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Author's note: Language alert. And yes I am updating earlier than usual. I figured since it's my birthday I should give my readers, however few I have, a little treat. Happy Halloween.
Ch6. Desperate Measures
It had been two weeks since the message had been sent. Still they waited. Little had changed. Jareth never left Ella's side. Both Father and daughter were slowly becoming malnourished. The king's stomach could not hold enough to feed the both of them and if he tried to force it he would just cause all of it to come back up. Ezmerilda was slowly weakening for lack of rest. She checked on Ella every hour and got little to no sleep. Toby was always on the move; bringing food and water for Jareth, helping to bathe Ella in vain attempts to bring down her fever, and trying to help Ezmerilda maintain her energy. Today something happened.
"Uh-oh," she said one time when she was checking on Ella.
Jareth was immediately irritated, "What do you mean 'uh-oh'?"
"I had been hoping to fix the malnutrition issue before this could happen. The damn thing is mutating," she replied.
"What do you mean it's mutating," he ground his teeth.
"She's malnourished Jareth. The virus is able to mutate. It could become fatally dangerous. We have no idea what we're up against," she was getting irritated now.
"Can we stop it," he asked.
She gave him an annoyed look, "not without our brother's supplies.
"Why do you look like you're blaming me," his eyes narrowed.
"Because if you had paid more attention to our brother instead of being overprotective of your sister's he'd be here by now," she yelled.
"Excuse me. How was I supposed to know I would need his help," he shouted back.
"Mother warned you that you might need our brother someday so you should try to be friends with him but as usual you didn't listen," she practically screamed.
Toby stepped between the two of them, "Stop it. Both of you. Wasting your energy by fighting each other won't help Ella. We need to stay calm. Waiting is hard but we must have faith that Malachai will come. If we don't then we'll be giving up on her."
The siblings looked at Toby then the little girl. Jareth's eyes welled up with tears. Ezmerilda turned and walked towards the door. Jareth looked up at her retreating form.
"Where are you going," he asked sadly.
She stopped at the door, "To fix this. That little girl is going to die if Malachai doesn't get his ass over here with those supplies. I'll have Alessa take over for me here," she left still particularly pissed off.
Soon after a young woman, also blonde, with her hair braided down her back and pale blue eyes came in to check on Ella. Jareth introduced her as Alessa, his twin sister, and she began with the same method Ezmerilda had used to check on the poor child. It was when she began speaking her observations that Toby realized she was deaf. Her words came out a little messed up. He'd heard this before during a sign language course. A boy in his class had been born deaf. He'd only ever learned to talk by watching people's mouths. The letters with similar lip movements got a little mixed up. Alessa had been deaf before she could talk.
"She got very sick when we were babies. She healed but the fever burned out her hearing," Jareth said after she'd left.
He was watching Ella with a worried look. Toby now understood why Alessa had never been in here to take some of the pressure off Ezmerilda. Letting in a reminder of this past experience would mean Jareth had to the possibility of his daughter waking up deaf.
"We should give her a bath," the teen suggested and received a questioning look, "To slow the fever."
Jareth shook his head, "Any more ice-baths will do more harm than good. Her magic is shielding her from the cold and taking up energy. I am too weak right now to block her from doing this."
"Well is there anything else we can do to help her," Toby asked.
"I could absorb some of her body heat. It would take up energy but not as much as blocking her powers," was the contemplating reply.
"How long can you keep that up?"
"Several hours but not long enough for my sister to reach Malachai's kingdom before her body figures out what I'm doing and raises the fever higher to counteract me. I'll need you to have a goblin send an urgent message to the Kingdom of Ice. Have King Leod send a snow sprite to the castle beyond the goblin city. Tell him that the princess has a high fever," the king instructed.
Toby immediately did as he was told then lent some of his energy to help Ella.
"It shouldn't take too long. The Kingdom of Ice is only two hours away on horseback and Leod is an old friend of mine. He won't hesitate to send help," Jareth spoke with full confidence.
"Do you really think the sprite can help her," Toby asked.
"Sprites are good with handling illness. Each one can deal with a different aspect. Snow sprites can cool fevers from the inside out," the man explained.
"No magic shield," the teen inquired.
"Sprite magic can shift and disguise itself as another beings energy. Her powers won't be able to tell that her defense techniques are being toyed with," was the simple reply.
An hour later when Alessa returned Ella's fever had dropped half a degree to 104.3. This was at least progress. Alessa smiled and informed them that her sensory nervous system was trying to wake. If she kept making progress she may soon be able to hear them.
A few hours later a goblin came in, "You Majesty. Princess Allorah of the Kingdom of Ice is here to assist."
Toby watched as a young woman who appeared to be about his age entered the room. Her skin and hair were white as snow and her eyes, with a cat-like pupil, were ice blue. Her gown matched the color in her eyes and shimmered like fresh snow in the sunlight. Her wings appeared like sheets of ice with patterns of swirling wind visible just below the surface. She bowed to Jareth respectfully.
"Rise Princess. My daughter is here on the bed. You may begin as soon as you're ready," Jareth instructed kindly.
She stood and went to the child's side. She leaned over Ella and blew on her face. A light wisp of snowflakes flew from the sprite's mouth and into the small girl's air passages through her nose and mouth.
"The connection is made," she stood back up, "Where may I lay down?"
"There is a couch by the fireplace," the king suggested.
She winced at the word fire but nodded when she saw that none was lit. She laid down and closed her eyes. A light glow came over Ella like the mist of a blizzard. The wind however did not seem to disturb it's surroundings.
"What is she doing," Toby asked.
"Sprites have to take three steps to use their power on another. Step one is to make a connection. Some of their magic must be manifested and enter the other's body," the elder began to explain.
"The snow," the teen stated.
"Yes, then step two is to synchronize the sprite magic with that of the other person. To do this she must go into a trance and familiarize herself with Ella's magic," the man replied.
"I see. So what's step three," the boy inquired.
Jareth looked at Toby briefly then looked back at Ella, "Manipulation of magic. She will manipulate Ella's powers from the inside out so she won't be harmed by it. Once Ella's body is at her usual healthy temperature she'll stop pushing and maintain it."
Toby nodded in understanding. With any luck Ella's body would be more successful in fighting the virus without her fever burning out her white blood cells.
TBC…
Author's note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you have another minute of free time feel free to review. Remember that get's me to update faster and is very appreciated.