I don't remember the exact details, but since they're poisonous, they can't be ingested. So, I put it in some water that was boiling and then wiped the water over my body. That caused the spots to fall off and I got better."
The queen blinked. She wasn't sure where to start taking this girl's story apart. The mushrooms that she described sounded like hisusi mushrooms, which had long been on the contraband list, given the only use for them was to poison another person, but since they were only known to grow in the Forest of the Lost, that part of the girl's story sounded plausible. Even if everything else seemed like it was a pure fantasy.
"Bring the chief of the healers to me," the queen commanded one of her servants.
The girl didn't seem willing to back down from her claim, but that was fine with the queen. She was certain that her chief healer would be able to pick apart this girl's story and find where the faults in it were. Something the queen knew she wouldn't be able to do herself given how little she actually knew about the healing arts.
Besides, if what Jenn claimed to be true, then it would be something that would ease her mind whenever she heard about an outbreak in her queendom.
Jenn looked like she wasn't confident in herself with how uneasy she looked when the queen sent for her healer, but the queen at least admired Jenn for her determination to seeing her lie through.
While the queen expected to see Jenn squirm the longer it took, she was surprised to see that as they waited, Jenn seemed to calm down instead. It certainly made her a little more interested in Jenn. She certainly wasn't what she expected.
She started to think that there might actually be some merit to her claim that she found a way to treat the spotted plague when the chief healer entered the throne room. Which she knew would settle the matter once and for all. While she liked the idea of the spotted plague not being a near death sentence whenever it appeared, she didn't rely on hopes and wishes to get through things like that. If she did, her own mother would likely still be alive to this day.
"What do you require of me, your majesty?" the healer asked as she knelt in front of her.
"This girl claims that she has a way to treat the spotted plague. I wanted to hear your thoughts on the treatment she described."
The healer scoffed, looking at Jenn with outright contempt. "Many have claimed to found a treatment for an illness like that. I've never seen anything that would suggest there is a way to treat or cure it. It's a sign of goddess' displeasure and punishment. That's why it won't ever be able to be treated or cured."
The queen knew the sentiment around the plague and why it strikes the way it does, but she had her own doubts about that fact. As she knew her mother was very pious and wouldn't have done anything to incur goddess' wrath in the first place.
"Be that as it may, listen to what she says is the method she found and you tell me what you think."
"Very well, your majesty. I'll hear what the child has to say."
The queen had to suppress a smile at Jenn's reaction to being called a 'child'. Apparently she didn't care if she was called a 'girl' but getting called a 'child' seemed to bother her. Which the queen found rather amusing.
Not that it would look very regal for her to show such amusement while she was dealing with a more serious matter.
The queen motioned Jenn to begin, a little surprised that the girl hadn't already started her description. If anything, she'd have expected her to be eager to share her way to treat the spotted plague, at least if she wasn't backtracking and trying to get out of this situation. Neither of which seemed to apply to Jenn, making the queen wonder what really was going on inside that girl's head.
Jenn nodded when the queen motioned to her and explained the method she claimed to have developed to treat the plague. The chief healer listened politely at first, but when Jenn mentioned the hisusi mushroom, he started looking at her with contempt again. When Jenn finished, the healer was chuckling, as if he'd just heard a good joke.
"Wow. That's all I can say about that description. Wow. All the claims I've heard about have never had someone suggest using a poison to cure something divine in origin. I was told that you had the plague yourself and while I can certainly see why you thought you had it, I know for a fact that using that mushroom in any manner would result in the death of the person who you used it to treat."
"If you want, I can demonstrate it for you. All I'd require is a blue-spotted mushroom and someone with the plague. I'll show you that the method works," Jenn replied with a quiet confidence that surprised the queen. "As long as the mushroom isn't ingested, the poison won't affect anyone who deals with the mushroom."
While she had expected her to fold under pressure of the healer listening to her treatment and the problems it contained, she hadn't expected to hear her make such an offer. Never before had anyone who claimed to be able to treat the plague offered to give an actual demonstration of their alleged treatment.
