"There is hope. I've seen cases more severe that Bard Stefen's before, my lord. However,
I wouldn't think it's like a passing case of the flu. We need to get him healed as soon as possible, and
fast before it spreads and starts killing." The healer said, after packing a sturdy looking
cloth bag full of bottles and viles and dried herbs, more than Vanyel had seen.
Vanyel sat there, besides a half conscience Stefen, holding a damp cloth to the hot
forehead. "Is it safe to move him?" Vanyel asked hoarsely. The healer, of whom Vanyel
still didn't know what to call her, not knowing her name, nodded.
"Aye, it's not like a broken bone or a concussion. Tell me.. it's rumoured that you do
indeed know some Hawkbrothers.... By chance, could we go there? In my experience, the
outdoors are the best place to recover from this Daemon Fever." she said, lifting her eyes
to his.
"Daemon Fever?"
She nodded. Vanyel was almost afraid to ask why they called it that, but he did anyway.
"Why do they call it that?" he asked, his voice sounding more sturdy than it actually was.
The healer met his eyes once again, and he realized that shouldn't lie to him as long as she
held his sight.
"You've been attacked by demons before, my lord Vanyel. You know what that's like."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He was burning, he knew it, Stefan knew he had to be burning. The ache in his head had
been replaced by a terrible burning sensation that spread throughout his body, and his
stomach rolled over worse than he could remember feeling before in his life. Stefan hurt,
and he felt like he was going to drown in all that pain and misery. He'd never become a
great bard, never hold Vanyel again, or be held by his love. Never again....
And then the fire was shoved aside softly by cool fingertips caressing his unbearably
feverish forehead. The fingers twined into his hair, gently stroking his damp hair back. It
felt so nice, soothing. They could only belong to one hand.
"Van?" he whispered through his dry and cracked lips and opens his eyes up a little.
"Yes love it's me, it's me...." Vanyel said, leaning down a little in his chair to clasp Stef's
cheeks gently in his palms, kissing the poor, cracked lips of his singer.
"No!" came a hoarse whisper from the bard. "You can't get this Vanyel, Valdemar needs
you more than me."
"Shhhh... No ashke, no. Tallis says it isn't contagious in that way, only if we engage in
making love or heavy kissing can I catch it. And seeing as how you are in no condition for
either, we needn't worry at all." Vanyel said as he scooped Stef's light frame into his arms
and braced the young bard on his chest. Stefan closed his eyes and leaned back,
swallowing. Or tried to anyway.
"Who's Tallis?" he asked, keeping his eyes closed.
"The healer who brought you here and sent word to me. She's a very capable lady, though
I'm ashamed to say, I had my doubts in the beginning. She's sending word to Moondance
and Starwind now with my seal. They will come with herbs for you, or we to them, and
we'll heal you love, we'll set it all right." Vanyel murmured soothingly to Stefan, resuming
the gentle stroking of his hair. Stefan leaned into it, and felt Vanyel's arm go acrossed his
chest to help him keep upright.
Vanyel drew in a sharp breath. "You're burning up Stef...."
Stefan weakly nodded against Vanyel's strong chest, but couldn't manage much more than
that.
"I'm sorry Van.... I know I'm too much trouble, but... please don't leave me? Please?"
Vanyel blinked, but said nothing but, "Shhh... never worry Stef, I love you; I'll never leave
you, never." And with an incoherent mumble, Stefan sank back into a thankfully dreamless
sleep.
A few moments later, Tallis came in, her reddish blonde hair glowing dimly in the weak
firelight (when the light hit his eyes, Stefan had groaned and whimpered so badly, they
doused most of it out). "I sent message by falcon. Ref will get it to them by the morning.
If he comes back with no note, they will be coming here, and if there is a note, we leave in
that hour." she said.
Vanyel nodded in reply. "Thank you...for all you've done, Lady Tallis."
She shrugged it off softly and checked Stefan's breathing patterns. She touched a hand to
his forehead, and Vanyel could have sworn it glowed for a split second. "You've done
much more for myself and for Valdemar, Vanyel. This is the least I can do." She paused a
moment. "If his stomach is still this upset in two hours, I'll give him the fever reducing
tincture through a device of my own."
Vanyel was mildly startled and quietly shifted his position as Stefan shifted his. "How do
you know that?" he asked, keeping his voice hushed for Stefan's sake. She glanced up at
him and again, only shrugged softly.
"An effect I can do, I suppose. Why I became a healer, to ease others suffering." she took
her hand away, and it was then that Vanyel noticed the small gold band glitter on her ring
finger in the dim light.
He nodded a little towards her hand. "Your husband must be very happy, to have such a
caring wife."
Tallis smiled a little, but it was tinged with a bitter sadness. "Aye.... Well, Dorian was a
wonderful man. He... he cared about me more than anyone else ever bothered to. I loved
him, very much...."
Instantly Vanyel felt like bashing his head in. He should have kept his mouth shut. "Oh...
I'm ..I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...."
