Obsidain Crystal: Thanks heaps for reviewing. I feel special now :D I worked on this quite a bit so I could update sooner for you.
My-real-name-is-zim: er, thanks? But I must admit I like writing about seizures and fits and stuff. :p
After last chapter I'm trying to cut back on the fluff. But, well, I'm a very fluffy person. But don't worry this chapter isn't very fluffy. And I've discovered I like writing about people having seizures. Well that's my weirdness coming out again. Enjoy!
Summary: An ambassador from a land across the seas pays a visit to Deltora and requests an audience with King Lief. However, when the ambassador is found dead the next morning things start to go wrong for Deltora. Post Sister of the South. LiefxJasmine
Poison Ivy Chapter 4 PoisonLief pulled himself together and with an impassioned yell leapt upon the ivy, slicing it with his sword. The vines shrunk back, blackening slightly. A few lime green leaves died and fell off. Lief now understood the belt was doing most of the work.
Finally the ivy was cut back enough for Lief to free Jasmine. He pulled the poison away from her. When her mouth was free. Jasmine sat bolt upright and drew a single ragged breath. She seemed to be in some kind of fever. Her eyes were wide and shining, her mouth sagged and face hot and flushed. Her hands scrabbled around in the dirt. It made Lief sick to see her like this. Suddenly Jasmine collapsed, Lief catching her head just before it hit the ground. He violently ripped the belt off his waist and plastered it over Jasmine's heart, making sure the illness curing ruby was on her heart.
Again Lief felt like vomiting. He forced his convulsing stomach to relax.
"Lief!" called a muffled voice. Lief looked around violently. Shocked he realised that Barda's haggard face was staring at him through one the forge windows.
"Barda!" cried Lief, reluctantly leaving Jasmine where she lay to face Barda, "What happened? Are you trapped in there?"
Barda's head bobbed up and down and he jabbed his index finger in the direction the door, which was covered in the killer ivy. Lief nodded in understanding. Barda made a slicing motion then pleaded with his hands and eyes. Lief leapt to the door. The ivy didn't budge.
Of course! The belt. Lief knelt to take it, but hesitated. Would Jasmine be alright?
"She'll be fine for a minute!" cried Barda's faint voice again. Biting his lip Lief grabbed the belt and slung it around his waist. This time the ivy shrunk back enough for Lief to have a fair chance with his sword. The blade arced through the air and bits of ivy went flying. Finally the door burst open and Barda sprang out.
"What happened?" asked Lief aghast, he moved back to put the belt on Jasmine again.
"The ivy it just grew -" Barda stopped mid-sentence, "Jasmine. Oh no, what have I done? What have I done?"
"What do you mean?" asked Lief, jumping up. The big man had his head in his hand and seemed to be struggling with himself.
"This is all my fault," cried Barda, looking horrifically at Jasmine, "I emptied the dirt into the garden bed. I was so stupid. She told me the dirt was fatal, but I was I to believe her? Oh no, not me."
Lief looked uneasily at Jasmine. A scream rang out into the night. Barda and Lief's heads snapped in that direction.
"There are others you must help with the belt" said Barda seriously. Lief looked helplessly at Jasmine.
"I can't leave her. What if she doesn't survive?" asked Lief. He only wished Barda knew just how important this was.
"Look," said Barda gently, kneeling beside Jasmine's head, "She lives. There is colour in her face now. Besides she can have the ruby when others are healed"
Lief struggled with himself. Barda was right. Besides, he knew that was what Jasmine would have said also.
Barda scooped up Jasmine's limp form and followed Lief out into the street. The plant had travelled quickly and several people in the area of the forge had already been struck.
Lief's stomach twisted involuntarily. It was going to be a long night.
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The fist victim Lief came across after parting with Jasmine and Barda was a young gardener by the name of Perry. The ivy had strangled him also. Lief gruntingly hacked his way through the ivy using the powerful ruby to repel it and managed to save the man. In the next house down a woman had been flicked by the dirt, the green welts already beginning to show on her skin. As Lief pressed the ruby to her chest he realised that the soil of the ivy must be more potent than the plant itself. Hope flickered in his heart for Jasmine.
