Chapter 12: Headaches of all sorts
Rosa, ut dicitur, de spinis floruit. It is said that a rose grows from a thorny stem. Hieronymus
Shandara opened her eyes, and the headache that had been only a little dull pain seemed to explode behind her eyes. She closed her eyes, slowly counting to ten and then opening them again, trying to push the pain back. She almost forgot it when she saw Artemis Entreri, asleep on her chair. The man looked somehow different and Shandara wondered absentmindedly what kind of dreams a man like Entreri had. She tried to get up quietly, but stepped on the hem of her dress and tumbled over, falling on her stomach and cursing out loud.
Entreri's eyes flew open and he reached for his weapons before he was even fully awake. Shnadara got up to her feet and gave him an amused look, despite of the terrible pain in her head. "I'm not going to attack you," she said and headed to a cupboard at one corner of the room. "How are you feeling? It's not good for your back to be sleeping in a chair. What are you doing here anyway?" she continued, realizing for the first time how strange the situation was.
"You fainted, I brought you here" Entreri answered, getting up to his feet. His neck was aching a bit, but he tried no to show it to Shandara, who had already turned her back on him and was looking for something from the cupboard. She took a little glass container that was filled with yellow leaves. "For my headache," she explained to Entreri, who was staring at the container. She walked to a small table that had a jug of water and some glasses on it. She poured water to one of the glasses and then took few leaves and dropped them in the glass. They started to dissolve immediately, and the water turned brownish yellow. Shandara drank it, grinning because of the awful taste.
"Let me think now," she said, returning to her bed and sitting down. "I fainted and you brought me here. That I can understand. But why are you still here?" she asked. "Sit down, if I try to look up to you, my head feels like exploding."
Entreri sat back down to the chair and looked at Shandara, who really looked like she was in pain. "Aran told me to guard you," he answered, and was surprised when Shandara started to laugh. "So I got that bodyguard," she said. "Oh gods, shouldn't laugh," she muttered, rubbing her forehead. "It's like someone's lighting fireworks right behind my eyes. I hope the medicine starts to work soon. But why is Aran so worried about me?" she sighed. "I don't think that the new guild is interested in killing a whore."
"Maybe he's more interested in you than in the guild," Entreri said the first thought in his mind. Shandara stared at him and he saw all kinds of emotions flickering in her eyes. "No. He wouldn't... Would he? No, there's some other explanation," Shandara said, and it sounded to Entreri that she was waiting for him to answer. He simply shrugged; he was not going to start venturing the feelings of his employer.
"I mean, I do love him," Shandara said slowly, "But only as a friend. And he couldn't... Oh gods, talking to you doesn't help this at all."
"Maybe I should leave then," Entreri said. He didn't want to get involved in some kind of strange soul-searching of this woman, but Shandara shook her head. "No. You might as well stay," she sighed and fell on her back in the bed. Then she looked at her clothes and sighed. "So you dragged me here but didn't think it would be a good idea to take these bloody clothed away. And I mean literally bloody. Or let me guess," she said in a mocking voice, "You didn't want to touch me any more than you had to."
"I didn't think it was necessary," Entreri said. "If I hadn't caught you, you would have banged your head on the floor and with any luck someone else would have got the 'honour' of taking care of you!"
"I'm sorry," Shandara muttered, turning to her side and looking at Entreri. "I shouldn't be trying to transfer my frustration to you. I just... It's not good to hear that one of your closest friends may be in love you right after you've lost some other people close to you. It's too much," she muttered, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She tried to stop it, but the image of Marianne rose into her mind and suddenly she was sobbing uncontrollably, all the horrors of the night finally really dawning to her.
Entreri sat there, not knowing what to do. He felt like he should have done something, but his mind told him to leave her alone and not to get involved in this any more. After a while her crying stopped and she wiped her cheeks that were wet with tears.
