2.6

Arriving at the work tent followed by Acker, Faver was dismayed though not terribly surprised to find Remal arguing with Aron. Nathley was standing between them, and it looked like Emri was attempting to keep busy over at the farther end of the work table.

Faver grabbed Remal’s arm sharply and Remal yelped. Aron went quiet, Acker pulling on his sleeve. Nathley stood still and looked to Faver, while Emri carried on working.

“You’re supposed to be resting!” Faver scolded Remal, with a scowl.

Remal scowled back at him. “Sure, you tell me to rest, but you also demand that I stay here, where people keep talking constantly.” Remal next shot a glare at Aron. “Including talking about me.”

Faver squeezed Remal’s arm harder and tugged him towards the bed. “Enough. Quit complaining and lie down, and I’ll see to it that things quiet down soon.”

Remal grumbled something that might have been a warning about who he wanted to leave, but Faver gave him a light shove on the shoulder and started scolding Aron. He thought that would get Remal to shut up, and it did – mostly. Remal muttered a little bit more while taking his time to sit down, but at least he was doing that and being quiet enough to not interrupt.

“What were you thinking, Aron? You were only supposed to keep an eye on Remal – not get near him, talk to him, or have him help. He’s too tired to act reasonable and peaceable, and he’s supposed to be resting! Even if he can’t sleep, I want him to stay put laying down and rest.”

Aron had the decency to look a little sheepish and regretful, though he nevertheless offered lamely: “It started out okay...”

Faver waved dismissively, cutting him off and prompting him to keep silent.

“Nathley.” Faver said curtly, and the girl gave him her full attention. “Tell me what happened, Nathley. Wait.” Knowing her, she’d probably start describing everything that happened after he last left the room, if he didn’t specify. “Just tell me what they were arguing about.”

When Faver had ordered her to wait, Nathley paused with her mouth open. After he clarified what he wanted, Nathley looked around a moment, seeming to think it over before answering.

“Well… Remal helped us identify a plant we were looking up in the Herbal, and that was the last ingredient we needed to find, so… he then tried to help with the medicine, but he didn’t like for Emri to give him instructions about how to mix it, so he got annoyed. Aron scolded him for it, so Remal started arguing with him.”

“Alright.” Faver declared. “That’s enough time wasted on that. What’s the progress on the medicine? Have you been taking notes?”

Nathley nodded. “Show me.” Faver said, then realized that Acker was now at the work table beside Emri, looking over some papers and writing a note that Emri was reading as Acker wrote it. “Are these them?” Faver asked, stepping over to stand beside Acker. He only paused long enough to see Nathley nod again before starting to read over the notes.

“Is this the full list of ingredients?” Faver asked Nathley.

“Yes. That last one is what we looked for in the Herbal. It-”

“You can tell me all about that later. Is there anything you hadn’t written down yet?”

Nathley nodded, and showed him her arm, where there was a shiny, somewhat oily look to a patch of skin there. “We were testing the consistency of the balm and Emri said it was a little too thick.”

Aron held up his arm as well, which showed a patch of skin that had been given similar treatment. “Remal disagreed with her about the best way to thin it down.”

“Okay, okay!” Faver waved at them to be quiet a moment. He turned back to what Acker was writing, and saw that Emri had added to the notes in response to what Acker wrote, and he had written back, and so on. It appeared to be a brief discussion of what Emri had been doing to thin down the balm, and Acker agreeing with her on the method. He looked to Faver and nodded.

Faver reached over and dipped a finger into the bowl, then examined it closely while rubbing a little of the mixture between his thumb and forefinger. “It’s good.” He said, nodding approval to both Emri and Acker as he put his hand closer to his face and sniffed it. The balm could be smelled from farther away of course, but he wanted to determine how strong it smelt up close. It appeared to be entirely suitable for the required purpose.

“Here! Nathley.” Faver dipped his fingers back into the bowl, and waved at the girl with his other hand. When Nathley stepped closer and looked up at him, Faver used his fingertips to paint a streak of balm across her forehead, smoothing it as evenly as he could while still applying it quickly.

