Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Mama?"

A young girl, not older than ten years old, stood next to her mother's bed. Her mother, who had been reading a book before she would go to sleep, looked up. 

"Mama, I don't feel well," the girl cried.

"What's up, sweetie?" her mother asked.

Leoni climbed into her mother's bed and curled up next to her. "I threw up."

"Aw sweetie, I'm sorry! Don't worry about it, we'll clean it up." Her mother, Latanya, felt her cheeks. "You're burning up." She frowned. Leoni never got sick. 

Did she eat something wrong? Latanya was no master chef, but she didn't give food poison to her only daughter, didn't she? She recalled the memories of that day. 

Leoni had spent most of her day playing with friends near the mines. 

"Leoni, did you drink from the well?"

"Yes mama," Leoni answered. "I was thirsty."

Her mother knew the rumors well. The women of the city had been talking about the river for weeks. They said it was bad water.

Leoni gagged and threw up over her bed. The chemical color of the puke confirmed Latanya's thoughts.

After she comforted her daughter, she ran downstairs, where her husband was reading the newspaper. 

“Naeem, go to Aditi. Quick! Leoni is sick.” Her husband didn’t need more information, the panic in his wife’s eyes said enough. He went on his way.

Aditi Hili was zowa , a Grisha. She had powers, magical abilities almost. She was the only one in the village who could help Leoni. Hopefully. She must know what to do, she must!

Latanya suppressed her own anxiety, before she went back to her daughter. Leoni now was pale. Really pale. Way more pale than her dark skin should allow. Her skin was clammy and she was sweating a lot. Every once in a while, she threw up. Her pupils were dilated and had a yellowish tinge.

“Mama, I’m scared,” the little girl cried, holding her stomach. “It hurts.”

“I know, sweetie. You have to be brave. Da is asking Aditi to come help you, you just gotta hang on for a while.”

Leoni shivered, before she collapsed.

—-

After what felt like ages, Naeem had come back with Aditi Hilli. Aditi immediately started to heal their daughter. She was very, very sick.

Aditi tried her very best. Working with contaminated water was extremely hard, especially with little training. Aditi had never done this before, but she thought about her own son: Jesper. He was a few years younger, and a lovely little boy. She would want him to survive, so she tried her best. Latanya deserved a daughter alive too. As she pulled the toxic chemicals out of Leoni’s body, her parents crying desperately in the background, she felt herself feeling worse every second. She told herself it was just exhaustion.

It's going to get me at the end of the night. Her own thoughts startled her. Aditi pushed them away. She was strong and zowa, blessed. She had a son to care for and a husband to love. Naturally she would get home later, healthy, safe and sound.

She just had to keep going. 

"You're very brave," she told Leoni, who probably didn't hear it. She was unconscious after all.

After hours of healing, the yellowish tinge in Leoni's eyes went away, and after almost a day, the girl got her cautiousness back. She sat up and told her mama she was hungry.

"Sweetie!" Latanya cried. She and Naeem embraced the girl tightly. "Thank the saints, I'm so glad you're better."

Aditi smiled at the girl before she collapsed.