"This is embarrassing," she muttered, sitting up and looking at Entreri. "Could you... Not tell anyone about this?" Her voice was pleading and Entreri nodded. Shandara smiled and it seemed to Entreri like she was going to say something more, but then she curled back on the bed, pulling a quilt over her body. "There's no need for you to be here," she said. "I won't tell Aran that you left."
"I'll stay," Entreri said, even to his own surprise. "He and Mitsu both told me to take care of you. I wouldn't want to face their fury," he added and Shandara chuckled. "You are an interesting person," she said, closing her eyes. "But if you're staying, go and find yourself a mattress and some pillows and things like that. There's room for them on the floor, and a fighter or not, sleeping in a chair is not good for you. There's a storage room in the corridor, the one with a black mark on it. You'll find them there."
"I'll go find them," Entreri said and Shandara opened her eyes, looking at him sharply. "You won't, I recognize that tone. But it's your choice. And your back," she added and closed her eyes again. "I just want to get rid of this headache."
Entreri leaned back in the chair and watched Shandara until her breath became steady and calm. Once she was asleep, he left the room quietly, locking the door behind him. Mitsu had been right, Shandara should get a new lock, he thought when he headed towards the dining hall. Mitsu had promised to send them food, but the assassin decided it was best to go there himself. Shandara would probably want some food when she woke up, Entreri thought, and the thought bothered him. Artemis Entreri didn't usually worry about others, unless his own interests were involved, and that wasn't the case here. Yet he headed towards the dining hall to find some food for a woman he didn't even like much.
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Mirjami was sitting by a large table, resting her legs. She had been up for the last four hours without any rest, and now that most of the injured had left, after the healing spells and the rest had done their work, she enjoyed the moment of peace. Those who were left, were still sleeping or resting, and Mirjami had sent most of her helpers to rest too. She knew that soon they would have to return to normal routine; they had done so every time something like this had happened, and this time wouldn't be any different.
"What do you need?" she asked when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and saw Atemis Entreri, looking a bit tired, although he was covering it very well.
"Something to eat.," he answered, and Mirjami had to admit that she deserved a stupid answer to a stupid question. "Could you wait for a moment?" she asked. "I'm not sure that my legs work. And I wouldn't want to force you to make an another catch," she laughed. "Thank you for taking care of Shandara," she continued in a more serious voice.
"Why is it that everyone around here cares about her so much?" Entreri asked, sitting down opposite to Mirjami. The woman smiled, happy of that the assassin seemed to be getting at least a bit friendlier. "Do you want to hear the short story or the long?" she asked.
"I think the short one will be enough," Entreri responded, leaning back and trying to get a better position. The night spent on the chair hadn't been good to his muscles, and he realized that he hadn't trained as much lately as he used to. That would change as soon as the things returned to normal.
"The short story is; get to know her. You have to see all the good she does before you can understand why she is so important to us," Mirjami said. "She's a wonderful person, believe me."
"She's just a common whore," Entreri said, and caught Mirjami's wrist when she tried to slap him. "Your reflexes are good," the woman said calmly, and Entreri let go of her wrist, looking at her suspiciously. "She is a whore, you're right about that. But that doesn't change all the other things she is. Do you have any idea how much of her own money she has used to save orphans from the streets? She's not perfect, I'm not saying that. She has a lot of aspects that I don't like, but as I said, you should get to know her. Then you can choose the things you like and don't like yourself."
"What makes you think I would want to do that?" Entreri asked. This wasn't what he had expected to hear, and he was starting to regret even mentioning Shandara to Mirjami. The woman looked at him, and her eyes seemed to see right through him. "You want to," she said. "Otherwise you wouldn't have even asked. Now, let's go and find something for you to eat. You know, she loves apples," Mirjami said, getting up and heading for the kitchen. "Come on, you can help me. I'm not going to do this alone. Men should also know their way around the kitchen, not just the bedroom, although they seem to think that's enough." Entreri couldn't help himself; a little smile crept to his lips when he followed Mirjami. He helped her gather a large plate full of food, and there was an apple.
