<br /><br />I Know Thee Brother: Part 4a – I Smell a Rat

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Monday, December 22

I Know Thee Brother: Part 4a – I Smell a Rat

Another day passed and Sebastian’s illness worsened. As the day advanced, more victims of the plague were brought into the courtyard from the city. They were some of the worst cases, born in on stretches covered with blood-soaked sheets.

“At the rate these bodies come in, he’ll never heal Sebastian!” Ilmarė said, exasperated.

“Psst!” a squeaky voice whispered to Kham.

Kham looked around.

“Down here!”

Kham looked down. A large brown rat, sitting on its hind legs, was tugging on his boot.

“Great,” said the val. “Now I can hear what animals are thinking.” He rubbed his temples. “I love being a val!”

“No boss, I’m actually speaking Low Coryan,” said the rat. “Learned it from Gakyi. But that’s not important now. What’s important is that you’re about to be ambushed.”

“An ambush?” Kham looked down at the rat in disbelief. “You expect me to believe a talking rodent?”

As Petru began to minister to the sick, a half-dozen sheets were tossed aside to reveal feral ratmen, armed with wicked swords.

“Told you,” said the rat. [MORE]