1.6

Remal was thinking of something sarcastic to reply, when Faver answered first.

“She went back out with Hin to gather more herbs. Rinna went with them to also learn how to find the plants.”

Aron looked askance at Remal. “More likely Rinna went along because Remal stayed here.” He then looked straight at Remal and added: “You didn’t go with them because…?”

Remal did not appreciate any expectation that two different people might demand he be in two different places at once, even if Aron wasn’t entirely serious and only teasing Remal like he always did.

“I tried to do that,” Remal said in an attempt to sound nonchalant, “but everyone demanded I stay here like Faver wanted.”

Faver retorted with: “It’s your own fault that you insisted the medicines be tested on you.”

Aron grinned in that annoying way he had whenever he found something funny at Remal’s expense. Remal rolled his eyes at him while Faver continued.

“Since I’ve got you here until I’m satisfied that I’ve had enough time to observe you for potential side effects, I ought to check the rest of you over for insect bites and to see if you have any more injuries that you’ve been hiding no matter how minor you want to pretend they are.”

Remal glared at him, but he knew there would be no arguing against it. If he tried to get away now, he wouldn’t only annoy Faver - it would cause a fuss with everyone else as well, and a lot more trouble for him.

“That’s fine for now.” Aron declared. “Though it would be appreciated, Faver, if you would keep Remal around until the Leaders’ Circle decides how long to let Emri stay. When she gets back, whether she is helping you here or if you go with her to collect more plants, drag Remal along even when you don’t need to observe him directly anymore. The Leaders would like you to have him help with anything you assign for Emri to do, whether it’s here or out gathering plants, fetching water or anything else.”

“I don’t like it.” Faver said.

From the look on his face, Remal guessed Faver didn’t appreciate the leaders telling him what to do any more than Remal did. No one told Faver what to do - except his wife, and Remal didn’t think she interfered with his work… much. The Leaders and everyone else usually left Faver to decide for himself how to do his work and assign tasks to his apprentices or others assisting him. Remal thought it was about time Faver got a taste of the kinds of orders the leaders liked to give to him, which unfortunately he figured would only continue for the foreseeable future.

“You don’t have to like it,” Aron said, “you just have to support it. If you’re already convinced that you want her assisting you, the best way you can convince the Leaders’ Circle that it’s a good idea for her to stay is to help find out more about her and to have her watched so we can be sure that she doesn’t do anything harmful.” Aron never sounded as serious and businesslike as he did when he was relaying messages on behalf of the Leaders.

Faver just looked more annoyed. “I thought that if her herbal preparations help, that would be convincing in itself.”

“For you, maybe. Others may need more to go on.”

“Exactly what I think.” Remal declared. “We don’t even know-”

Faver cut him off. “Of everyone who wanted to do us harm, none of them ever showed up offering to help first.”

Aron spoke in a more casual tone now, no longer seeming like he was trying to be official. “Look, I also want to believe she’s only trying to help. She certainly didn’t look threatening to me, but even the Leaders who think the same just want to be more certain. The way she suddenly showed up, wants to travel with us, and we don’t know where from? They want to find out whether she’s running from anything that could be a danger to the camp, even if she’s not any danger herself. I personally don’t think it’s necessary, but I can understand their thinking. Being cautious and finding out more is the only way to reassure them.”

Remal grumbled a little over the way they were just talking like he wasn’t there and not letting him get a word in. Aron didn’t even mention how many of the Leaders might be most skeptical and whether they were as concerned as Remal was. Maybe he could ask Rinna later; she would be taking a realistic view of things. He wasn’t even trying to join in now. He just let them go on, Faver now describing to Aron what his first impressions of their visitor had been so far. Remal stopped paying attention. His shoulder ached. The spot Faver had bandaged still stung from being cleaned out, and it itched a little. He thought about how he might be able to scratch at it without Faver noticing, but he was too much in the Healer’s range of vision. Faver wasn’t looking directly at him, but Remal suddenly realized Faver was now talking about him.

“...probably the most paranoid person we have in the camp, now, and he’s only going to get in my way. Couldn’t they have picked someone else to terrify visitors who actually might help? Besides, I’d have thought they would rather he be out socializing when he’s in camp, helping all the young single ladies. Don’t they still think he should marry one of the lovely young widows?”

“That’s what Brylin thinks!” Remal said sharply, getting up and pointing at Faver. “You’ve been listening to her go on about it, haven’t you? Since I don’t let her bully me, she wants to get everyone else to tell me what she wants me to do!”

Remal poked Faver in the chest accusingly, but the Healer just grabbed his wrist and checked his pulse.

“You shouldn’t get all worked up right now; I have to make sure that all your vital signs are normal.” Faver glanced at an hourglass he had sitting on his work table. Remal wasn’t quite sure how long it was since Faver gave him some of the medicine - about a half hour by the look of it, if Faver had turned the glass at that time.

“Sit back down,” Faver ordered, “let me see if you’re still breathing normally.”

Aron helped push Remal back onto his chair - which, along with the amused grin on Aron’s face, was entirely unnecessary. One of these times, Remal was going to have to knock that smirk off of Aron, but he wanted Faver to be able to do his job. Right now, that was the most important thing, so he sat quietly and let the Healer check his breathing and hold his eyes open while asking him to look every which way and then scrutinize his tongue, throat, ears, skin, and whatever else Faver thought necessary to make sure that there was no sign of a bad reaction at all.

“Alright.” Faver declared at length. He briefly summed up for Aron what he’d discussed with Rinna about how soon he would give the medicine to only those who were the very worst off, and wait several hours longer to see if things seemed to be going okay and make sure Remal wasn’t suffering any ill effects before deciding how many of the others who were badly off should be given the medicine next.

“You,” he said firmly to Remal, “stay sitting right there. Don’t get up while I’m gone. And you,” Faver ordered Aron, “make sure he stays there, and call out if he suddenly collapses or stops breathing or something. Although I recommend not getting within arm’s reach of him for now.”

Faver picked up the bowl of medicine and what he needed for administering it to the patients, along with what he likely wanted for checking on them. He looked at them both as though they were troublemaking children, and stepped out the back of his work tent to the cluster of tents behind. Everyone who had been assisting with tending the sick would be there, doing whatever they could for those who were ill, even if they couldn’t do much for some of them. No doubt Faver would tell his helpers about the new medicine - but knowing him, he’d insist on giving the first doses himself.

As short as Faver was being with him, Remal wasn’t sure if he would have preferred to go with him anyway instead of staying where he was and having Aron assigned to watch him. Once Aron started talking again, though, Remal made up his mind. He’d rather be with Faver now than here. In an apparent attempt to look casual and failing at it, Aron leaned against the work table and crossed his arms.

“It’s not only Brylin who thinks you’d be better off if you’d find someone to marry, you know. If you had a family of your own to take care of-”

“I have family to take care of.” Remal growled.

"You know what they mean. They mean having your own wife and children to look after, instead of wearing yourself out acting like the safety of the entire camp is all on you. You're not the only person trying to protect everyone."

