3.5

Although Remal had taken extra effort in washing up, Brylin lost no time in finding something else to criticize him for. He'd walked right into it, after all. She quickly observed that her younger brother hadn't put on the woolen hat and poncho she'd selected for him. Reaching for them, she saw that he'd also left aside the undershirt. Picking the undershirt up, she attempted to hand it to Remal but he fixed her with what he hoped was his best impassive stare, standing with his arms folded in front of him and his hands tucked in.

"It's getting colder-" Brylin started what Remal assumed would be a lengthy lecture, but he wasn't having it. Not this time, not today.

"I don't care how it feels to you!" he snapped, snatching up the undershirt only to throw it over Brylin's shoulder. "When I'M the one who feels cold, that's when I'll put on more layers!" He re-folded his arms and glared stubbornly, expecting some sort of verbal retaliation.

Brylin, to his great surprise, seemed momentarily at a loss for words. He could tell by the way she picked the undershirt up, however, that she was quickly recovering and would soon put together a response. A tirade, most likely.

Faver had other ideas. Stepping up to Brylin and whispering something in her ear, Faver pulled the undershirt out of her hands and re-folded it as he had already done a short time ago. Setting the undershirt once again with the poncho and hat, Faver re-directed Brylin's attention by asking her about the others. In particular, he asked something about Nathley and the medicinal poultice.

Remal, marveling that it actually worked, stood aside and thought to himself that Faver was probably the only person in the world who could get away with persuading Brylin to do (or not do) something different than what she'd already set her mind to. Remal was momentarily envious of that power, but it quickly faded upon considering that the only times he ever wished for any control over Brylin, was when he wanted her to leave him alone. He really didn't want any influence more substantial than that.

Meanwhile, Brylin was telling Faver that Nathley would be along soon, with Nina and Emri. She also said something about dinner preparations, but Remal didn't pay any attention to that aside from noting that it should be ready at a reasonable time, and that some people were helping with dinner who had just returned from the secondary campsite.

Remal would rather be at that other campsite than here now. No, actually he'd rather be trekking up the rocky rugged mountains' feet, or even wandering the rolling hills in the opposite direction, closer to the inhabited local area, where the grass-covered heights offered a good view of the distant but also now-too-close burg beyond the nearer farms and grazeland. Reportedly, there was decent hunting for wild game in the forest to the North - now, that's where he really would prefer to be right now.

Sitting heavily on a stool in Faver's work tent, hearing Brylin prattle on but not really listening to her, Remal felt bored. Bored and impatient, and anxious to be just sitting there instead of off doing something useful. Almost anything, so long as it kept him a comfortable distance away from his older sister.

Idly, he thought again of his cousin who had gone off looking for her family instead of coming away with the camp. Although a surely-hopeless quest, maybe he should have gone with her instead. But he knew that if given the choice again, he'd still have chosen to travel with the camp, on account of his mother. He considered at least leaving this tent for a while, but he didn't want to go against Faver's orders... and he had work to do here, as long as there was a stranger in the camp.

I guess I have principles after all, Remal thought glumly, but it makes me feel like a dog on a leash. Or confined to a crate. He looked around the tent. It was one of the larger ones in the camp, but it still felt small to him.

Hearing Nina's bright, high-pitched voice, Remal perked up. Soon after, he heard Nathley's voice as well - not as high, but cheery as it usually was. Both voices approached outside and he heard another voice with them, quieter and more subdued. That would be Emri. The first voice was like brass, polished to a shine that reflected everything. The second was like sunlight glittering off of water in a brook tumbling over smooth rocks. The third... was like the surface of a pond in a shaded grotto where hardly a whisper of a breeze crept in to ruffle the water. He had heard Emri speak in far more animated tones, but it seemed that more often than not, she spoke the way she sounded now. Not monotone, but level. Smooth and a little deliberate. It reminded him of her eyes, which appeared capable of much expression at times, but far more often were like that same still pond. Maybe the pond was deep, containing unusually large fish that almost never even barely rippled the pond's surface, but now and then unexpectedly leapt open-mouthed out of the water to snatch at dragonflies and splash the walls of the grotto.

Yes, Remal would even rather be out fishing, though he had little patience for it these days. He still knew how to spot the best fishing places. It was one of the skills he'd probably never forget.

The three girls - with their variety of voices, varying ages, and even more widely varied gestures and mannerisms - had walked into the tent nevertheless as though they'd been friends for years. The topic of discussion apparently was all about what kinds of clothing Nina liked best, what Nathley believed was most fashionable, and what both thought would look good on Emri. She seemed to have opinions on colors, but little else.

Remal rolled his eyes. He usually found Nathley to be likable, but was there any way she could be more of a stereotype of a teenage girl right now? Make a new friend and set to talking about clothes! Well, maybe it would be more of a teen girl stereotype if she were gossiping about youthful crushes, relationship drama, or the like. He sincerely hoped that Nina would avoid getting too much like that when she reached a similar age in several years. He also hoped she wouldn't take after her mother as she grew up, but that was a different matter altogether.

Remal sat with crossed arms and a stony face, looking between Faver and Brylin, and the trio of girls. Hearing both conversations but neither included nor interested in either, he mostly ignored the words and studied the people instead.

Nina had seen him and waved when they walked in, and Nathley was far too engrossed in her conversation to notice, but Emri quite obviously noted both his presence and his observation of them. She kept glancing between her companions and Remal, seeming to be carefully keeping track of him. Occasionally, the bland expression (or lack thereof) she had when listening to Nina and Nathley, altered from what might have been mild interest or polite attentiveness, to a stony look sent back at him. The only difference was in the eyes. Subtle, but he swore it was there. Remal wondered if she ever played card games. Or any games.

Finishing his conversation with Brylin, Faver interrupted the three girls' talk of clothes in order to smother Nina in a brief hug, picking his daughter up off the ground and depositing her back in the same spot, which made her giggle. Then Brylin pulled the girl aside, and Faver quizzed Nathley about her assignment applying the poultice mixture. He offered reasonable praise and encouragement, then added some instructions about the next assignment he was giving her.

Adding to the crowd in the tent, Acker had also returned, deposited the bottle of medicine he'd taken with him onto the work table, and started writing. No doubt he was making notes for Faver about his errand, in that sort of a shorthand notation that Faver used with his apprentices.

Smaller and smaller, the tent seemed to get by the minute. Again, Remal wished to be elsewhere, but did his best to hide his irritation. He pretended he was playing cards, and when Emri fixed him with a stony stare, he maintained the stony-faced look he'd been practicing this whole time.

By the slight alteration in the set of Emri's brows, Remal guessed that it annoyed her. Or, he hoped it did. Amused at the thought, he felt the corner of his mouth twitch, but put in extra effort to do his best to look impassive still. At least until Emri looked away. Then, he allowed himself a moment for looking smug.

Brylin had enlisted Nina's help in setting aside the wash basins and cloths, and arranging the bench and stools for people to sit on while both now passed out some seed-cakes and berries from a basket Brylin had brought in with her. Dinner was expected before much longer, but Brylin insisted they eat something, especially in the case of everyone who had been out walking "up and down the hills" and "in and out of marshes" most of the day.

Nathley accepted the snack that Nina handed to her, then left to do whatever it was that Faver had assigned her to next. Faver gave Emri a dose of the medicinal drops that he'd already administered to himself and Remal, (from the bottle that Acker had returned with) and then had her sit by Acker, insisting the boy take a break off his feet before going back out to check around the patients. Brylin shoved a snack into his hands, then gave some to Emri with an overly-polite air.

Remal noted how bossy Brylin was with everyone. Although it was gratifying to know that he wasn't the only person she bullied, Remal disliked the way that Brylin alternated such bossiness with politeness. Though not outright rude, she was pushy and insistent, while also pouring the politeness on thick for Emri as a designated guest. Honestly, he found it a little disturbing, the way Brylin was extra-bossy with family, then instantly turned around and put on her best manners for a guest. He didn't think she was being fake and only pretending to be polite. Rather, that's just how she was: sincerely both at the same time - or, in the same breath.

Thankful that she wasn't bothering him at the moment and instead his snack was brought to him by Nina, Remal invited his niece to sit by him while she ate her own snack.

In between bites, Nina enthusiastically relayed some news. "Guess what, Uncle Rem? Emri's going to stay with us! I mean, in our tent. Ma invited her."

Remal heard all that with what he hoped outwardly remained a relatively calm expression. Inside, however, he felt like his stomach was pushed up, his heart was shoved down into it, and his ribs were threatening to squeeze both into jelly. Holding his breath a moment and quirking an eyebrow at Brylin, he wondered if she had done it just to vex him. It was one thing to be all polite and hospitable towards a visiting stranger, and he knew Nina was a very outgoing soul (which he wouldn't want to squash by discouraging her since she seemed determined to be friends with this visitor) ...but for Brylin to take that stranger in like family? He knew that Brylin was also rather outgoing, but he also knew full well that she wasn't as innocent and open as her little daughter was. No, Brylin had a careful, calculating side to her and it made Remal wonder what she was up to. Surely some other arrangement could have been made for Emri?

Brylin shot a stern look at her little brother and then explained, apparently for Faver's benefit as much as anyone else's, though Remal now wondered if some of it had been relayed to her husband just a short while ago when Remal hadn't been paying attention to their conversation.

"Not tonight, of course. I expected you all would keep the same arrangements as last night with sleeping here in the work tent, and our family tent has been packed up and moved along with a lot of other people's tents. Nina and I will sleep in Mother's tent. It's smaller, but should be adequate for three since the rest of you will be here. I had Mother's tent moved closer, so we'll be nearby. When the whole camp is all together in once place again, we'll get the family tent back up and there should be ample room for Emri next to where Nina sleeps. It simply won't do for everyone to keep napping here in the work tent at nights. You all need proper sleep."

"Of course, Dear." Faver said, patting Brylin on the arm. Remal was sure that Faver wouldn't want Brylin to keep fussing over the arrangements, but wouldn't seriously try to stop her if she insisted. "I should have thought of it myself. it's a perfectly reasonable idea."

Should have thought of it sooner? Except that Faver has had far more important things to worry about. Remal sniffed.

Nina grinned at Emri, who had remained silent since Nathley left, aside from perhaps an expression of gratitude when Brylin had given her the snack that she seemed to be nibbling slowly.

"There really is plenty of room in our tent." Nina insisted cheerfully to Emri, who nodded politely.

