Two Graves - The Song of Nephiah and Brelyna

Chapter 6: Healing Magic

It was a small room, one bed, one chair, one table. The closed door dampened the sound of the festivities a fair bit. Brelyna sat her friend down on the bed. Nephiah's head hung low, her eyes fixed on the fists in her lap that still wouldn't relax. Brelyna sat down on the chair. "You don't like crowded rooms, huh." Nephiah didn't react. "Me neither. My father used to make me go to social festivities with the other houses so he could parade me around. His master pupil." She laughed. "Was he furious when I decided to study in Winterhold. I told him I'm a Telvanni, seclusion is in my blood. 'We must change with the times', he would reply, I just wanted my peace." She looked at Nephiah who still hadn't moved. She laughed again. "Look at me rambling on about myself all the time. I swear I don't usually do that." No reaction. She kneeled down in front of her so she could see her face.

Hello.", she said smiling softly. "So, um, here's the thing." There was a bucket of water and a piece of cloth placed by the bed. Brelyna took the rag and submerged it in water. "When I wiped that tear away a moment ago..." She took the wet rag in both her hands and looked back up. "...I removed some of that mud along with it. So now you have a weird clean spot running down the side of your face. How about we take care of that." She moved the rag towards Nephiah's face. Its trajectory was quickly changed by Nephiah's forearm moving it out of the way. She put both feet on the bed and backed up until she hit the wall. "Hey... it's me, remember? Brelyna? Your magical friend?" Nephiah looked at the door, then back at her as she was gesturing for her to come back forward. Reluctantly she followed the invitation.

Brelyna began to carefully wipe off layers of dust and mud, cleaning the rag in the bucket periodically. She got a good look at the scar on her right cheek and chin, it must have been a deep cut. She moved the rag below her chin and continued the procedure on the neck. Nephiah stared at her, shocked at the act of kindness, as if she had never experienced something like this before. Her hands so soft, her touch so gentle. While she had flinched a couple of times in the beginning, she didn't move anymore, except when Brelyna's hands were requiring access to another dirty spot.

"How about we do all the sticky outy bits?" Nephiah slowly nodded, still staring like she had seen a ghost. Brelyna moved on to the left arm. Scars there as well. The armour was roughly stitched together from animal hides, there were many places it didn't quite cover. She noticed that scars and burn marks were all over. 'Azura...', she thought to herself. 'What happened to you?' She reached the fur glove. "Is it ok, if I take that off?" She looked up at Nephiah who slowly nodded yet again. She took off the leather strips that bound it together one by one and slowly pulled it off the arm.

Brelyna gasped as she revealed a brand mark forming the word 'slave'. It was stretched over the back of her strong hand, which must have been a lot smaller when the branding was applied. As she moved the cloth over it, Nephiah audibly sucked in air through her teeth. Brelyna stopped right away. "Does this hurt?" She nodded, quickly this time. She moved the rag around it with great care, she didn't want to cause more discomfort to this creature that had been wounded so in the past. In this very moment she wished she had taken up restoration magic instead.

Eventually Brelyna finished and put the rag in her lap. "Now what?" Nephiah shrugged. "Want to keep going?", she giggled. Nephiah nodded. "What, really?" Another nod. "I was joking you know." Nephiah kept staring at her. After a moment of uncertainty Brelyna moved up and slowly began to loosen the pieces of leather that held up the shoulder pieces. Their faces got close together as she reached for the ones on the back, their eyes never losing contact. Suddenly a swirl of laughter broke through the door from the hall beyond it. Nephiah immediately looked at the exit, the expression of terror back on her face. Realizing what was going on, Brelyna quickly took Nephiah's face in both her hands and turned it to her. Big, fearful eyes looked back at her. Uncertain what to do, she made a split second decision and pressed her lips against Nephiah's. Both their eyes closed instantly as the noises around them fell away until the only sound they heard was the slow, comforting heartbeat of their opposite. As their lips disconnected and their eyes opened, Brelyna smirked and bit her lower lip. "I had a hunch you were a great kisser."

Nephiah moved her head forward until their nose tips touched. "More?", Brelyna giggled. She moved her hands down to Nephiah's shoulders, put her down on her side and lay down beside her. "I swear I asked for two beds." She was still giggling, Nephiah still staring at her with deep fascination. "You don't have any idea what I'm talking about, do you." She smiled, taking in the calm that always came with closeness to her, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Their lips touched again and for an instant, there was no pain, no doubt, no cold.

Then Nephiah stopped. Brelyna opened her eyes and moved her head back. "Nephiah?" She gently shook her shoulder. "Nephiah." A faint snoring noise was heard. "Oh that's just great." Frustrated, she let herself fall on her back, not realizing that she was lying on the edge of the bed. She fell to the ground with flailing arms and a short surprised scream. Immediately she pushed herself back up to check on Nephiah. Still sleeping. She pulled herself onto the chair and observed Nephiah's calm breathing for a moment. "Brelyna...", she sighed. "What are you doing."