"I tried to get married once. You know how that worked out. Besides, this is hardly the time-"

"Remal, it's been one crisis after another since we left Oxhale. We do the best we can with each difficulty as it comes, but life doesn't come to a standstill because of it. We can hardly expect everything will go well and be normal after this crisis or the next. There's never going to be a perfect time for anything."

"Perfect timing is a myth, and the expectation that things will only continue badly is more of an argument the other way! Do you think it's a good idea for some poor young lady to get all attached, and then be twice widowed when something happens to me?"

"You don't know what's in your future. You shouldn't expect the worst to happen. It might not, especially if you decide that you have more reasons to take care of yourself. You know if you wait too long, you won't have many opportunities left. There's a lot of nice young ladies and widows now, but there's also a lot of eligible young men around to get their attention."

"You talk like it's the most important thing. As if it's even a simple thing! Like it's easy to find someone who'd want to tie her life to mine and all I have to do is look? You don't even know what you're talking about because there's not much for me anyway. Most of the young women my age who aren't currently married are the widows with small children that I can't stand. The younger girls are too immature, and the older widows whose children are old enough for me to possibly be able to get along with them as long as they aren't fools - the kids at least as old as my niece - those mothers are too old for me. There's no point to me cozying up to any of them, they're all better off finding someone else."

Remal crossed his arms and leaned back, more annoyed with Aron by the second, and he didn't even have to say another word, he was already unbearably irritating just standing there looking smug. For a moment, Remal considered hitting him, but then he'd get an earful from Faver and others.

Aron said more anyway, looking and sounding like he was amused at Remal's expense again. "I don't know, Remal, I think you should give the widows with small children a chance. You could actually be good with toddlers and babies if you'd quit being so high-strung and serious. Your list of objections seems calculated to leave everyone out. You're being too particular to make excuses for not getting to know any of them better, because you just don't want to take a chance on-"

"Don't go there." Remal growled, leaning forward. Why did this guy always think he knew everything?

Aron seemed determined and not sufficiently dissuaded from running off his mouth. "I know it's a sensitive subject, but it's not good for you to never talk about it. I understand you're worried about your mother and still grieving for the others you lost, but if you're ever going to get over-"

"Don't!" Remal got up suddenly and in two steps he was in Aron's face, glaring at him as threateningly as he could.

"Don't even say the names. And you're the last person I would ever talk to about it, Spelal." He really, really wanted to hit Aron, but he was sure the guy wouldn't fight back, and not only would that be unsatisfying, but it would make him look like a bully. He'd leave instead, but if he did then Faver would get after him for it and have someone like Hin, Rinna, or (even worse) Brylin drag him back by his ear. He couldn't fight everyone just because he wanted to hit Aron. He'd try a different way to hit Aron where it ought to hurt.

"If you're so much in favor of moving on, then you go ahead and get on with your own life, and leave me to mine. You go play with the toddlers and hold the babies of those young widows you talk about so fondly. It's what you want, isn't it? What you might have had by now. You should have plenty in common to talk about with the ones who have the most recent losses. Why don't you get them all together, and you can lead a discussion about everyone you've lost. You can all cry and hug and say you're going to put it behind you, when really not a one of you actually will."

The resulting downcast look on Aron's face was, disappointingly, as unsatisfying as Remal thought it would be to hit Aron and not have him fight back. He wasn't even trying to get away from Remal, he just stood there like he didn't know what to do. Maybe Remal could find a way to get Aron mad enough to fight him, instead.

"But I have serious doubts that you can do anything anymore without another person telling you to do it. I don't suppose you could do something like that anyway without someone else organizing it. Maybe Brylin could do that for you, since she apparently has nothing better to do than to tell other people what she thinks I should do! Ask her to order you around more instead! Did she give you an assignment directly, or did she talk the Leaders' Circle into ordering you to to talk to me about it all? Either way, I hope none of them have been disturbing my mother by making her worry over it. They shouldn't-"

Faver stormed back in, glaring severely at Remal and saying:

"And you shouldn't be disturbing my patients by yelling about it!" He grabbed Remal by the shoulder, digging his thumb in where it hurt. Remal at first resisted being pulled away from Aron, but then grudgingly let Faver drag him back a step.

"All those people need their rest! They don't want to hear any more about it, and neither do I. Step back, sit down, and be quiet a moment!" Faver used both hands to shove Remal back onto the chair. "Quit assuming that Brylin is responsible for everything; more likely it was your mother who was the one to bring it up with her and others, because your mother loves you in spite of the way you always make her worry. And she worries because of the things you do, not because of anything anyone says to her. This had better be the last I hear about it from you. Complain to Brylin if you still insist on bothering anyone, but quit growling at everyone else over it!"

Faver might be several years older, and a relative as well, but Remal didn't think that gave him any right to lecture him on things that weren't part of Faver's job as a Healer. If Faver weren't desperately needed, Remal would try to hit him now instead of picking on Aron, but as things were, he grumpily sat quiet for now, thinking about how best to convince Faver not to lecture him as if he were Faver's own child. Aron looked as if he'd been lectured as well, though none of what Faver said had been directed at him. When did he start acting so weak?

Faver did now speak to Aron. "Best you go do whatever else you need to, Aron. Probably shouldn't try to talk sense with Remal, and instead leave all of that alone. He's stubborn like an old goat. The more you try to lead him anywhere, the more he's going to dig in his heels."

Aron nodded, and backed out of the tent as if he thought he needed to keep Remal in his sight and not turn his back until he was away. Remal glared at him as he went, though admittedly it was slightly gratifying to see him act properly intimidated.

Remal opened his mouth to dispute what Faver had said about him, but Faver said, "Not now, Remal! We've got young people who just got back and need tending to. You're going to put on your shirt and come with me, and you're going to keep your mouth shut or I will prescribe rest for you, give you something to make you sleep, and lay you out on the floor where you won't be in my way nor disturbing anyone else."

"You just try." Remal said threateningly.

"Hin said you haven't been getting enough sleep. Maybe I'll just have him knock you unconscious if you keep fussing like a tired baby."

Getting back up, Remal stepped up to Faver, only to have Faver shove him back with both hands, which was surprising to Remal, as was how severely the Healer now glared at him, with his jaw set and talking through his teeth.

"And you keep making my job harder."

Remal had never seen Faver look so angry. He was usually not easy to rile up. Though surprised, Remal was still mad at him. He nevertheless didn't attack Faver when he grabbed Remal's shoulder and held him at arm's length.

"Acker." Faver called out with a wave, and Remal suddenly realized that Faver's youngest apprentice had at some point come in the same way that Faver had, carrying the medicine and other things Faver had taken with him earlier. Acker, a quiet boy of about twelve or thirteen, looked astonished but put the things on the worktable where Faver pointed to him to place them, and in a few words Faver told Acker what else to gather up, pointing with one hand while still holding Remal's arm with the other. While Acker did so, Faver turned and severely spoke at Remal again.

"We'll deal with this outside later, but first we have work to do. Maybe you didn't rightly hear what I said the first time, but I want you to help me with the kids who just came in, and not just because I need to keep an eye on you. They're Hin's, and that should matter to you."

