Cough
A/N: I was originally going to write about something happening to Barda, but then I changed my mind. Lief was a better target, and besides, Jasmine and Lief are too small to move Barda for very long.
Here's your archetypical "Sick Episode" fic, so have fun.
It all started with a cough.
When Lief started to have trouble keeping up with Jasmine and Barda, they first thought that it was a side effect of all the time they spent on the road. Unlike Barda, who had trained all his life as a palace guard, the boy wasn't built for endurance matches like the road had turned out to be. Unlike Jasmine, he was not used to living life on the raw edge of survival. Over the months they spent traveling together, it became less of an issue as they all adapted.
Except the longer the innocuous cough went on after the trio's adventures in the Maze, the more apparent it became that, somehow, Lief was getting sick. His breathing became ragged. He coughed often, and for minutes at a time. Jasmine could hear a quiet crackling sound in the boy's chest, as could Barda when he managed to convince Lief to let him listen. And that had scared all of them.
One night, as Filli and Kree settled into a nearby tree to keep watch over the group, Lief had a coughing fit that lasted until Barda thumped him on the back and he spat a gob of yellowish gunk into the fire. He went to sleep without even touching his trail rations, curled against Jasmine's side and still coughing every so often.
"Lief is very ill." Jasmine said quietly, mopping the sweat from his brow. The fever had come without warning, and now Lief shivered despite being wrapped in Jasmine's blanket and his own. "We should have noticed before this."
Barda agreed. "We need to find a healer or a medicine man, and quickly." He glanced up at the sky, where an ugly storm cloud was threatening to cover the moon and the north star. They had to get out of the weather before they were all washed away by the rising water. The River Tor was unforgiving at the best of times, and he had no desire to confront its famous flesh-eating worms on dry land.
"The trees say there is a village not too far from here." Jasmine said after a moment, green eyes dark with concern.
"In that case, we should start off now." Barda said, and stood. He picked Lief up almost effortlessly as Jasmine gathered their meager packs. Lief merely gave a racking cough and leaned against Barda's shoulder, not waking up even once.
Jasmine looked back, and Barda was sure he saw her grimace. Then she started walking in the direction her friends were telling her was the way to salvation. Kree flew ahead, crowing impatiently and urging them to hurry.
It all started with a cry.
"Grammy? Grammy, there's people on the road!"
Liam was out and about no matter the weather—with the latest of a dozen storms upon them already, he would have been the only one in the area to see anyone at all for weeks. But his eyes were sharp in youth, unlike his grandmother's, and she trusted him. So, despite the cold outside, Keyah snatched a shawl from the hook, stood up from her easy chair, and walked out to see what all the fuss was about.
There were, indeed, people on the road. Keyah squinted, one hand on her grandson's shoulder. In fact, it looked like two people…no, three. Two, with the larger one carrying a third. "Liam, go inside."
"But Grammy, I wanna see!" Liam said in a whine, but Keyah shooed him inside.
Keyah waited on the doorstep until the group came fully into view.
From the little group, there came a man's voice. "Who goes there?"
"Grammy and me!" Liam squealed from the window, having apparently found a way around his grandmother's orders. "Who're you?"
There was a muted fight among them that Keyah pretended to ignore. Finally, the girl said, "We are travelers. Our friend is sick, and we were told there was a healer here."
Keyah nodded. "Then we should get your friend inside. Come along." Grasping a limp arm and hauling the trio over the threshold, Keyah turned and shouted to Liam, "Get the water boiling, now!"
"The pot's already on the fire, Grammy! We're ready!"
An hour later, all three of the companions were dressed in dry clothes. Lief was asleep still, lying on a mat on the floor. The owner of the house—a woman of about fifty years—had placed a pitcher full of cold water next to him, along with a cloth Jasmine could soak and put on the boy's head. Jasmine and Barda were close by, sitting next to a low table within reach of Lief if he woke or if something happened. The woman's grandson had given them both cups of hot tea before wandering off to his own bed, while she hovered over Lief like a hawk.
"When did this coughing start?" the old woman—Keyah—asked.
Jasmine answered. "Three days ago. The fever started only a few hours ago."
