2.2

While they had been out looking for herbs, Emri found that the more Rinna had talked to her, the more uncomfortable Emri had gotten with the way that Rinna appeared to be going out of her way to make a show of acting friendly, while continually prying for personal information in a way that made Emri feel like Rinna might actually be distrustful and unfriendly under the surface. In some ways, it was more irritating than that Remal Haelson fellow who had at least been wearing his distrust openly.

Not only did it not seem to her like the time and place for it, but Emri did not want to talk about herself anyway - so she kept changing the subject back to the plants they were looking for, checking to see what Hin had remembered from earlier that day, and pointing out to Rinna when there happened to be plants with notable similarities. Emri also made a point of asking them which of the plants that grew in the area had so far been identified by their camp as edible, and brought up discussion of other plants she could point out that could be used for food as well. She also asked what they had been doing for water since determining that the insects around the marshy lake could be causing the illness. Hin described to her how some other scouts had already checked to see how far downriver the marsh went, both so they could send people to fetch water away from the marsh, and to find a place where they could best cross the river.

They were partway up the hillside at the time, with the camp at some little distance below them and slightly southward, and the lake spread out below and to the north. The river could be seen pulling away from the marsh heading northwest, at first marshy-edged like the lake, but then after some rapids and small falls it went winding through some low grassy hills that must have a different sort of ground under them. Some much farther distance away beyond the grassy hills, the river passed through what looked like flat plains used for farmland, with a walled town in their midst.

Hin pointed these all out to Emri and described how they would need to be careful not to camp long by the river, nor to take long in crossing it, since the town beyond probably claimed all that area for grazeland. That town had not been hospitable when advance scouts from the camp had first entered the area; it was not a place they could trade at nor seek shelter. While he was talking about that, Rinna declared that she could see Aron headed up the hill towards them from the camp.

"I think I should go meet him," Rinna said, "and I think dinner will probably be served soon, so I'll take him to go see about delivering the food for us all to the Healer's work tent. After you two find some more of those herbs we need, you can go straight back there to eat, alright?"

Emri nodded, and Hin (looking at her) voiced agreement and then waved Rinna off. He took Emri's arm to help her on the rocky uneven ground of the hillside (as he had already done many times before) and they started to go a little higher up where there seemed to be some likely places for the plants to grow up among some tufts of grasses by a group of boulders. Emri directed Hin towards where she thought some of the herbs were, and while grateful for his help, she was frustrated with how easy it seemed for her to stumble here. Meanwhile, in the distance, she thought she could just hear Rinna greet Aron down the hillside. It was barely audible for Emri to hear Rinna asking if something were amiss, and Aron's reply was lost to her because it was somewhat quieter and more subdued in tone. She guessed that Hin wouldn't have heard either of them, but didn't mention it. She did, however, decide to suggest they head back as soon as they finished searching the nearby patches of grass, even if they didn't find very many more of what they sought.

Emri had been certain they would find at least a couple of the herbs there, and as it turned out they found several. She couldn't expect Hin to see the plants as well as she could find them, and he did have to get closer and look carefully before he could identify them with certainty, but he was reasonably good at it nonetheless. Congratulating him on how well he had learned to recognize the herbs, Emri suggested to Hin they head back before the first ones they'd gathered had much time to get wilted. Having them be as fresh as possible might not make a very great difference in their effectiveness in the medicine, but it was as good a reason as any to turn back sooner rather than later, and she hesitated to say how tired she was getting. Nevertheless, it seemed Hin could tell by how much more she stumbled on the way back down the hill, kindly asking more than once if she were alright. Emri insisted that she was, though she still tripped and stumbled along the way even after obtaining the flat ground.

Even before entering the camp, as they approached near, it seemed that everyone who saw Hin had to come running to tell him that his children had returned from fetching water, but were all taken ill and at the Healing tents. Emri tried her best to hurry along, but found her pace frustratingly slow and marveled that Hin still helped her along. Still, she insisted they go straight to where his family was instead of him escorting her back to Faver's main work tent. He readily agreed, though she believed that he would have seen her to her destination first if she hadn't suggested otherwise.

Perhaps halfway through the camp, they passed a place where food was being served out, and a girl taking what looked like two bowls of broth saw Hin and stepped over to walk by them. Emri recognized her as being one of those who had been among Faver's helpers who had greeted her when she first arrived at the Healing tents earlier. Nathley, she was, and she reassured Hin that his daughter wasn't ill but needed rest, and his sons weren't too badly off - the broth was for them.

"Why don't you go on ahead, Hin?" Emri suggested. "I'll walk the rest of the way with Nathley."

Hin hesitated, but then Nathley suggested he might be able to carry the broth back faster than her while spilling less of it than she would, so he agreed and took the two bowls from her. Seeing him hurry ahead, Emri was surprised that he could go as fast as he did and not appear to be spilling any of the broth - so far, anyway.

"He's good at that sort of thing." Nathley commented, then linked arms with Emri and resumed walking, setting her pace to match Emri's.