Faver looked to make sure that Acker had gathered up the right things, then let go of Remal and threw his shirt back at him. He shoved a cloth at Remal as well, then picked up an additional, larger jar of medicine. Snapping his fingers at Remal, he pointed at a bucket of water he clearly wanted him to carry. He added an additional glare that Remal was sure he meant as another warning not to talk, and Remal glared right back. Then Faver ushered Acker and Remal both out and around the tents to one of the ones on the farther side.

1.5

After talking to Remal and seeing him head off the way the others had gone (towards the Healer’s tent) Aron had spent a bit of time talking to some of the Leaders who were still there. Progress was going as well as could be expected with getting everything ready to move as soon as possible, they had decided to definitely take the entire camp together the long way around the marshy lake borders instead of sending anyone up over the hills, and dinner was almost ready. Some were certainly hopeful that their visitor’s claim would hold true, that the medicinal plants she knew about would indeed both help cure the sick and prevent more of their people from catching the same illness, but most were guardedly optimistic at best, until they could actually see some positive results. Since Rinna didn’t quickly return from having accompanied Emri over to meet Faver, and since Aron wasn’t needed for anything more pressing at the moment, he was dispatched to go check in on things there and bring back whatever word Rinna had for them so far.

As the youngest of the official Leaders of this village-turned-nomadic-camp, sometimes Aron felt more like he was the Leaders’ designated errand boy. Leaders didn’t officially apprentice like people typically did for a trade (and they still had their regular work to do, when the matters of the camp weren’t so dire as to require far more of their attention than usual) but it was generally expected that the first few years that someone spent as a Leader were mostly for learning from the elder Leaders and speaking on their behalf when they were too busy to pass on their own messages. Naturally, if any Leader speaking in official capacity were found to be misrepresenting the Leaders' Circle, that person wouldn’t be allowed to remain a Leader for long. They all had a right to personal opinions, but were not to falsely substitute them for official rulings on any matter. They, more than any other group in the camp, had to be able to trust each other and work together, or they couldn’t expect the rest of the camp to do the same.

Although there were others who had also been made Leaders in the past year, most of them were either at least several years older than Aron, or were indisposed with sickness. He had been the most recent addition, though he didn’t like to think about the fact that it had been not long after his wife’s death. It had also been soon after the death of some of their longest-standing Leaders, and the rest of them would not have asked him to join them simply to give him something to do, but he had to admit to himself that he had been a bit lost and working with the Leaders had given him purpose again. They must have seen potential in him to choose him at his age, but sometimes he did still feel like the youngest possible apprentice, a child in comparison. He had a lot to learn, and most of his time helping them he felt he was just relaying messages with lots of walking and also dealing with difficult people.

Which included Remal now, unfortunately. They had actually been friends not so very long ago, and Aron wished they still were, but Remal seemed set against it now. Actually, the guy seemed set against anything except a stubborn determination to be constantly working - whether doing his job as a scout, hunting, taking care of his mother, or absolutely anything to stay actively doing something. He’d help fix tents, collect firewood, shear sheep, anything that anyone was doing that they might be able to use an extra hand or two with. Aside from being stubbornly helpful with anything he could find when he didn’t already have something else to do, though, the man had become increasingly difficult to talk to about anything. He was impatient and defensive, and overprotective of not only his own near relations, but everyone in the camp. Sometimes he acted like he’d jump off a cliff without thinking if he believed that it would keep everyone else safe.

Some of the elder Leaders said that Remal was becoming a nuisance and needed to focus his energies on raising a family of his own (and that of course Remal’s own mother wished he would), and maybe that could be partly true in a way, but Aron was sure Remal simply would not be able to settle down as long as things stood the way they were. He was dealing with loss - by now, who in the camp wasn’t? - and maybe he wasn’t doing it in the healthiest way possible, but it seemed to be the only way he knew how, and it was a lot better than some other ways of dealing with loss that Aron could think of. One of which had been the way he himself had been headed before the Leaders helped turn him around, which had been in the direction of giving up on everything. That was behind him, though not all of the pain was yet. It had surely hurt earlier when Remal’s comment had reminded him, but it had also reminded him that Remal himself was hurting, too. That’s what he saw when he saw Remal get defensive and lose his temper over certain topics, and when he was being overprotective of everyone, especially his mother. When he looked at Remal, Aron saw a person who not only had lost loved ones, but believed he was still in the process of losing them.

The journey the camp had taken since leaving their village had been difficult so far, and there had been times they had lost many people, but it had only been a fraction of the number that they had all lost in the raid on their village that had made the survivors decide to pack up and leave their home to look for a better, safer place to live. Their once peaceful homeland had become a war zone, with different factions making different threats: one demanded they join their army and give tribute to their cause, another threatened to make them slaves if they didn’t willingly unite under their banner. After getting threats from various factions, another had simply come in and attacked their village to steal whatever provisions they could get in a quick raid. No nearby army had lifted a finger to help them, because they refused to protect any neutral bystanders who hadn’t already joined their own causes. None of that made any of the surviving villagers want to unite with any of the armies that were forming alliances against each other, so as much as they hated to leave their homes, they pinned their hopes on finding a better place to live, away from the wars and the constantly shifting borders. Aron and his late wife had together come away without any other close family remaining - unfortunately not unusual at the time.

Like many others, Remal had been one to lose both a parent and siblings, aside from other relations who weren’t as near. His father and older brothers had died trying to defend the village, and his mother’s health had declined steadily - though slowly - ever since. She had always been a strong woman who knew how to take care of herself (in fact, she had been the elder Healer who taught Faver) but it was true that her health was a lot worse off than it had been before, had no expectation of doing anything but continuing to decline, and it was obvious to everyone that Remal worried about her constantly. The great irony was that the harder he tried to avoid her having anything to worry about, the more reasons she had to worry about him. He did too much, didn’t eat or sleep enough, and if he ever got injured, he hid it from her as a matter of habit. She always found out eventually, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it - thus she continually expected him to be doing things that would put him in danger or avoid having an injury tended to - the result being that she constantly worried about him almost as much as he worried about her.

So Aron was not at all surprised to find Faver and Remal arguing about just that. Apparently, Remal had insisted the medicines be tested on him, in order to avoid Faver trying them himself (or on anyone else, surely) and now that Faver had a little time to observe that there hadn’t (yet) been any negative reaction from a sort of poultice tested on an insect bite on Remal’s arm, he was applying more of the same to other bites Remal had on his other arm, shoulders, and back.

“She’s going to find out soon enough anyway, you might as well tell her yourself.”

“There’s no need to! She’d only worry.”

“She worries anyway.”

“She wouldn’t worry so much if Brylin didn’t tell her everything.”

“No, she’d worry more - if that were possible.”

“Ow! What are you doing back there?”

“Seems like the freshest bites might sting a bit, I’m sure that’s fine. Serves you right anyway, if it’s nothing more than that. After I’ve finished with this, I’m going to clean up that cut you never told me about, and don’t you dare try to stop me.”

Remal grumbled something in reply that Aron didn’t quite hear.

Faver laughed a little, declaring: “You have got to be the most difficult patient I ever have to deal with. You’re either in here like this voluntarily so that someone else won’t have to be or more likely got yourself badly injured to avoid someone else getting slightly hurt, or else you’re going around with minor injuries that you allow to get infected because you won’t come see me about them, because you’re afraid you might run into Brylin and she’ll tell your mother about it. Now sit still, you won’t like this at all.”

