I’ve been playing a lot with music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music lately, and it’s been a wonderful experience to hear new music wash over my ears like endless floodwaters. No longer do I need to save up, buy albums, wait to download … anything I could ever want is at my fingertips.
Almost.
The Sleeping Death, as it came to be known, did not come to Courerà that year, or the next. With the help of the courts, Elven and Gwendolyn banned all travel across the kingdom, unless it was a direct matter of life and death. The great gate to Erârün was shut, and Kiriün became a sealed kingdom indeed. Camps were set up at the entrances to all the largest towns, and healers—under the watchful eye of soldiers—monitored all who entered and left for signs of illness. Many were turned away; food became scarce in the capital, and even the rich grew hungry. Word of illegal trade in luxuries reached the ears of the courts, but to Elven it was a small price to pay to keep the plague at bay.
Their progress was slow through the night, and by daybreak they had gone less than five miles from the town. Here they stopped by a stream, dismounted, and only then did Elven go to Gwendolyn. Her face was impassive, and she stared into the distance as he wet his sleeve in the stream to clean the blood from her face.
Satis Writes 