Emri started to apologize for walking slowly, but Nathley interrupted with saying: "You must be tired from walking up and down the hills all day." Emri supposed Nathley had noticed how much she'd been leaning on Hin's arm before, or else had a similar sense of such things once she started walking with Emri. Perhaps she might be related to Hin; Emri really had no idea yet of who was related to whom around here.

"You traveled a long way to get here, too, didn't you?" Nathley continued, though she seemed merely conversational and not intentionally prying like Rinna had been acting.

Emri nodded, though that was hardly the cause of her awkward slowness. She felt no need to elaborate, though.

"There, see?" Nathley commented, seeming perfectly content to walk slowly along with Emri and not at all frustrated by the pace like Emri herself was. "If I had traveled as far, I'm sure I wouldn't be up to walking quickly either! We'll find you a place to sit down and rest a bit."

"Thank you." Emri replied, though she didn't feel like she could just sit and rest awhile under the circumstances. "Are Hin's children really alright?" she asked, not only for a change of subject but also out of genuine concern. She hoped it wouldn't be considered impolite to ask, since she barely knew any of these people, but it did concern her work in helping Faver, after all.

Nathley didn't seem the least bit concerned by such things, and frankly launched into a more detailed account of everything that had happened since Hin's children returned to camp, how Faver had assessed their condition and how she herself had been helping Acker tend them since Faver had dragged Remal off to see to some other matter. Acker was someone Emri hadn't met yet, but she gathered he was an official apprentice of Faver's (unlike Nathley, who was one of the temporary helpers) …and that there was another apprentice, older than Acker, and a friend of Nathley's, but who was currently sick and couldn't tend to anyone. Emri was also surprised to hear Nathley's description of how well Remal had been helping; he hadn't seemed to Emri like someone who would take to such work, but according to Nathley, he had done admirably well - better than Nathley claimed she herself would have done with the same tasks - and Nathley wished he'd been allowed to stay instead of Faver assigning him to some other task (she knew not what) in some other place.

Directing the conversation back to Nathley's friend who was sick, Emri asked how many other apprentices Faver had, or if all of his regular helpers were sick and if possibly everyone currently helping was only temporarily in that line of work? To which Nathley responded with a complete account of how everyone currently helping (except for Acker) were only temporary helpers to Faver, that he had only the two apprentices, currently. He had previously had one other, but who had died when they were crossing a desert some way back on their journey. Nathley also provided the information that Faver's wife was the daughter of the previous Healer (now retired from that work) who had learned much of Healer's work alongside him when he was an apprentice, and was also qualified to help when needed, though she often was busy with other important work in the camp. Nathley seemed to think it a great love story, and spoke as though they were the ideal couple, a perfect match. Emri thought Nathley's description sounded a bit idealistic, but perhaps it was so; Emri herself didn't know, she only thought such a thing as an absolutely perfect match was unlikely anywhere.

Arriving by where Hin now sat with his family, Emri cut off Nathley before she could get into describing more about Faver's family (which she was now certain Nathley was capable of going on about at length) and not wishing to be disruptive, Emri asked Nathley to show her to where Faver's sick apprentice was, and also if she'd take her to have a look at all those who were the most ill. Nathley readily agreed, commenting that she wished Emri could meet her friend under better circumstances, but hopefully everyone would get better soon.

"I hope so, too." Emri stated, nodding back at Hin when he saw she was going with Nathley to see to some of the other sick people. She'd seen him give a nod of approval - Emri wasn't quite sure if it was because it would take the talkative Nathley away from where Hin's family was resting, or just Hin agreeing it would be good for Emri to get a look at the others who were sick.

She did her best to encourage Nathley to speak quietly, but found some of the girl's chatter useful, as it included details such as which of the patients were Leaders or had other important positions in the camp, which of those ill had gotten sick first, and whose illness had progressed faster than average, etc. However, Nathley seemed keenly interested in also telling Emri all about each patient they came to, in excessive detail that they did not have time for right now. More than that, Emri found it harder to concentrate while Nathley was prattling. Some of it was clearly no more than gossip or idle chatter, but some was useful introductory information that Emri couldn't simply tune out because she did have an interest in who these people all were, making it difficult to ignore what Nathley was saying. They really didn't have time for it now, though, and Emri did need to focus, so she shushed Nathley a bit, asking her to only provide the information asked for, and leave the rest for later. Nathley clearly found the request difficult, but did her best to comply, and in any case, spoke even quieter than she already had been.

Emri didn't think she could reasonably spend time examining every single one of the many sick people, but she did make a point of assessing each one of those who were worst off. The camp had indeed been fortunate that only a few had died from this illness so far, but more of them would soon, if the new medicine did not help them fast enough. She honestly wasn't sure how quickly the medicine would help the people recover, though upon examining them she was more certain than ever about what sickness they had, and that the medicine would help… eventually. Hence the reason she needed to focus, and do whatever else she could. The problem was that although she had studied with a mentor who she believed to be literally the best herbalist and healer in the world, she had not actually studied healing magic. Her mentor's skill in magic – particularly with life magics, including all those used for healing – was such that it was difficult for a beginner to understand, and she had not studied about healing magics back home before her mentor had taken her on as a student. She had only learned a few basic principles from him, most of it about how life energy and magic energy related to herbalism, and not so much about using magic for healing in a direct manner.

