EPISODE 6: THE PLAGUE ## CHAPTER 1: THE FIRST SYMPTOMS It began with a cough. One of the Saxon refugees developed fever and chills three weeks after the settlement. Morwen examined him, noted the symptoms, and ordered quarantine as a precaution. By the end of the week, fifty people were sick. "It spreads through breath," Morwen told Marcus, her face drawn with exhaustion. "Contact, shared meals, close quarters. I've seen this before. It killed half of Londinium twenty years ago." "Can you stop it?" "I can slow it. Quarantine the sick. Keep families apart. Pray." "Morwen—" "I don't know, Marcus." Her voice cracked. "This is beyond anything we've prepared for." Marcus looked out at the settlement—the families going about their daily lives, unaware of the invisible threat among them. The alliance they'd built so carefully, now facing an enemy that couldn't be fought with swords. "Do what you can. I'll handle the council." --- ## CHAPTER 2: THE QUARANTINE Implementing quarantine nearly tore the settlement apart. "You want to lock up the Saxons?" Quintus demanded. "They'll think it's an execution." "Not just Saxons. Anyone who's been in contact with the sick." "Half the settlement has been in contact with someone!" "Then half the settlement goes into quarantine." The protests came from every direction. Roman soldiers refused to be separated...