Astra could see that the outflow from any experiment that the alchemists
might have been working on at the mill would be taken downstream by the
current and would pass through the ford. Surely they would ensure that
nothing dangerous would get into the river, though? They would not want to
make the ford unsafe to use for their own people. But could the recent
heavy rain have caused something to overflow into the river that should
not have?
From Hesht's description, it seemed likely that the pollutant was the same as whatever the effective chemical was in the Royal Spring. For though warm water might increase the effect, there must be some special ingredient involved as well. There would obviously be money to be made from selling this, if a way could be found to manufacture it. If that was all that it was, it would be benign, although the delay it would cause them could prove dangerous. But it was also possible that it was something different and perhaps much nastier. It could be a concoction designed to cause paralysis, whether temporary or permanent, for example. She could imagine that there would be a market for such a thing. She tried not to panic at the thought, though by now she could feel no sensation at all in her body below the waist and feared that the paralysis might spread even higher, since briefly when the water was at its deepest only her head and shoulders had been above it. Then she heard voices from upstream. Two or more people were walking along the bank of the river, coming from the direction of the mill. "... You should have kept an eye on it," were the first words that she could make out. The speaker sounded annoyed. He went on: "If any of our people have been using the ford in the last hour or so..." The two were obviously coming to check whether anyone had been affected at the ford. Within a very short time Astra and Hesht would become visible to them.
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4/18/2005 10:21:49 AM
Extending Enabled
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