The first blood sample Cedric extracted from Tomson One's veins was stored in the darkness of the cold-vault, a mortuary for dead bodies ready to be cut open for scientific research deep underneath the tower. It was a natural cavern, cooled by the undergoing stream flowing through and colder due to the Cold Breezing Moon.
"Are you done?" Prince Xalvador asked, impatient as he waited for Cedric to finish turning the wheel that turned the blood sample in a small glass tube.
"Patience, your highness. This must be done for quite a while," Cedric replied.
Prince Xalvador sighed in annoyance. But even he knew that separating the red from the white of blood takes time and energy.
Once Cedric was done, he pulled out the glass tube from the wheel, revealing a tube filled half with red at the bottom and hay yellow fluid at the top. Besides him inside a mouth cage trap, squeaked about three mice.
Cedric felt a bit sorry for the small creatures, a bit guilty for what they were going to do to them. Still, the book took out a blood-pipe and sucked the yellow portion of the contents in the glass tube into the small delicate metal alloy tube using the piston at the end of it. Then, Cedric slowly took hold of one of the mice and slowly inserted the blood-pipe needle under the skin of the tiny creature, inserting part of its contents.
They used three blood-pipes for the three mice to avoid contamination. The pipes would have to be boiled to remove any curse-bodies. And so the mice were placed in three separate cages and carried to Prince Xalvador's study under the cover of night.
Neither of them knew what to expect. The mice could fall dead, probably due to toxins in Tomson One's blood or due to something else.
One mice died the first night.
The other two developed a high fever, their tiny bodies lying limp on the floor of the cage as they took labored breaths. They didn't eat, nor drink. But they were warm to the touch.
"They developed a fever," Cedric observed.
Prince Xalvador nodded. It was quite expected that they would get a fever. It still was an infection no matter how miraculously the effects seemed to be.
On the second day, both mice woke up, their eyes red. They bumped on the cage, gnawing at the tiny steel bars and only calmed down when they were given blood to drink.
They drunk the red liquid with such abandon as if it was akin to an animal being starved of water for at least seven days.
"We need to eliminate the blood lust at least," Prince Xalvador said, "And try to extract the healing factor."
Cedric looked at the prince. The prospects were promising, exciting, but impossible to figure out how.
"How do you suppose we do that?" Cedric said. "This is a curse-body. We can only change the characteristics of any species by letting them reproduce as they adapt to various conditions. How are we_"
"Let one feed blood, let the other starve but leave it food and water."
The mouse left with food and water ended up gnawing on its own limbs for blood. It became a bloody mess. But to Cedric's surprise, the animal didn't have as much blood as one would expect it to have. It's wounds seemed as if the flesh underneath was drained of blood.
It was then that Cedric understood why the animal craved so much blood.
"They cannot produce new blood," Cedric said.
"Blood is simply water and red-particles, Cedric. Any living being with red blood can produce it."
"Maybe it's dehydrated," Cedric replied. "But dehydrated blood is thick and dark red. It's blood isn't."
They bleed the other mouse under a sedative. Its blood was normal as it should be, thick and red.
And so it was concluded.
They couldn't make their own blood. They had to take it from outside.
"But we are feeding it bird blood," Prince Xalvador said, "Would it work if it's replacing its blood with the blood we give it?"
And so they gave different types of blood. Cat blood, dog blood, deer blood and eventually, human blood. But it seems that it didn't make much of a difference.
They had to infect more mice to test out their theories.
The boys discovered that the blood fever was spread through a bite from their fangs. That there was a small secretion coming out of the fangs, like that of a serpent, that turned out to be partly a paralytic venom at times.and infected other mice when an infected and non infected mice were kept together.
Well fed infected mice didn't bite their non infected counterparts when left in the cage cage, but when they did, they got infected once bitten. Starved infected mice drained the blood of their non-infected companions without mercy and seemed to crave more afterwards, refusing blood from other animals.
"It seems they prefer blood from their own species," Prince Xalvador concluded.
Also, they discovered that the mice who were bitten seemed submissive to those mice that bit it. And the sire never harmed the ones it sired.
It seemed that the infection somehow made the mice a bit cleverer when they were not in a blood-lusting haze.
They would fiddle with the locks of their cages, as if trying to figure out what movements can make the pin and ring lock open. Some slowly and secretly gnawed of the bars of the cage when no one was looking.
"How come they become more intelligent when Tomson One is still like that?" Cedric questioned.