Faver had traded the poultice medicine for the things he needed to take care of a wound on the back of Remal’s shoulder. He had a small pair of scissors that he’d quickly cut away a bit of dead skin on one side of a nasty (though not especially large nor deep) gash that was a bit jagged and quite inflamed. Then he dabbed at it with some alcohol - that was the part Remal really didn’t like.

“I said sit still.” Faver insisted, when for a moment it looked almost like Remal was about to get up off the stool the Healer had him sitting on. He grumbled again, low so that Aron didn’t catch it though he’d come closer. Maybe the scout was threatening to leave, even if he wasn’t really serious about it. Aron didn’t think Remal would; in spite of the way he acted sometimes, Aron believed Remal respected Faver enough to let him finish treating him once he’d started, and only a serious emergency would cause an exception to that.

Still, Aron decided to announce his presence by saying: “You want me to help you hold him down while you patch him up, Faver?” He used a mock-serious tone that he was sure they’d both recognize as joking, but Remal leveled a glare at him anyway.

Aron stifled a laugh and tried not to grin. It was funny to him, though. Instead, he looked to the Healer and said: “I take it things are looking hopeful?”

Faver nodded, keeping his eyes on the wound he was putting a few stitches over now that it had been cleaned out. He gave Remal a poke in the arm to again remind him to hold still. “Almost finished.” he said.

Aron decided to wait quietly for a minute or two or however long it would take Faver to finish. The Healer might have quite a reputation for keeping track of or doing multiple things at a time, but generally was not known to talk much while doing so. Not often, anyway.

Remal, however, didn’t seem to want to sit quietly. “So, you lurked around here all that time just to ask that, Spelal?”

Aron hadn’t been trying to sneak up on them, and hadn’t really expected that he’d been completely unnoticed the whole time he had stood around, in no hurry to interrupt - but he wouldn’t have called it lurking.

“Of course not, Haelson,” Aron replied cheerfully, “I also intended to ask how your assignment went, but I thought I’d wait until you looked slightly less uncomfortable.”

Remal grumbled wordlessly, and Faver spoke up instead: “What assignment is that?”

For a moment, Aron considered the best way to answer, but Remal replied first. “Making you look kind and sympathetic in comparison to those of us who are more abrasive, so you’d seem like the trustworthy sort a reluctant stranger might confide in. As if such a thing were necessary.” He said that with almost a hint of mockery in his voice; Aron wasn’t sure if it was more about the Leaders having set Remal such a task, or about Faver being more trusting than he was.

Faver did not seem to take it as humorous at all, nor did he seem to fully appreciate being portrayed as the nicer person in the situation. He frowned and poked Remal sharply in the back as he finished applying a bandage to his wound. “Does that mean,” he said disapprovingly, moving around to where he could face Remal while also keeping an eye on Aron, “that you startled that young lady on purpose?” He folded his arms and gave them both the kind of severely displeased looks that Aron was sure Faver gave to his daughter if she ever misbehaved.

Remal acted offended, but still had a little bit of a mocking attitude in his voice as he said, “Me? You think I’d cause someone to spill medicine on purpose?” He then spoke with a more even tone, saying: “She said she was something like an apprentice or a student; maybe she just isn’t very good at that sort of thing yet. Been doing a lot more studying and watching than actual doing, I’d wager.”

Aron tried to keep a straight face while they argued over it (while really not explaining to him what had happened in any greater detail), but the image Faver had suggested to his mind was of Remal sneaking up like a child planning to scare another while someone else was telling a spooky story around a watchfire at night. The sort of thing they used to do as children, only he was picturing Remal doing it as an adult, which was funny to him merely because Remal had been so serious for quite a while now. He didn’t play games with the children or engage in foolish nonsense that didn’t have any point to it - like pranks, childish stunts, and the like. Not anymore.

Aron was sure he’d hear more detail later about what specifically had happened. Whatever he’d done, whether on purpose or not, Remal was accomplishing exactly what they wanted him to do - except that their visitor was now nowhere to be seen and clearly not talking to Faver about anything they’d be interested in learning from her. But perhaps she was talking to Hin or Rinna. In any case, if he didn’t change the subject a bit, Faver and Remal were likely to go on arguing over whether or not Remal had been intentionally trying to scare the young woman while she had been helping Faver concoct medicines.

“So where is our visitor, anyway?” Aron cut in.

1.4

Meanwhile, Emri had quickly found herself more or less surrounded by friendly people. Hin Jeralan had been friendly from the start, and seemed quite genuine; the lady he called Rinna who walked with them from the leaders’ tent was more boisterous, and also quite friendly, though she seemed to be after something more than what she pretended on the surface. Those who were assisting the Healer in tending the many sick people were all friendly enough, though mostly subdued compared to Rinna - or even Hin. Emri supposed they might be tiring of seeing their neighbors, friends and loved ones falling ill and none recovering: she knew she would, in the same sort of situation. Rinna had been leading, and hadn’t really intended for Emri to be meeting several people all at once, but the Healer wasn’t to be found right away and they had to ask where he was and someone went to fetch him and someone else started telling others there was a visitor from outside their camp, and soon enough most able-bodied people at the tents of the sick were taking a moment to try and find out what she was doing there, while the Healer made his way over.

With the current number of sick in the camp, the people had set up a cluster of tents behind the Healer’s usual working tent, to keep the sick close by where he and his helpers could tend them efficiently and go quickly from one to another, rather than crossing the camp every which way visiting individual families’ tents. They also had moved all of it to the side of the camp farthest from the marshes when they first started to collect those who were ill together. Apparently even before the Healer was sure about the insects being the cause of it, he had suspected it might have something to do with the marshes.

Almost as soon as Emri met the Healer - Faver Laeron, they called him - she concluded he was the sort of person who hoped for the best and believed in it, while still realistically accepting the possibilities that things might not go so well, and planning to do everything he could to help things turn out the best they could. He also appeared to take his work seriously, and lost no time in dismissing all his helpers to go back to their work. One of the young ladies - a girl called Nathley - seemed most reluctant to go, since a visitor was apparently quite a novelty and she and the others had barely exchanged names with Emri before the Healer had been brought over. Faver Laeron ushered her, Hin, and Rinna into his work tent and then asked for information. It only took a moment to explain to him what she intended by bringing him herbs the scouts had helped her gather, and his optimistic response let her hope that although the others there had seemed a little less hopeful, they would come around once they could see some of their people start to get better.