“How’s that feel?” He asked, while testing a little out on his own face. It did feel cool on the skin; hopefully it would be even more so for anyone with a fever.

Nathley nodded enthusiastically. “I think it feels like it’s supposed to.”

Faver cut Nathley off from saying more, and turned back to Emri. “I like your formulation so far. If it works better than what we’ve used in the past, we’ll add the formula to my notes. Time to try it out on more people, especially the ones who need it.”

Emri had muttered a quiet thanks when Faver approved, and then passed him the bowl when he reached for it. Turning back to Nathley, Faver said: “Here’s what you’re going to do. Take this around – Aron, you go with her – and apply it to the people with the worst fevers first, and then to anyone else with a fever. Like this.”

Faver gestured to Aron to hold still, and made sure that Nathley watched him put some balm on Aron’s forehead. Then he handed her the bowl and ushered her over next to Remal.

Shaking his head in disapproval, Faver chided: “Remal, why are you still sitting? Lay down.” He pointed emphatically, and Remal (scowling) took his time doing as he was told.

Faver gave a curt nod and crossed his arms in front of him. “Alright, Nathley, show me you can apply the balm evenly without using too much each time. Practice on him.”

Nathley shot him a brief apprehensive look. He raised an eyebrow and inclined his head as though to point her towards the task. The teen did as she was told. She was clearly nervous, but did an adequate job of applying a little balm to Remal’s forehead. Remal, however, appeared entirely indifferent except for an annoyance at being used for a test subject, though he had volunteered for it initially. Faver resolved that in the future, he wouldn’t accept Remal as a test subject again. He would have rolled his eyes if Remal had been looking, and if Nathley hadn’t quickly turned back to look at Faver for approval.

“Well done, Nathley.” Faver gave her a light pat on the shoulder that he meant for encouragment. “Now take Aron and make sure he learns, too, so he can help you. After you finish, go around and see if anyone helping tend the sick might need anything, and then if Aron would like you to help with any of the preparations for moving, do so.”

Faver ushered them both out of the tent, and silently mouthed to Aron to keep her busy. Nathley was a reasonably good helper, but he didn’t need her back in the work tent tonight, and it’d be much easier to keep everything quiet without her there.

Rounding on Remal again, Faver was gratified to see his young brother-in-law still laying down, as instructed. Remal was watching him, though, with a look that would surely intimidate most any creature he might encounter while out hunting… or else goad them into attacking. Faver tutted at the fellow, pulling the blanket up to tuck him in like a child. “Here now. No more of those sour looks of yours, Remal. If you keep tightening up your face, you’ll never relax. Shall I give you a sedative?”

Remal glowered in response, but Faver only gave him a hard stare in return. With an air of giving up, Remal sighed heavily and shook his head, seeming to also attempt to smooth out the frown lines in his forehead and compose his face into something suited for repose. His voice, however, retained an accusatory tone as he said, “No sir, that won’t be necessary… if you can keep things quiet in here, as you said.”

“Not another word.” Faver stated, meaning it both as a command to Remal for his behavior, and a commitment regarding his own.

Returning to the work table, Faver found that Acker had been writing back and forth some more with Emri, and when she looked up at his approach, he gestured for her to not speak. Pointing at the series of notes on the table, Faver took up a charcoal stick and joined in on the written discussion. He looked over the notes Nathley had made, and saw where Acker had made corrections and additions, having been discussing it with Emri in a series of notes down a few sheets of paper. Asking some questions of his own, he made notes for clarification on a couple of points in the formula, and then set that one aside for Acker to copy down in ink for a final draft later. Pulling out his own notes from before when Emri had been teaching him the formulations of the other medicines, Faver showed them to Acker and they began working out a good set of written instructions for each, also having Acker practice mixing both of those in order to learn them.

