Mirror

Childish

Roughly forty people traveled in the caravan and La'ar was the head of a group of twelve. He was also in charge of caring for eight horses and two carriages which contained all the necessary supplies for the three day journey and beyond. After I told La'ar I had no experience riding horses he had given me a small space in the back of one of the carriages with the two children, who couldn't have been older than six or seven. I was in no condition to ride in any case. The first day of the journey was passed mostly in wild hallucinations brought about by a dangerously high fever.

In brief moments of lucidity I became aware that the children had been tasked with caring for me. Small and young as they were, they still made very attentive caretakers. Always after coming out of wild, often frightening dreams, they were waiting with fresh water, smoothing back my hair, and dabbing at my face with a cool cloth.

"I feel like I'm going to die," I said to the little girl. She looked at her brother in panic when she realized I was talking to her, but he shook his head. Neither of them had any idea what I was saying. I hadn't intended for them to understand. I just wanted to bemoan my current state.

Having been awake and aware for roughly three minutes I was already exhausted, but my burns ached too severely for me to attempt sleeping. I lifted my hand in front of my face and noticed that pus from the wounds was already seeping through the bandages Shimi had wrapped them in. I groaned and sat up.

The young boy waved his arms in front on my face, signaling, I assumed, that I should not get up. "Water," I said. "I need boiling water. Is that possible?" Knowing that they couldn't understand me, I looked around for something that could aid in my communication with them. I spotted the cup of water they'd been refilling constantly for me to drink from. I pointed at it. "Water."

The girl picked it up and presented it to me. I nodded and smiled.

"But more." I spread my arms wide to indicate that I needed a lot. The girl looked at her brother and they conferred with each other for a moment, speaking rapidly in their own language. When they came to an agreement, the boy hopped off the moving carriage and disappeared.

The carriage stopped and I tried to stand up, but the little girl frantically waved me back down. "I need to change these, though," I told her and mimed unwrapping the bandages.

"We can take a break here," La'ar said, rounding the side of the carriage. "Tomeki tells me you need a lot of water, so we stopped by a lake. Small one, but it will suit our needs."

I looked at the boy. "So you got that, huh?" Then to La'ar, "I want to thank them."

La'ar grinned. "These two have been worried sick about you, speaking gibberish like the possessed for most of the day. Mion ves will suffice."

"Mion ves," I repeated to both Tomeki and the girl. They bowed their heads and muttered something quietly. I looked at La'ar for a translation.

"They said thank you," he said and then waved the two children away. "For your praise," he clarified when I raised an eyebrow. "Now come, I will bring you to the water."

"A fire too?" I asked. "I need fire to boil the water." La'ar nodded.

I carefully unwrapped the bandage around my foot and dunked it into the basin of boiling water. The fire was large and six others from the caravan joined me. No one but La'ar spoke a language besides Navah- their native language- or Zetoish, neither of which I understood. However, their interest in how I had come to accompany them temporarily was not deterred. La'ar did much of the translating, but in the short periods of time he was absent much of the communication was done through hand gestures.