It was discovered that the mice who didn't suffer from severe blood-hase when they turned retained superior intelligence, those that starved had only one purpose in their mind.
Cedric didn't know how many mice they had to decapitate and burn, making sure that they wouldn't be bitten in turn.
They also discovered that there were some mice who ate normal food like meat and bread would retain their sanity better, and were healthier than those that drank only blood. But the period of sanity was merely a bell or two before they started to crave blood again.
"We need to selectively breed them," Prince Xalvador replied. "Have the ones with better tolerance to bite other and choose the ones with better tolerance from them."
They finally was able to obtain mice that were able to stay sane for half a day before developing the blood-hase. Blood of those mice were given to those with bad tolerance out of curiosity.
The tolerance improved.
"Reinfection is possible," Prince Xalvador finally concluded.
And the white blood of mice with the best tolerance bred so far were given to Tomson One, a year after his capture.
Tomson One managed to stay satisfied with blood for half a day, and he was force fed food. Unfortunately, mice with bad tolerance had their nutrient organs almost non functional. Cedric couldn't imagine how dysfunctional Tomson One's stomach and his intestines had become, but somehow Tomson One managed to eat normal food for the first time in a year.
Cedric for once felt that there might be a chance to heal the poor man and his interest in the subject grew tenfold.
Unfortunately, it seemed that after having the curse-bodies transfer from one mouse to another, it had gathered attributes the animal. He scurried in fear and hid in the dark, completely alert like a small rodent.
This... was a problem.
And so Prince Xalvador and Cedric had to choose animals with better attributes to infect the improved curse-body strain and draw blood from to re-infect Tomson One.
But it's not like they could use big animals, which were impossible to obtain in the city. Their samples couldn't be left out of the cold vault for too long, as they didn't work afterwards. So they could only settle with wild stray dogs and wild cats.
But those infected animals could not be left to infect others. They had to be killed.
And as Cedric watched the burning bodies of the animals he killed, he left a small part of him to die inside... slowly like a slow dying fire whose embers were trying their best to flicker and survive.
It was then when Cedric got news of his old friend Wilhelm, whom he was barely even able to meet after a year. And it was Lanira who contacted him.
"I know you are doing some medical research on something. Please, if you could at least see him."
When Cedric stepped into the room smelling of disinfectants and musty air in the small Shield mansion given to the Lady of the house of Shield for her exile, he felt horror creep into him as he noticed his once bright and jubilant friend lying on a bed, thin as bone and pale as paper.
Cedric could only stare, unable to believe what happened. He learned from Wilhelm a year ago that he decided to move out the House of Shield to accompany his mother who was exiled. With that, he had to revoke his status as a knight apprentice. At that time, he was almost happy that he didn't need to become a knight. Wilhelm was never interested in becoming one since young. Still, he had no idea how Lanira came to the picture.
"Hay," Wilhelm said, his voice coming out of his cracked lips in tiny wisps. Lady Ingrain stood by the entrance, her gaze a bit hopeless before she left the two boys and the girl to their company.
Lanira on the other hand had grown to be a beauty with long thick black hair and a figure that made men stare and made women jealous. Sunlight poured from the open window, the light curtains swaying softly to a warm breeze.
Cedric closed in on Wilhelm, pulling back his eye lids, checking his pulse and feeling his heart and feeling his nails.
"What did this start?" Cedric finally asked.
Wilhelm coughed, before he smiled a bit. "A few moons back."
"Is there anything you can do?" Lanira asked.
"I_"
"I am dying, aren't I?" Wilhelm said, his lips rising to a small smile.
"Don't be ridiculous," Lanira snapped.
"I called Cedric because he never lies, my love. No one tells me whether I will make it. Cough. Mother thinks it's a mercy."
Wilhelm all of a sudden started to cough.
"Don't talk too much," Lanira said as she helped Wilhelm to sit up, it seemed to have relieved the cough for a while. Still, Cedric would hear the wheeze from where he stood.
Cedric in truth haven't seen many patients with Deathstroke, but he knew how to recognize one when he sees it. And it seems that the disease had attacked Wilhelm's lungs.
Deathstroke was always known to be an elusive disease. No matter how much one looked, there was no signs of curse bodies. There were theories of invisible curse-bodies that were unable to be seen even through a glass-scope. The blood-fever is thought to be caused with the same according Delenor Spafini, an invisible curse-body. For a disease to be called an infection, it must be passed from one person to another, the visibility of curse bodies didn't matter, it is assumed curse bodies are there. If the infection spreads, it meant something was spreading it, at least in theory. But Deathstroke was random. It was thought to be by generational error, where the body somehow turns mad, developing growing masses of tissue whenever it seemed fit. But half the time there were no relatives who developed the disease.
