The Queen by Suzanna Lynn

it.”
    “If you wish, just please be careful,” he
begged.
     
    *****
     
    Luana sought out Master Keon and followed
his instruction on where he would like to set up a temporary
medicos chamber for the villagers.
    The mountain was so vast, it housed abundant
catacombs that branched off into halls leading to large and small
areas to provide shelter for the numerous villagers who would be
staying in the castle over the winter.
    Master Keon had chosen one of the larger
areas to set up for the sick and injured.
    When Luana arrived, several maids were busy
sweeping and dusting, which could not have been an easy task. The
catacombs had been dug as a precaution, but in all the years, they
had not been used for much more than storage, if for anything at
all. Centuries passed without so much as a mouse setting foot in
them, and it showed in the accumulation of dust.
    “Ah, Luana,” Master Keon greeted as she
walked in. “I’m glad to see you. I need your assistance setting up
an area to house all my elixirs, and I thought since you’re so
knowledgeable in herbs, you would be so kind as to make a list of
items we might need.”
    “Of course.” She smiled at the old man. It wasn’t a year ago when he seemed to despise me. Now he says
he’s glad to see me and compliments me on my knowledge of healing
and herbs. Maybe Baylin’s right. Maybe people are beginning to
overlook the Bed Wife Law. Maybe there is hope.
    She moved jars around, putting them in order
according to use. All the while, Master Keon mumbled and worried
over the whole situation.
    “Everyone in the Kingdom pushed together
like this,” he grumbled to himself. “Don’t they know it only takes
one case of illness to cause an epidemic?”
    Luana smiled to herself as she listened to
the old man’s complaints. It must be hard for him to move from
his medical chamber to the catacombs.
    “Master Keon,” called a steward from the
door. “We have the beds you asked for. How would you like them set
up?”
    “Oh, um…” Master Keon mumbled, looking
around the large empty room. “Well, I suppose… Luana, dear, what do
you think?”
    “How about we set up the beds on the far
side of the room,” she said, pointing toward the long wall at the
end. “We can put the herbs, elixirs and instruments here, near the
front of the room. We would need to make partitions for the more
serious cases, in case they need to be quarantined.” Everyone
stared at her in awe. She blushed. “At least, that is what I would
do.”
    Master Keon gave her a smile. He waved his
hand at the steward. “You heard the young lady. Get to work. Luana,
would you please oversee this while I head to my chamber to get my
books?”
    “Of course,” Luana replied.
    She set to work instructing the stewards
where to put beds and chairs, cabinets and tables. She had the
maids gather clean linens and rags. For the first time in a long
while, she felt a sense of purpose again. It was something she had
greatly missed. Even as a goat herder, she felt pride in her flock.
Now her flock consisted of people who looked to her to make things
right.
    She was organizing the supply cabinet when
several soldiers came in assisting some men and a woman. “Where
would you like them?”
    “Excuse me?” Luana asked. “Who are
they?”
    “They’re from the villages. We have started
moving the people inside,” said one of the soldiers. “These were
under the care of their town physician. I guess that puts them
under your care now.”
    Luana directed them where to set the people
down on beds and went to taking down information and trying to
diagnose ailments. One of the old men merely had a case of
drunkenness. Luana gave him some herbal tea for his head and sent
him on his way.
    As time went on, the room began to fill with
more and more patients. She put the maids to work, making sure
there was a parchment on each patient with their name, their
village and their ailment.
    “Make sure if you administer