At first, up in the hills, Emri hadn’t been sure if she’d found people from the camp she was looking for - until the scouts Jeralan and Haelson had said their camp was, in fact, the one down near the marsh-bordered lake. And even then, Emri had some misgivings over wondering which might be more representative of his people: friendly Jeralan, or stern-faced Haelson. She was hoping more for the former, of course, and leaned towards that after meeting the Healer, but then the way some of the leaders had acted left her feeling uncertain when she thought back on it. They hadn’t been talking and looking at each other like people who were simply insisting on a formality - no, some of them definitely were not sure if they could allow her to stay with their camp for any length of time - as a group, they were truly undecided. Some of them might be more concerned with her safety in being around a camp full of sick people, but others (like the scout Haelson) were surely more concerned over whether she (a stranger to them) would help or harm their people. Yet if she had read things correctly, and understood well from what Rinna and Jeralan had said while walking over, the Healer’s opinion of how helpful she could be would carry a lot of weight with the leaders for deciding if she could travel with them or not. She fervently hoped she had remembered the herbs correctly and that the ones she had chosen would help enough to allow those who had fallen ill to recover quickly.

Another thing she hadn’t been sure of was what to call people, since she wasn’t used to people having more than one name where one wasn’t a formal title or other indication of status or station. She didn’t know why people used the second name sometimes and the first name at other times, and - for example - why Hin called the Healer by his first name, while Rinna addressed him using the second one. No one seemed to use both names at once except in formal introductions, though. Perhaps later she could have someone explain it better to her, but for now she only asked the Healer what she should call him, and he told her to use his first name.

“Alright,” the Healer Faver said, while fishing around to gather various containers, tools, and instruments, “tell me what you know about these herbs, the best ways to prepare them, and common side effects.” Then, just as Emri was about to speak, he added: “As briefly as possible. Start with the most crucial facts.”

Truth be told, Emri was glad that Faver wasn’t insisting on an exhaustive discourse regarding absolutely everything she knew about the plants. She gave a brief summation of the most common ills they were likely to have any experience with that the herbs could either cure or aid in treatment of - and then began to talk about preparing them, but was soon interrupted by Faver prompting her to show him what she meant while she explained it… not only for the sake of efficiency, but also it turned out that some of the words she knew best for use in that area of expertise, were not quite the same as what these people were in the habit of commonly using for the same things. The way they spoke was not so very different from what she had been taught, but there were some things here and there that gave her a moment’s pause to sort out what they meant or fill in what she missed when they were speaking very quickly and not pronouncing things clearly. Hin and Rinna sometimes asked short questions or spoke to each other, though mostly they kept quiet and watched while it was Faver who spoke to her most.

Faver followed along with everything Emri showed him, while also setting apart small samples of the herbs to examine, and testing various things about them to determine what chemical properties they had. Emri was certain these people did not have as extensive a knowledge of chemistry as scholars did where she was from, but that didn’t mean Faver wasn’t knowledgeable about all the things they were able to detect with the kinds of resources he had. She could tell he was mostly checking for toxicity or similarity to plants and other things that were known to them as being harmful. He clearly was an intelligent man, able to keep track of a number of things at a time, fast and efficient in his work, and a quick learner. Emri wondered how many of the people in the camp might be like him, thinking they could possibly be a more advanced people than she had expected based on the types of rough clothing, tents, and other items she had seen so far in the camp. She started to feel a little self-conscious, then, since she had been - and was - a bit clumsy with the unfamiliar style of the basic tools the Healer used. Emri thought she had presented what she knew in a confident way thus far, and Faver had been fairly accepting of what she told him, but she wondered if he’d start second-guessing it if she seemed too inexperienced in her handling of the herbs’ preparation for use.

Truly, preparation of these herbs was not terribly complicated for the simple use they were to be put to here - one as a medicine to be administered by drops, and the other as a poultice to not only relieve symptoms but also to treat insect stings and prevent more people from falling ill with the same sickness. Since the actual preparation was not very complex, most of what Emri talked about while preparing the herbs was information on the herbs’ uses and potential side effects of overuse, with a few notes about their general properties added in. Faver followed along, and after completing the tests he had been doing on the samples he took, he began preparing more of the herbs in the way that Emri had showed, catching up relatively fast since he was not only skilled, but clearly quite used to his own tools and well-practiced in this sort of work. Admittedly, Emri was not - having spent far more time in academic study of medicinal preparations than in actual concocting of them. She was even more frustrated by her clumsy handling of things, now that such an obvious difference in skill between her and the professional Healer was right in front of her.

Wishing there were not other people in the tent looking on, Emri shifted her feet uncomfortably, and then immediately thought of how the Elders back home would frown on such an obvious sign of irritation. Naturally, that did not help her feel any better. It was only Rinna and Hin in the tent with them, and she thought that rather than being judgmental of her, they seemed to care much more about hearing what the herbs were supposed to do for their sick people, and looking to see if Faver was going to let them help with any part of it. Not only that, but perhaps they didn’t even notice how very clumsy Emri was being, if they were not themselves experienced in preparing medicines? She hoped, but wasn’t sure; and really what mattered more to her was what Faver thought. Maybe he’d see the herbs could help, thank her, and then send her on her separate way, if he thought she seemed too inexperienced to be of any further assistance.

Just as Emri thought she was starting to get a little more used to the tools and perhaps somewhat comfortable with things there, a movement by the tent door caught her attention a moment. Trying (as she had been taught) to not let something seen in her peripheral vision disrupt what she was already doing, she only glanced up slightly - to see Haelson had arrived with a sternly critical glare directed at her. Losing focus enough to fumble the tool she was holding in one hand, Emri was too clumsy to steady the small bowl she had the other hand resting against, so when the tool fell on the edge of the bowl it tipped with a clatter, spilling half of its contents before Faver scooped the bowl up into an upright position.

“Oops!” he exclaimed in a patient tone, deftly swiping the medicine running down the side of the bowl back up into it, and then grabbing a cloth to wipe the residue off the outside of the bowl. “Don’t worry,” he said, “we only need a little to start with. Besides, we can make more quicker now that I’ve seen what goes into it.” In a moment Faver had also cleaned up what had spilled onto the table, seeming to have almost fixed Emri’s blunder in as little time as it had taken to make it. Certainly he had taken care of everything before she could even think of what to say about it, whether to apologize or offer to help, or to protest that he was leaving nothing for her to do.

Still, Emri belatedly said, “Oh, let me-” and then stopped since there was nothing left to clean up. Instead of finishing, she apologized. “I’m so sorry about that.” She sincerely was, though honestly a large part of why she felt sorry about it was really because she worried Faver would not want her to keep helping him if she was too clumsy. So she was annoyed with herself for having fumbled things, but she quickly displaced much of her annoyance over to being annoyed with Remal for having come in suddenly, all glaring and severe-faced and making her lose focus. Of course she knew she shouldn’t have let a thing like that disrupt her concentration, which made her all the more annoyed with herself, and thus more frustrated with the entire situation - so it bothered her all the more that Remal Haelson had pulled Hin and Rinna to one side where the three of them were having a brief quiet conversation. Were they normally secretive? Naturally, in an anxious and frustrated state of mind, Emri was also bothered that she couldn’t hear what they were saying. As an additional annoyance, she didn't know which name to call Remal Haelson by, but didn't want to ask. So far she mostly had only heard Hin address him by name, and he used the first name. Hin seemed to use first names for everyone. Perhaps she could avoid speaking directly to or about Remal, and thus not have to use a name for him. She shifted her feet again but without realizing it this time, and stretched her fingers.

