At her height, she could not see how the man looked and she did not dare risk it. Looking upwards at the taller man would reveal her face, and in this neighbouring Kingdom, Royalty were quite easily recognized. Instead, she focused on a more curious question: how did he see through her trickery? If the actions of the commoners were to be believed, her pretence was rather believable. Or perhaps, made believable by the vendor who, in her horror, loudly announced to the entire street that she had the Black Chills. As a result, no one walked an arm’s length of her, and whenever she coughed, everyone took an extra step back.
And now, here was this man who, unlike the others, had seen through her. Again the question of how sprang up in her mind, and for a moment, she contemplated continuing the act. When she figured the man’s words were right and she could not keep this up in the long run, she sighed and said,” Yes, good Sir. You have seen through me.”
Then, in the last moment, she realized that the man had not spoken with certainty. His words were ambiguous, in fact, and had not directly showed that he knew she was pretending to have the Black Chills. This was a moment Gaerielle was glad she had the hood for, as she bit her lips in exasperation. At the same time, she also realized her words were just as ambiguous – for she had not yet admitted to having that disease.
Returning to her act, she began to cough. Despite being softer than her earlier ‘coughing fits’, the crowd still took a step back as they walked along – though she also realized that some must not have heard the vendor earlier or simply forgotten, for now there were some in the crowd that did not shy away immediately. Still hunched low, she continued,” I know using my illness will not help me much in the long run, but alas, I’ll take any charity people would show me.”
And she smiled, pleased that she saved her act in this manner. Unless the man was truly certain that she did not have the Black Chills and exposed her directly, it was unlikely that he will pursue this any further. Although distorted by the commoners, one of the defining symptoms of the disease was its spread through physical contact. Due to that, one of the requirements for a patient with Black Chills was for the person to be quarantined and isolated from the rest – where the person would be free from physical contact with others as he recuperated. Of course, with the lesser knowledge and superstition of the commoners, this was twisted into the belief that the patient has an ‘aura of illness’ that infects those who stand too close.
Whichever belief this man subscribed to, Gaerielle had no doubt it would be quite a gamble.