Meanwhile, Brylin started lecturing Faver about "proper sleep," and with that, there were once more two conversations going on, neither of which included Remal. Brylin kept going on about how she understood that for now, it was convenient for a lot of the tents to be packed up, and for people to be staying close by their debilitated relatives and ready to help move them in the morning, with many others sharing tents while they had family away at the other campsite or in the sick tents; but she insisted that as much as possible, once the camp was back together, Faver needed to be encouraging people to all sleep in their own tents instead of only napping by their sick loved ones. Especially if people are getting better, she said, and also because Faver had a duty to be concerned about the health of everyone and encourage them to take proper care of themselves, and he should set an example, and so on... and on.

Tired of Brylin's chatter, Remal paid more attention to Nina and Emri, though he hardly had much more interest in that conversation. Nina seemed to be having a mostly one-sided conversation with Emri, talking about the family tent and how it differed from this one, and prattling on about a lot of the things she did and didn't like about living in a tent, and the ways in which it was different from living in their old house.

Observing them, Remal noted that in addition to Nina clearly being friendly towards Emri, Emri did not appear indifferent to Nina. Just because she didn't seem to have much to add to the conversation didn't mean she wasn't paying attention to it, more than she had seemed to be earlier when Nathley kept talking about clothes. Emri's eyes appeared calm - even friendly - when she looked at the girl and let her talk on and on. Was that the closest Emri ever got to smiling? He squinted, imagining that those would look like smiling eyes, if only the rest of Emri's face would match the expression.

Momentarily forgetting his annoyance with Brylin, Remal began considering possibilities. After all, he realized that that he couldn't reasonably follow Emri everywhere, but Nina could easily be around her most of the time when Remal wasn't. Nor would it be a bad thing to have careful Brylin around to supervise them, if they did share a tent at night. Nina had a disarming way about her that could be useful. Yes, possibilities.

Acker finished his snack before Emri finished hers. When the boy indicated that he would go around and check on the patients now, Emri passed what remained of her snack to Nina and got up to go with him. Faver agreed, acting like he might follow in a moment. He probably expected Remal to, as well.

Brylin set to gathering up the wash cloths into her basket and would likely have Nina help her carry the basins out, but stopped to say something else to Faver.

Seizing on an opportunity, Remal kept Nina to one side for a moment while Emri followed Acker out.

"Would you do me a favor?" he asked her, conspiratorially.

"Sure!" Nina's cheery manner suggested that she did not follow the clandestine undertones of Remal's manner. At all.

"Would you keep an eye on Emri? When I'm not there, I mean. Watch out for her."

To one side of Remal's field of vision, behind Nina, Remal saw Faver throw him an odd, maybe-skeptical-maybe-cautioning sort of look.

Nina giggled. "I know how to be nice to a guest."

At that, Faver looked amused, but with a wry look to hint that he'd understood exactly what Remal meant - but preferred Nina's interpretation.

Remal shot Faver a brief, sneering look instead of verbal sarcasm. Instead of a satisfactory look from Faver, he got a scolding look from Brylin. Faver strategically put a hand on her arm, as though to tell her not to interrupt.

Undaunted, Remal went back to attempting to enlist his niece in helping him with his assignment.

"Nina, we really don't know much about Emri. Look here, if she tells you more about where she came from or how she ended up traveling here, then tell-" Pausing as he glanced at Faver and Brylin both leveling serious gazes at him (each in a personal style of parental concern) he finished with a nod to Nina's parents. "...us."

A look of sudden understanding washed over Nina's childishly innocent face. "Ohhh... oh! You want to know more about her! Sure, I'll help with that!" Nina attempted a wink, but clearly she hadn't practiced the gesture enough yet, instead giving a sort of momentary, squinting look where one eye closed completely and the other hovered close to doing the same. Casually, she added the following: "So, what do you think of her? I think she's nice... do you like her?"

Remal frowned at the slight emphasis on the word "like," no matter how innocently and entirely un-serious Nina said it. Perhaps she was spending too much time lately, with the likes of Nathley. He could see Faver stifling a laugh, and Brylin looked like she was working up to some kind of interruption.

Annoyed, (though more with Brylin than Nina) Remal took the kind of tone he almost never used with Nina, though nearly everyone else was by now used to hearing it from him. Not really scolding, but impatient-sounding and stubborn.

"Like her? How could I like her? I don't even know her! She's a stranger to us all!" Uttering a minor oath (quite an exceptionally tame one, considering his little niece's age and that she'd probably heard worse by now in the camp) he added a muttered caution to Nina along the lines of saying that she shouldn't listen if her mother ever tries to talk about him and matchmaking in the same breath.

As soon as he'd said it, he wished to take it back but didn't know how. He'd immediately forgotten the way he'd said it, and just as immediately realized that he'd taken an irritable tone with Nina, which is the part he regretted most.

Brylin glared daggers at him, while Faver failed to suppress a laugh. Nina looked confused. Remal decided to cut and run.

"Sorry." He said to Nina, with a pat on her shoulder as an attempt to reassure the child that he wasn't annoyed with her. He didn't know what else to say by way of apology, how to say it.

"I'm going to check on Mother." Remal declared abruptly, standing up and stalking out of the tent in what he believed to be an impressively fluid set of rapid motions - though he felt very awkward on the inside.

Remal thought, for a moment, that Nina had started to follow him, but then he heard Faver behind him, murmuring in a soothing tone. Nina's response sounded like it was both aimed away from Remal, and from a stationary position.

"Did I say something wrong?" Nina asked.

"No, Sweetie, he's just cranky because he's tired."

3.4

Walking back from the marsh, Aron annoyed Remal by constantly interrupting any time he started to speak. In addition, although Aron pretended to ignore Remal by not looking directly at him, the fellow clearly kept track of where Remal was and walked between him and Emri at all times. What's more, Faver followed suit and left Remal to walk back behind them, accompanied only by Rinna who watched everyone in a calculating manner. At first, Remal expected Rinna to correct Aron, but then he realized that she wasn't going to, so Remal put on a rebellious air and sniffed at Rinna as though he didn't care, and as if he wasn't trying to watch Emri closely - even if the Leaders wanted him to.

"Here, I'll take those for you." Remal said to Rinna just before they got to Faver's work tent. "Surely you have plenty of other things to do." He mostly tried to appear respectful, but arched an eyebrow at her for emphasis on his suggestion that she wasn't needed there.

Smiling in a wry manner, Rinna handed over the sack she'd had slung over her back and a few additional plants she carried in her arms, which when combined with what he'd gathered himself, left Remal practically overflowing with plants. He wouldn't go back on what he said, however, and followed the others into the tent.

"Don't drop those!" Faver scolded upon seeing Remal's arms full, "Put them here." He indicated the cot that Remal had slept on before, already half-covered with what the other three had brought in.

Setting what he carried down and glancing around, Remal saw that the cot Emri had slept on had been removed, and in its place were a few stools topped with small basins of water, washcloths, and a couple cakes of soap. All Brylin's doing, he was certain.

As if on cue, he heard Brylin herself just outside the tent. Aron and Emri stepped back out, while Faver busied himself with a couple small bowls and a jar. Going out himself, Remal passed Nathley bringing in a stack of something like maybe some more cloths, or clothing. He heard Faver behind him immediately order Nathley to fetch Acker.

Outside the tent again, Remal was disappointed to see that Rinna was still there (with Brylin), but he also saw Nina standing by her mother. He waved a hello to his niece, but she had her hands full with another stack of clothing in her arms up to her chin, so she just nodded at him with a smile.

"...and I didn't think anything of mine or Nina's would fit," Brylin was saying (and which Nina giggled at) "so I hunted out some clothes that might."

Rinna nodded approvingly, and Brylin pulled the top item off the stack held by Nina. It unfolded into a dress, which Brylin held up to Emri's shoulders to compare with her stature and general build.

"I think this one would fit tolerably well." Brylin said after a moment. Nevertheless, she threw it over the stack held by Nina while somehow also grabbing another dress out of that same stack. She looked at Rinna and then back to Emri. "Which do you think?" she asked them. Emri sort of shrugged, and Rinna looked to be considering it slowly.

"The first one, I think." Remal stated.

He thought Brylin might retort, but from behind him came Nathley's voice: "Let me see."

She came forward, and after a few moments of her and Brylin each holding up a different dress, Nathley agreed with Remal that the first one looked better. Nina agreed with them, Rinna continued her considering looks, and Brylin muttered something unintelligible before saying: "Well, you can try them both on. You can borrow either or both for as long as you need to. If neither fits comfortably, we'll take another look at what's available."

Remal didn't know what to make of the way Emri kept looking at both of the dresses. They were certainly more plain than what she'd been wearing, but maybe she didn't care about that. Yet again, Remal wished that she showed expressions on her whole face... (he had lost count of how many times he'd already wished it) ...instead of only her eyes. Maybe she just couldn't decide, but then (as Brylin had said) she could try them both on.

"Does... someone else not need them?" Emri said slowly.

Suddenly Remal realized where he'd seen them before. They used to belong to a young woman who had died not so long ago, who had been a little shorter than Emri but a similar build otherwise. If he remembered correctly, it would explain the way that Aron had been silently staring the whole time. Since many people in the camp had lost almost everything before leaving Oxhale, many others (like Aron) who lost family along the way, had given clothes and other useful things left by their dead relatives, that wouldn't be of any use to themselves (unless for sentimental reasons only) to make them available for anyone who might need them. The greater amount of clothing so donated had probably already been given to others, some probably with alterations done - but all things considered, there were still some things like that in a general collection of stuff not currently in use by anybody, but still useful and valuable enough to bring along with the camp. Remal never paid any attention to which cart such things had been gathered in, but of course Brylin knew where to find anything and everything.

Did Brylin realize? Rinna probably had. Should he say something? He was sure Aron wouldn't.

"No..." Brylin said. "Not currently. We've got a bunch of things... just sort of sitting around in case someone needs them."

Remal glanced at Aron and saw him nod.

Brylin continued. "Anyway, go ahead and try one or both on, and wear whichever you want. I'll take your clothes to get them washed, and return them to you after they've dried. You've got plenty of other work to do, so I don't want you to have to worry about washing clothes, but you really ought to change out of what you wore while walking around the marsh."

Rinna nodded her agreement with Brylin, and Emri gave a little nod in return. Then, to the surprise of everyone present, Emri made a move as though to start undressing in order to change clothes right there in front of the work tent... in front of everyone.

Remal wasn't sure if everyone there was about to say something - certainly, some started to - but Brylin was fastest. She put a hand on Emri's arm, firm but gentle. "Wait. Not here."

Emri paused and reversed her movement in a somewhat startled manner. There was something hesitant about the way she looked at Brylin, like maybe she wasn't sure if she had committed a serious offense or not. Like a child who doesn't know what's going on. Remal was reminded of the way Emri had shuffled cautiously when he'd first found her up in the hills; awkwardly, like a newborn lamb or goat's kid, before they gained their footing. She really did sometimes seem to be so much younger than she actually looked.

