Chapter VII: A letter.
"You really should go to sleep now." Icarus said getting really tired of everything.
"I am almost done." Pythagoras answered not looking up. Icarus sighed and got him a cup of water with a drop of the valerian liquid.
"Then drink something, I will go and dress myself for bed. Before Icarus even had left the room Pythagoras wanted to take a sip from the water but accidently knocked the cup over.
"I am so sorry." Pythagoras muttered softly giving it a try to dry the parchment with a cloth. Icarus quickly came to help.
"Now you see how tired you actually are?" Icarus almost snapped.
"I didn't do it on purpose." Pythagoras said looking at Icarus.
"Just come with me and sleep." Pythagoras let out a soft sigh before he got up and followed Icarus.
"I do not understand why you almost got angry with me." Pythagoras said softly when they both were dressed and in bed.
"I am just tired, that is all." Icarus lied. He was not going to tell Pythagoras his secret. It was good Pythagoras did not write on the parchment because he probably would have discovered he would not have been able to write anything. He did not sleep well, most of the night he lay awake staring at the roof or looking at Icarus. Normally he would get up and continue with his triangles, but Icarus had been mad at him for enough times the last time so he did not want to anger him anymore. Eventually two hours before dawn he fell asleep, only to be awakened one and a half later.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Icarus said and smiled brightly.
"Morning." Pythagoras greeted before he slowly got up and got dressed. Soon enough he joined Icarus at the table.
"You look tired." Icarus noticed.
"I am." Pythagoras said while he poured himself a cup of milk.
"But are you feeling better than yesterday?" Icarus asked softly. Pythagoras wiped his nose after he sneezed a couple of times.
"I am not sure, but I will see if it will get better throughout the day." Pythagoras bit from his bread and thoughtfully shewed it.
"If you say so." Icarus said not really believing him and started his breakfast. Soon enough they left for their work.
"Have a good day." Pythagoras said with a little smile.
"Have a good day too, and be careful." Icarus said before they kissed each other and parted their ways. Pythagoras wiped his nose again before he knocked, finding Thasos who opened the door for him. The man stepped aside and Pythagoras entered. He immediately got nervous in the presence of Thasos, for he still had the idea Thasos did not like him. He proceeded quietly to the backyard where Karissa, Damien and Angelo already sat, waiting for him.
"Good morning!" All three of them greeted.
"Good morning." Pythagoras greeted with a little smile.
"Are we finally going to do something with healing?" Karissa asked excited.
"Did you gather all the things I asked you for?" Pythagoras asked and looked in to a satchel that was filled with strips of cloth and Kalista came outside carrying a thin wooden board stacked with all kinds of dried herbs and plants.
"There you go." Kalista said while she set the board down.
"Now we only need a pestle and mortar and a pitcher with water." Pythagoras said while he looked at the things on the table. "And a spoon." Damien and Angelo stood, they quickly returned with the requested items.
"And now? How do we start?" Karissa asked watching Pythagoras smell the herbs. Pythagoras selected several herbs and picked pedals and leaves from it, putting them in to the mortar.
"I just picked several leaves and pedals, and now I am going to grind them in to a powder." Pythagoras explained and started to grind the ingredients. Very carefully he filled the spoon with water and dropped the water in the mortar with the powdered herbs. "Now that the herbs are a powder I add a little bit of water so I can make it in to a paste." He stirred with the pestle and when he found the mass being too stiff he added a little more water. Then he stirred again till the powder and water formed a uniform mass.
"Where do you use it for?" Karissa asked.
"I normally use this to put it upon wounds to let them heal better before binding them."
"But no one is hurt now." Damien said.
"Well, that does not matter now. Your mother probably is now at the market getting a few little pots so you can store the paste till someone does." Pythagoras explained and set the mortar with the paste away.
"How would you do that with the Poppies?" Angelo asked remembering Poppies were very dangerous.
"From the knops you squish them and collect the milky fluid." Pythagoras answered after he had wiped his nose the tenth time that lesson, or so.
"Are these things really that simple?" Angelo asked, not being impressed.
"It might look simpler than it actually is."
"I can hardly believe that." Angelo frowned. "You simply grind some leaves and add some water. Done."
"If it only was that simple than a lot less people would die when they got sick or hurt." Pythagoras frowned and watched the boy's face for a moment. He pulled out a strip of cloth. "Tomorrow I will show you why it is not that simple as it looks like. Now I would like to show you how you need to bandage wounds." Karissa looked at him with great interest. "can I use your arm?" Pythagoras asked and Karissa held her arm out for him. He explained every step he went through while he bandaged Karissa's arm. "Now I wish for you two to bandage each other's arm, so I can see if you did well. Karissa, you can bandage my arm to practise."
"Okay." All three replied, Karissa being the most enthusiastic of them. Pythagoras watched Karissa bandage his arm, telling her what to do and what not to.
"Now let me see." Pythagoras and inspected both of the bandaged arms of the boys. "We will practise this a few other times." All three had another go in bandaging each other's arm before it was time for Pythagoras to go home again. Pythagoras said goodbye to the children before receiving his silver coin from Thasos.
"Here I am." Pythagoras announced himself softly when he entered. He closed the door behind him and received a peck from Icarus.
"How was your day?" Icarus asked with a smile.
"I started on their healing lessons." Pythagoras said while he sat down at the table.
