Ballad Of Saymon

It was daylight out when Lila became sick, though her windowless room was dark as it had been in the night.
Lila, waking as a wave of violent illness galloped up her spine, had time enough to rush to the small room adjoined to hers, where she vomited painfully into the first basin she saw.
When the last of her meal had left her, she slunk back into the room, sank into bed and curled into herself. Lying there, too sick to sleep, she realized that her masters cloak still covered her. Lila undid the knot, shrugged the thing off and climbed under her new blankets. She slept, but the rest was dreamless and she remained near the surface of consciousness.
Sylain checked on her that night, and as she entered the rooms the first thing she noticed was the smell of sickness. She checked on Lila, who lay is a cold sweat, asleep, then searched the room. Finding the source of the smell in the small washroom, she worried and took the filled basin out of the room, emptying and cleaning the basin before she returned.
When she came back she wished there were a window in the room, for she wanted to get fresh air into the girl’s lungs. She went to look at Lila again, this time finding the discarded cloak. She picked the heavy thing up, draped it over the bed, and leaned to test Lila’s forehead with her palm. The girl was hot and shivered under her touch.
Sylain was a worrier. When she realized there was nothing more she could do to help someone, she came near panic. Now, with this new girl who ran the risk of starvation even before this sickness, Sylain felt her own heart quicken. She sat down where she had before, holding her head and closing her eyes until she calmed down.
Think, we need a plan. Her mind blurred as she forced it to think. Kyichi would know what to do. Now, at least. She needed to go to him.
She tried to remember what he was doing now, whether or not he could be bothered with Lila’s sickness. As the thought left her she scolded herself. That was unfair to him. He generally tried to help with these things, he just didn’t always have time.
She stood and, just to be sure, checked Lila’s forehead again. There was no change Sylain nodded to herself, grinding her button lip back and forth between her teeth. She picked up the cloak turned to the door.
She went to find Kyichi.

“… and she needs a window.”
He looked at Sylain, sharing her concern on most things she had said, though this point seemed unusually impractical for her.
“Sylain, if she’s that sick I don’t think she could be moved. And fresh air would only do so much for her now.” He didn’t like not knowing what was going on. Guessing wasn’t his business, and he hated to do it. More than anything he wanted to brush off this conversation and see what was happening for himself.
“Kyichi, it can’t hurt. I’ll carry her if I have to, but she’s gotta get some fresh air.”
He looked away from Sylain for a moment, thinking about how much she liked her primitive remedies. Fresh air, water and sleep. He couldn’t think of a time she hadn’t prescribed these for any illness.
“Let me have a look at her, then we’ll see about moving her.”

He was glad she was asleep when he entered the room. Better she be oblivious than nervous. He took her pulse twice, first from her neck and then from one wrist. Her heart was beating fast, working on something it thought was important.
He hoped that she would remain asleep through his examinations, but as he checked her forehead she came groggily to.
He sighed to himself, his luck had run out.

It took Lila a few seconds to recognize who sat over her, but when she did she squirmed and made small sounds of protest.
Not now, she thought, it hurts too much.
He took his hand from her brow and as he did she inched away from him, trying to move onto her side to keep her tired eyes on him. But, as she moved her guts burst into flames within her, making her twist back onto her back. She gasped for breath and clapped her eyes shut, hoping that she had only imagined her master.

He waited for her to calm down before he touched her shoulder. It was no caress, in fact it was brief and businesslike, just something to remind her he was there. She moaned through her teeth and when she didn’t move he did, sitting on the side of bed and taking hold of her shoulder more seriously. If he could get her to look at him without ordering, he could count it as a victory in adapting her to his world.
She did look at him, opening her eyes and searching for him where he had been, then where he was. Her frown drooped a bit more, finding him closer than before. Kyichi looked her in eye, and tried to sound gentle.
“Lila, tell me where it hurts.”
She squeaked, closed her eyes again. He waited, then shook her shoulder again.
“Lila!”

She looked at him again, she guts clenching and burning inside. She embarrassed to tell him, scared about what he might do if she told him, or if she didn’t. The earlier briefness was gone, he wasn’t eager to leave now.
Slowly, painfully, she pulled herself up into a sitting position. Her chest was unclothed, but she didn’t much care. She threw him a look that she hoped expressed her apathy. Hoped he could see how hated him for taking her from Nomare, hoped he could see her pain and simultaneously her strength. Hoped her look could kill.
He was unmoved.
Lila sighed, shaking. Let him to do what he wanted, it would either kill her or get him gone sooner. She wanted this to be over with.
She pressed a hand to where it hurt, just under her stomach. The pressure didn’t hurt, though her insides were still burning. Lila closed her eyes and gnashed her teeth. What she heard then threw her through a loop.

“I’m going to touch you.” He wanted no more misconceptions, no more squirming, no more time wasting. The sick smell in the room was beginning to get to him. She did need a window.
She looked at him, her lips pressed shut in a long, flat frown. She didn’t understand him. Kyichi, simultaneously trying to help and leave, gave her a nod before he moved the sheet covering where she had touched. He tried to ignore the nervous look she was giving him, and began to press tow fingers to her lower stomach. He asked her if it hurt, she said it didn’t. He checked all across her lower stomach, finding no odd dumps, no sores, nothing that would hint that her sickness was anything more than an infection.
v Kyichi nodded to himself, then looked at her again and asked her to describe what it felt like. She hesitated, curling more of herself in and away from him. Finally she spoke.
“It burns, and twists. The burning is worst. It gets bad, then goes, then comes back. I-It hurts to move.”
He looked at her for a long time after she spoke, trying to see what had made this scared girl so angry. The look she had given him had not gone unnoticed, only been filed away because it didn’t seem important. Now, as he watched her in that heavy silence, he saw that there was little of the anger left in her. She seemed to only want him to leave, inching as she way away. She had begun to curl up, though the act made her shake with pain.
Finally he looked away, faking a nod of understanding to fain some new realization. He stood after a moment and went to the door, her voice calling to stop him before he left.
“Uhm, sir?”
He looked at her, now a small, dark blot against the white of her blankets.
“Yes?”

“Will,” she paused, looking away from his eyes and towards something beside him. “Will there be more food?”
She sounded almost ashamed to asking, almost afraid. He nodded, suppressing a smile.
“Yes,” she settled into the bed again, less tense.
He left the room.