Nina giggled, and Brylin shot her an 'it's-not-funny' kind of look, then turned back to Emri. However, Remal saw Emri watch them closely, and she seemed to relax her posture a little when she saw that Nina wasn't getting scolded. That, and the way Brylin looked kindly back at Emri, seemed to convince her that she hadn't committed a serious offense, only a mild breach of customs. Attentively, she listened to Brylin.

"Regardless of how things are done where you come from, around here people just don't change clothes in front of everyone." Brylin threw brief looks at Aron and Remal, as if to suggest that they had done something wrong. What, were they at fault just for being there? Remal scowled.

Brylin kept a hand on Emri's arm and started steering her away. "Besides, you all need to wash up before putting on clean clothes. I've got a washing-up tent set up just over here. The boys will wash up in Faver's work tent, and-"

Faver coughed, and Remal turned to see him standing there with Acker, each holding a bowl that smelled like the poultice for bites. No doubt everyone who had been out walking in the marsh had been bitten numerous times; Remal hadn't even bothered to count how many new bites he'd gotten himself.

Acker grabbed Aron's sleeve and pulled him into the work tent. Faver handed the bowl he had to Nathley, and waved at her to follow Brylin. Remal could still hear Brylin - assisted by Rinna - giving Emri pointers on what was considered proper, and what wasn't. They weren't far off; the washing-up tent was just on the other side of the next nearest tent.

Nina giggled again, and nudged Remal with her elbow. "Isn't it funny," she said, still giggling, "if Emri is from a place where people don't care who they change clothes in front of?"

Remal always found Nina's curiosity amusing, as well as her mannerisms (like the look on her face at this moment) but he did his best to keep a straight face right now. "No." He couldn't help picturing what he imagined Nina might be thinking; except, he was sure that the way it would look to him, if everyone there were to all wash up together, wouldn't be funny in the way Nina was thinking about it. He looked away from everyone and down at the ground, doggedly attempting to think of something else.

Faver spoke up. "Nina, the important thing is that's not how we do things here in this camp. You listen to your mother, and run along now. Aren't those clothes you've got, the ones they'll need when they finish washing?" He gave her a light pat on the back to send her on her way.

"Come on." He tugged on Remal's sleeve, pulling him into the work tent. With his other hand, he closed the door flap, and then used both hands to tie it shut after nudging Remal towards the wash basins.

Acker had a lot of practice by now with washing people who were too sick to get up; it might be different for him to be helping wash someone who was standing up, and maybe the fact that the person was moving around wouldn't be helpful for Acker, but he had clearly been helping Aron wash in as quick and efficient a manner as Acker seemed to do almost everything. By the time that Remal and Faver had stripped and begun washing, Acker had started applying poultice to every place he could find where Aron had been bitten. Remal was sure that Faver had sent Nathley with the girls in order to do that very same task there.

Feeling uncomfortably alone in his thoughts, Remal broke the silence. "Isn't it completely ridiculous and impractical, for someone to be traveling around with almost nothing?"

"You think so?" Faver said. "When you and other scouts are away from camp, you usually travel light and carry very little with you, right?"

Remal scoffed. "But always with at least a poncho or a blanket or something, and a couple of knives and things for hunting, like-"

Aron interrupted sharply, but not loudly. "Sometimes people don't have a choice; it's something that just happens. We all know people who have suddenly lost everything, and had to leave a place with no time to gather anything up to take along with them."

Of course Remal knew that! And he didn't like for Aron to use that tone with him. He snapped back. "If she had to flee from someone or something, that's all the more reason to find out what, in case it might be anything that could threaten the camp. It's reckless and irresponsible of her, if she knows of any danger around here, but won't speak of it to people she professes to want to help."

Faver waved his hands dismissively at them both. "There's nothing to argue here. We're all in agreement about those things already. Besides, don't you think that maybe whatever she left behind might only concern her, and isn't a danger to the camp as a whole?"

"It might be." Aron admitted. "Maybe you can find a diplomatic way to ask her about it."

Acker was helping Aron dress, trying to make sure the clothing didn't mess up the poultice applications too badly. Aron was getting his shirt on while he spoke, so he wasn't obviously looking at either Remal or Faver when he said that, but Remal guessed he meant it for Faver. Remal replied anyway.

"I'm certain she wouldn't speak of any such thing to me," he said adamantly.

Faver sighed. "I may, but I don't want to be pushy about something like that."

Finished dressing, Aron gave Faver a pat on the shoulder. "Do what you can, but of course your work with the sick is more important."

Faver nodded, and Aron left without another glance or word to Remal. Remal told himself he didn't care, and assumed that Aron needed to hurry off and report to someone anyway.

Meanwhile, Acker had turned his attention to applying poultice to Faver's bites. Faver had washed in a hurry, and now seemed more concerned with taking his time in looking everywhere he could for marsh fly bites. Of course he couldn't see places like behind his own back, but Acker had gone over that first. Remal, on the other hand, took enough time for things like washing behind his ears and under his fingernails. Not that he really cared much normally, but on a day like this he wanted one less reason for his sister to criticize him.

Faver broke the silence this time by clearing his throat.

"So, that was a really nice thing you did, preparing a walking stick for Emri."

Remal fixed Faver with what he hoped was one of his best glares, standing still and holding the expression until Faver made eye contact back.

“That was only to help you," Remal said in a deliberate way, "so you don’t have to worry about her too much. You… might be right about her only helping, but if she can’t take care of herself, then she’ll be a burden on you, and I can’t have that.”

Faver grinned and gave him a pat on the shoulder. Remal's injured shoulder. “Aw, so glad that you care, brother.”

“Pffft.” Faver wasn’t funny. Well, not that funny. Remal adopted an exceedingly serious sort of lecturing tone. “I'm just looking out for you, because your work is so important. Besides, do you have any idea of what a huge mountain of grief I’d get from Brylin if anything were to happen to you on my watch? Not to mention that it would upset Nina, and nobody wants that. Anyhow, the stick was nothing.”

“All right, forget I mentioned it.” Faver’s tone was nonchalant, but he was still grinning.

Remal slugged him in the arm. “Cut that out! I’m serious.”

“Okay.” Faver said, then laughed.

“Hmph.” Remal turned his back and continued washing.

By the time Remal had run out of places to wash, Acker was already helping Faver put on his trousers. And then there was no escaping it: Acker and Faver both turned their attentions to Remal, the one applying poultice to his bites and the other giving him a thorough checking over. Remal knew that as much as he wanted it to be over, he couldn't make an early escape without it coming back to get him later. He grumbled a little, but put up with it. Soon enough, Faver was bringing out all the things for tending to Remal's shoulder, while Acker helped him get dressed. The undershorts and trousers, anyway. Remal's shirt would wait until after Faver had tended to his shoulder.

"Hello in there!" Hin's voice called from outside the tent's door.

"Hello!" Faver called back, and motioned to Acker to go undo the ties on the inside of the door.

Remal hurried to finish belting up his trousers in case anyone else was out there, but as it turned out, Hin entered alone.

"Hin! It's good to see you." Faver greeted him cheerfully while fussing about with things at the work table, barely looking up. "How are things going with the move?"

"Well enough, so far."

"Any sign of hostility from the neighboring burg?"

"Not yet. Could be they haven't noticed."

Remal chimed in. "Perhaps... or maybe they're just waiting to see if we're going to venture farther into their territory. They might not mind as long as we stay on this side of the hills."

Hin nodded. "Perhaps... if we don't stay long."

"Good thing we're not planning to stay." Faver commented, then passed a bottle to Acker, instructing him to go find Aron and give him a preventative dose of the liquid medicine, and then make sure to give a dose to everyone else who'd been out at the marshes that day. Remal didn't know all the signs that Faver had gotten into the habit of using with Acker, but Faver usually spoke his instructions aloud as well. Acker really was quite adept at interpreting the way people's mouths moved when they spoke.

Faver gave Remal a dose of the medicine, and then took a dose himself. It tasted just as bad as before, but at least it tasted like medicine, rather than something putrid.

Faver then made Remal sit on a stool, where he could best reach Remal's shoulder to clean and re-bandage it. Hin stood by and described to Faver how things had been going with everyone who had gone downriver today, on the near side at the new (and very temporary) campsite.

When Hin left them, most were still in the process of unloading the carts and wagons that would be brought back to this site, but he expected they'd have finished by now, in the time it had taken Hin to get back to Faver. The majority of people would be returning with the carts and wagons tonight, so as to already be on hand to transport the sick tomorrow morning. There would be people staying overnight to guard everything that had already been transported to the riverside, and there also were people on either side of the river who were finishing preparations for the river crossing. Those people included some who had previously gone ahead, up another branch of the river to a forest by the hills well north of the lake, and had brought rafts down the river to the crossing place. Some of the carts and wagons could be floated across, but some were too heavy (especially when full) so they would either have to be ferried across on rafts, or pulled across while empty. Most had been made back in the Downs where the only river was far more narrow than this one, and had bridges in enough places that no one building wagons worried about whether or not they could float; some were made with heavier timber than others, and not shaped in such a way as to avoid taking on water.

"It really is a shame," Faver commented while unrolling some bandages, "that we don't have more of the medium-sized wagons that can be floated across while loaded."

Remal spoke up. "If we did, we wouldn't have enough oxen to pull them anyway. We'd still have to move the camp in stages for as long as so many people are sick."

In tying the bandage, Faver pulled it a bit too tight for Remal's liking. "Obviously, I meant that I wish we had more of those wagons and more oxen to pull them."

Grumbling and wincing, Remal tugged on the bandage to loosen it just a little.

Hin gave Faver a pat on the shoulder. "It would be be nice." Annoyingly, Hin agreed with Faver. Well, it was true enough... but Remal wasn't going to say so. It was entirely unrealistic to wish for something like that when you can't have it.

"You know," Hin continued, "some of the leaders are still saying they think the sick should have been moved first."

"Absolutely not!" Faver practically shouted. "They were out-voted for good reason! Some of our people are too-"

"I know." Hin said in what Remal figured was his best attempt to sound soothing in spite of interrupting Faver. "Once you started trying new medicine, you wanted our sickest people to rest longer before moving them. I just wanted you to know that some of the leaders still hold to what you'd said before that, about moving them as soon as possible. I don't agree with them, I agree with you. Okay?"

Faver huffed, crossing his arms. "So they won't want to let everyone take a day to rest after getting to the river."

Hin nodded. "That's a vote they're winning. However, you may be able to persuade them to rest the camp after getting everyone across the river."

"I hope so." Faver muttered, gathering up the things he'd used in bandaging Remal's shoulder.

