She took a deep breath. Everything seemed like it had changed, not even the streets seemed familiar. How long had it been since she was here last?

5 years?

Oh, she couldn’t remember. Her mind was everywhere these days. A lot had happened, and a lot was happening. The serf rebellion was beginning soon, Brian was the mastermind of the whole rendezvous it seemed. She hadn’t taken to the idea of him going against all the rules and putting himself in harms way. But what could she do?

Nothing. It was his choice. His life. She had apparently no authority over his choices, and as stubborn as she could be, he was likewise. Of course he won the argument. Who would expect a young servant girl to triumph over an older sibling? However, she had let him rest for the time being. She knew he needed his sleep, so she had decided to take a walk around the town of her childhood. The place she used to call home.

She didn’t take in much scenery, but let her mind strayed as she moved patiently through Lawley. She had heard of a healer some place around, and Elsie herself was in need of some herbs to calm her mind. The bubbly girl had become quiet lately, her mind was in an array of fragments racing around her mind. As everything changed, she as well began to change and she was not liking it. She wanted her happy-self back again. She’d also had a nasty encounter with a tree back in the Garrison and had a small, minor open wound on her arm. Not that she had allowed any one to notice it. She was good at tending wounds, and she kept it wrapped so no blood leaked from it. However, she knew when her ability to heal had come to an end and therefore needed to seek out a healer.

“Excuse me Sir,” she said to an elderly man sitting on a table, smoking a pipe, “Would you happen to know where I might find the town healer?”

He grumbled for a few moments. Grouchy old bugger! Why were old men so grumpy at time. She had been polite enough. With another puff of his pipe he pointed towards a building. At least it was something, at least he hadn’t ignored her completely. She thanked him, and picked up her skirts and wandered the way he had pointed out. Now her only issue was trying to locate the healer.

Elsie wasn’t rich, but she had a few coins stashed that would aid her in paying for the service of the healer, if she ever found them. She threw off her hood, and made her way into the building. It was like an inn, sort of. She walked over to the house keeper and asked, “Sir, where might I find a healer? I was given directions here, however I am unsure towards what room I may find them in.”

The man turned and looked her up and down. A disgusting smile located on his face, “They’ll be upstairs, the furthest room on the right. But you might want to do some work and get enough coin, they be very expensive I hear,” with a sly remark he added through the rotting gap of his teeth, “I could offer you some money, in exchange… for some goods.”

“I’ll be fine thankyou,” she quickly interjected, “You might be in more luck finding women to your liking at the local tavern. I hear there are a lot of whores there that would not mind a coin or two,” she reached into her cloak and pulled a silver coin, “For your services.”

Before he could say anything, she swiftly retreated up the stairs to find the healer. When she located the room, she tapped lightly on the door. Hopefully the healer would be there. Well, at least she hoped.

Maha had woken a while ago, but she was still groggy. She had made too many long trips, and consequently, had not taken care of herself as she should have. Eating had never been one of her primary interests while she was out traveling—she always focused too much on the flora to notice most personal discomforts. It had occurred to Maha multiple times that logically, she shouldn’t travel alone if she was so prone to dreaming, but she had never found someone who would be a good companion. In general, the thought rarely occurred to her when it wasn’t prompted by some misadventure, and typically was quickly forgotten after it did.

But her ventures had been fruitful. She had a more then acceptable store of herbs and she was now fairly versed in the local flora. Even that Fletcher she had met had not been that bad of a man—he shared his food with her, didn’t he? Bahadur, however… Maha shivered. Something about him made her feel uneasy. She had thought she would have been happier then ever to meet another Arab in this intellectual wasteland, but something about him frightened her to the core.

She shook her mind free of that though, and continued with her task at hand—cataloguing. She had tried to do it as she had gathered, to make notes as she went along, but she had been too tired at the time. She was still tired, but she couldn’t stop because of something so simple--time was not something she could regain.

The room she was renting smelled nice, she decided, tapping her pen against her lip. It had smelled musty when she had first arrived, but now with the herbs hung on the walls and rafters to dry, it now kept a pleasant scent. Maha began to drift, about to loose herself to the pleasant smell and dreamlike state when a knock brought her back.