So Deathstroke had only one diagnosis.
A long term disease eventually leading to a slow death. It starts with unexplained pains, weakness and very vague symptom. The patient looses weight over time, growing weaker with ever day. Some died with unimaginable pain, some just pass on in their sleep. But death was inevitable. It always was.
Cedric's silent look was enough for Wilhelm to realise that whatever he is suffering from, is one without much hope.
Lanira stood up, glaring at Cedric with such hatred and almost wanted to punch him.
"How much time do I have?"
Cedric sighed, "I-I don't know."
"Thank you," Wilhelm rasped. "I_ I want to rest a bit."
Two more physicians followed Lady Igraine as Cedric and Lanira left. Lanira stormed away, her skirt sweeping the floor as she walked in anger. She then stepped in front of a hedge and started to kick the plant, causing the flowers to fall off in a shower.
"Why! Now he will give up without even trying!" She screamed as she held onto Cedric's collar, tears streaming down her eyes as she sobbed.
The girl sobbed, her head lying on Cedric's chest, soaking his dress shirt. He didn't dare to move. From the way the two interacted, he seemed to have understood something. And that realization made a pit to grow inside him. An ache that seemed to grow.
"Wilhelm is stronger than that," Cedric finally replied.
"Why?" Lanira finally said. "I just got him. Why?" She finally lifted her head, sniffing. "It's ironic really. I would never have been able to even see him if he was healthy. The only reason her ladyship allows me near is because she knows he doesn't have much time left..."
Lanira slowly let go of Cedric. "I apologize. You... you have grown... handsomely at that too," she said with a chuckle. Yet the smile didn't reach her eyes.
"I heard rumours that you and the fourth prince is trying to find a cure for the king?"
Cedric felt his nerves snap into attention. He couldn't imagine how the rumours might have spread so. But then again, the two of them always visited the scholar's tower, bothering the physicians for access to the archives and pretty much buying mice from the under-market, something known to be done only by research scholars.
"If _"
"The king suffers from liver and kidney disease," Cedric answered. "It's different."
"Yes but_ if you could find something for Wilhelm as well."
Cedric left back to the capital, contemplating everything he knew. His best friend was dying. He was going on a wild goose chase to create a drug to defeat death. And in the next moon, he would become a full fledged knight.
It seemed, too much for him to bare.
Eventhough Lanira had asked him for a cure out of desperation as her lover was dying, Cedric wondered about their project. They were searching for immortality.
They didn't know whether the blood-fever might be able to actually cure a disease. They only know that whoever it infects are hard to kill.
Prince Xalvador didn't care for the king's health. What he wanted was a buff that can develop the king's interest enough for him to dismiss the engagement out of greed. Cedric could tell that much from the fourth prince's attitude.
Still, Cedric became curious. Back at the study, he took out the two mice from the under-market which they bought and was discovered to be unusable. One was old. The other was weak and had trouble breathing. Cedric didn't know to tell how old the mouse was.
When kept in the same cage with the infected, surprisingly, the infected ones didn't pay much attention to them. Cedric stood worried, it was difficult work to directly extract the curse-bodies from their glands. For one, they didn't have a needle tiny enough.
"What are you doing?" Prince Xalvador asked when he entered the study at midnight. He stood next to Cedric as he stared at the cages. One sick one was bitten. But the old one was ignored.
"I wanted to see if it can really cure diseases," Cedric replied.
"To save the king?"
Cedric shook his head. Prince Xalvador hated the king. He didn't want to be the focus of the prince's volatile temper at the moment.
"You went to visit the exiled Shield?"
Cedric nodded. As expected, Prince Xalvador had eyes and ears everywhere.
But Prince Xalvador was the same as him, curious. They managed to inject the old mouse as well with some separated blood samples.
The old mouse died, convulsing as it did.
The sick one woke up a few days later. It ate a good amount and drank a good amount of blood. It even had enough energy to play with it's companions and joined his companions' quest to escape.
"A cure-for-all," Prince Xalvador laughed, watching the once I'll mouse, "But not for the old. How amusing."
Cedric nodded.
"His majesty was meant to die. But this will be more than enough to fool him."
He thent turned to Cedric, grinning, "Tell your friend, if he is willing to be loyal to me, there might be a chance for him to live longer than he ever needed."