Faver had again been telling her not to worry about the spilled medicine, but she only apologized more. “Truly, I am so very sorry. Some of the medicine has been wasted-”

“You can help make more later. But for now, we’d best test the medicines out. From what I can tell so far, it all seems safe enough, and it’s no reflection on you personally, but you understand I can’t give anything that I’m not familiar with to any of my people without trying it out first.”

Faver was talking to her in a tone she thought he’d likely use on a student who was learning to be his assistant, which sort of bothered her a little because she worried it was an indication he might be taking her less seriously, but the other side of it was that if he treated her like an assistant, then hopefully he thought she could be a helpful assistant, instead of someone he was planning to send away. Besides, he reminded her a bit of her mentor - not entirely, but in some of his manner and attitude, she thought - so it was almost comforting to think of settling into an arrangement of letting him treat her like his trainee. She needed to learn how these people did things anyway; there were bound to be a great many things they’d do differently, and she could adapt to how they did things while also helping them with better medicines and new herbs to use.

“How can I help?” Emri asked.

“Tell me again what specific dosages should be used, and I will write them down this time.” Faver replied. “Then, I’ll-”

But the others had approached, and Remal abruptly cut Faver off, saying, “No you don’t! Don’t you dare try them yourself.” Before Faver Laeron could protest or reply in any way, Remal insisted, “I know you. That’s what you were planning, isn’t it?”

Rinna nodded. “He’s right, Laeron. As Healer, you are of exceptional importance to the camp and we cannot allow you to put yourself at risk to test out anything new. No matter how well recommended.” That last was delivered in a tone Emri thought was clearly calculated to show her they meant no disrespect by it, like how Faver had only a few moments ago said it was no personal reflection on her that he considered it necessary to test the medicines.

Hin Jeralan seemed to believe more explanation was required. Addressing Emri directly, he said apologetically, “On our travels so far, our camp has met a lot of people who… didn’t mean well. From bandits to cheating traders, we’ve met far more dishonest people with the worst of intentions, than we have met of people who were honest - and even less who were genuinely helpful.”

Rinna added: “You understand, of course, there are a lot of people who are only working for their own profit one way or another.”

Emri could believe it, though she found it difficult to picture and she'd hoped it hadn’t been as bad as that in the lands these people had traveled through up to this point. Small wonder that some of them seemed automatically suspicious of strangers, as vexing as that may be to her.

Faver seemed vexed by it as well, or perhaps he was annoyed from Remal having interrupted him so rudely. “Really,” he said, addressing the others in an irritated sort of manner, “if Miss Emri were out to profit from this kind of situation, she’d have far more to gain from selling a cure for the sickness, than from getting a few of us to ingest something harmful that she could sell an antidote to!”

Emri had thought he seemed a very patient sort of man, and was a little surprised at him talking like that. Perhaps Remal irritated him as much as he bothered her, being so sour and suspicious.

It almost seemed as though Remal was out to prove that impression of him, as he muttered darkly, “I could think of worse things.”

She thought it was horrifying, but Emri could think of something worse, too. Now that they had brought such things up, she realized that a selfish and shrewd person could sell a cure for the sickness that was addictive in being overly-strong, without any cautions about over-using it, and not teach the people of the camp how to make it. Then such a person could profit by selling them more of the remedy that they had become addicted to, even after they no longer needed it for its medicinal purposes. She had heard of things like that happening in a few places, but hadn’t yet seen it for herself anywhere. She absolutely would not mention such a thing to these people. For a moment she wondered what worse things Remal could think up - but then Emri caught Rinna looking at her in a way that seemed almost like she could guess her thoughts. She was sure the leader couldn’t, but it was slightly unsettling. Again, Emri thought of her mentor - that was the sort of thing he’d do a lot, though it wasn’t so unsettling for him to look at her that way since he didn’t combine it with a suspicious manner.

“Anyway,” Hin said, in a pacifying tone, we’re not saying there’s any reason to think there’s anything wrong with this medicine, just that we’ve learned to be cautious as a habit.”

“Exactly.” Rinna agreed.

“And our Healer should not test the medicine himself.” Remal added, and once again going on quickly before Faver could say anything in protest, he said: “I’LL try it.” And he gave Faver such a serious glare that Emri was surprised. Really, she had thought that among these people, the Healer was of higher importance than a scout, and that Faver being older would also afford him more authority than what Remal would have. At least, Faver appeared to be several years older or more. Did age matter here? She thought the people had seemed to afford more status to the older leaders than the younger ones. Perhaps Remal was only acting like he could tell Faver what to do because in this instance it was something that a camp leader was agreed with him on? Or maybe the scouts, as hunters, also acted as a peacekeeping force for the leaders? Emri wasn’t quite sure, and thought there must be something else to it.

In any case, Faver acceded - and after writing down the dosages Emri repeated to him, administered some to Remal. The mixture made from the plant that grew in the swampy areas near the lake was given as a few drops to be swallowed, and the poultice made from the herb that grew on the hills in drier areas was applied to a small circle of skin on the arm, over a bug bite. Remal happened to have one, but even if he hadn’t, they would have simply put it on a clear patch of skin to see if it caused any reaction there.

While all that was going on, Rinna muttered to Remal in a tone Emri couldn’t take seriously, that she had been surprised Remal hadn’t suggested that the medicines be tested on the foreigner, if someone were going to take any risks with it. Remal replied that they had no way of knowing whether a stranger to them might have a tolerance to something that might be harmful to people from their homeland. He said it in a tone Emri thought suggested such a tolerance could be something she might know about and plan to exploit in some way - as if she might have built up a tolerance or immunity to something toxic just so she could use it against unsuspecting people from other lands. Really, it was insufferable.

Faver, overhearing the exchange, murmured that he thought Remal was a little paranoid, though he had a fair point in the basic idea that a substance some people in one land might tolerate well, other people from another land might react poorly to - however, Faver doubted someone like Emri would be planning anything like that on purpose.

Emri, mixing up some more medicine with a little bit more of the herbs she and the scouts had already collected earlier, could hear most of what they were saying this time, though they seemed not to expect her to - or didn’t care if she could. Truly, the manners of these people were a bit different from what she had been brought up with.

While Emri finished mixing the batch of medicine she was working on, Rinna and Faver discussed when to give the medicine to which of their ill. Rinna suggested that until they had seen what effects might occur after a day or so, they not give any of the medicine to any of their ill. Faver agreed somewhat to that, but insisted that those who they were reasonably sure were already on death’s doorstep should be given the medicine much sooner. Rinna seemed to imply if that were the case, Faver should wait at least several hours first, but he insisted there were some he wasn't sure would even live another few hours so he didn't see much harm in giving them something unproven after a short while, rather than waiting several hours or more to see how Remal fared. Rinna ended by throwing up her hands and telling Faver to go ahead and give it to those who were most ill as soon as he wanted, then, but not to anyone who they were sure could last at least another day or two - until they had first waited a full day and night to see how fared those who had been given the medicine first.

Faver agreed to the compromise, and Rinna offered to help Hin go back out and look for more herbs, and it was decided that Emri should go with them to help Rinna learn to recognize the plants and to make sure that Hin correctly remembered the features to look for. Rinna insisted they would wait until they were sure the medicine would help before having anyone more spend time on collecting those herbs, but did want to learn to recognize them herself and wanted them to collect more while Faver finished making medicine with what few plants were left of what had already been collected.