"Very well, I think we can arrange that, but first you'd need to get the mushroom yourself. That's not something we've allowed in here before," the queen said, wondering if she really should be doing this. While she already had her mind made up to allow Jenn to bring in a hisusi mushroom, she couldn't help but wonder if she was making a mistake. Many would say that as a queen, she couldn't make a mistake, but she knew better. She just knew that it wasn't wise to advertise it when she actually made one.
Yet, if there was even a remote possibility that this girl was on to something with her potential treatment, the queen wanted to know about it. Especially since it could shatter the idea of the plague being a source of diving retribution among so many.
"I'll draw up clearance for you to bring in one single mushroom. When you return with it, show the note to the guard at the gate and they'll have you escorted here so you don't take that mushroom anywhere to do anything other than what you claim to be doing with it. If it turns out that your treatment doesn't work, you'll be imprisoned under suspicion of trying to poison myself by bringing an item on that's contraband into the palace. If it actually works… well, we'll just see what will happen in the even that occurs."
The chief healer looked far to smug for the queen's tastes, but he'd earned his position and while she didn't like how a number of her advisors and close confidants did or said things, she respected their abilities and knew it was better to have them in positions that would allow those abilities to help the queendom shine as much as it could rather than surrounding herself with those who merely agreed with her or did and said things that she liked.
"When would you like me to leave?" Jenn asked, looking at the queen, her expression full of curiosity.
"Well, I guess that'd be up to you. The sooner you get started, the sooner I can decide if I'll give you the contract to helping fill in for my royal guards before they recover from whatever ails them."
Jenn stood up, did something she supposed was supposed to be a salute, making Pohlea's had move to her sword, which in turn made the queen smile in amusement for a moment. It was clear that the girl wasn't making any moves to approach her, which would be all that Pohlea needed to cut her down, regardless of if her claims had any real merit.
"If you'll excuse me, your majesty, I'll take my leave and collect the mushroom for you so I can show you how the treatment works," Jenn said before giving the healer a smug grin and turning to leave.
The queen laughed despite herself. Jenn certainly was full of surprises and while the healer bristled under her smug grin, he didn't say anything. He likely suspected that she wouldn't return, regardless of her claims, which is why he didn't react in any other way.
"Oh, but before you leave, you'll need me to sign the document that will allow you to bring the mushroom inside the city in the first place. Otherwise what's the point of you going to collect it?"
Jenn paused, looking like she had actually forgotten about that point of what the queen had already said. Which the queen supposed could be possible for a girl as young as Jenn. After all, she knew her own daughter was like that when she was that age. Impulsive and headstrong, ready to rush into things that she knew better to do, but often did anyway.
Still, picking up a quill and piece of parchment from a servant nearby, she wrote out what the document was for, the directions that were to be carried out upon being shown the document at the gate with the mushroom, and her signature. Then she had her royal crest stamped on the page, certifying that she was the one who gave the order and was to be considered almost law.
Then she rolled it up and held it out, letting a servant carry it over to Jenn, who accepted the document politely, almost reverently. Which made the queen wonder just where Jenn came from. She couldn't say that she'd ever encountered someone so full of contradictions before. Not only was she brash and full of bluster at times, but she reacted in ways that the queen had never seen before. Then there was how she'd reacted while making her outlandish claims that seemed plausible, even though it flew in the face of conventional wisdom.
"Your majesty, are you sure it's wise to let her leave? What if she doesn't come back but still insists that she can treat the plague?" the healer asked, making the queen wonder if he was pushing for something purely because of his dislike of the girl.
"She'll be back. She needs the contract of guarding me too much to not return. If she doesn't, then she'll likely be kicked out of her company and we'll have our answer then. As I really doubt her superiors would accept any excuse for her to not return since I haven't said that they're not going to get the contract just yet. Which means that if she does return and prove her claims, then she just might obtain that contract her superiors are probably drooling over."