The origins

The Recovery of Lassanides:

The warden had vomited repeatedly for more than two hours. His body had trembled with fever and his bald head was covered with a cold sweat. The monk looked at him with concern: he had put successive towels on his forehead dipped in fresh water to try to lower his fever, but, on the whole, his condition had not improved greatly.

He had tried to find out what he had been given, but there were at least two ingredients that he didn't know: that meant that he had been brought from somewhere far away because he was very familiar with the plants within the borders and they didn't look like any of them.

As he thought, he pulled a lock of hair out of his beard: it was evident that something very serious had happened that night, and now, besides, the creature in the cellar was very nervous: he did not know what had happened, but it must have been really serious to put the only guard (however formidable) in that state. Few could detect that something had happened, but he had noticed the creature since he arrived at the convent 16 years ago and had finally detected his moods.

He recalled the time when he had just finished his studies, both formal and complementary, at the Great Monastery of Os: medicine was his forte, but during those years he had learned other things that had been of great help to him in the monastery and outside it, mainly those related to the mixture of plants and their effects on health. and others that bored him greatly, such as protocol and genealogy. However, he had soon realized that, even if they bored him, and because of his Order's position within the Empire, such knowledge was necessary to him.

His existence in the monastery had been pleasant: since he had been given the room in the tower for his experiments, he had spent much of his time there, and this had allowed him to avoid the existence of problems with other brothers or monks, except for the occasional specimen who protested about strange matters and who usually, after a talk with the Abbot, He had stopped talking about it. Some even avoided him in the corridors or in community prayer: instinctively he smiled thinking of the anecdote, now very old. For the reality is that his studies had increased the esteem that both the Abbot and other Freys of the convent felt for him, mainly because if necessary, the more he knew, the more likely he would be able to cure them.

He pinched his arm and thought to himself that he was letting his thoughts wander too far while Lassanides continued to be ill. He had stopped shaking, but he still had a fever and, though not as much as before, he still complained of pain from time to time.

It was just then that he felt a strange sensation in his shoulder.

-"Awlin," he said, smiling, "I know you're here and you're nervous, but I don't know what caused it, as long as you don't tell me".

Sometimes the creature expressed itself clearly, but at other times, when it was so nervous and frightened, it was impossible for him: it was as if he were becoming a stutterer. It was necessary to let him calm down so that he could understand it.

"Well, Awlin, don't be nervous any more," he said, feeling the creature's fear. "First, I'm going to finish healing Lasanides, and then we'll see how you can tell me what happened".

He took the towel off the guard's head again and checked that the temperature had indeed dropped, although it was not yet normal and that would not prevent it from rising later, if the discomfort returned.

-"What happened to me?" Lassanides had a very weak voice.

-"Don't worry, Lassanides, they gave you poison and locked the dogs in that room".

The guardian went to sit up, but he was still very weak and the pain was too strong for him to do it. His head still ached as if it were going to explode, but at least he had regained consciousness. He instinctively put his hand to his stomach because it was still burning.

-"But who has done it?"

-"Those who have done it are hanging on the balcony, but I doubt very much that there is not someone else involved who has sent it to them," the monk smiled. "Big guy, I don't know how those two dwarves could convince you to take that".

Aware that he was being teased, the guardian smiled faintly and scratched his bald head.

-"The truth is that the last memory I have is that last night I had dinner but I don't even remember having dessert. I'm not aware of coming here after dinner".

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

-"I suppose they gave me some herbs to sleep on with dinner. But I don't understand how they brought me here or why they didn't kill me".

-"I'm getting more and more worried about this. Are you telling me you've been unconscious since last night?".

Lasanides shrugged:

-"Frey Kaistos, I can't remember anything. The last memory I have is sitting down to dinner in the worshipper's part of the dining room. Now that I think about it, I have a vague idea of having had sílkalus cake, you know, the sweet fruit that the new cook loves, so I imagine that I had already taken whatever they gave me to sleep".

The monk was concentrating on what the guardian was telling him. It was becoming more and more worrisome:

-"And don't you think it's strange?" Everyone knows that you are the only one who sleeps here, and that until the next day no monk, layman, or worshipper comes to the temple. I wonder what's so important for someone to put the only night watchman to sleep first but not kill him and then poison him. I have to analyze what they have given you: fortunately I have been able to rescue a small bottle that one of them was carrying".

Lassanides stared at him: it almost seemed as if he had regained his normal vigour, though his face was still too pale.

-"I doubt very much that whatever they want is in my apartment. I imagine it will be something that is in the temple or if not in the monastery. We have to go and see".

- "Oh no, no, no, you don't. You have to rest. I'll go see what's happened and take one of your dogs. The other will stay here standing guard, though I imagine that what they have come to do will be done already".

He opened the door and brought the two dogs out of their confinement. Only then did he hear the clock bell in the temple's forecourt strike the hour: it was 6 o'clock in the morning. He had to hurry: the other monks would be up at that hour and would soon be going down to the dining room for a frugal breakfast. By then, he had to know what had happened in order to report it to the Abbot. He doubted there would be much good news.

Originally posted at https://histolatos.blogspot.com/2024/04/la-recuperacion-de-lasanides.html