"Nay, nay, it's fine. Dorian was a bard, you know. He didn't train here, but where ever he
did train, he did it well. He played beautifully. And when he looked at a person...you felt,
special I suppose." She laughed a little. "It took him a month to be able to talk to him, he
said. I still don't know why, but... he chose me to love.
"And when he died...", she took a breath, "I prayed the gods would take me too."
Vanyel nodded, "I know that feeling," he said.
Tallis met his gaze and asked, "With Tylendal?"
"Yes." He couldn't say anything more on that subject. "So, you still wear the wedding
ring? How long...? If you don't mind my asking...."
"Four years, he's been gone to the ShadowLover. Four very long, very hard years. But
I'm still here" she quirked another small smile.
Before Vanyel could say anything else, Tallis continued, "It was winter, actually, before
winter solstice. He smiled as he waved over his shoulder to me, promising to be back in a
fortnight, and then he left for his war torn homeland. And he just...never came back...."
she trailed off, and then shrugged her shoulders again, as if shrugging off any emotional
feeling at all.
Another question pricked at Vanyel's mind and before he could stop himself, he asked,
"How old are you?"
Tallis didn't even turn around as she mixed the fever reducing tincture in a small glass
bowl. "Four and twenty today, by next autumn I'll be in my twenty-fifth year."
'She's so young.... I expected her to be older....' Vanyel thought to himself, but then felt
Yfandes prickling in his mind.
::Chosen! Is Stefan all right?:: Her mindvoice sounded urgent to Vanyel.
::He...he will be love, he will be. We have a good healer here.::
::So I've heard. Tallis Summerland. She is very good in her field. She was almost Chosen,
you know. Keran felt a draw to her, but then realized she was meant to be a Healer, not a
Herald.::
::Pity, she could use someone to love her like a Companion would.::
::I know, her husband dying like that. If it hadn't been for her twin sister, she never would
of lived to see twenty.::
::She has a twin?:: Vanyel was surprised.
::Yes. You would have thought they both would have been in Healing, seeing as how they
are just about mirror images of each other.::
::She's not?::
::No, she's a Herald. Jovvi's her name. She's Keran's actual Chosen::
::Hmmmm, Interesting...:: Before Vanyel got anything more out, Tallis came back into the
room. Van hadn't even noticed she'd left.
"After we get the herbs from the Hawkbrothers, we need to get Stefan in a tub with cold
water. It'll be hell, and I'm sorry ahead of time, but there isn't any other way."
Vanyel looked up to her and then to Stefan, who moaned softly in his sleep. "Just tell me
what to do."
More to come soon, I promise!
I wouldn't think it's like a passing case of the flu. We need to get him healed as soon as possible, and
fast before it spreads and starts killing." The healer said, after packing a sturdy looking
cloth bag full of bottles and viles and dried herbs, more than Vanyel had seen.
Vanyel sat there, besides a half conscience Stefen, holding a damp cloth to the hot
forehead. "Is it safe to move him?" Vanyel asked hoarsely. The healer, of whom Vanyel
still didn't know what to call her, not knowing her name, nodded.
"Aye, it's not like a broken bone or a concussion. Tell me.. it's rumoured that you do
indeed know some Hawkbrothers.... By chance, could we go there? In my experience, the
outdoors are the best place to recover from this Daemon Fever." she said, lifting her eyes
to his.
"Daemon Fever?"
She nodded. Vanyel was almost afraid to ask why they called it that, but he did anyway.
"Why do they call it that?" he asked, his voice sounding more sturdy than it actually was.
The healer met his eyes once again, and he realized that shouldn't lie to him as long as she
held his sight.
"You've been attacked by demons before, my lord Vanyel. You know what that's like."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He was burning, he knew it, Stefan knew he had to be burning. The ache in his head had
been replaced by a terrible burning sensation that spread throughout his body, and his
stomach rolled over worse than he could remember feeling before in his life. Stefan hurt,
and he felt like he was going to drown in all that pain and misery. He'd never become a
great bard, never hold Vanyel again, or be held by his love. Never again....
And then the fire was shoved aside softly by cool fingertips caressing his unbearably
feverish forehead. The fingers twined into his hair, gently stroking his damp hair back. It
felt so nice, soothing. They could only belong to one hand.
"Van?" he whispered through his dry and cracked lips and opens his eyes up a little.
"Yes love it's me, it's me...." Vanyel said, leaning down a little in his chair to clasp Stef's
cheeks gently in his palms, kissing the poor, cracked lips of his singer.
"No!" came a hoarse whisper from the bard. "You can't get this Vanyel, Valdemar needs
you more than me."
"Shhhh... No ashke, no. Tallis says it isn't contagious in that way, only if we engage in
making love or heavy kissing can I catch it. And seeing as how you are in no condition for
either, we needn't worry at all." Vanyel said as he scooped Stef's light frame into his arms
and braced the young bard on his chest. Stefan closed his eyes and leaned back,
swallowing. Or tried to anyway.
"Who's Tallis?" he asked, keeping his eyes closed.