Keyah frowned. She bent to listen to Lief's breathing again. "Has your friend been around people with the plague?"
"No." Barda said, matching the woman's frown with his own. "We have been traveling through the forests around the River Tor, not prowling the villages."
Keyah made a faint noise of acknowledgement before going to the fire again, where some strange mixture of water and herbs was boiling in a huge black kettle. "Has he been drinking the water? Not of the Tor, obviously, else he would be dead, but of any of the wells near it?"
Barda shook his head wearily. "We are careful enough to avoid the water soured by that accursed river. There are enough bodies floating in it to scare off anyone with sense."
The woman laughed, but only briefly. "A wise decision." She looked over the kettle again. "What about falling in? No one with sense drinks the water, as you said, but breathing it in while trying not to drown? Much more likely."
Barda was about to tell the woman that Lief had managed to avoid almost drowning, but he stopped. Jasmine froze, Filli and Kree falling silent as well. The truth was that none of them had gotten out of the Maze totally unscathed. Though they had evaded the Glus and Nak, Finn, and Milne were all dead, all of them had almost met their ends in that water spout chamber below the beach. It had been everything they could do to avoid being crushed against the rocks or swallowed by the sea.
Apparently, their escape had more consequences than they had thought.
"We almost drowned on the coast." Jasmine said bluntly, after a moment. "Barda kept me afloat, but Lief came close to death." It was true, from a certain point of view.
Keyah looked at them both until they both grew uncomfortable and sighed. "In that case, keep an eye on him. I am going to make sure my grandson is actually asleep. Then I will be back with bedding for you both."
"Thank you, Keyah." Barda said.
Keyah smiled, her eyes crinkling up at the corners. "You came to the right place. I will do my best for your friend."
Jasmine and Barda woke the next morning to the sounds of Keyah's grandson running around. The world outside was still dark and wind-driven rain still lashed the windows, but it was lighter than it had been. At the larger table, Keyah and her grandson were arguing over the first meal of the day.
"Grammy, I want eggs!"
"Liam, we have to be aware of what our guests need to get better." Keyah scolded. "This is a healer's home, first and foremost."
"But Grammy…" Barda could hear the pout in the boy's voice. "I don't want to eat vega—veger…greens!"
Keyah sighed. "Grandchildren!" Keyah looked over at the companions and said, "What you like for breakfast, then?"
"Anything you have would be fine, I am sure." Barda said, already carefully folding the borrowed blanket.
Jasmine left her bedroll where it was and went to check on Lief. Her keen ears still picked up a crackling sound from his chest, but it seemed less loud than it had been. When she put her hand on his forehead to check if the fever was still there, he stirred.
"Jasmine?" Lief asked, in a voice that was more a rasp than anything. He blinked up at her, eyes slightly unfocused.
"Lief!" Jasmine helped him sit up, glad that he was back in the world of the living.
Lief shook his head to clear it, blinking rapidly. "Where …?" And he stopped, overcome by a coughing fit.
It seemed like Keyah appeared out of nowhere, holding a cup of what smelled like herbal tea with honey in it. "Make him drink this once he stops." She passed the cup to Jasmine and edged Lief closer to the fire. "Spit into the fire when it comes up."
Jasmine blinked.
"If he needs help, thump him once, right on his backbone and under the shoulder blades." Keyah said quickly. "He needs to get rid of whatever is causing the cough, first."
Jasmine nodded as Lief finally spat out whatever had been blocking his throat. "Lief, drink this. It will make it easier to speak."
Rubbing his throat, Lief took the cup without a word and drained the contents quickly, despite the heat. Keyah went back to the table, where Liam was still complaining about vegetables. Barda sat down next to Jasmine and Lief, clasping Lief's shoulder.
"Where are we?" Lief croaked, wincing a little. He put the cup on the low table. Both of his companions could see that he was leaning on it heavily.
"South of the Maze." Barda said quietly, still wary of the healer and her grandson. "You fell ill last night, so we brought you to the village healer."
"What village?" Lief asked, as Jasmine grasped his arm and kept him from falling over.