Emri didn’t really want to stop helping Faver prepare the medicines yet, but agreed it was a good idea to go get more plants now, and agreed with the reasons for her going. Besides, Faver was demanding that Remal had to stay there, even though he protested and insisted he should go along to also help collect more plants. This time, the Healer clearly seemed to be overruling the scout.

“You absolutely are not going back out now.” He said sternly to the younger man. “You insisted on being a test subject, now you’re staying here where I can watch you. For the next full day and night. If you don’t like it, take it up with the leaders.”

Rinna’s smirk and amused eyes clearly said that the leaders would completely agree with the Healer on this. Remal Haelson sat back in the chair Faver had set him in, folding his arms and grumbling a warning that none of them had better mention any of this to his mother - and that they especially had better not tell Brylin, whoever that was. Hin and Rinna laughed over that, though Haelson had sounded terribly serious about it. Faver nodded in a knowing way.

1.3

A few of the leaders happened to be near the council tent, talking; a couple of the eldest leaders were sitting inside in the shade. The weather had been cooling as the season faded and the camp with Remal and Hin's people had been traveling northward, but it was still quite warm out during the middle part of the day. Where they'd come from, they'd been used to hot weather at the middle time of the year, but had been using mud-and-brick houses instead of the coarse woolen tents they now used while traveling, and a broad river had afforded lush vegetation. Without the brick houses and abundant trees, they'd often been dealing with improvising other ways to keep cooler in these drier, more open places they'd had to travel through in recent months. It had been a bit much for some of their elders, but many of them had fared remarkably well - in their seventies, the two leaders in the council tent were almost the eldest of all those in the camp, and a good couple of decades older than Remal's mother, that was for sure. In their youth, they had survived severe drought 'back home' and even traveled farther away from the village than most ever had before now, to find extra work to bring back food and trade goods to supply what their families lacked. Some of their elders who'd been only about ten years younger hadn't been nearly as hardy. They certainly had lost a number of them in their travels, including some who had been leaders; and some of the leaders now (especially the older ones and those who had gone most often to get water nearest the marshy-bordered lake) were among those who were the most sick in the camp.

Undoubtedly the leaders both within and without the council tent were talking about the sick people of the camp and how best to transport them away from the lake as soon as it could be done safely. They still had other matters to deal with, surely, but currently most of the leaders' discussion and efforts - indeed, that of the entire camp - was focused as much as possible on moving the camp and saving their ill... or attempting to save them. Any leaders not present or themselves counted among the ill were most likely helping tend the sick or preparing sleds and litters to add to the wagons to move them with, since those who took sick quickly became too ill to walk much - first being too nauseous and then afterwards too weakened.

As the two scouts neared with their visitor in tow, the leaders conversing outside the council tent had slowly realized there was a stranger among them, and Hin ran some paces ahead to give an exceptionally brief summation of the situation. Two of the leaders immediately ran off to gather others, and the third quickly ducked into the tent to tell the two inside while Hin returned quickly to where Emri was nearing the end of her slow walk to the tent with Remal watching her like a hawk.

Hin smiled broadly at Emri. “They’re getting the leaders all together - those that can come, of course - so you can tell them how you want to help the Healer, and ask them about whether you can travel with our camp for a bit.” He seemed rather optimistic and hopeful, though Remal wasn’t quite sure if he should be.

In rather short order, about a dozen leaders were assembled inside the tent, sitting on plain three-legged stools in something like a rough half-circle with the visitor sitting opposite, a scout on either side of her, also all on the same kind of stools. Remal had thought their visitor appeared uncertain whether to be glad of a rest from walking and standing, or not. Emri seemed to sit as awkwardly as she walked, or maybe it was uncomfortably - if she was suffering some kind of infirmity, it surely wasn’t aggravated exclusively by standing or walking. On the other hand, thus far she didn’t show symptoms of suffering the same illness as any in the camp, which he wasn’t sure was either good or bad.

Remal half-expected the leaders to begin with the questions that he and Hin had tried asking Emri already, but for the most part the leaders thought of different things to ask, or asked in more direct ways. Different leaders asked questions as they came up, quickly and as efficiently as they could. The answers they received tended towards using what seemed like as few words as possible, or not enough.

What was her name? Emri? Just Emri, nothing more than that? Alright, then. What was Miss Emri’s profession? She was a student, an apprentice? Of what? The study of nature, living things, plants… not something they had heard of as a profession, did she mean that she was studying herbs and medicines, apprenticed to a Healer? Partly, perhaps mostly, in a way, but not exactly… they weren’t sure what she meant by that, but that was enough about that topic for the time being. They really didn’t want to drag out the meeting, they had a lot to do. Oh, she’d heard? Of course, that’s what the scouts had started to say she wanted to help with - so she had already collected some herbs she believed would help their sick people? No, none of them wanted to take the time to examine the herbs now, they’d leave that for their Healer. So, why was she traveling, was she far from home, how long had she been traveling alone? She was traveling to study, she said, examining the native plants and animals of the area, and she was quite some distance from home, it wasn’t nearby - in answer to the leaders pressing for more specifics, she did say that home, for her, was not one of the nearest settlements to here. She was so vague about it and hadn’t even bothered answering about how long she’d traveled by herself or how far she’d actually traveled, that they left it alone from there, for now. Fine, then, the question remaining was why she’d want to travel with them. Emri replied with the simple answer she had already given to the scouts: that it was safer to travel with a group. To that she actually for once added information she had not been specifically asked to provide, saying that she knew the area and could help them find food and water, in addition to knowing what plants grew in that region which were good for medicine.

Surprised, Remal looked more closely than he had been at Emri’s face, seeking any sign that she was making that part up just to persuade them to let her travel with the camp. Her face was as impassive as ever, even her eyes looking steadfastly ahead at the leaders in front of her, waiting for their reply. Remal couldn’t read a thing there, much to his irritation. He glanced at the leaders to see if they seemed to be leaning towards allowing her to stay or not. Some seemed more inclined one way or the other, but many of them appeared to Remal like they were undecided. A few whispers passed quickly between some of them, and one of the most senior leaders said:

“We have many factors to consider before coming to a final decision whether you can be allowed to travel with our camp or not. For now, you may take the herbs you have gathered to our Healer to examine and appraise. If he wishes to use them, or for you to help him in any way, we will support that based on his judgment. Provisionally, that is, unless we decide that you must go regardless.” With a semi-formal gesture of dismissal, the short impromptu meeting was over… or, at least, the interview portion of it was. Most of the leaders might plan to stay and discuss things amongst themselves since they happened to be conveniently all together at the moment.

Emri seemed slightly hesitant or reluctant to stand up again, but Hin offered her a hand for a moment and gave her an encouraging smile as she stood, telling her not to worry and that he expected she’d be allowed to stay and travel with their camp a while. He added that he was sure she would like the Healer - a man named Faver Laeron - and that pretty much everyone got along with him.