The next two victims were an elderly man and woman. They were already dead and their mouths sagged open. A greenish tinge covered their skin. Lief dry-retched. The death of these innocent citizens was too much to bear. There was a sound at the doorway, a young woman, fully pregnant and leaning on the arm of her tall husband, gaped soundlessly at the corpses of her parents. Her long sobs ricocheted off the walls.
Lief managed to save a young boy and a middle-aged woman, both of whom had come into contact with the fatal dirt. During the healing of the child Lief spied a palace guard and instructed him to inform any other victims of the plant to come to the palace in the hope that those there could help them as well as to bring troops with swords and rubies to the forge to kill the ivy. Lief hoped if the source was vanquished than perhaps the spreading of the disease would cease.
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It was almost midnight by the time Lief arrived at the foot of the palace. As he walked through the entrance hall he could see victims of the poison lain upon pallets on the floor. Those of the palace were tending them with rubies and cool linen.
"Where is my mother?" Lief asked quietly of a woman bathing the forehead of a dark-haired man.
"Sharn is in one of the upstairs chambers keeping vigil over the Lady Jasmine" she replied.
Jasmine. Lief went numb, images of Jasmine's convulsing body rushing through his mind. He thanked the woman and rushed up the stairs.
Sharn rose when Lief entered the chamber.
"I'm glad you arrived," she said, replacing a cloth in the silver washbasin, "I must go and attend those downstairs. I would have gone before but - "
She gestured wordlessly at Jasmine.
Sharn looked into the eyes of her son searchingly.
"Get some rest Lief" she said, embracing him briefly before leaving the room.
Lief walked to the other side of the room and flopped into the chair at the bedside, gratefully resting his aching legs. He regarded Jasmine glumly.
Her face was restless and agitated, her cheeks scarlet. One arm was thrown up above her head and the other rested over the blanket. Lief noticed with horror a green rash on her slim neck. He shifted uncomfortably.
Lief spied a single bead of sweat on Jasmine's hairline. He dived for the cool linen and draped it gently over her forehead.
Lief tried to keep himself awake but his tired eyes began to itch ferociously. He changed the linen on Jasmine's head to stimulate himself but eventually allowed himself a quick nap in the chair.
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In the early hours of the morning Lief was awakened by a violent rustling beside him. His eyes snapped open and he leapt out of his chair.
Jasmine was in the midst of some kind of seizure. She had stood up and was tearing the blanket apart with her bare heads. There were red marks on her neck and face where she had scratched her self during the night.
Cursing himself for falling asleep for so long Lief leapt up onto the bed and tore the frayed blanket from Jasmine's grasp. She flexed, reaching for it and trying to kick Lief at the same time. Overcome by horror and a leaden feeling in the pit of his stomach, Lief grasped her by the armpits and lifted her into the air so she couldn't move. She stared at him helplessly.
Lief was incredibly upset. Jasmine in this delirious state frightened him beyond anything. The old Jasmine had gone and been replaced by a frightening monster who didn't recognise her friends. All Lief wanted to do was help her. He held her close wishing her struggling would stop soon. Eventually it did. Jasmine went floppy in his arms.
"I'm so tired. Help me Lief," she murmured. Lief was overcome by a joy he could not understand in the present situation.
He lay Jasmine back down on the pillow and jumped nimbly off the bed. Instinctively he put his hand to the belt. Lief removed it angrily, cursing himself that he hadn't done this sooner. For the second time that night the now pale ruby lay over the heart of Jasmine.
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Just for another story I'm writing I need to know the name of the stuffed toy Lief mentions in the very first book, the Forest of Silence. I really need to know. First person to tell me wins either the next chapter's dedication or a pyjama party with Ray Martin. It's completely up to you though I know which one I'd choose.
Thanks for reading and please review on your way out.
Keep Smiling,
Elven Tresses