From time to time Faver looked over at Remal, who now appeared to be either sleeping, or at least resting calmly. Otherwise, most of the remainder of the evening passed in Acker learning to mix the medicines, and with Faver and Emri finishing up the written instructions and taking stock of what requisite supplies they had on hand. When finished with that, Faver took Emri with him to make a round checking on the patients, leaving Acker to continue mixing what medicine could be made from the supplies they still had, and to keep an eye on Remal.

Faver checked that the people tending to the sick were also taking care of themselves, reiterating to some who he knew hadn’t been sleeping much, that they should try to sleep more tonight. Lamps and lanterns were being lit, but in some corners they had already been turned down and a number of people were already dozing. That is, some of the helpers were asleep; almost all of those who were ill had been sleeping fitfully most of the day, and still were. Faver also looked all of them over briefly, checking on their symptoms and noting how the balm had been applied. He couldn’t spend much time on most of them, but Emri appeared to be particularly worried about those who were worst off and had the most severe fevers. She paused longer over those, lightly resting her fingertips just to the side of where balm had been applied, with her brows drawn together and an expression in her eyes that looked to him like one of grave concern.

He observed that Emri also appeared to be tired. She moved a bit lethargically, and somewhat awkward though it seemed like she was trying to be careful. He decided to inquire after her well-being, though he waited until they had gone round all of the patients first. Walking outside all of the tents instead of back through them to return to the work tent, Emri briefly stumbled in the failing light on an uneven patch of ground.

Faver grabbed hold of her arm to steady her, then held on lightly while standing still instead of walking again.

“Are you alright? Tired?”

“Yes. No- I mean…” Emri breathed out slowly. “I’m alright. Maybe a little tired, but not so much that I can’t help finish making the medicines that will be needed tomorrow.”

Was that simply worry in her eyes, or something more? With the rest of her face remaining blandly expressionless (as seemed might be normal for her) Faver felt it was more difficult to be certain. He wondered if she might be ill-at-ease here, uncomfortable around so many people she’d only just met.

“How are you otherwise?” He asked. “I wondered if… it might be too crowded in these tents at times. Perhaps it might be stressful for you?”

“Oh. Um…” Emri looked around a little, then back at him. “The number of people around doesn’t bother me much – that is, I don’t really mind crowds – it’s just… well, what matters more is what kind of manners those people have. I mean, most people have been really welcoming…” she trailed off, seeming reluctant to say more.

Faver nodded. “Some aren’t so welcoming, though. Right?” He gave her a light pat on the arm that he hoped was reassuring. “I could tell you that everyone means well, only wanting to protect everyone else… but I personally don’t think it excuses rudeness. I’m glad to have your help, and it won’t do any good for anyone to get in the way of this work. If Remal, or anyone else, makes things difficult for you, let me know. Or, of course, you can tell him off or ignore him. Helping our people get better is more important than anything that Remal thinks, or believes he needs to do.”

Emri nodded solemnly. “Helping the sick is most important. I sincerely hope they can all recover, although some…” She looked down.

Giving a small shake of the head, Faver patted her arm again. “We must hope for the best. Things are not as bad as they might have been, and many begin to improve.”

Looking back up at him, Emri spoke in a more resolute tone. “You’re right. Hoping for the best is important. Even with everything your people have been through, it’s good that you and others hold on to hope and optimism. To be less suspicious than others, more accepting, and to maintain faith in a better future for your families. It’s- it’s so…”

“It is important.” Faver agreed.

“It’s not just important.” Emri gave a slight shake of her head, then looked him right in the eyes with a piercing gaze. “It’s everything. Everything!”

Faver didn’t disagree with that, but he wondered if that sudden intensity indicated something more. It probably wouldn’t do any good if she got worked up now, though. She was tired, and so was he and everyone else. Feeling a little cautious, he nodded. “We don’t give up. Now, shall we go finish up today’s work?”

Though it was a short distance to the work tent from where they stood, Faver offered his arm for Emri to hold onto the rest of the way back. She hesitated a bit, but then nodded and took it.