Who could it be? Clients rarely came to her door—they found her on the street and used her because she was most convenient. Thomas would probably not be seeking her when he knew she was busy with her work. That boy had already recovered, and while she thought she had seen Fletcher once or twice since they parted, she highly doubted he would know how to find her. Maha hesitantly opened the door. “Good day,” she murmured lowly, slowly taking taking in the figure before her. It was a young woman, who looked vaguely familiar. “May I help you?”

The smell of herbs and other greens drifted out into the hallway as the door opened that small fraction. It caught Elsie’s nose easily. She could recognise a few familiar scents, but they were overtaken by unfamiliar aromas. She had personally never been to a healer before, she’d used quite a few remedies passed down through the generations. Finding that some worked whereas others didn’t. The whole boiling a fever out of someone, worked on the odd occasion but she had witnessed it kill grown men.

Being at the garrison, she had also picked up on a few tonics the soldiers used as well as learned how to do common healing practices and a lot of stitch work. Some people thought that you just stitch the top layer of the wound and it would heal. But, that was never the case. You had to inspect the wound more closely, make sure no muscles were ripped open, no tendons left ruined and a lot of the time it required stitching layer over layer.

She looked carefully at the woman, taking in the woman’s appearance. The façade of the woman did not seem intimidating, but rather friendly. Elsie liked the company of friendly people. Didn’t all people? She brushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes, as she hadn’t attempted to tie it back, and placed them behind her ear cautiously.

“Good morning,” she smiled pleasantly, “I was told I could find a healer here.”

She’d never met the healer before, so she had to make sure the person she was indeed talking to was the healer. She didn’t want to jump into any details, and burden this woman with her troubles if she wasn’t a healer. A lot of women in Lawley knew the odd bit of healing here and there and would offer their therapies, but this time Elsie had decided to seek out a healer. If anything, it might help her broaden her knowledge.

Elsie waited tolerantly for the woman to reply, hoping that she had not woken her with her light tapping on the door. She would be highly embarrassed if she had. She embraced the idea of sleep, and depriving people of it always bothered her. Sleep was purely a gift these days, especially for many women. Without the men, they were run off their feet. Luckily Elsie hadn’t really been subjected to such an awful change in life style. She’d always learnt to live by herself, and without dependence upon another person. She was as much independent as the young country boy seeking an apprenticeship in the big city.

She could cope. Most of the time.

So it was a client. Maha glanced back to her room—it was too messy to take anyone but her. “I am a healer, yes. But you will wait one moment, yes?” Downstairs in the main room, it was too loud and annoying to do anything but be a louder nuisance. Maha had to straighten the room before she could do anything for the girl.

There wasn’t much that Maha could do to make space. The room was small to begin with, and now it was crowded with drying plants. But she could clear off enough space for the girl to sit on the bed while Maha examined whatever was wrong with her. If something needed to be stitched, then Maha could kneel on the floor. She part of her pride twitched at that—kneeling to any Thiasan for any reason was out of the question, but Maha knew when she was being unreasonable.

“Come,” Maha said, reaching for the door. “You have an ailment?” The girl didn’t look to be injured, was she sick? It was unwise to bring a sick girl into her quarters, but Maha was still too groggy to think clearly like she should. Maha waved to her bed. “Sit, sit, and we will discover what is wrong.”

Elsie took a deep breath and nodded. She didn’t like being out in the hallway, especially with the man down stairs, but she would be patient. She couldn’t do anything else. She doubted there were any other healers around, and she was in no mood to really go wandering on the outskirts looking for a gypsy woman to help heal the hurts she suffered. She wasn’t exactly suffering, but she knew when another person’s opinion was needed and these were one of those times. She wasn’t about to kick away that opportunity.

The healer didn’t look like a Thiasian, but more of a foreigner. Would she be safe in a foreigners hands? She had to be. She waited patiently as the woman slipped back into her room. Elsie could hear the light footsteps coming from the room, as the woman bustled around doing whatever business needed to be done. There was the noise from outside-- somewhere a dog was barking, a few horses moving along the road. Down stairs a few drunken lards stumbled in.