"The healer who brought you here and sent word to me. She's a very capable lady, though
I'm ashamed to say, I had my doubts in the beginning. She's sending word to Moondance
and Starwind now with my seal. They will come with herbs for you, or we to them, and
we'll heal you love, we'll set it all right." Vanyel murmured soothingly to Stefan, resuming
the gentle stroking of his hair. Stefan leaned into it, and felt Vanyel's arm go acrossed his
chest to help him keep upright.
Vanyel drew in a sharp breath. "You're burning up Stef...."
Stefan weakly nodded against Vanyel's strong chest, but couldn't manage much more than
that.
"I'm sorry Van.... I know I'm too much trouble, but... please don't leave me? Please?"
Vanyel blinked, but said nothing but, "Shhh... never worry Stef, I love you; I'll never leave
you, never." And with an incoherent mumble, Stefan sank back into a thankfully dreamless
sleep.
A few moments later, Tallis came in, her reddish blonde hair glowing dimly in the weak
firelight (when the light hit his eyes, Stefan had groaned and whimpered so badly, they
doused most of it out). "I sent message by falcon. Ref will get it to them by the morning.
If he comes back with no note, they will be coming here, and if there is a note, we leave in
that hour." she said.
Vanyel nodded in reply. "Thank you...for all you've done, Lady Tallis."
She shrugged it off softly and checked Stefan's breathing patterns. She touched a hand to
his forehead, and Vanyel could have sworn it glowed for a split second. "You've done
much more for myself and for Valdemar, Vanyel. This is the least I can do." She paused a
moment. "If his stomach is still this upset in two hours, I'll give him the fever reducing
tincture through a device of my own."
Vanyel was mildly startled and quietly shifted his position as Stefan shifted his. "How do
you know that?" he asked, keeping his voice hushed for Stefan's sake. She glanced up at
him and again, only shrugged softly.
"An effect I can do, I suppose. Why I became a healer, to ease others suffering." she took
her hand away, and it was then that Vanyel noticed the small gold band glitter on her ring
finger in the dim light.
He nodded a little towards her hand. "Your husband must be very happy, to have such a
caring wife."
Tallis smiled a little, but it was tinged with a bitter sadness. "Aye.... Well, Dorian was a
wonderful man. He... he cared about me more than anyone else ever bothered to. I loved
him, very much...."
Instantly Vanyel felt like bashing his head in. He should have kept his mouth shut. "Oh...
I'm ..I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...."
"Nay, nay, it's fine. Dorian was a bard, you know. He didn't train here, but where ever he
did train, he did it well. He played beautifully. And when he looked at a person...you felt,
special I suppose." She laughed a little. "It took him a month to be able to talk to him, he
said. I still don't know why, but... he chose me to love.
"And when he died...", she took a breath, "I prayed the gods would take me too."
Vanyel nodded, "I know that feeling," he said.
Tallis met his gaze and asked, "With Tylendal?"
"Yes." He couldn't say anything more on that subject. "So, you still wear the wedding
ring? How long...? If you don't mind my asking...."
"Four years, he's been gone to the ShadowLover. Four very long, very hard years. But
I'm still here" she quirked another small smile.
Before Vanyel could say anything else, Tallis continued, "It was winter, actually, before
winter solstice. He smiled as he waved over his shoulder to me, promising to be back in a
fortnight, and then he left for his war torn homeland. And he just...never came back...."
she trailed off, and then shrugged her shoulders again, as if shrugging off any emotional
feeling at all.
Another question pricked at Vanyel's mind and before he could stop himself, he asked,
"How old are you?"
Tallis didn't even turn around as she mixed the fever reducing tincture in a small glass
bowl. "Four and twenty today, by next autumn I'll be in my twenty-fifth year."
'She's so young.... I expected her to be older....' Vanyel thought to himself, but then felt
Yfandes prickling in his mind.
::Chosen! Is Stefan all right?:: Her mindvoice sounded urgent to Vanyel.
::He...he will be love, he will be. We have a good healer here.::
::So I've heard. Tallis Summerland. She is very good in her field. She was almost Chosen,
you know. Keran felt a draw to her, but then realized she was meant to be a Healer, not a
Herald.::
::Pity, she could use someone to love her like a Companion would.::
::I know, her husband dying like that. If it hadn't been for her twin sister, she never would
of lived to see twenty.::
::She has a twin?:: Vanyel was surprised.
::Yes. You would have thought they both would have been in Healing, seeing as how they
are just about mirror images of each other.::
::She's not?::
::No, she's a Herald. Jovvi's her name. She's Keran's actual Chosen::
::Hmmmm, Interesting...:: Before Vanyel got anything more out, Tallis came back into the
room. Van hadn't even noticed she'd left.
"After we get the herbs from the Hawkbrothers, we need to get Stefan in a tub with cold
water. It'll be hell, and I'm sorry ahead of time, but there isn't any other way."
Vanyel looked up to her and then to Stefan, who moaned softly in his sleep. "Just tell me
what to do."
More to come soon, I promise!