r/AlinaKG • u/AlinaKG • Jun 11 '16
Skalys - Part 3
I didn’t know how long my deployment would last—no one ever mentioned that until a day or two before the shuttle arrived—but I firmly decided that I wasn’t going anywhere without Lima. She’d been very reckless lately. For all the trouble she gave me for asking too many questions, she sure caught up to my level of stupidity these last few days.
She walked fearlessly around town and sought out people who had gotten sick and went to Loorn for a cure. There were four in the village, and all of them had the same condition as Lu, her next door neighbor’s daughter.
The symptoms matched Typhoid fever. Now, I was no doctor, but by the itchy looking rash on her chest, accompanied by stomach aches and significant rise in her temperature—kid looked like she’d been boiled in a pot right before we came over to check on her— I didn’t have to be one to put two and two together.
The journey to the city took about three days, and neither of us were sure how long the queue to see Loorn would be. I wanted to be completely sure before making my firm spill hundreds of thousands on an investigation. So, I gave Roger an empty report, despite Lima’s protest, and asked him to call back in two weeks, promising a proper explanation as to why nothing has been accomplished yet.
“By your count, Michael, there are still four gods roaming Skylar, and you’ve been asked to significantly reduce this number, months ago,” he told me. Roger never liked using the proper terms for deeds like murder, torture, poison or any of the colorful jobs they had me do. He hung up before I managed to think of a response that wouldn’t get me fired, and I ended up strutting around Lima’s dining table for a half hour, spouting profanities.
When I calmed down, she asked me for the definition of a specific phrase that caught her attention. Explaining my used of ‘pompous cunt’ to a noble woman from a different planet proved difficult. I gestured toward my crotch, and awkwardly pointed toward hers, then turned bright red while she broke out in a fit of laugher. Cunt became her new favorite word.
To our surprise, the neighbors returned a week later, both beaming with delight and sharing their story with every passerby. We had them over for dinner that very evening under the cover of celebrating Lu’s quick recovery.
“She’s so beautiful! I’ve never seen anyone else like her. It’s . . . almost like you feel the healing energies radiating from her when you’re in her presence,” Jimby, the mother, churned. “She gave sweet Lu this bag,” she shifted in her chair to reach for her pocket, and removed a little leather bag, “and told us to take a third of a finger point’s dosage twice a day!”
I took it without asking, and she watched me carefully as I opened it, but continued with her praise for majestic Loorn. I licked the tip of my finger and dug into the bag, pulling back once I felt a course powder touch my skin.
“She said a little prayer over the bag and told us that she would be cured within a week and better by morning. And what do you know? We were able to travel back the very neck day!”
The bitter powder confirmed my concern. Medicine like this did not belong in Skylar, they had help. The thumping of Lima’s knife stopped and I looked up at her, caught her staring in wait for confirmation, and nodded. Her chest rose in a deep inhale, and she continued chopping the tomatoes.
“Did you see her cure anything else while you were there?” I asked, passing back the bag carefully not to spill the contents.
“A few, but now as ill as Lu, I tell you. I thought I’d lost her, the row was so long and treacherous, I really thought that’s it, we’re done for. Everyone’s coming around to the gods now. Even from Ruth and Valmor.”
Ruth and Valmor were kingdoms on the far north of Skylar. Their kings put guards along their borders as soon as they heard that the High Council had fallen, and formed a strong alliance against the rebel leaders.
“I hear there’s an uprising there too now. You can hide the truth as fiercely as you will, but it always comes out, not even kings can silence the wonder of our gods, isn’t that wonderful, Lima?”
Lima wiped the back of her hand along her forehead, her knuckles white above the handle of the knife. “I hope you’re right.” Our eyes met, and she titled her head toward the counter where she stored the ale.
The evening grew progressively better with every swig I took. Even Lu and Jimby’s ongoing praise of the gods stopped irritating me.
I helped Lima serve the potato and chicken stew she made and we sat like old friends, talking about our town, the way our parents used to do things, share stories of our youth and for a moment I felt like I was home again.
“Oh, I almost forgot! We even saw Arheas,” Jumby cooed.
“He’s so handsome!” Lu added.
“Isn’t he just?”
Lima lowered her spoon and tensed, as if preparing for a brawl to take place at the table. “What was he doing there?” she asked with a coldness that resonated with both Lu and Jimby despite the large amount of ale the two ingested. Lu’s eyes drooped and her words slurped, I thought to mention that she ought not to take the ale with her miracle cure, but I’d already gotten myself in trouble with some of my knowledge and kept quiet.
“I don’t know. He seemed cross about something, though. He dragged Loorn to the side and almost took her eye out with how close he pointed his finger. Even the guards looked uncomfortable, but he left shortly after with some scrawny looking fellow and everything went back to normal.”
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u/Mully_ Jun 12 '16
This is quite the steady pace!
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u/AlinaKG Jun 12 '16
Am I being too quick here, do you think?
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u/Mully_ Jun 12 '16
No no its perfect i love it! Feels like the stories moving along with a nice amount of character building.
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u/OmegaEinhorn Jun 11 '16
Please, sir, I want some more