That sort of thing could really help these people, but the best Emri herself could do was to pass a little of her own magic energy to them, willing it to support the life energy they already had, in fighting the sickness within them. She had very solemnly promised not to use magic in sight of anyone who did not know about it or how to use it, but Emri feared that some of these unfortunate people would soon die otherwise, so she imparted magic to them when she put her hand on their foreheads, checking also to see how severe their fevers were. Nathley did not appear to be a very observant or questioning type of person – unlike some others, Emri thought – and Emri was emboldened further by suspecting that Nathley could not sense magic anyway. Magic wasn't something that could just be seen, heard, or felt in the same way as non-magical things. If magic wasn't being used to cause some effect that would clearly be seen, heard, or otherwise sensed, then a person needed to have at least some rudimentary ability to sense magic, in order to know magic was even being used. She had been told that these people (and all the people from the lands in this quadrant of the world) did not have any ability to sense magic, that it had been ages since any had been known to do so, but… there was still the possibility that some of them might be able to develop it.

When the sixth or seventh person that Emri passed magic to stirred and muttered something unintelligible, she resolved to definitely only do this for those who were unconscious or sleeping and were likely to die without it. Those most severely ill might be delirious anyway, but she couldn't risk that some might start to notice something if she weren't careful enough, or that it might create suspicion if done around someone more observant than Nathley was right now. The girl continued attempting to not talk constantly, but still was making comments here and there about things like which people were related to which others, or who worked with whom; not as useful as when she informed Emri about who had gotten sick first and whose illness had progressed fastest, though Nathley did continue to provide that information as well.

Emri also began thinking about a treatment for the fevers as she went around checking more people. Certainly, the medicine she had suggested and taught to Faver is what would actually help the people get well again, but if they could alleviate the severity of the fever for those who had it worst, it would make them more comfortable and lessen the risks of lasting detrimental effects from being sick.

"Miss Emri?" Though Aron's voice called out in a mild and friendly way, Emri was startled by how near it sounded. She had been so preoccupied with thinking through which formula for a treatment for fevers could be made from the supplies available in this country, and also observing the patient she was currently checking on, all while trying to ignore the distraction posed by Nathley, that she had failed to notice that Aron and Rinna had quietly entered this tent and were walking over.

Losing her balance, Emri almost fell over onto the patient, but Aron rushed to grab her arm in time, putting an arm around her shoulder to steady her. Nathley yelped in surprise and then immediately covered her mouth at how loud she'd been, and Rinna over on the other side stood looking at Emri in what seemed to be a disapproving manner.

"Are you alright?" Aron asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." He sounded perfectly sincere, and maintained a friendly look on his face – though perhaps a little concerned as well.

"Yes, I'm alright." Emri insisted quickly, stepping to one side and shrugging off Aron's arm to prove she could stand up just fine by herself.

He looked possibly more concerned at the way she responded, so on second thought she took a step back towards him, saying: "Thank you."

Emri wasn't sure if Aron looked dismayed in some way, or maybe only concerned still, but then he smiled and nodded, so she figured it must be alright now.

Rinna cleared her throat and spoke up, though not too loud. "So, you've seen our sick people more closely now for yourself. I take it you've been checking their symptoms?"

Was that just a simple deduction on her part, or was Rinna suggesting that Emri might have been doing something else? Had she sensed anything unusual? Emri found it difficult to deal with people who might say one thing but mean another, like Rinna appeared to sometimes, just like she sometimes appeared to be more friendly than she really seemed to be. Why couldn't everyone just always say what they meant directly?

"Yes she has." Nathley spoke up on Emri's behalf, seeming at ease again – or, almost so? Something about her manner made her appear… maybe not intimidated by Rinna, but perhaps… as if she was impressed by her, or by her status. Nathley sounded respectful towards her, at least.

Rinna waved dismissively at the girl, saying, "I asked her." She then pointedly looked to Emri (with a fake-seeming smile) and asked, "What do you think?"

Emri made a point of standing still and straight, and replied as calm and levelly as she could. "I think it is exactly what I thought it was, and that the medicine will help. I also think we should add a treatment for fever; there's one that can be made from things Faver probably already has at his work table."

Rinna's manner had made Emri think of having to answer questions during school examinations, where the teachers would be judging not only the correctness of the answers, but also the students' posture and level of confidence. She hoped she had given her answer well enough to avoid being questioned further on the matter.

Rinna seemed to appraise her for a moment, then said: "Well, if you think you've seen enough for now, let's get you back there so you can start on that. Can't really do anything more for them without making more medicine anyway, can you?"

"Of course." Emri replied with a nod. She thought she'd already seen everyone who was worst off, but hopefully sometime later she could contrive to walk back through by herself, and avoid having anyone watch her.