Bodyguard Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Ana sat silently in her chair as the men left. The woman, the Healer, who had just arrived sat down slowly in the chair that Nicola had just vacated, facing Ana with a smile.

"Hello," the woman said. Her voice was warm and soft. "Torden tells me that your name is Anastasia. Is that right?"

"Yes," Ana said, trying to project uncertainty.

"My name is Touanne," the woman continued. "I'm a Healer. I would like to examine you, if that's alright, and help if I can."

"Okay," Ana said.

"Thank you," Touanne said. "Before I begin, I want you to know that you don't need to tell me anything you don't want to, but you don't have to pretend, or hide anything from me. I promise that nothing that I see or hear will leave this room. That's absolute. It doesn't matter if you're a criminal or an angel. Anything you need me to know, or just need to say, you can tell me without worry. Alright?"

“Yeah,” Ana said, a little taken aback by the woman’s earnestness. “Alright.”

“Good. Now, I need to touch your injuries, skin on skin, to determine what is wrong and what to do about them. I’ll be as gentle as I can, but I can’t promise that it won’t hurt at all. I’ll show you on the bruises on your face, and then we can go on from there if you’re comfortable. Alright?”

“Alright,” Ana said. Something about this felt wrong. Like she should be more on guard, more suspicious, but the way the woman held herself, the way she looked at Ana, the tone of her voice, they were all so… earnest and sympathetic that Ana found herself wanting to trust her. Anybody trying this hard to put you at ease should be immediately suspect, yet Ana wanted to believe that this woman truly, more than anything, just wanted to help. And finding herself unable to be suspicious of someone was terrifying.

“Here,” Touanne said, “just sit still now, and breathe calmly.” Her hand touched the side of Ana’s bruised face, her fingers feather light, and there was a slight tingling. No pain or other discomfort, just a mild version of your hand or foot waking up.

“No broken bones,” the woman said, her eyes closed. “The bruising is deep, but it should be gone in a few hours.” She opened her eyes and removed her hand. “Now how do you feel.”

“Fine,” Ana said, amazed at how inadequate that word was. The ache that she had felt ever since the fight with the bandits was gone. When she touched her cheek it was tender, but there was no lingering pain. “What did you do?”

“I Healed it, of course!” Touanne said with a small smile. “But why are you surprised? I told you that I’m a Healer. Removing pain is the easiest aspect of the Craft of Healing.”

“And you can just… do that?” Ana asked. “With just a touch? No medicine? No… potions?”

“There’s more involved than just a touch, I assure you,” Touanne said, sounding happy to explain a little about her craft. “And potions certainly have their place, with or without Healing to accompany them. Massive blood loss, for example, is extremely difficult and strenuous to Heal, while a good potion can do the job in minutes, seconds even if the quality is high enough. But do you really not know these things?”

“We were very sheltered,” Ana said, realising that she’d led the conversation into dangerous territory and using the convenient excuse that the two guards had provided her with. “I don’t know much about, ah, magic in general.”

“Oh, one of those places,” Touanne said sympathetically. “Well, if you’re interested, I would be happy to give you a basic introduction. But some other time, perhaps? For now, would you be comfortable with showing me the injury to your side? Torden said you might have injured your ribs.”

“Yeah, okay,” Ana said, wincing as she reached around to pull up the tunic.

“It might be best if we just remove the tunic completely,” Touanne said. “You should be relaxed, and I will need both my hands if the injury is large. Is that alright?”

Ana hesitated. There were things she’d rather not show anyone here, since it might invite more questions, but if Touanne could do to her side what she’d done to her face… In the end it came down to the fact that Ana couldn’t protect Nicola properly with a bruised or broken rib or two. And Touanne had promised not to tell anyone about anything she heard or saw.

“Fine,” Ana said. “Can you, ah…”

“Of course,” Touanne said. The woman carefully and professionally helped Ana get the tunic off. It was a little awkward getting her good arm through without moving her injured side, but they managed.

Ana’s heart sank a little when she heard Touanne’s sharp intake of breath. Here it comes, she thought.

“That’s marvellous,” Touanne said. “The colours… and it’s so lifelike! It’s a firebird, is it not? And this!” Touanne said, gently touching one strap of Ana’s bra. “It looks so practical! Where did you get this?”

“It’s not even a comfortable one,” Ana grumbled. What she wouldn’t give to have been brought here in a pair of boyshorts and a wireless bra instead. “The tattoo… it’s a phoenix, yeah.”

Ana had a love-hate relationship with her tattoo. Objectively it was well done, with excellent line art and beautiful colouring, rising from the small of her back with the wingtips just under her shoulders. Big, but easy to cover. It was just that… she’d gotten it as soon as she turned 18, with a teenager’s mind, full of ideas about symbolism and yadda yadda. Now she still saw the symbolism, but mostly it just felt tacky, and most people would have no idea what she’d gone through to get it. But she’d had it for years, and never once considered getting it removed, which was evidence enough to herself that it was worth the occasional eye-roll.

“Well!” Touanne said. “As much as I could sit here and admire your body art for another hour, that bruising along your side looks very nasty. I’m going to touch it now, okay? Again, I can’t promise that it won’t hurt, but I’ll be as gentle as I can.”

“Go ahead,” Ana said, steeling herself.

