The Kindreds, Volume 1

The Seventeenth, Pt. 1

Sada

"Is your stomach upset right now?"

"...No, Sada."

"And does your head pain you?"

"Does my head—? No, it does not. What are you going on about, girl?"

"Well, have you ever noticed that when your stomach is upset or your head does ache, you can never quite remember what it feels like to be well? No? Truly? Well, given the manner in which you were glaring—"

"I was not glaring."

"Given the manner in which you were flatly staring at me...I'd thought perhaps you didn't agree. But you have noticed, then?"

"Yes, Sada. I have noticed."

"Well, then, I thought that I ought to remind you to take notice of how it feels to have a settled stomach and a clear head, that we might properly cherish such while it lasts."

"Thank you, Sada."

Dedrei shook her head as she finished her work, but she was smiling. She was patting into place the bandages she'd crafted for Sada's shoulders. They were made up of long, soft leaves tied into place with flexible vine. Beneath them, a poultice of herbs was packed onto her shoulders. When they'd gone to sleep the night before, Dedrei had demanded Sada show her the injuries on her shoulders. Sada hadn't wanted to see them herself, knowing what she would find if she looked. But finally Dedrei had convinced her. When she pulled down the sleeves of her dress, four angry, red punctures on each shoulder greeted them, just as Sada had known they would. That was the extent of the wounds on her left shoulder. But on her right, they were also seeping a disgusting whitish-yellow liquid, and the redness around the punctures was steadily spreading.

Sada had immediately grown nauseas, her forehead and hands prickling, and had to pet Sarana for comfort so as not to pass out from the panic the mere idea of an infection brought her. Dedrei declared the wounds to be in need of treatment, then scolded Sada for waiting so long. Dedrei had asked Sada to relay the story of how Sarana had healed her other wounds, and after she did, Dedrei beckoned the filly over. She asked if she'd heal Sada's shoulder wounds, but Sarana took one sniff at the infected area and backed away, lip curled. Sada was glad of the refusal; she didn't want to risk Sarana getting sick. Even Sada didn't want to be near the wounds and the foul smell that was beginning to emanate from her right shoulder. Unfortunately, her head was attached right next to it.

Sada had awoken the next day to the familiar smell of bright, pungent herbs. Her eyes had flown open, heart racing with excitement at what it might mean that she could smell the apothecary—and distantly did she hear Jezebel's voice? But when she sat up, she was not in Mr. Pérez's shop, but in the forests of Elt; the herbs were not being ground in a mortar and pestle, but on a rock near where she had slept; and it was not Jezebel's voice she heard, that had been her mind's fancy. Instead, Dedrei was humming and chirping as she worked. Sada quickly forced herself to dispel the disappointment; it had just been a dream, and pining over what could be but was not would do her no good. So she'd fiddled with Jezebel's cuff on her ear, then forced herself to go to Dedrei and learn. Nothing distracted her like learning.

Dedrei had told her of the herbs she'd used for the poultice. Many had names she didn't recognize, and most were not green like the ones in her world, but some shade of blue or yellow. But she did recognize the white flowers of yarrow, and thought she smelled something like lavender. Some of the flowers, Dedrei had even taken from her hair. She didn't pluck them, just held her hair out beneath one of the plants until it fell readily into her palm.

Dedrei willingly answered all of Sada's questions about the plants, describing their properties and uses. The Druid admitted that when it came to some of them, she didn't exactly know the details of how they provided aid, just that she had an 'intuition' that they would. It reminded her of how Sarana simply knew things without explanation. Dedrei seemed certain in her knowledge, and so Sada was certain in Dedrei. She reminded her of both Jezebel and Gabe in ways she couldn't exactly put into thoughts. But it made the fading dream less painful. When Dedrei had finished, using her saliva to mix the poultice ('it is not as powerful as the caelicorns', but it will do more good than water,' she'd said after seeing the look on Sada's face), she'd sponged off Sada's injuries using a wet clump of moss, then spread the poultice on. Now she stood, admiring her work, and went to rinse her hands.