"Not if that burg takes notice." Remal muttered darkly, still trying to loosen the bandage.

"Stop that!" Faver scolded him sharply, swatting his hand away. "Leave my fine bandaging alone." Having set the other things aside, he then busied himself with extracting his shirt from the stack of clean clothing that remained neatly folded near the wash basin. Acker had helped him on with an undershirt before he'd left, so Faver only had to pull the shirt over it - though he still did so carefully, to minimize disturbance to the applications of poultice on his arms and torso.

"Here." Hin suggested, passing Remal the other clean shirt and undershirt, before Remal could tug at the bandaging again.

Remal grumbled sullenly. Taking the shirt from Hin's hand and tossing the undershirt aside, Remal asked him, "What of the flocks?"

Faver tutted, picking up the undershirt and re-folding it. He gave Hin a significant nod, and Hin started helping Remal put the shirt on, being more careful about the poultice applications than Remal would have been by himself.

Remal made a point of ignoring Faver, but let Hin help him. "Well?" he prompted.

"The flocks are expected to be taken upriver towards the forest as soon as they have crossed the river tomorrow. They might stay with the majority of the camp longer, if the sick remain by the river for a time after crossing over. As for tonight, the flocks will be back here at this campsite, since most of the people will be here. Some of those who mind the flocks are helping move the carts and wagons back here; I expect they'll arrive before long. A fair number of them were interested in learning about the new herbs and how to identify them. So as not to have the class be too large, we'll start with just the ones who are best at both foraging, and at teaching plant identification to others. When they are traveling upriver to the forest later on with the flocks, those people can teach the other herders what they learned and look for more herbs along their way."

Remal nodded; this sounded reasonable enough to him as to not require objections, though he suspected that he could find fault with the plan if he looked hard enough. He reminded himself, however, that he did not want to be one of the people making all the big decisions. So long as things worked out fine without causing him more trouble than necessary. He stood, and considered whether to tuck in his shirt or not. It'd be warmer if the long shirt were tucked in or belted, but he didn't feel like belting it. Then again, he didn't feel like tucking it in, either. Faver had tucked in his undershirt, and then belted the shirt. The man had also pulled on something like a small version of a woolen poncho; more like a vest that he could wear while working and have it not get in his way.

There had also been a poncho and hat left for Remal; he shook his head when Hin looked like he was about to pass them to him. Running his fingers through his hair so it wouldn't be so untidy, Remal watched Hin go to the door. Remal might have followed, but Faver insisted he stay put for a little longer, while Faver (yet again) checked on things like his heart rate, breathing, and such. Remal tolerated it, but his attention was on the tent's front door. Hin had pulled the flaps open to show that Brylin was there, chatting with Rinna. Hin joined them for a minute, and then Hin went off with Rinna while Brylin came inside.

3.3

After Emri had settled in and gotten a little more sleep, Acker came and fetched Faver sometime while it was still dark. Not long after, Acker came back and hurriedly gathered up a few things, after which he departed swiftly. Just about dawn, Faver returned and seemed to be trying to avoid waking Emri, but she was already awake, not having been able to sleep again since he’d left. She kept worrying about how she hadn’t gone to that last tent after Remal had confronted her.

Confounding person! Maybe she should have gone anyway, but at that point she’d been convinced that he’d follow and scrutinize her every movement. Still, she now blamed herself for giving up, especially since her fears were now being confirmed. Before she could bring herself to ask Faver what was going on, Aron and Rinna had appeared, followed by Nathley. A brief discussion between Rinna and Faver in hushed tones made it clear that two people had died that morning, both from the tent where Acker had been sitting with Hin and his children. Apparently, Acker had noted the first one’s passing earlier when he’d come and fetched Faver; there were already people digging a grave for that by the time the second passed away just before Faver returned. Rinna went hastily off to see to further arrangements. From what she gathered of some chatter to one side between Aron and Nathley, the people normally would wait at least a full day or more before having a burial; Nathley was lamenting that the camp was going to forgo the usual traditions and timing, Aron was reminding her how the circumstances required expediency.

Emri felt devastated. She’d been so determined to do everything she could so that this camp wouldn’t lose any more of their people, and yet… she’d failed. She wasn’t merely disappointed in herself, either – she knew that there would be many in the camp who’d be greatly saddened by the losses, and she felt sad for them, too. She began to cry, even though she tried not to. This whole time, Remal had been sitting in his cot on the other side of the tent, glowering. She thought he must be saddened as well, but more and more she thought he only looked incredibly angry. He appeared to be in such a supremely dark mood that offhand she couldn’t think of anything to compare it to that seemed to fit the expression so well as that of the darkest thundercloud on the point of breaking.

Rinna having left, Faver’s attention had turned to noticing that Remal and Emri had both been sitting awake and listening the entire time. He seemed to not feel any announcement was needed at that point, but went and put a hand firmly on Remal’s shoulder. As for Aron and Nathley, they saw that Emri had started crying, and sat down each on either side of her. Nathley hugged her, and Aron took one of her hands in his and patted it. Touched at how they would make a point of comforting her when they surely had more reason to be sad themselves, and feeling bad about knowing that part of her sadness was disappointment at herself, Emri only cried more. She put an arm around Nathley as best she could, and gave Aron a nod.

Meanwhile, she heard Faver speaking to Remal. Faver was saying that he had previously thought those two would have died sooner, and others more besides. He declared it to be almost miraculous that they had lasted as long as they had. That they hadn’t all passed, left hope that some of them might still recover. Not that Faver was in any way making light of the deaths, but by his tone and manner it seemed that he was trying to calm Remal by assuring him that it was nobody’s fault. Did he think that Remal might start making threats again?

Angrily, Remal growled at Faver. “Even so, I still have a right to be upset, don’t I? I don’t have to like it, no matter how optimistic you may feel about the rest of them!” He waved vaguely in what seemed to be the general direction of all the tents that still contained sick people, swiped Faver’s hand off his shoulder, and snatched his shirt up from where it had been laying carelessly.

He shot Emri a look that she could only view as suspicious, or as though he thought she had no right to mourn the passing of people with whom she was barely acquainted. She countered by refusing to flinch, though she still had tears coming from her eyes. She was more glad than ever of the kind presence of the people nearest to her at that moment; that and Faver being close by as well made her feel somewhat protected, though Remal’s angry glaring still made her feel threatened. He only stared for a moment, however, then he looked away, tugged his shirt on over his head, and stalked out of the tent. For a moment, Emri feared that Faver might stop him leaving, but the Healer merely tutted and shook his head resignedly as the younger man left, then handed Emri a cloth to wipe her face on before taking Aron aside. She didn’t hear what they were talking about as they left the tent, but didn’t think it was anything she needed to hear about anyway.

Nathley sat and cried with Emri for a little while longer, while outside could be heard the sounds of the camp stirring into full activity. Soon enough, Faver returned and let Emri go with him while he went around and checked on his patients, having dispatched Nathley on some errand or other. All the work that needed to be done today couldn’t stop on account of the deaths, especially for everyone who was trying their best to prevent more of them. There would, however, be a short burial service of sorts later that morning for those who were closest to the deceased, and for any others who wished to attend who could reasonably stop their work for a short time.

The first to die that morning had been one of the Elder leaders, one who had been helping fetch water from the lake before falling ill; the other was one of the scouts who had been the first to explore all the way around the lake. Not the first to have reached it, though – Emri had gathered from what Nathley told her, that the first to have come across the lake had also spent a fair amount of time exploring this side of it before the camp arrived, had been one of the first to get sick, and one of those who had died of it before Emri joined them.

Nathley met up with Faver and Emri at the service; it was somewhat removed from the camp, out away from the lake and near the hills, where the ground (although rocky) would be up above the elevation of the watery marsh around the lake. Acker was assigned to stay with the sick in Faver’s place, and Faver’s wife and child must have been busy as well; Emri didn’t have any idea how well they knew the deceased, but it appeared that only a small percentage of people from the camp were attending anyway. Many, if not all, of the Leaders that Emri had seen previously were in attendance, Rinna and Aron standing with them while one of the Elders spoke. She also saw Remal and Hin standing with a small group of people who had an air about them like most were either Scouts, Hunters, or both. Each and every one of them had at least some dirt on them like they had taken part in the digging, and away to one side could be seen places where there had been previous burials, the ground having been obviously disturbed and not yet settled back down on itself. Hin looked to be deeply moved, and Remal – while not exactly looking un-fearsome – had managed somehow to put a mournful expression onto his face. Emri turned away quickly, lest he notice her looking and start glowering furiously again. There were a number of other people also there that Emri hadn’t met yet, though some she was certain that she had seen in passing or who had been helping tend the sick.

Once the Elder finished speaking and those closest to the deceased had a chance to speak a little, some of the Leaders and most of the others headed back to the camp. The Elder Leaders and close family in attendance mostly stayed behind for now, looking on while those who had probably helped with the digging began to fill in the graves. Faver offered his arm for Emri to lean on while walking on the rocky ground, as he had on the way out to that spot. They walked quietly, except for Faver instructing Nathley to go fetch Remal back as soon as he was finished there. She therefore stayed back, and Aron fell in beside them, with many others nearby including Rinna with some other Leaders walking together.

Just as they neared the camp and all started to head for different parts of it, a crane called out loudly from the direction of the near part of the marsh. At the very least, most of the people there seemed convinced it was a crane, though someone commented that its call was a bit different from the ones they had heard already in that area, though similar in some respects.

“Maybe it’s a related species that isn’t as common as the others we’ve heard.” Aron commented.

“It certainly sounds like that could be the case.” Emri agreed, though hesitant to comment on it. She didn’t expect anyone else there to understand it, but she could recognize part of the sounds in the crane’s call as clearly being words from a language very different from what the people of the camp spoke. It wouldn’t translate directly even if she tried to, but essentially… it was a summons.

Upon returning, Faver checked in with Acker and then began preparing to go out hunting herbs. While the rest of the camp had started to move the majority of the tents and things off to a new location, Faver had Emri and Aron help him gather up some baskets and sacks to collect herbs in. Rinna went off on some other errand, but soon enough was back to join them before Nathley returned with Remal. Brylin appeared with them, and by the look of it she had made Remal wash up a bit, and she had taken the liberty of changing the bandage on his shoulder so Faver wouldn’t have to. With his hair all wet, Remal looked almost like a disheveled lion who’d been caught in the rain and was unhappy about it. He didn’t say a word, and avoided making eye contact with anyone, but nevertheless followed Faver’s instructions. Brylin brought Emri a basket with a long rope handle to go over the shoulder; she helped Emri with it and admonished her to be careful. Nathley wanted to go along with them, but Faver had some tasks that he ordered her to help Acker with instead, since there were still some preparations to be made for the tents with the sick people to be moved on the following day. Brylin offered to help with all of that, so she and Nathley wished them well as Faver and Emri set off, accompanied by Aron and Rinna, with Remal grumpily trailing behind.

