The day of the presentation arrived. Aylin double checked her work and reviewed what she would talk about. She paced back and forth in her cottage to try and get the nerves out of her system. What she said today could greatly impact the future of the village. She needed to be right in her conclusion. Although Aylin was confident in her conclusion, there was always a little bit of doubt sitting in the back of her mind. When the time came, Aylin put on her cloak, grabbed her data, and made her way to Sir Ellias's home.
At the gate she met Cal. He was dressed a little nicer than usual. He actually looked like a nobleman's son. Aylin felt underdressed in comparison but tried not to let that bother her. She had bigger things to focus on other than her appearance. She put that thought away to not come back and disrupt her. She needed to be focused, calm, and collected. Which she can do. Aylin has always been good at putting on a face no matter what the circumstance. Now was the day for that.
Aylin approached Cal and greeted him. Cal returned the greeting before going up to the gate to be let in. Aylin followed. At the gate they were greeted by the messenger Aylin first met on the day she received the invite from Sir Ellias. Aylin and Cal were escorted into the home and brought to a room where they would meet Sir Ellias. The messenger left to inform Sir Elias of Aylin's and Cal's arrival. Aylin and Cal were sitting alone in the room. Cal turned towards Aylin and spoke.
"Are you ready for today? I'm looking forward to hearing your conclusion." Said Cal
Aylin tried to conceal her nervousness as she said, "I'm ready, I spent all morning and yesterday preparing for this moment."
"That's good to hear. I have faith in your knowledge." Said Cal.
Aylin smiled at hearing those words. Not often was she genuinely complimented like this. It made her feel good and eased some of her nerves. It can always help to know there is someone who believes in them.
The door swung open, and Sir Ellias walked in. He approached Aylin and Cal and greeted them and took his seat.
"Aylin, you have come to me today with your research complete. I am looking forward to hearing about your results." Sir Ellias said to Aylin.
"Thank you, sir, for the opportunity to present my work to you." Aylin said in return
Aylin pulled out a couple sheets of paper. One sheet has some writing and numbers on it, and another was a map of the village. She laid out the paper on the table for everyone to have easy visibility of the sheets.
"As you know. You have sent Cal and I out to discover the source of Siccara to hopefully put an end to this gruesome disease. We went about doing this by interviewing members of the community who have been infected or who have had family who were infected. Through this I found a recurring similarity. If you look on the map you will see the well in the south west part of the village. I have marked all the homes that have been infected and there is an concentration of those infected by the well. People living in the north east have access to another well and you will see there are only a few infected living by that well and the ones who are infected work near the south west well." Aylin explained.
"What does this all mean?" Sir Ellias asked.
"The disease is spreading through the well. There is an outhouse near the well, it is most likely seeping into the water supply. Through my observations I have concluded Siccara does not spread through the air but through people's bodily fluids." Aylin explained.
"The disease is coming from the well. Are you certain about that?" Asked Sir Ellias.
"Yes, I am certain. I would recommend you close down the well and relocate the outhouse. to stop any further spreading." Aylin replied.
"That's a costly move but it's worth it to save people's lives." Said Sir Ellias.
Sir Ellias turned to his messenger and ordered that the well be shut down immediately. The messenger immediately left the room.
"There is one other thing I would like to bring up. I talked to a man yesterday who visited the capitol recently. I learned from him they found a medicine to cure Siccara, but there is only one place to buy this medicine at called the Orlin Trading Company. Furthermore, the medicine is made using Catsroot, which is an extremely rare herb to find. I think there might be something larger happening than we might realize." Aylin said.
"That is some interesting information you found there. I'll have Calisto return that information to Lord Grey to investigate more. That is out of my scope. I'm only concerned about the people in this village." Sir Ellias Said.
"I understand Sir." Aylin said.
"I'll make sure to return this information to Lord Grey." Responded Cal.
"There is one other thing I need you to do Aylin. Could you aid in returning health back to the sick?" Asked Sir Ellias
"Yes, you didn't even need to ask. I'll be glad when our village is eradicated of this disease." Aylin responded.
"That's good to know we can count on you Aylin." Sir Elias than changed the subject "I wonder who is behind this terrible scheme. It's probably a witch. They are always creating pain and chaos for others. Once the culprit is found, I'll send them to the grave."
Aylin froze for a moment. She knew witches were seen as bad in the outside world which is why she always kept her abilities hidden. Those words reminded her why she had stayed hidden.
"Well Sir, there could be many different culprits. I think it best we don't make assumptions to early." Said Aylin.
"True, it is still too early to make any assumptions." Said Sir Ellias and then continued "Thank you Calisto and Aylin for your efforts. It is greatly appreciated."
Aylin and Cal returned the thanks and left Sir Ellias's home. Once outside the gate Cal congratulated Aylin on how well she did with her presentations. Aylin excused herself first. She needed to go back to her cottage to prepare to help all the sick in the village.