Chapter 74: DANGER
"UGH," Asher groaned as consciousness dragged him back to the waking world like a reluctant fish on a hook.
"Finally awake, sleeping beauty?" came a crisp voice from across the room.
He tilted his head to find Jenny seated at the small dining table, looking quite the picture in an elegant outdoor gown of cream-colored silk that seemed to shimmer in the morning light. A wide-brimmed sun hat with delicate lace trim sat perched on her head, casting artistic shadows across her face.
"Y-yeah," he managed to croak out, though he felt anything but fine. His whole body was burning up, and a bone-deep exhaustion made even breathing feel like work. Don’t tell me I fell ill, he thought with growing alarm. Given his naturally weak constitution, he was more vulnerable to these things than most people. Maybe yesterday’s healing session had something to do with it too.
"I made something," she announced, gesturing toward a steaming bowl on the table. "And before you get all entitled about it, I did this from the goodness of my heart. I’m not obligated to make you anything, so if you don’t like it, just leave it."
He kept silent, partly because arguing felt like too much effort.
"Hmm?" She must have noticed something in his expression because she walked over to the bed, her red eyes narrowing with concern. When she placed a cool hand on his forehead, her frown deepened dramatically.
"What the hell?" She jerked her hand back as if she’d been burned. "How do you have a fever? Only etherless people get fevers."
Up close, he could see the confusion and worry flickering across her features. Her purple hair caught the morning light streaming through their window, and he noticed she’d taken extra care with her appearance. She placed her hand back on his forehead, this time sending a gentle probe of ether into his system to investigate.
"This is completely impossible," she muttered, her brow furrowing as she concentrated. Once someone possessed ether, their body becomes immune to mundane illnesses like this.
She paused, her expression shifting from confusion to something approaching alarm. "This... is weird. You obviously have ether, but it’s not coming from your ether pool..."
She stepped back, placing her index finger between her lips in that familiar gesture of deep contemplation he’d already learned to recognize.