Emri insisted they must venture farther into the marshes than before, to look for more of the fern with the bulb on its root (and not only because they were likely to find larger ones deeper into the marsh) and though Aron was hesitant, and Remal vehemently objected, Rinna and Faver were not too difficult to convince. However, although they overruled the other two on going into the marsh, they agreed with them that they should all go up in the hills first, and only venture into the marsh on the way back to camp from the hills. Emri couldn’t think of a very good excuse to give for why she might want to go into the marsh first, so she agreed, hoping that it wouldn’t be held against her to delay more than she already had.

Aron and Faver helped Emri keep her footing while navigating up the hillside. She was explaining to them what sort of places they should look for a plant related to the Firesparks, when Remal sharply interrupted.

“Someone should find you a walking stick, so you can manage better without needing help.” He sounded derisive, but he himself was once again using his spear as a walking staff, and carrying a basket in his other hand.

Emri shook her head. “I want to practice how to manage without.” How could she explain her reasons for preferring to carry as little as possible? In any case, she would rather have her hands free on the steeper areas, to grab at rocks and help pull herself up a slope. She glanced at Rinna, and was slightly gratified to see the woman doing just that.

Remal scoffed, however, saying: “Well, then do that.”

Before Aron and Faver could suggest otherwise, Emri waved them off and did her best to scrabble up the slope by Rinna. Rinna was a little faster at the moment, but Emri still managed to climb up. She thought she’d do better with more practice, but the important thing was that she could actually go uphill using her hands, somewhat better than she was at only using two feet and trying to keep her balance on the less-steep-but-still-uneven, shifting-gravel ground that covered much of the hillside. Aron looked amused, and then followed suit while Faver picked a longer path back and forth on a nearby area instead of going up the steep part. Remal had a look on his face that Emri really wasn’t sure how to interpret, but it seemed unpleasant in some way. He snorted and followed Faver. Rinna patted Emri encouragingly on the shoulder, then gave Aron a hand up as he finished climbing and joined them up the slope.

They started looking around for plants, but this area was adjacent to where Hin and Emri had been hunting herbs with Rinna on the previous day, and they didn’t find much of the one they’d collected before. So, they climbed farther up into the hills, and by the time that Faver and Remal caught up, Emri had managed to locate a plant that was indeed related to the minty-scented ‘Piedmont Firesparks’, near the foot of some high cliffs. Rinna, meanwhile, had been explaining to Aron what she recalled of how to identify the other one, and once Remal caught up, he started interrupting and correcting Rinna, causing Aron to look slightly bemused. Faver was greatly interested in the plant that Emri had found, and discussed it with her for a bit before summoning the others to get a look at it. After that, and after differentiating between what Aron and Rinna had found that was what they wanted, and some other similar plants that wouldn’t be as useful, they spent some time hunting around along the hillside at that height, heading northward until they reached the stream that Hin had scouted up along in that area before going back downhill. Hin wasn’t there to tell them about it, of course, but Remal had known he’d gone up around there, and commented to them all that he was unsurprised that Hin had dismissed the area as not being as good for crossing the stream as the place they’d crossed at farther downhill above the marshes.

Heading back down alongside the stream (except where the stream fell in a cascade and the ground was too steep to do anything but head away a bit and double back while descending) they reached the place where the scouts had crossed before, but instead of crossing it they then headed southward away from the stream, but down the slope at an angle to come to the lakeside and an area of mossy ground near the place where the marshes were narrowest between the lake and the hillside, the lake coming to meet the stream where it tumbled down the last bit of slope at the foot of the hills.

Abruptly, Remal shoved something at Emri, and she blinked a moment before realizing that he’d stopped short of hitting her with it. It was a long, stout branch that he must have picked up from under one of the tough, scrubby trees that appeared here and there up on the hillside among the boulders, the gravel, and the smaller plants.

“Take it.” He demanded gruffly. “Even if you don’t want it for walking, you should have something to check the ground in front of you if you still insist on going into the marsh.”

Being unable to think of any reason to refuse, Emri slowly opened her hand while she considered it, then grabbed the stick in one quick motion. She didn’t have to pull it away from Remal, however, since he promptly released it the instant that her hand closed around it.

“Thank you…” she said. A little uncertainly, she thought.

He grumbled something that may or may not have been an acknowledgement, and walked off.

Emri looked the stick over for a moment. It was stout enough that it could be used for a support, but not so stout as to be very heavy, nor that she’d have difficulty getting her hand around it. Moreover, she could see places where it clearly had recently been divested of whatever remained of smaller branches, whether they’d been attached when the stick was found, or if they’d broken off previously. Some places it looked like branches removed had been cut off easily, but other places appeared to have required a bit of whittling to cut them off cleanly without leaving bits sticking out that one could scratch oneself on, or catch on one’s clothing. Had he done that while walking along the hills, also looking for plants? Maybe it was no big thing for him, but to her it seemed like a thing that would require a fair amount of skill and practice.

While she was marveling that he would have done that for her, Aron approached and offered to walk with her. She didn’t want to refuse, so she walked with him into the marsh and helped him identify the ferny plant they were seeking, until they had found several between them. Meanwhile, the others had spread out, all walking slowly and cautiously since the marsh was full of places where the ground went soft and silty, which even where not too deep to walk in, sucked on one’s foot when a person moved to take further steps. Some places seemed to have gravel or larger rocks that must have fallen off the hills at some indeterminate time long past, but the larger ones were slimy and slippery, so that even if they weren’t smooth under the moss and the mush, they were still too slick to put a foot on. Occasionally, there were places with firmer ground, and as much as possible they tried to keep to those.

Emri noticed that as they’d started out, Faver and Rinna had each picked out a reed that would be a long, tough stalk not easily bent, and used those to probe the ground ahead of them from time to time. Remal used his spear, and appeared to have positioned himself mostly in the middle of where everyone else was spread out, and kept looking around at everyone as though to check how they were getting along. Faver and Rinna were now farther away, and part of the time Emri didn’t even see them anymore, since there were some reeds and other marsh-loving plants which grew in large bunches, taller than the majority of grasses and ferns around them.

Aron was cautious about them going as far into the marsh as they had already gone, but she’d kept pointing out more of the ferns they wanted every time she saw a good one farther in, using the walking stick to check the ground. Now, she thought it was a good time to let him ‘convince’ her not to go farther, but she asked him to go get a particularly large fern that she saw a little way off. She promised to wait there and walk back with him afterwards, and handed the walking stick to him to use, so he readily agreed, and set off.

Almost as soon as Aron had gotten far enough away that Emri thought she could speak quietly without being overheard, she caught a recognizable voice softly calling a greeting to her from close by. That is, she thought she recognized the voice, mostly, but it sounded a little different from what she was used to. It appeared to be coming from one of the iridescent dragonflies nearby, which alighted on a patch of tall grass within arm’s reach.

“Hello,” she greeted the being, but not in the language of the camp’s people. “Were you sent with a message, or have you come of your own volition?”

“Both.” Came the reply, in the same language. “I saw you appeared upset about the deaths. You’re not responsible for that.”

“But I-”

“You aren’t.” Emri couldn’t see any expression on a dragonfly, but the tone used was firmly insistent, and the shiny insect flicked its wings and hopped to a different part of the grass.

“Can’t I be upset about it anyway?” Emri retorted sulkily, and was reminded of how Remal had spoken to Faver earlier. She closed her mouth instead of saying more.

“Sure, you can be upset by it. Don’t put too much on yourself, though. And… don’t use magic for that.”

“I-”

“I can tell you did, though it wasn’t much. You know you have to refrain.”

“I just wish-”

“Even if you had the training to do it properly, you know why it’s forbidden to simply heal them all with magic. And-”

Emri had been about to speak again, but stopped. She sighed instead.

The dragonfly continued. “And you know it’s the same reason why your mentor couldn’t come here and heal them. Be grateful you are allowed to help at all, and don’t make me remind you again.”

Emri nodded. She understood, though she didn’t like it because she hated to see anyone suffer.

“I know.” The dragonfly said, as though it could read her mind. Emri didn’t think it literally could, but knowing who it really was, she expected it could get closer to mind-reading than anyone else – except maybe her mentor himself.

“So did you say that my mentor had a message for me as well?” Emri prompted.

“He asked me to remind you that you need to arrange to meet him soon. Don’t delay long, or you’ll have problems. Your treatment only lasts about half as long in these lands. Maybe less.”

“I remember.” Emri acknowledged resignedly.

“Good. Be sure to make arrangements accordingly, and use the signal we agreed on.”

“I will. I just… I need a couple of days to make sure there will be enough medicine to treat everyone in the camp. I want to stay close to them until then.”

The dragonfly made a sound remarkably similar to a ‘tsk’ with a muttered something about her taking after her mentor. Speaking up, it said: “All right, but don’t forget you can’t go as long as you used to. You remember how problematic it can be.” That last was clearly a statement, not a question.

Irritated, Emri spoke louder than before. “Oh, be off with you!” She waved dismissively at the dragonfly as if in a half-hearted effort to shoo it away. Not as though she had anything near the kind of power it would take to make this one do anything it didn’t expressly choose to, but only because she wanted to show how much she disliked talking about that.

A little amused chuckling sound came from the dragonfly, and picking itself up off the marsh grass it flitted about her for a moment, whispering a caution for Emri to be careful. Turning to follow it and pretend to swat at it (not really trying to hit the dragonfly) she noticed that Remal was closer than before, watching her.

“Goodbye,” she whispered. “Go.”

The dragonfly made a couple of swooping loops (just to tease her, she thought) and took off.

“You alright?” Remal called out from where he was, coming closer.

“Yes!” She replied, nodding. She wasn’t sure if he saw it clearly or if he heard her. She didn’t want to call out very loud, and she had promised Aron she’d stay there where he could find her again easily.

“Where’s Aron?” Remal demanded, when he was close enough to speak at a normal volume instead of shouting. Normal volume, but suspicious tone. “Did you lose the stick?” He kept coming closer. “Have you been bitten much? Where did Aron go? I thought he was with you.”

How was she supposed to answer any of that, with him stringing questions together like they were beads. She picked just one question to begin with. “Aron is just over that way, he’s coming back. I-”

Remal was almost within arm’s reach, and indeed, started reaching out like he would grab her arm. She waved dismissively at him like she had with the dragonfly.

“Come with me, we’ll get you back to shore.”