"I do not remember the name." Jasmine admitted. "We have not seen a sign of any kind since Tora."
"The town's name is Berk," Liam said loudly. "We didn't name it, though."
"That is because the word means 'stubborn as a mule and twice as irritable'." Keyah sighed. "In any case, I took a look at all of you last night." She gave a wry smirk. "You all need good, hearty food if you want to last much longer on the road. I can make sure you eat well, at least for a time."
"How long is Lief going to need to stay here?" Barda asked, standing.
"No more talking!" Liam shouted impatiently. "I'm hungry!"
"Liam!" Keyah was louder still, her voice harsh. "Be polite to our guests. You were raised better than that."
"No!"
Despite being old enough to have his own children, Barda still recognized the look Keyah gave Liam. It promised dish-washing duty and lye soap in the near future.
The silent battle of wills went on for a few seconds, until Lief started coughing again.
"Is there any meat?" Lief asked quietly as Jasmine and Barda hauled him to his feet.
Keyah nodded before sending a sidelong glare at her grandson. "But no eggs. Unlike the farmers who bring their goods to town, we do not raise chickens." Liam pouted. "We also have apples and bread in the storeroom. If I can have one of you helping, it should be ready in a few minutes."
Barda and Jasmine exchanged looks over Lief's head. Jasmine said, "I will help. Barda can watch over Lief."
"I am not a child that needs minding, Jasmine." Lief protested wearily as Barda guided Lief to a chair at the main table. He slumped against the wood, folding his arms as a pillow for his head almost by reflex.
"No, but you are ill." Jasmine pointed out. She appeared by Keyah's left elbow, peering down at the cutting board, where the woman's knife hand was chopping carrots so quickly that the blade itself was nothing more than a blur. "What can I do to help, Keyah?"
Keyah nodded at a door in the opposite wall. "Liam can show you where the apples are. If you can find any other fruit, you are welcome to help yourself."
"Thank you." Jasmine said, and disappeared with the little boy into the storeroom.
After they were finished eating and comfortably full, Keyah began to act as a medicine-woman again. She had Lief take his shirt off and listened carefully to his breathing. Then she ordered Barda and Jasmine to make sure he drank as much water as he needed. She even took out a small notebook, muttering to herself as she tried to puzzle something out. Lief fell asleep, head on Jasmine's lap, sometime in the middle of it all, but Keyah seemed not to care.
As Liam finally reappeared from his room and started bothering Barda, Keyah finally snapped her book shut and said, very calmly, "Unless we can find Queen Bee Honey, he will not be able to travel for two weeks, if he survives at all. And even then, it will still take time to recover from this illness."
Instantly, Jasmine had Dain's jar of Queen Bee Honey in hand. Barda had to hide a smile—for a moment, he had feared that the cure would have been at the bottom of a dungeon or halfway across Deltora. It was so much simpler this way.
Keyah gaped at her, then realized what she was doing and schooled her features back into a more reasonable expression. She chuckled helplessly. "Resistance fighters, are you? Just as well. When he wakes, I will have another dose of thyme tea ready. Give him the honey in the tea and he should be on the road to recovery."
With that, she pulled Liam away from Barda's beard and went off to start the household chores.
"We call it the crackle cough." Keyah explained as she drew water from the well, bucketful by bucketful. Jasmine nodded to show that she had heard and understood. "It spreads quickly when people are already ill or tired, so we have to be careful not to drive ourselves into the ground trying to help him. It also means that we have to wash, and often." She glanced back at the house. "I think I will burn those blankets once Lief is well again, just to be safe."
"Do you think he will be well soon?" Jasmine asked, helping the older woman carry bucket after bucket of water to the barrel outside the front door of the house.
"He has a much better chance than most." Keyah said. "He is young, but strong, and we have all the medicine we need to help him." They finished their task in peace, without being bothered by Liam or alarmed by Barda in the event that something went wrong with Lief.
When they were finished, Keyah stretched and cracked her back slowly. "You can go inside now. But I may need Barda for a moment for chopping firewood. Would you send him out?"
"Yes."