Remal had thought he and Hin would both escort the young lady to where the Healer was working, but as soon as they were dismissed, a slight flurry of quick whispers and gestures among the leaders brought two of them nearer: one of the middle-aged ones - a hearty smiling woman in her late thirties named Rinna - and the other was Aron Spelal, youngest of the officially recognized leaders, a man near Remal’s age who had grown up with him and who pulled him aside while the older leader patted Hin on the back and started up conversation jovially while linking arms with both Hin and Emri and setting off in the direction of the Healer’s tent. All the while, Remal noted that until she was pulled along to go meet the Healer, Emri hardly moved except to flick her eyes back and forth watching the movements of the other people as the meeting broke up, and once or twice she stretched the fingers of her hand that wasn’t occupied with holding the sack that she’d been collecting herbs in.

“If I might speak to you a moment, Haelson,” Aron began, speaking slowly as though to allow the others time to move farther away, “I have some matters to discuss with you.” He was slightly younger than Remal, a couple of years at most - but that still put them in the same generation that had grown up together in the village they’d come from. About half the people in the camp were from the same village originally or had moved into it at some point, and the other half had moved away with them from farms and hamlets in the surrounding area. Though they were not all related, the village had been small enough that most people initially had known everyone else at least a little bit, and those who weren’t related usually had enough of a social or business connection that if they weren’t friends they at least regarded each other the way others might view not-too-distant relatives. The same was true of most of the people who had come from the surrounding area, with many having been related to or regularly traded with the people from the village.

“What is it, Spelal?” Remal asked slowly, not sure he was going to like whatever it was. The two usually got along alright, but Remal wouldn’t be quick to call the other man a friend - a fact which although not lost on Aron Spelal, wasn’t always regarded by him, either.

Aron looked towards the three who were receding from view to see how far away they were. Remal glanced that way as well, then back towards the remaining leaders, who had circled their stools and were talking quietly. He looked back as Aron finally spoke up again.

“You’ve got a sharp eye, Remal. What do you think?” He gave a slight nod towards the visitor and her escorts.

Remal raised an eyebrow, surprised that even the youngest of the leaders would ask his opinion. He was sure the others were already deciding for themselves whether to let the girl stay, and the only opinion they might wait on before making a final decision as a group would be that of the Healer or the middle-aged woman who had walked off starting a conversation with Emri and Hin. Remal guessed the point was more for that leader to get more information about Emri, than to help escort her to the Healer. Still, once asked, Remal would give his two coins’ worth on the subject.

“Of the girl? I think if she’s from around here, she should go back home. She might know the plants around here, but I doubt she knows anything of the terrain. Either that, or she’s unwell and a liability. She could hardly walk along the hillside without help, even the flatter ground was giving her trouble. She claims to be well, but I don’t think she can be trusted at her word. She was avoiding direct questions and vague with anything she did answer. I want to make sure Faver thoroughly tests anything she recommends before giving it to any of our sick people. For all we know, she could be some unhinged mischief-crazed child under that-”

Aron guffawed, banking Remal’s flood of opinion. “Child? You mean mentally?” He said it like it was the funniest thing he’d heard all week, and suddenly Remal thought he must be picturing the girl as an escaped invalid who any moment would turn into a frothing maniac. That wasn’t really what he meant, but…

Aron laughed, slapped Remal on the arm, and said, “I take back what I said about you having a sharp eye.” He managed to stop laughing, and added: “That girl must be almost as old as I am. She’s got a young-looking face, I grant you, but for her to be as tall as she is... if she’s a child, then the people in this region must be unusually tall. And she might not have much of a figure, but she looks full-grown to me. If she isn’t, I’ll eat my shoes. And if she’s still in her teens as well, I’ll eat my socks for dessert.”

Remal frowned and muttered while the other man went on, and when he finally paused, Remal stoically insisted: “Her age doesn’t matter. What you should have noticed is the way she looks at people, and how her face hardly has any expression at all. That and her evasiveness. There’s something just not right about her.” Nevertheless, what Aron had said did get him thinking. Why had he been more inclined to think the girl was younger than she looked? Or that she looked younger to him? It must be the way he had seen her young-looking face first off, and leaning over instead of standing up straight at her full height… and the way she had moved, walking around up on the hills - or slipping on them. The way younger animals are more awkward than older more sure-footed ones. Something about her just seemed… what was the word for it? Inexperienced, out there in that setting, no matter what she might or might not know about plants in the area.

Aron looked serious, now, too. “I did notice, that, yes. She’s very… almost looks emotionless. That’s why I wanted to know what you might have seen. Was there anything else odd, unusual, that you noticed? Anything at all?”

“What?” Remal muttered, then said, “No… wait, there was one other thing: she seemed confused at first by the way we talked, but maybe she was just getting used to hearing a different accent than what people in this region use. She doesn’t really sound like she has a very strong accent though, just… I don’t know, but she talks a little bit odd, too. And I wouldn’t say she’s emotionless, just that she doesn’t show it anywhere except her eyes.”

“Hm… well, I agree with you that there is something odd about her, or multiple odd things. But I’m not convinced that means she can’t be trusted. Maybe she’s just uncomfortable around new people, and she might not be all that strange for the customs of people in this region; we really haven’t met local people from around here yet, they could seem quite foreign to us. And maybe she can’t go back wherever she came from; she may know of some danger that she is simply unwilling to talk about to people she just met. We could learn valuable information from her, if we can get her to say more. Perhaps between you and Faver, the two of you can get her to talk a bit, if she hasn’t already opened up to Rinna.”

“Oh, so you want me to go along to meet them over there after all?” Remal had half-thought the entire point of delaying him was so he wouldn’t follow over to the Healer’s tent - especially since he didn’t really think the other leaders would care too much what he thought.

“Certainly.” Aron said, with a little bit of a mischievous look that gave Remal pause. “I think you’re right about our visitor Emri showing some emotion in her eyes; judging by the way she looked at everyone present, I would say it seemed that she finds you intimidating for some reason.”

“Ah.” Remal said, with a tired sigh. Just like a camp leader to ask him to play up something as if he was their trained pet. “You mean to see if she’ll talk to Faver just because he’ll seem really nice in comparison. Like when children tell everything to one parent they think they can get sympathy and protection from, because they’re afraid the other would get mad and punish them.”

“Maybe you should become a teacher, training apprentices.” Aron said with a grin. “Since you haven’t got children of your own to deal with yet, but seem to be developing a knack.”

“Oh no, not me.” Remal declared quickly. “Just because I understand one thing doesn’t make me an expert on youngsters. Hin’s the one to talk to about children.” Remal was annoyed, especially since he knew it was just another hint that the leaders thought he should be married and starting a family by now. Had they been talking to his older sister again, or what? They had better not have been bothering his mother over the subject, or he’d be really annoyed with them.

“Besides, who are you to talk about it?” He couldn’t help throwing a dig back at Aron, though he knew it was mean, since the younger man had been married for a couple of years and hoping for children, but had lost his wife along with the others the camp had buried after crossing the desert only a couple of months ago. Not enough time gone past, he realized too late, and Remal didn’t dare try taking the words back now or saying anything else, which would likely make it worse. He hurried away quickly, not wanting to find out whether Aron was getting angry or sad at that moment.