Still, she held herself patiently. Then the woman returned and ushered Elsie in. Elsie stepped into the room. The aroma of the plants was stronger then it was out in the hallway, but she did not mind. Naturally her eyes wandered around the room. It was small and clustered with plants. It wasn’t the expected living quarters of a healer, but perhaps the woman preferred smaller spaces. Elsie moved over to the bed where a space had been cleared for her. She gently sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’m sorry if I intruded,” she spoke gently, turning her calm eyes towards the woman. It appeared like she was clam, but she really wasn’t. Her hands moved to her skirt and began twisting creases in it. Nerves. To try and sedate them a little more, she took in a couple of deep breaths. She’d never really entrusted her health to strangers, this would be a first. She had to be fairly trusting to actually seek out a healer, that was one of her bad traits. Being able to trust a lot of people. As she had matured though, and seen what others were capable of she became more cautious and her trust level soared to new heights.

“I don’t usually come to others,” she tried to manage a thin smile, “I just needed someone else’s opinion. You see, I haven’t been quite myself lately. A lot of problems have come around for me and I can’t think logically.”

It all started to run out. Was it better to get everything out faster or delay everything?

“I haven’t got much coin. How much do you charge?”

She suddenly realised that healers cost money. Before she let her problems out it was probably best to clear the debt. Money had never really been an issue for Elsie towards her health. She’d usually go and collect her own herbs and items needed for her tonics and salves. But now, she became a little more focused and knew that everyone needed some sort of payment for advice and help.

“No, do not feel so! It is my job to attend to the unwell, regardless of when or where they are.” Maha had said that before, and as true as it was, she still wasn’t quite so fond of that. “You are not my most inconvenient client, if you will believe.”

This girl almost made Maha nervous, but it seemed the she was more nervous then Maha was. She did not sound or look ill. What did she mean by problems? Something as small as a head cold, or was she pregnant? Maha had been approached before by young women who had brought themselves to dire straits by fooling with a man before they were married and ready to care for the child conceived on multiple occasions. They came desperate—frequently, whatever rake they had dallied with had often left town, and they had no one but a mother and father who would disown them if they knew. The witch healer whom nobody trusted, they thought, must know the answer.

Maha did know answers—but she refused to give them to the girls. Not only was witch hazel dangerous if not taken correctly, but it was not the child who should suffer for a foolish girl’s mistakes. If this girl was seeking an abortion, Maha would turn her away like the ones before her.

“If we will talk, then we may find a remedy. But I cannot solve issues of the heart—you must understand. I am not able to cure those with my knowledge. And do not worry about payment. No one has much coin, I understand. We will discuss when we discover if I am able to help, yes?”

Inconvenient, what did she mean by that?

It made Elsie twitch a bit. Raked her nerves up just that fraction higher. She carefully watched the woman, trying to find out her habits, learn her character, but she was not succeeding. Elsie had become slightly more cautious with people and had begun to annoy her. She wanted to have fun with her life without having to worry about what others might possibly do to her. At times she wished she was an innocent child, where all the evil affairs of the world barely troubled a youngster. Where any one you bumped into could be a potential friend and you could run and fool around all day, without worrying about possible consequences. The time where nothing tasted so sweet then having a friend by your side.

Back into reality Elsie focused her attention on the healer. She did not dare intrude on much of the woman’s time, especially day dreaming about childhood. One she really hadn’t had much part in because she was to busy seeking a way to live.

“It is nothing to do with the heart, I assure you,” Elsie said with another twist of her skirt. Elsie had never let her heart trifle with her. Sure, her emotions had been tested when she had learnt that her parents had both died of the plague and when she was away from her brothers, but she always put her mind before her heart and barely let another man reach into her affections.