Jasmine's conversation with Barda was brief, but he was glad of the chance to leave the house and do some honest work. Jasmine sat next to Lief, who was beginning to wake up. He coughed once or twice before opening his eyes.
"Jasmine?" he murmured, pushing himself up on his elbows before Jasmine stopped him, gripping his shoulders.
"Lief, you have to rest." Jasmine said shortly. She bit her lip, trying to think of how to be gentler about it. "Keyah said you were lucky to be alive."
Lief looked like he was going to say something, but he stopped himself. "I see."
"She thinks we are from the Resistance." Jasmine said after a moment, putting a damp cloth on Lief's forehead again. "She even asked for Queen Bee Honey by name."
"How did she know they use it?" Lief rasped, grimacing and rubbing his throat.
"She must be one of them. But she has not tried to drive us out or capture us, as Doom would." Jasmine frowned even as she said it. Some cages did not need bars. With Lief as ill as he was, they could not afford to leave and risk his death on the road. Whether she was a servant of the Enemy or of Doom's Resistance, the outcome would be the same.
Lief coughed, drawing Jasmine back to the present. He was still pale, and when she held his hand it was cold. "Maybe she works as Tom does."
Jasmine remembered the Plains shopkeeper and his mysterious ways and frowned. Tom would serve Grey Guards and Resistance members within minutes of each other without so much as blinking. Still, Lief had a point. It was likely that Tom was not the only opportunist out there. "Perhaps."
"Grammy said you need tea." Both Jasmine and Lief looked toward the table, where Liam was pointing toward a steaming cup of herbal tea. The black-haired boy scowled fiercely. "Grammy said and your papa agreed, so drink it!"
"Jasmine, what is he talking about?" Lief asked cautiously as the girl rose, picked up the cup and sniffed it. It smelled bitter.
It struck her as strangely funny that she and Lief were being ordered around by a boy less than half their age, wielding the authority of the only adults in the area. Still, after stirring a spoonful of Queen Bee Honey into the cup, she did as she was asked and handed it to Lief. "It is medicine."
Lief drank the tea, but not without a grimace at the taste.
"Grammy says willow-bark tea is good for fevers." Liam said seriously as he took the cup from Lief and put it on his grandmother's cutting board. "Thyme is good for coughing. Honey just makes sure you'll drink it without spitting it out."
"You must be a healer's son." Lief remarked, lying down again.
Liam looked at him, puzzled. "Mama was, I think." He frowned. "Grammy said Mama was a na…a nu…she was really good. But then the pirates came and Grammy took me home."
"Pirates?" Lief asked. As far as he knew, Berk was far away from the Tor. Or perhaps just far enough that pirates would look for other targets.
"They ride ships." Liam said, walking back over to the pair of teenagers. "Grammy said they attack villages close to the river and steal everything."
"Indeed," said Jasmine darkly, and Lief still remembered the night raid on the River Queen vividly enough for both of them.
"They took Mama and Papa." Liam explained, his voice very matter-of-fact, as though he had been told the story many times. "I was just a little baby then, so I don't remember anything, but Grammy saved me and made sure they could never hurt anyone again."
Lief had several ideas about what that last sentence could mean, but none of the possibilities were good. It seemed that Keyah was much more dangerous than they had thought.
Keyah and Barda walked in a moment after, carrying armloads of wood from the sheltered wood shed outside. Keyah dropped her pile next to the hearth after asking Barda to take his load to the storeroom, then stooped to open a jar next to the fireplace poker. She pulled three tiny orange beads from it, and, setting them carefully at the base of the beginnings of a hearth fire, smashed them flat with a trowel. They burst into flame.
"Fire beads!" Jasmine breathed, shocked.
"Very useful." Keyah remarked, placing one of the logs on top of it. "I have no interest in trying to spark a fire the old-fashioned way after working all day." She yawned. "Liam, the water is drawn and the fire is starting. Wash up for supper."
"No!" Liam screeched. Keyah gave him another one of those distinct looks, and this one promised more lye soap than the previous one had.
"Did I sleep through the entire morning?" Lief asked Jasmine quietly.
"Yes, and now you need to eat."
