Palamedes makes a face. "Maybe we should have some salves at the ready," he says, only half joking. He doesn't know where Daniel's hypothesis about boils comes from, or even how serious it is, but at this point Pal would gladly follow any lead.

"If the pattern follows, we'll begin to get hints regarding the next disaster in two months' time, perhaps even sooner. I recommend taking copious notes, and seeing what patterns emerge. We've yet to properly predict what's to come, but we must keep trying."