This time Touanne placed both her hands palm down on Ana’s skin, one under her armpit and the other on her waist. Ana turned her head to look, and yep, that’s how big the bruise was. She hadn’t been able to tell. Her whole side was just a mass of pain, making it hard to determine where exactly it came from.

The fact that Touanne gasped when the tingling began did not put Ana at ease. “Oh, you poor woman,” Touanne said. “You… you carried a pack with this? How far? How are you still standing?”

“I’ve had worse,” Ana replied, thinking back to a particularly vicious beating she’d gotten once that left her broken and shivering in an alley. She’d been lucky to survive that time, and probably wouldn’t have if one of the kinder old homeless men hadn’t taken her to a free clinic in his cart.

“Oh, I can see that,” Touanne said, and her voice was full of such warmth and sadness that Ana felt slightly ashamed to have doubted her, or even having wanted to doubt her. It was not a feeling she was used to. She didn’t like it.

“Knotted bones, scarring on the lungs. You’ve lived a hard life, haven’t you?” Touanne asked.

“Does it matter?” Ana snapped, instantly defensive. She’d accept some measure of sympathy, but she wouldn’t tolerate pity. “Can you help or not?”

“My apologies,” Touanne said sincerely. “I didn’t mean to pry. You do indeed have one broken rib, and one cracked one. The bleeding has stopped already, but I can help it heal cleanly so that there will be no deep scarring. Your lungs, too. The scars are old, but I should be able to reduce them somewhat, at least.” She was silent for a while, and the tingling intensified, then fell off until it was gone, taking the aches and pain with it.

“There,” Touanne said. There was a sheen of sweat on her brow, and she was slightly out of breath. “You should feel much better already, and in a day or two you should be able to move normally again. Until then you should treat the injury like any other. That means no heavy lifting, no strenuous exercise, and no sleeping on that side, even if it doesn’t hurt!”

“Thank you,” Ana said, moving her arm carefully and feeling much less pain in her side when she did so. “I’m sorry for snapping,” she added diplomatically. This woman was extremely useful. Having her on their side could be invaluable. “I know that you meant well.”

“No, again, I apologise. I should not have pried. Your story is your own, and I should not have tried to lure it out when you were clearly being restrained with your answers.”

“Either way, thank you. Now, what do I… I mean, do I pay you, or…?”

Touanne laughed softly. “There’s no need for that. Torden told me of your circumstances, and I think you’ll need your coin for other things until you get your feet under you. Besides, for those who truly need my help I usually do it for free, unless I really don’t like the patient in question.”

“Oh,” Ana said, neither used to or much liking charity. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do?”

“If you really want to help,” Touanne said, “there are certain vegetable and monster parts that I can use for making potions. Yes, I do make potions. Like I said, they have their place, and can do things that Healing cannot. Anyway, if you or your companion decide to take up Delving to support yourselves, or just to pass the time, I would appreciate it if you might come by my shop, and I can give you the details. I’d pay, of course.”

“If we do,” Ana said carefully, “I promise that I’ll come by.”

“That’s all I ask,” Touanne said.

There was one thing that Ana wanted to ask. She’d been curious ever since she saw Touanne but the moment to bring it up hadn’t really presented itself, so she just went for it. “I’d like to ask you something – and please, tell me if this is rude, alright?”

“Go on,” Touanne said, a curious glint in her eyes.

“When I look at you, your label says that you’re elfin.”

“Yes?”

“Well, I know one meaning of that word, and it doesn’t really fit you. But it says that you’re elfin the way that Tor or Nic is human. So… what are you? What’s an elfin person?”

Touanne looked at Ana for a moment, giggled, then broke out into genuine, full throated laughter. “Oh, sheltered indeed!” she said between bouts. “Is that all? We’re a people like any other! Some people say that we came into being when elves and humans mingled at the beginning of time, and maybe there’s something to that. We’re less different from either elves or humans than they are from each other, and we can have children with either, though with difficulty, while you, for example, could not have a child with an elven man at all. Although,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye, “some consider that an advantage. But no, don’t worry. It’s never rude to seek to cure one’s ignorance.”

“Just people,” Ana said. “Got it. Can I ask something else? And you swear you wont tell anyone that I asked this?” There had been a few more of those messages in the corner of her eye after the fight on the road, and she really needed to know something. Ignorance was weakness, and she had never been comfortable with being seen as weak. If you were weak, you were a potential victim. But if she was going to ask anyone, this woman seemed like her best bet.

“I do,” Touanne answered seriously. “Whatever it is you need to know, just ask.”

“Okay,” Ana said, preparing to make a fool of herself. “Does everyone get little messages in front of their eyes, and what the hell are Growth Crystals?”

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Hey, so, full disclosure: I've been cooling off a bit on Bodyguard lately. I have chapter 6 and maybe half of chapter 7 done, but my writing on this one is way down. I'm just feeling kind of directionless. Not in the sense that I don't know where I could take the story, but that I don't know where I want to take it.

Might end up on the backburner, or I might suddenly have an epiphany. We'll see. I'll post whatever chapters I finish in either case.

Draka on the other hand, continues apace! I've finally stitched in the new mid-continuity chapters in a way that I'm happy with. I ended up adding 6 chapters, though the first and last of those contain parts that I stole from the chapters before and after. I've also finished editing all the way up to the chapter I'm currently working on, that being chapter 63, which is nice. New words is a little lower than it could be, but old word better now.

//AB