Page 33 (2/2)

"Grubs" was a reference to those of us who lived up in the river country of Keldan The term wasn't much worse than our description of the townsfolk below as "pinchwor first, so we felt justified Besides, pinchworrubs, so the nickname was accurate

"Governor Felling is punishing us for what happened last week," his co for protection"

Protection? My people were peaceful Well, we had been peaceful so far If the wardens were here, then that e It all depended on what they wanted

Governor Nerysa Felling wasn't a popular leader Co country, Dulan, overnor tried only increased the burdens already weighing heavily upon the people Whispers of overthrowing her power grew louder, and increasing nuers stepped forward each year Everyone knew Dulan looked at our borders with hungry eyes It was only a matter of time before they attacked

Governor Felling was even more disliked by the River People, whom she loved to blame for the troubles in Keldan Each year, she pushed us back, farther froher into the hills, where food was o, she forcibly recruited several men, many of them River People, for an exploration north to find new resources Weevil's father was taken ast them But the Scuttle Sea is fa certainly should have known The ship was lost There were no survivors

There was only one reason Governor Felling still remained in power and perhaps only one reason why Dulan had not yet brought us a war

The Scourge

The disease first appeared three hundred years ago It swept through our country and cut our population by a third Fear of its spread shattered our econo countries, and created outcasts ofthe disease The scars it caused within Keldan were still apparent today

After four long years, the terrible sickness went away, and the people of Keldan were free to breathe again in peace The worst tragedy in our history was over

Or so we thought

Last year, the Scourge returned

This time, it started in the prisons

on Attic Island, cleaning theeneral population It was a disease without n of hoas transmitted Symptoms were nearly impossible to detect until it was too late, and there was no treate always ended in death Always

The one good thing Governor Felling had done was hire physicians who deteres, even before syious They used the old records to develop an early test to identify and isolate Scourge victi as quickly But for those who did test positive, Attic Island was transfore Colony, where victims were sent to live out the rest of their short lives It was the governor's way of hoping to contain the disease Fear of the disease spreading over its own borders had also kept Dulan at bay For as long as the sickness reigned, Dulan would not cross Attic Island's waters

The disease wasn't Governor Felling's fault, obviously Inheriting that problem was just her bad luck But she was the River People's bad luck Proof of that was in the wardens' presence below me

I craned h to see the two men The first warden, the stockier one, had requested a break to re his tirubs for testing" The shaking of his voice betrayed his worry about being here "If she only sent two of us to get theo?"