“So while helpful, it’s not the best preventative?”
“Correct. Which is why I’m still working on a cure. I’m struggling with it, though.”
Prince James tilted his chair back, eyes on the ceiling as if he were in deep thought. “Royce, have you ever heard of thieves’ oil?”
The prince blinked at him. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Thieves’ oil. There was a small fishing village basically wiped out by salence, but they found three thieves who had dared to go in and out of the village repeatedly, making some coin off things they stole. They never contracted salence themselves. Turns out, they’d made a mixture of oil and some herbs and smeared it around their hands, mouths, and noses. Claimed that’s what kept them well.”
I could see the prince’s eyes crossing at this information. “What was in the oil?”
“I can’t remember all the ingredients,” Prince James admitted. “But I do remember it was basic things you’d find in a kitchen: olum oil, oregano, garlic, carda root, and…er…”
“Dula petals?” I offered.
Prince James snapped his fingers. “That was it!”
“What is that?” Princess Helena asked, intrigued.
“Something of a home remedy,” I answered with a shrug. “My family uses it for everything. Earaches, tummy upsets, wound care—just a little bit clears up any infections.”
Prince Royce snatched his file back from Princess Helena and started rapidly scribbling information down, muttering to himself.
“So this rumor has basis?” I asked.
“Very much so!” He lifted his head and smiled, nearly jittering about in his chair with happiness. “I never thought of doing a carrier oil to protect the mouth and nose, but that’s genius! Er, it’s still a preventative cure, using this method, however.”
“But you now have the basis of how to prevent it,” Prince James countered. “And with this information, you should know how it works well enough to counter it directly. Right?”
“It pairs neatly with the theories I have,” Prince Royce agreed, still bouncing. “I need something more powerful than what you’ve listed, because once salence takes root, it’ll take something more than a common spice to get it out of a person’s body. Still! I must test this, see if it’ll work as a preventative. Just the prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
“Quite so.” Princess Helena looked uncertainly at James. “I have no idea how to support him from here.”
“Two things. First, funding. I’ve brought a possible funding source with me, which we’ll look over together. Next, test subjects. Royce, what are you testing on?”
Prince Royce deflated. “Unfortunately, humans. Salence only affects humans. It’s what’s limited my research. I’m not allowed into infected areas, being a prince. I’m getting all my information secondhand.”
“We’ll find a way to get you better access,” Prince James promised. “Let’s brainstorm this problem next but focus on funding first. Funding I’m sure we have an immediate answer to.”
I took notes as they discussed the funding—how much Prince Royce needed and where it could be justifiably pulled from.Watching Prince James calmly and patiently direct Princess Helena was inspiring. If she floundered, he would stop and explain, never losing his temper.
The best thing King Patrick and Queen Beatrice had done for this country was adopting Prince James into their family. With him on our side, I had no doubt the future would be far brighter.
Now, if we could just disappear Prince Victor and Lord Gillespie, these three could make this country a far better place.
It was truly a pity I didn’t know any assassins.
Fourteen
James
I left the meeting with a bounce in my stride. It had gone very well, and everyone now worked on pushing things forward that had lapsed in my first life. Well, lapsed until it had been far too late.
The memory of walking through entire towns burned to the ground, all in an effort to stop the plague of salence sweeping through the country, would likely forever haunt me. Whole families had been boarded up in their homes even with only one family member ailing, basically left to rot. We hadn’t known, in the beginning of the epidemic, how to even take effective preventative measures. Royce hadn’t discovered them until three months in, and it had been hard to get the word out, as everyone had stopped traveling and was staying close to home by then.
A shudder went through me. Let’s not remember those grim days. I was already a step ahead of the disease this time—Royce now had direction on the correct preventative, which would leadto the cure—so let’s just keep on it, and hopefully salence never got a foothold in this country at all in this lifetime.
Now, thinking ahead, the next problem to tackle would definitely be the seawalls. Before Retazo’s Wrath hit and wiped out half the lower city.