The fact that this woman didn’t want payment, unless she knew that she could help heal Elsie was comforting. She wouldn’t like to pay if she couldn’t be healed, she’d rather keep the coin for something truly necessary like food or clothing, “I’d like your opinion on a wound. I am not truly skilled with herbs and plants and healing open wounds, but I can work with minor things. However,” she took a deep breath feeling slightly embarrassed, “I had a running in with a tree. A branch managed to grab hold of my arm…”

She lifted up her gown sleeve to expose a wrapped wound on her right upper arm. She undid the bandage to expose a wound that would probably require some stitching. It seemed clean enough to Elsie, but another opinion and possibly some help with stitching it up, would not go un-rewarded. She wasn’t usually secretive, and would usually ask someone to help her, however she hadn’t managed to gather the courage till now. Her audacity had seemed to be on a low for quite some time now.

An incident with a tree, she said. It must have been a rather vicious tree to cause this kind of damage. The girl’s arm was lightly scraped, and a rather nasty looking cut streaked across her arm. The scraping was no issue to Maha—that would have to heal on its own, and if it hadn’t been infected at this point, then it probably wouldn’t ever. The cut however, was a bit more of a concern, but not terribly. It was deep, but not dangerously so. Maha prodded the cut, examining it more closely. If it had not happened to terribly long ago, Maha would close the cut, if the girl wanted.

“When did you injure yourself, and what have you applied?” The bandage looked clean enough, but Maha could never be sure. It was probably too late to put in stitches, from the look of it. She would be left with a scar, either way. But it was an easily hidden scar, just under her sleeve. If it was too late, Maha would clean it and bandage it again, but there was nothing left to be done but let God’s will be done.

“It does not look terrible,” Maha said after see had finished inspecting the girl’s arm, “but I do not know if it should need stitches. Maybe too late for them.”

Trees seemed like fairly peaceful things. They were immobile most of the time, so they surely couldn’t be that dangerous. You did hear of the occasional tree branch falling on someone, falling onto someone’s house-- but it really wasn’t that common. Walking into trees however, was something only drunken lunatics seemed to be able to pass by. Elsie hadn’t been drunk though, she had never touched the liquid in her life. She just hadn’t seen the tree. She could have sworn that the branch just happened to reach down and grab her- but that was crazy. They’d think she was senile if she ever said that. So, she stayed on the thought of it just having an amazing ability to camouflage itself into the environment and trick her eyes.

She flinched slightly as Maha inspected the wound. It wasn’t sore because she had numbed it with a slave, it was just that she hadn’t expected the prodding. She watched as the healer’s eyes looked over the wound inspecting every inch, “I walked into the tree about a week ago. I washed it with warm water and then applied some honey and lard. I think that is all that I have applied but I couldn’t be exactly sure. I just keep it clean and bandaged. I used a plant one of the guards gave me to numb it, but I can’t recall the name of the plant,” she said truthfully. She wasn’t much of a healer or a green thumb, but she could do simple things. She knew how to keep a wound clean. She wouldn’t risk losing her arm.

It was a relief to hear that it didn’t look to bad to the healer. At least she had done something right along the lines-towards keeping it clean. She probably should have stitched it up earlier to help the healing process, but she couldn’t exactly stitch with one hand and hold herself down at the same time. She didn’t trust many other people that were around at the time to do it. So, she just followed plan b. She took a deep breath, “So, is there anything else I could do to help it heal any faster-- or would it be better to just let it heal and keep it clean?”

She felt like she was bombarding the poor woman with questions so she automatically halted herself at the end of the second one. If she asked any more questions she’d probably scare herself and the woman would refuse to do anymore for her. Elsie didn’t like being dependent on others. She liked being independent and prove to everyone she could take care of herself. But sometimes that just didn’t work and she would come out as a weakling. She was a small figure so that just made her seem even more feeble and frail. It was sad. She was a good girl, hadn’t done a thing wrong in her life. Nevertheless she never really had much good stuff going for her-- she walked into a tree for god sake. But she knew she was better off then some so she made the most of it. Well tried too.

“I’m Elsie by the way. Elsie Farraday,” she suddenly remembered her manners. Introductions should always come first, but for some reason they hadn’t. It wasn’t easy addressing someone who’s name you did not know so she quickly stitched up that problem. Even if the owman hadn’t intended to know her name. She knew it now.