“No, I told Aron I’d wait for him here!” she started to step backwards away from him, but found the ground wasn’t steady there at all, so she wavered, trying to keep her balance.

“Stop!” Remal rushed forward and grabbed her arm as she had it sticking out for balance. At first, it put her more off-balance, but he pulled in a way that actually helped after all. “What did you do with the stick?” He asked, in a scolding tone.

“Loaned it to Aron, of course!” Emri pointed with her free arm. Fortunately, Aron was almost there. She had seen him on his way back only a moment ago, but Remal hadn’t seemed to see him there and Aron disappeared behind some tall reeds briefly – but now seemed to have heard them talking and hurried the rest of the way back.

“I’m here!” Aron declared, triumphantly holding up the plant Emri had asked him to get, and interrupting before Remal could say more. He seemed to be trying to catch his breath, but also in a hurry to say something more so Remal wouldn’t argue with Emri. “Let’s go.” He put the plant in the basket Remal had dropped, picked it up and handed it to him (whereupon Remal let go of Emri’s arm to take it), then Aron handed Emri the walking stick and took hold of her other arm. “The others are probably heading back by now, too.”

Remal grunted acknowledgement (though he scowled at Aron) and followed them out of the marsh.

3.2

Although Remal had managed to get a bit of sleep earlier in the evening, it wasn’t enough to make him stop feeling tired. However, once he’d woken up to see that girl Emri at the work table by herself, he was again wide awake and alert. He was annoyed with Faver for it; she wasn’t supposed to be left on her own like that, unobserved. She hadn’t even been in the camp for an entire day, and Faver was trusting her like an old friend! Remal worried that one day, that sort of attitude would land Faver in danger… hopefully not because of this visitor, but really it was too soon to be sure.

Remal hated not being able to do anything to fix things, but since Faver hadn’t approved of him helping mix medicines (and Emri refused his help anyway) Remal had to find other things to keep himself busy. He couldn’t stand to be idle, and merely keeping watch on someone wasn’t an active enough pursuit for him. Fortunately, he had remembered that his spear would have to be sharpened after the encounter it’d had with gravel earlier that day. Upon inspection, the blade hadn’t been nicked up as much as he’d feared, but it still took a bit of doing to get the edges properly sharpened, straight and keen.

The blade of the spear was fine bronze, though not the very finest – it was still rather skillfully crafted, all the same. It had been made by an uncle from one of the outlying hamlets on the western side of the Downs, a place which had been attacked around the same time as Remal’s own town, but by people from a different warring faction who were rumored to have carried off everyone they didn’t kill, to use as slaves. No one from that hamlet had made it out to come away with the camp when they left Oxhale Downs, except a handful who had been away from that hamlet at the time, or moved from there previously. Remal didn’t know whether that uncle who had made the spear was alive or dead. Remal’s cousin, one of that hamlet’s few survivors who hadn’t been there when it was attacked, declined to go with the camp and instead went to look for survivors taken captive. Maybe she would find her family, or already had by now… but Remal doubted it. Even if any of them were still living, he didn’t think his cousin was likely to be able to find them. She’d insisted on trying, though. Maybe Remal would have gone on that doomed trip with her, if he hadn’t had his mother and other close family to protect. In any case, he was sure he would never see any of that branch of the family again.

He wished those relatives could have escaped with the camp, and not only because they were family. In his opinion, the smiths they had with them were not as skilled as his uncle had been. Even so, they were short on supplies and opportunity for the smiths to make new things. Most of the time these days, they never set up a full forge fire anywhere, and only rarely would build up temporary structures that would just get hot enough to mend a few things here and there when they had time for it.

That made a spear like Remal’s quite valuable to him. He could hardly afford to replace it, even if they ever came across any town or village that had anything near as good of quality to trade. Most people in the camp had already long since traded what they had which was of any value but not strictly necessary, for provisions along their travels. There wasn’t much left that could be traded in the future, except what the Leaders and some others had held back for emergency use (what little was left of that, anyway) and everyone in camp had done what they could to get as much food as possible through foraging, hunting, and putting a priority on keeping the remaining flocks alive and well. They had far less animals than they’d started with, so it was more important than ever for those who could hunt, to bring in wild game as much as possible. There was a forest a little way north of the lake; once they had moved the camp away in that direction, he and others might be able to find a respectable quantity of game there, perhaps including large game.

Though Remal couldn’t afford a new spear if anything happened to this one, he had saved a few coins for the purpose of getting a new hunting knife if he ever came across a good one for sale someplace. Or, at least, a newer knife. The hunting knife he had already, had been handed down to him and was not as fine of bronze as the spear, but it had been made with considerable skill – by his grandfather, who had taught his blacksmith uncle. The knife had been given to Remal while he was still a boy, when his father and older brothers first started teaching him to hunt and skin animals. It had seen a lot of use in its time, and while it had originally been a long-bladed knife, it had been sharpened so many times over the years that it wasn’t quite so long anymore. He was used to its current length, though, and quite liked the balance it had. It was good enough to be reliable if well-maintained, but he tried not to sharpen it any more often than strictly necessary. It had been awhile, though, so after sharpening the spear he’d given some attention over to honing the knife.

For good measure, he also checked over the utility knife that he had on him as well. It was older and shorter than the hunting knife, being used for all sorts of mundane things like cutting rope, textiles, bark, or any time he might need to cut branches, whittle wood, or any other cutting tasks he wouldn’t want to dull the hunting knife on. He actually ended up using that to cut string next, keeping himself busy by looking for places on his shirt that could be mended. Aside from a tear that had been over where his shoulder got injured not long ago, there were a number of other smaller places that could use a bit of repair. He wasn’t particularly good at that kind of work, but if he took his time at it, he could make serviceable repairs.

Still, Brylin was quick to critique his work when she brought over some seed cakes and berries for everyone there to have supper while settling in for the night. Brylin poked at the shirt in Remal’s hands.

“Why didn’t you tell me this needed repair? You know I could mend it better in less time.”

Remal sneered at his sister’s smugness. “It doesn’t need repair. I’m only fixing a few… little irregularities so that I have something to do while I have to sit here. You have plenty of more important things to keep you busy, than to bother with this.”

“You could be napping instead.” Faver suggested, coming over and giving Brylin a kiss on the cheek.

Remal rolled his eyes. “Not sleepy. Maybe later.”

“Speaking of keeping busy,” Brylin said, now addressing her husband, “you’d better not be planning to work all night. You need your sleep, too. I know you’re exhausted.”

Faver nodded and gave Brylin a quick kiss on the lips. “We’re just finishing up and putting things away now. We’re basically out of herbs for these medicines anyway. Have to hunt some more tomorrow.”

“Just so long as you get some sleep tonight.” Brylin commanded, then turned her attention to Emri, offering her a seed cake with a handful of berries. “Try this, and make sure you get some rest too, miss. Take better care of yourself than these fools.”

Emri muttered something that was probably some expression of gratitude at Brylin which Remal didn’t hear clearly, then Brylin gave Faver a hug and kiss goodnight, and excused herself with another admonishment to everyone there to get some sleep.

Remal heaved a sigh of relief that Brylin left soo soon, then saw Emri looking at him, so he narrowed his eyes at her. It was gratifying to see her respond by opening her eyes wider and turning back to her work.

Faver clicked his tongue at Remal, then went back to cleaning up his workspace. He had some bottles there that he’d put the new medicines into, and it looked like Emri was putting labels on them.

Nathley came in to report to Faver. They briefly discussed how many of the temporary helpers and relatives of people who were sick, would be staying by them through the night, and that Faver wanted Nathley and Acker to stay by Hin’s boys, with Acker going around every so often to check on everyone. Remal saw Faver hand Nathley a note which probably had instructions for Acker so that Nathley wouldn’t have to relay everything secondhand.

Meanwhile, someone came in with a cot for Emri to sleep on that Brylin sent over, and Faver instructed for it to be set up by the work table. By the time that was done and everything had been cleaned up and put away for the night, Remal had gotten well and truly bored of looking for places to mend on his shirt. Not that they were hard to find, only that they seemed unimportant to him. Insignificant places, minor damage. It was wearable regardless.

He was glad when Faver put out the lantern, leaving only a small candle burning on the work table. The same had probably been done in all the tents where the sick rested; lanterns put out with only a candle here and there. They probably didn’t have a lot of candles left in the camp beyond those, but Faver wanted a close watch kept on everyone who was ill, and they’d want to have at least a little light to see by even when everyone was resting.

The last thing Faver did before settling down on a chair by the door to nap, was to have Emri hold the candle for him while he checked Remal over to make sure that everything appeared normal with him and that his shoulder didn’t need to be cleaned and re-bandaged again yet. Faver declared everything to be fine and that they’d change the bandage over Remal’s shoulder in the morning, then ordered him to rest and saw to it that Emri had a good blanket and got tucked in comfortably, then took up his place by the door.

Remal was fairly certain that none of them actually slept much, only having catnaps in between the times that Faver got up to go around and check on the sick people, and when Acker came in from making checks of his own and exchanged notes with Faver. When Faver himself went to make rounds, he motioned for Emri to stay behind, still wanting there to always be someone in the tent with Remal, to keep him under observation. He probably didn’t really think it was necessary anymore, but Faver was professional like that, always following through with what he said he’d do.

Remal wasn’t convinced that Emri was actually asleep during the times that she appeared to be napping, and for his own part, he pretended to be asleep while keeping tabs on Faver’s movements and watching Emri. When she looked to be genuinely asleep (probably) Remal observed that the blandly neutral look on Emri’s face appeared almost normal for a sleeping person, in candlelight and with eyes closed in what seemed to be a relaxed manner. If he didn’t know better (from having observed her throughout the day) then he possibly wouldn’t have figured there was anything strange about her by the way she looked then – well, not by her face. There seemed to be something a little odd about the way she rested with her arms in front of her, one crossed over the other. Not crossed in the way that a person might normally fold their arms in front of oneself while sitting or standing with the elbows bent at right angles, but instead having the elbows only slightly bent and the wrists being near each other. He wasn’t sure what was so odd about that, just that it seemed unusual. He couldn’t think of a time that he’d ever seen someone sleep like that.

Combined with how strikingly normal her face looked at the time, it reminded Remal of how surprised he’d been that her hand would be as soft and warm as a normal person’s hand, when they’d first met and shook hands briefly. That led him to wondering if the skin on her face – since it was of a remarkably smooth complexion – would also be as soft and warm as it might be on any normal young woman. It would, wouldn’t it?

Faver stirred, and Emri’s eyes opened. She clearly saw Remal had been watching her, and stared back at him coldly.

Embarrassed at being caught staring (and maybe a little because of what he’d been thinking) Remal tried to act as if she’d stared first, sending a bit of a glare back at her before pointedly looking away.