"How did they do?" Icarus asked sitting down opposite of Pythagoras.
"Karissa did very well, she also finds it very interesting. The two boy did good, but not as well as their sister."
"And how are you doing?" Icarus asked while the worry could have been written on his face.
"I am still tired."
"We will eat first, then I will retire together with you." Icarus said with a smile and started eating. Pythagoras also ate a little bit, for he was not hungry, but if he did not eat anything, Icarus would surely made him eat a bit. "Come." Icarus said when he was done eating. He stood and held out his hand to Pythagoras, who took it. Slowly Pythagoras unlaced his shoes and pulled out his clothing before he lay down next to Icarus. They snuggled down together while Icarus ran his fingers though the mess of curls from his lover, massaging his scalp.
"Good night." Icarus whispered.
"Good night." Pythagoras replied softly.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
When Hercules returned just before dinner next day, he handed the piece of parchment he was holding to Icarus.
"What have you done whole day?" Icarus asked curiously.
"I went to the temple and made a prayer and then one of the servants of Jason and Ariadne handed me this." Hercules pointed at the parchment.
"Have you read it?" Icarus asked after he had finished reading it.
"Yes, We are finally going to eat in the palace." He said with a grin.
"Well, at least I do not need to cook tomorrow." Icarus said before he started making dinner. When Icarus was almost finished with dinner, Pythagoras entered.
"Good evening." Pythagoras greeted softly and undid he cloak before he sat down opposite of Hercules.
"Good evening." Icarus said with a smile.
"Hi." Hercules said watching Pythagoras wipe his nose. A few minutes later Icarus filled three bowls with stew and set them down on the table before he sat down. Hercules filled three cups with red wine. Pythagoras gripped his spoon a bit awkwardly and slowly started to eat his stew. Icarus frowned slightly before he dug into his stew. When Pythagoras drank, he held his cup with both hands, like a child that had been told by his parents that it had to hold his cup with two hands because he had spilled the previous time.
"Pythagoras? Are you all right?" Icarus asked.
"Yes, why?" Pythagoras said and put the cup down when it was empty.
"Why are you holding your cup like that?" Icarus asked confused and concerned.
"I am not into spilling my drink." Pythagoras said with a shrug. He was absolutely not going to tell them that he twice today had spilled his drink and had quite embarrassed himself in front of his three pupils.
"Okay." Icarus said with frown, not quite understanding why that Pythagoras would suggest he would spill his drink when he would only use one hand with drinking. "Your turn to do the dishes, Hercules."
"Do I have to?" Hercules grunted, thinking of the effort he needed to do the dishes.
"I ask you nicely to do them, Pythagoras and I have done them the last two weeks." Icarus said and smiled with his little triumph when Hercules grunted again and got up. He dumped all the dishes and other used things in a bucket of water and slowly started to wash them. "You are lucky since tomorrow you do not need to wash them."
"What is tomorrow?" Pythagoras asked after he ran all the possibilities of what could be tomorrow that they did not need to do the dishes.
"Jason invited us to come and dine with them." Icarus replied.
"Oh, really. We have not seen them in a long time, I guess."
"I thought so too." Hercules said while he piled up the clean but wet dishes. "Think of the good wine and a big piece of meat we will get to eat and drink." Hercules stomach growled at the idea.
"That is the only thing you can think of, can't you?" Icarus said laughing.
"Is that wrong then?" Hercules asked when he sat down at the table, filling the tree cups with wine again.
"No, but it is funny your stomach agrees with you, almost like you think with it." Pythagoras smiled at his long-time friend, it was one of the things that was typically Hercules, and this was one of them. Together they kept talking about things, remembering embarrassing things to make each other laugh.
"I am going to sleep." Icarus announced when it grew dark.
"I am going to bed too." Hercules said and quickly poured himself a drink that he drained immediately.
"Are you coming?" Icarus asked Pythagoras.
"I will come, because you asked my nicely." Pythagoras said with a grin. Icarus held out his hand and Pythagoras took it before he stood.
"Good night." They all three said before they retired to their rooms. Hercules slipped out of his clothes and it took him mere minutes before he was snoring. When Pythagoras and Icarus finally lay in bed they snuggles down in each other's arms.
"Are you sure you are well?" Icarus asked when he ran his hand over Pythagoras' hands, softly caressing them. Pythagoras looked at his hands. He was not sure if he could tell Icarus. Icarus sure would be mad on him if he held something like that from him, but he did not want to sound stupid.
"I think so." He whispered while he felt tears filling his eyes. Obviously Icarus noticed immediately.
"Please, Pythagoras. Tell me. You know I only wish to help you, and you are obviously not all right." Icarus whispered back and let go of his hand to caress Pythagoras face while he wiped the tears away with his thumb.
"The feeling in my fingers is funny. But, but I cannot think of why it does so." Pythagoras now almost sobbed. "I cannot figure it out. My head is so fussy." Icarus turned on his back so Pythagoras could rest his head on his chest.
"I am sure after a good sleep you will feel better." Icarus said softly now running his fingers through his curls softly massaging his scalp.
"I am not sure that will help." Pythagoras whispered back lifting his head a bit so he could look at Icarus.
"It won't do you any good if you do not sleep at all." Icarus said softly, hating seeing Pythagoras sad.
"I know." Pythagoras said before he snuggled down in the hope would get some sleep. So Icarus also hoped that he finally would have a good sleep without the drop.