Maha nodded. Good, she had not used any of the stupid remedies these people favored so often. “That is not a terrible way, no. Much better then using manure. I have seen many do that—a boy I treated had done so to his fingers. He would have been lucky to only lose his hand.

“Tell me now, what did the plant look like, and how much did you use?” There were many natural remedies available on Thiasa, but most people did not know how to properly use them. The only difference between a medicine and a poison was the dose, after all. She tried to not prescribe much of anything, if only to prevent an unwanted death. If having people come to her more then once gained her extra coin… well, that was just a nice bonus.

But if she wasn’t dead yet, then she hadn’t overdosed. She didn’t look to be a stupid girl, even if she had a vague resemblance to someone. But who? Whatever. It didn’t matter at this point who she looked like. She was asking how to take care of her wound, and it was Maha’s responsibility to instruct her.

“Nothing can be done with stitches—they were not necessary from start. You will have a bigger scar, that is all. For now, keep it clean. I will give you a salve that will help heal faster, and you must keep that bandage for another few days. But no more—it will never heal if it is kept moist.”

Maha rose to begin gathering the herbs necessary to make the salve, hearing the girl introduce herself behind her. She looked over her should to the girl, this Elsie Farrady, then turned back to her work.

“I am Maha.” No need to give any more of her name—girl couldn’t pronounce it properly anyway. They did not had the ain in Scalian.

“Farraday…” Maha spoke after a few moments, “is common name here?”

Elsie listened to the story the woman told her, of another person she had aided in the healing process. Yes, she had heard of manure being a remedy to ease wounds. It sounded rather sick that helpful. What more, is the boy had used it on his hands. Manure was probably not the most cleanest of substances and it could easily attract unwanted diseases and pests and not allow the wound to heal and clean itself. Usually wounds were good like that, they could heal all by themselves- sometimes you just needed to give them that little helping hand and motivate them to heal, “I don’t think I’d every attempt that method. I’d rather stick with the ones I know that work.”

There were so many plants she used in ailments and tonics to help others as well as herself, that sometimes it became quite hard to remember which one you used for a specific wound. It was weird how she could not remember the name of it, she had applied it herself and all- just couldn’t remember the name. Bugger. Now to the description, “Well, a spiny leafless plant with fleshy stems and branches and often with brilliantly coloured flowers. However, I have been told that the inside of the plant has a healing agent that helps clean wounds and near clear them from infection. I am sorry, I can’t remember the name…,” she sighed and attempted to remember how much she used. She knew to use them in moderation and not use them like some men drank, “I used a stem and mashed it into a paste. I only apply it when I dress it again. Which is every night, if I can.”

Well, a scar wasn’t that bad. If she was lucky, she might be able to invent a paste which would help disguise it- if she was to wear short sleeved clothing. But she highly doubted she wound in any time in the future. She basically had to start earning coin again to get her any further clothing. Sure, her clothing would do her for now, all the stuff she had now. But eventually they would become so worn that they wouldn’t be fixable. That was when coin was needed. Elsie still had her talents of performance and if she had to, she would use them. She brushed a strand of her hair from her face and wrapped it around her ear, as she listened to what Maha said towards the wound.

“Thankyou,” she smiled gratefully when she had taken in all the information she needed. A salve would be good, and keeping the wound freshly dressed and cleaned wouldn’t be hard for the next few days. She’d only have the problems with telling her older brother, Brian. He’d laugh, of that she was sure. Yes, it was stupid to walk into a tree… but she just hadn’t seen it. He must have done something rather stupid at some point in his life as well. Therefore they had to be equal on it. Anyway, it would still be something he’d laugh over. Whether it be now or in years to come.

She watched as Maha began to pack all the items needed for a salve. It was good to know her name- that would mean Elsie could thank her with more gratitude. It seemed barely thankful when one did not know the name of someone they helped. For Elsie it seemed most rude. Names were not much trouble and to be familiar with someone couldn’t do to much harm either, surely.

“I do not believe so. As far as I know, my family are the only ones that go by that name in these parts. Have you come across someone with the same name?”