Then Remal saw that Faver was watching them as he stood up and stretched. Catching Remal’s look, Faver rolled his eyes at him and pursed his lips, giving Remal a small, disapproving shake of the head before exiting the tent to make his rounds.

A little later, after Faver had gone back to sleep and Acker had come in and gone back out, Emri got up and went out. Remal had been trying harder than before to appear asleep, only looking out through the tiniest crack between his eyelids. He thought he saw Emri glance at him with a suspicious look before leaving, so he waited until he was sure that she wouldn’t notice, then got up to follow her. It seemed that Faver might have been just barely awake enough to notice, but he stayed put in his chair and made no move to hinder Remal’s leaving.

Out in the other tents, most of the people minding the sick were dozing, only stirring if the people they were minding coughed, mumbled feverishly, or moved about in another way. Then they’d check to see if the person needed water or some other sort of help. Otherwise, all was still and quiet. Being practiced at stalking wild game, Remal could move very quietly when he chose to, and anyone he passed who wasn’t sleeping and looked straight at him didn’t seem to think anything of it, probably expecting he was only trying to pass by quietly so as not to disturb anyone’s rest. He was, however, trailing Emri and trying his best to not be noticed by her. He stayed back as he followed, only approaching enough to keep her in his sight from around tent doors and the like. He was fairly certain that he was doing well at it and she hadn’t noticed… but would he be able to tell if she did? She seemed to be a rather unpredictable person, sometimes reacting not at all or only very little, and other times seeming to startle over very minor things.

Emri seemed to look at every sick person, but only stopped by the ones who were worst off. She appeared to take longer than necessary on checking how feverish they were. After she moved on, Remal looked each one over briefly, not noticing anything strange except… there was a faint floral scent of some kind that there didn’t appear to be a reason for. On second thought, it was perhaps the same scent he’d noticed earlier when Emri had been mixing something on her own, when she claimed that it wasn’t anything different than before. The faint scent dissipated quickly, however, as if it were following Emri and not staying with the sick people. They had balm applied to their foreheads, but it only smelled like the one that Faver had approved of, and there was no sign of anything else on them.

What was she doing? Remal tried following closer to see if Emri was administering some kind of new herbal concoction to the patients. She didn’t appear to be, however, and though he was as silent as ever, she looked back at him as though completely unsurprised that he’d been following her. Infuriating.

She continued on as if he weren’t there, so instead of following at a distance like he had been, he caught up with her between two tents and stopped her before she entered the next one.

“What are you doing?” Remal demanded.

“Nothing.” Emri replied. “Just checking on people.” Something in her tone of voice sounded… nervous. Like she had something to hide. The moon was bright out at the time, but unsurprisingly, he couldn’t read any clear expression on her face, and she stared back at him without flinching. Without blinking, even. Absolutely infuriating.

He sucked air in through his teeth and then bit his lip. Otherwise, he might have started yelling, and then he’d never hear the end of it from Faver. Grabbing Emri’s hands, he looked them over. They were not only empty, but clean. There was no sign that she’d been handling any medicines just now with her bare hands, nor that she’d even touched the balm that was on the foreheads of the people she’d been checking.

Frowning, he wondered if perhaps what she’d actually done earlier was to put on some kind of perfume, except that between then and now, wouldn’t he have noticed it? Besides, it seemed to be even fainter than before, dissipated to almost nothing. Could someone else have been wearing some novel new perfume, and only coincidentally had been nearby at the times he’d noticed that scent?

He couldn’t have imagined it, could he? He was not in the habit of doubting his senses. Bemused, Remal glanced around. There was no one else in view, the closest people were in the nearby tents and no one had gone in or out of these while they’d been standing there. Something about this was puzzling in an exceptionally frustrating way. While he was looking elsewhere, he only noticed how sharply Emri pulled her hands away because of the sudden change in temperature. Oddly, in the cool night air her hands had felt warmer than he’d expected them to. He watched her clench her fists and then stretch her fingers, then dig her nails into her palms again. Suddenly, she tucked her hands behind her back as if hiding them away. He looked at her face, which appeared inscrutable for a moment until she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Leave me alone.” She said in a low tone, then hastily made her way back to Faver’s work tent. She stumbled a little in her hurry, but somehow managed to not fall, so he didn’t bother to help. She really was… odd.

Since he was right by there anyway now, Remal went through to the last tent, where Acker was dozing near Hin and his boys. Hin looked up, and in response to a questioning look from Remal, Hin made motions indicating that things were ok with them. Of course, those boys had only just taken sick; there were others there in the same tent who’d been sick far longer and were very badly off. Clearly, Acker didn’t want them to be disturbed; when he looked up, it was to wave Remal off with dismissing motions. Hin nodded and then also motioned for Remal to go back, so he did.

Upon his return to Faver’s work tent, Remal got a rather severe look from the Healer, who then insisted on checking him over before making him lie down and tucking him in securely. Remal immediately loosened the blanket up again so as not to feel constricted and confined, but in any case Faver ordered him to stay put for the rest of the night. He briefly wondered if Emri had been given similar treatment; she looked to have also been tucked in and might have been sleeping… but he doubted that.

3.1

While Emri had been walking around to check on the sick people with Faver, most everyone around seemed either resting or busy with their tasks, and rather than bother Faver, afforded him some space except for when he addressed someone directly. Still, she hadn’t felt as though he was keeping a close eye on her, but rather giving almost all his attention to those who were ill, and often not looking at the same ones at the same time as her.

So, Emri had ventured to use a little magic on some of the people that she and Faver visited. She was really quite concerned about the worst-off ones, and he seemed to be too. That wasn’t surprising in the least; in fact it would be far more surprising to her if he weren’t more concerned than she was, since he knew these people personally.

Faver had said that these who were the most ill had already been close to dying before they were given medicine. It seemed to her that it wasn’t enough, this late for them, but some were lingering longer than Faver had expected, and many who were not quite as badly off hadn’t worsened. He said he would have expected some of these to have died already, and the next-worst ones would have been at death’s door by now - but weren’t - and so Faver was confident that the medicine was helping.

Still, Emri found it frustrating that she couldn’t do more. In places where people had skill in healing magic, this would all be fairly easily cured. She wished her mentor could be there to help, but he couldn’t. She knew why he couldn’t be there - it was just an empty, idle wish. She really felt bad for all of these people, both those who were sick, and those who cared for them and were their relations.

In any case, Faver suggested that they ought to give the medicine to more people now, and Emri agreed. He’d wish to give some to all of them, but they didn’t have very much of it yet, so Faver instructed some of his helpers, designating specific people to take charge of giving doses of medicine to different sets of patients based on the severity of their illness. He had it all figured out in his head how he wanted it and which of his helpers he wanted doing what. Emri found it somewhat impressive, and didn’t concern herself over whether any other way of organizing things might be more efficient or done differently in other lands. She was there to help Faver, not attempt to take over management of anything.

When they had returned to the work tent and seen how much of the medicine Acker had mixed up while they’d been going round the sick tents, Faver was obviously pleased. Acker had also mixed up some more of the poultice, and Faver resolved to take him round to not only provide those he’d instructed with more of the medicinal drops, but to instruct others on applying the poultice. As many people would be finishing up their work for the day by now, Faver wished for as many people in the camp as possible to have the poultice applied to bites they’d received, with a priority on the most recent bites.

So as they left with what had been made so far, Emri took over what there was left to do. The stems and roots of the plants that had been set aside earlier when the leaves had been removed could still be useful, but not as effective. She set about cutting them into very small pieces so she could mash them into a pulp. While she did so, she added a little magic energy to them. These plants had a very low magic power to begin with, smaller than related varieties in other parts of the world, and likely would have had even less if they’d been found growing in some place more near the center of this quadrant of the world, instead of at the feet of the nearby mountains.

It seemed to her however, that especially in the roots there was a higher level of life energy than similar varieties in other parts of the world where there’d have been more magic (such as on the other side of the mountains) and Emri hoped that a little added magic would help release that life energy into the pulp to create a more effective medicine than it otherwise would.

The people in this part of the world, despite having little to no magic, seemed to have an unusually high amount of life energy. It would seem strange to her, except that she had already noted before that people in other lands with more magic, who were said to be descended from the same common ancestry as the people here, also had high levels of life energy. Those two kinds of energy, while transferable, were not easily converted from one form to the other, and could not be used for all the same things. Usually it was expected that no living thing would have high levels of the one without also having high levels of the other.

Perhaps, then, it was only because this quadrant of the world had so little magic in it, that the people here lacked it. Perhaps many other things in these lands also had higher life energy? It wasn’t something she was used to noticing as much as magic energy, however, and the severe lack of magic in this area was so glaring, so jarring to her that she wouldn’t ever be able to overlook it for even a moment. It meant that while here, she couldn’t easily replenish any magic she might use. That alone would ensure she would only ever use small amounts, even if she hadn’t promised to avoid using any. (and in particular, to not use it in front of people who didn’t know magic)

Especially with no one watching her now, if she didn’t need to be cautious about how much magic she used, she would have loved to use magic to more quickly and completely pulverize the bits of herb that she’d chopped and had been grinding up in the mortar. It was quite a pulpy mess by now, but she didn’t like how long it took to do, nor did she like how awkward she was with these simple, rudimentary tools. Doctors and apothecaries in other parts of the world she’d been to had varying levels of technical skill and more advanced tools. Sometimes, more complex and fancy but not actually more useful, but… some had tools that could do the same work faster, more efficiently, and with greater ease of use. However, even in those places where they had many advancements and greater surgical knowledge than these people, she had only seen two places where the people had greater knowledge of herbs, and interestingly enough, in neither place did people use complicated tools. Tools different than the ones here, but uncomplicated ones. People in those places did use magic for simple and routine tasks, though. Completely impractical in this part of the world.

Emri had been so absorbed in what she was doing and what she was thinking about, that she almost didn’t notice Remal get up from the other side of the tent and approach where she was working.

“Are you mixing something new now?” Remal asked. “It smells different from before.”

It was a little startling anyway, but with effort Emri maintained her composure – fairly well, she thought. She kept still for only a brief moment, then resumed her work. This next part involved squeezing juice out of the pulp she’d made, so it could be added to the next batch of medicinal drops to be made from the bulb of the other plant. The pulp could be mixed with parts of the other plant to make more of the poultice. Regardless, this wasn’t a plant of a sort where different parts would smell different from each other. Differing strength of scent, but not different scents.