"We have potatoes." Keyah said from the next room. There was a splashing sound. "You only had to wash your face and hands, Liam, not—oh, never mind."
As night settled over the little household, Liam curled up with his head on his grandmother's lap and yawned widely. Lief, Barda, and Jasmine sat to one side of the hearth, with Lief half-asleep and leaning on Barda. Keyah was stitching an embroidery pattern into a handkerchief, squinting when the firelight faltered. Kree was perched on the cloak stand and Filli nestled into Jasmine's hair. All of them had bathed and were content, though everyone but Liam still fussed over Lief, who still coughed often.
"Tell a story, Grammy." Liam murmured, obviously tired but unwilling to admit it.
Keyah ruffled her grandson's hair fondly. "You would fall asleep in the middle."
"I wouldn't!" the boy insisted, but he had to yawn again. Embarrassed, he mumbled, "Please?"
"I see." Keyah said.
"Can it be the one about the pirates?" Liam begged.
Keyah smiled. "You know the ending to that one by heart."
"But it's good!"
The woman sighed, considering but not very seriously, then turned to Barda. "Liam, it would be polite to let our guests choose tonight."
Liam pouted, glaring at them all. "They don't know which stories are good. They don't even know which ones you know!"
"Liam." Keyah said, and the boy subsided. Focusing again on the three companions, she said, "Do any of you know of Tenna Birdsong?"
There were three identical blank looks.
Keyah sighed. "The Tenna Birdsong tales are a series of stories, told exactly the same among the Jalis for centuries. They say that Tenna of the Jalis tribe rescued a blackbird from a net, and in return it told her the history of Deltora."
Jasmine straightened and Kree flew down to land on her shoulder. "From a blackbird like Kree?"
"Yes. I imagine that Tenna was much like you, though perhaps older." Keyah shrugged. "My husband used to tell these tales to my daughter when she was small. I learned the history of the land from him."
"Did your husband die?" Lief asked sleepily, blinking at her without really seeing.
Keyah nodded, frowning but not too upset by the question. "He died nearly seventeen years ago, fighting alongside his people when the Grey Guards finally marched on Jaliad. As far as anyone knows, no one in that city survived. The Guards killed every living thing and set fire to the rest."
For a while, none of the companions said anything.
Liam finally broke the silence with, "I never liked that story."
"Neither do I." Keyah shook her head as though to rid herself of the resurfaced grief. "If the ancient history of our land does not interest you, I also remember tales from the time of Adin. They, too, are told in a particular order, but they are much easier to understand."
"What can you tell us about the Jalis?" Lief suggested after a moment.
"Do you care for the tales in the time of Adin, or those around the fall of King Endon seventeen years ago?"
"If you can, I would like to hear about Adin." Lief said.
"Very well. It is a good tale." Keyah said, and cleared her throat. "In ancient days, the seven tribes were not united as they are today. To cross a border was to risk death, even in the dark days before the Shadow Lord invaded. This was especially true of the Jalis, who were the strongest warriors of the Land of Dragons, as Deltora was called before. So when the blacksmith Adin of Del set out on his journey to complete the Belt of Deltora and he traveled first to the territory of the Jalis, people would have thought him mad. His trouble began when he met a Jalis knight…"
Over the next hour, Keyah told two stories. In the first, she described how Adin gained the trust of the Jalis and added their great diamond to the Belt of Deltora. And in the next, she told of how the Torans cast him from their territory and he sought out the Dread Gnomes instead. By the time she finished speaking, ending the tale as Adin rescued and befriended Az-Zure by killing a Vraal, Liam was asleep but the companions were not. Their heads were buzzing with too many thoughts to allow it.
Then Keyah gave them some type of herbal tea and they, too, were drifting off.
Lief was still sick the next day, and the one after, but he was slowly starting to lose his cough and fever as the days went on. Life went on around him, but he was left mostly to his thoughts.
The nights brought yet more tales of Adin's journey throughout the land, and more things for Lief to puzzle over.
But the peace could not last forever, and it did not.
A/N: Meet Keyah, Mere/Toran crazy woman, and Liam, her grandson.
Have fun.