“It shouldn’t smell any different to you.” Emri said curtly, wishing Remal were someplace else. Anywhere else. “It’s the same plant as before.” Why should he imagine it was any different? Was there something wrong with him? Also, why should he have woken up now? Surprisingly, once he had finally fallen asleep, he’d seemed to have been sleeping pretty deep. Although she, Faver, and Acker hadn’t been speaking while they were all there working, ever since Faver sent Nathley and Aron out earlier, they had gone in and out of the tent and generally kept busy the whole evening with processing plants, mixing medicines, and writing notes with those scratchy charcoal sticks on bark paper.

Remal hadn’t answered back to what she’d said, but Emri could feel him staring at her from close by. Too close for comfort. Well… Faver had told her that if Remal made a nuisance of himself, she should tell him to get out of the way. She might as well try it, more or less.

“I don’t need any help with this,” she said flatly, “and it doesn’t help to have you standing right there. Would you go back over where you were before?”

“Maybe.” Remal snorted derisively. “If you’d ask nicely and say please.”

Infuriating. However, Emri had never before been so grateful for all the lessons on deportment the Elders back home had insisted on. She’d hated it at the time, but otherwise would probably never be able to maintain her composure now. Truth be told, however, she was just as annoyed with herself for having failed to use the proper form of cultural niceties in making a request, as she was with Remal for making a fuss over it and speaking in such a disdainful manner.

Emri replied in a slow and measured way. “Would you please, go back over where Faver told you to rest, since I don’t need your help here.”

Remal stepped away, but before she had a chance to feel relieved about it, Emri realized that he’d gone in a different direction from the one she expected. He’d gone to another corner of the tent that was closer, by the far end of the work table.

Pausing her work, Emri looked over to see what he was up to. He’d retrieved a spear that had been resting there against a cabinet, which looked like the same one he’d been carrying earlier that day. She couldn’t be entirely sure if he was only examining the bronze blade on the end of the spear, or if he was looking past it to scrutinize her. Could it be both at the same time?

She stood very, very still - as still as she ever had when under examination. She didn’t even blink or swallow.

“These medicines of yours had better help.” Remal said after a few moments. He fingered the edges of the spear blade, as though testing them. “You know what happens if anything you do harms our people, if it hurts them and makes them worse off, or kills anyone faster than they’re already dying?”

Emri allowed herself to swallow before replying, but otherwise maintained her stillness. “I… wouldn’t be allowed to stay with the camp.”

“If you’re lucky.” Remal scoffed, with a narrowed gaze and a small twitch on one corner of his mouth. “If you can get away fast enough.”

Emri’s composure slipped a little. She blinked and felt her brows draw together in puzzlement.

Remal stepped closer, though Emri was further puzzled by how he held the spear like a walking staff and not as if he were planning to use it. It did not match his tone, which was low and threatening. “Because… unless the bitter-tasting stuff I’ve already taken turns out to be lethal for someone as healthy as me, I won’t let you leave alive.”

Emri stepped back, immediately thinking to herself that it was the wrong reaction. It had been without thinking, and she inwardly scolded herself for losing control like that, for breaking her composure so entirely.

“You will do no such thing!” Faver barked, striding into the tent. He stepped between them and started pushing Remal back over towards the cot he’d assigned Remal to earlier. “Don’t exaggerate so much, Remal, and stop being a bully. I won’t have you being mean to someone who is assisting me in my work!”

Remal allowed himself to be shepherded back over to the cot, though he made a low sort of grumbling sound, and paused to pick something up from the floor next to the cot. It looked like a leather pouch that had been sitting on his shirt there. Having grabbed it, he sat grumpily on the cot with that in one hand and the spear in the other.

“Moreover,” Faver continued, addressing Remal with his arms crossed over his chest, “the medicine has already been proven effective in slowing the progress of the illness in those it’s been given to. Some even look to be improving already. It hasn’t harmed you or anyone else and I am confident that it never will, so quit talking as though it might!”

If Faver had heard all that, then how long had he been listening at the tent’s entrance before walking in? Emri didn’t know why he would have done so, but it must mean that Faver had believed there was no real danger in Remal’s threatening behavior.

Remal pulled a dark, flat stone out of the pouch and began to sharpen the spear blade with it, in a manner that seemed slow, careful, and deliberate – almost as though it was a simple, routine maintenance task that he wanted to make sure was done properly. He had a scowl on his face, however, as Faver continued to lecture him.

“Emri knows what she is doing, and you – who never cared to learn much of this work and never properly apprenticed to it – do not. No matter what Rinna and the Leaders request, I can’t have you getting in the way here. If you don’t calm down, if you keep annoying me and my assistants, then I’ll have to order you to be confined to your tent with your mother, and set Acker to watch you, with Hin or whoever else it might require to keep you there.”

Emri wondered why keeping Remal out of the way might possibly conflict with anything the Leaders might want. Wasn’t Faver’s work their highest priority right now? Emri suddenly felt like she was eavesdropping, and turned back to her work. Though she tried to ignore it, she could still hear Faver and Remal talking anyway.

“Whoever else?” Remal scoffed. “Like Brylin, and Nina too?”

“Brylin, maybe. Not Nina.”

“Don’t you think I’d listen to Nina?”

Faver scoffed this time. “Sure you would. You’d probably take orders from her even if you wouldn’t listen to me or anyone else. The problem is, she wouldn’t have the heart to keep you confined anywhere.”

“Probably.” Remal laughed, an oddly discordant sound over that of the spear being sharpened.

Faver ordered Remal to stay put and keep quiet, then approached Emri and gave her a light pat on the shoulder. He spoke in a soft, confidential sort of tone, but Emri wasn’t convinced it was quiet enough for Remal to not overhear. “He may growl a lot, but he’s like a pup whose bark is worse than his bite. Well… except in situations where there really is a serious threat that he can fight against. He’s probably annoyed that he can’t fight this one. You’re helping us fight it, though. Eventually, he should agree with me that you’re on our side, and not a threat. So don’t worry about him, ok? Keep standing your ground.”

Faver offered Emri a reassuring smile and examined the work she had just finished. Nodding, he started to chop up the last of the marsh fern, passing the leafy top parts to Emri. In return, Emri passed him the small bowl she’d used to contain the juice she squeezed out of the pulp she made before. Transferring that pulp into another bowl, she started putting the leaves from the fern into the mortar. The recipes were now familiar enough to not need further discussion.

Faver’s words turned over in Emri’s mind as they got back to work. Did she seem worried to him? Was she worried? Shocked, or stunned? Remal had sounded gravely serious, though Faver seemed not to take it literally. Could he really have been exaggerating? Maybe it was just as Faver said, that Remal needed to become convinced that Emri was on their side. In which case, it meant that Remal simply didn’t know any better yet. Until he could become convinced – if he ever could – would it be best to just avoid him?

If Faver compared Remal to a dog or some other less-sentient creature acting on instinct instead of reason, then Emri wondered if it would be best to treat him in ways easily understood by that sort? Maybe that was why Faver told her to stand her ground, to order him out of the way if necessary. So she shouldn’t show fear, then. That should be relatively easy to do, if she wasn’t afraid of him – was she? Perhaps… concerned. Concerned about what he might do, whether he’d make trouble for her, if he’d cause problems. It seemed like sometimes Faver and others might not take him seriously, but she felt it would be a mistake for her not to. No, she didn’t think he scared her, only it was more like she felt she should be cautious, because she couldn’t predict what he might do. It was irritating and distracting, and… a little bit of something more. Was he intimidating? Maybe. He had something of a… presence… that she wouldn’t describe as imposing, but… as though he could make her feel smaller.

It was true that Remal was taller and (unsurprisingly) more broad-shouldered than her – but he wasn’t so very much taller, and it wasn’t as if he was like some people she’d seen who were more heavily muscled and bulky, but he did look strong and was probably much stronger than she was. She had never been the sort of person to very easily be made to feel small, even when around people who were taller, people literally bigger than her. Even back when she had been a young child, actually physically smaller than many other children (before she’d grown to be taller than average among those of the same age group) she might have felt small in a way, but differently – like she’d felt small but as though her parents and siblings were always there to keep her safe.

Around the Elders, however, it had always been the opposite of being around family. They had made her feel small, but not safe. Exposed, instead of protected. Not as though she really thought they would do anything to harm her, but… always that they had the authority and ability to make all sorts of things unpleasant, and she could never be certain how harsh or lenient they might decide to be at any given time. That had been less about them being bigger than her, and more about what they might do and the way that they always looked at her so… critically. They all would stare at her in a serious, severe, and judgemental way; always as if they were looking through her to seek out any faults they could find, and were deciding which punishments to assign for each one.

It had been a long time now since anyone had made her feel small in the way that the Elders had; ever since she’d left her homeland to travel with her mentor, no one else had looked at her in the same kind of way as they did, just looking to find fault… like Remal kept doing. So suspicious, so judgemental. She doubted that Remal had anything like the kind of authority among this people as even the least of the Elders back home had there… but he seemed to be able to make her feel the same anyway. She didn’t think she really believed that he’d hurt her (or, at least, that Faver or someone else would stop him if he tried) ...just like the Elders back home wouldn’t have physically harmed her. It was that Remal might make things difficult for her and not feel sorry for it, like he’d think he was doing his job, or doing the right thing, even if it really wasn’t. He seemed so serious, severe, hard-faced and mirthless; distrustful and always looking to find fault, the way the Elders always did.

Her mentor, on the other hand, had more power and authority than all the Elders, but he had never made her feel small at all, only inexperienced. It had never been as if he wanted to make her feel bad about it - only that in comparison to him, probably anyone would seem like an amateur in his fields of study. Oddly, she sort of felt that way around Faver, though the amount of study she had done in the years spent with her mentor, of plants and herbal remedies, might mean she knew more than Faver did. Maybe it was that Faver had more practical experience than her, in actually treating patients and compounding medicines. He appeared quite confident and comfortable in that role, and finished mixing the medicine he was making in less time than it took her to do the same. He didn’t appear judgemental at all over her not having finished her own tasks, was nothing but encouraging to her, and calmly worked on one last batch of the fever balm.

“We’re going to need a lot more of all these herbs,” Emri observed, “and I want to go myself so I can look for some variety of this one.” She indicated the now-empty jar that had contained the last of the ‘Piedmont Firesparks.’ “There likely wouldn’t be the same variety as that in this area, but I think there should be something of the sort up in the hills, possibly higher up than where we found the others. Even if any we find are wilted this late in the season, their dried leaves should work at least as well as what was left in this jar.”

Faver nodded agreement. “I’ll come with you.” He threw a look over his shoulder at Remal, who had stopped his sharpening when Emri spoke. Faver used an indulgent tone with him this time. “Of course you can come, too.”

Remal looked about to say something, but Faver put up a hand momentarily and added: “As long as you don’t annoy me, and you get more rest tonight.”

Remal huffed, and busied himself with something else.