JP - The Keep - Lek's Room

Lek came to, his eyes snapping open. “Wh-what happened?” He asked.

“No, I intended to ask him to come out and help me find fresh herbs,” Miyuki admitted and released Lek’s arm. “You were about to fall and hit your head, Lek. Sit down and I’ll make you some tea. It’ll help with the headache you’re about to get.”

Lek started to sit on his bed, changed his mind and sat on the floor instead. He pointed at Tria. “She did something to me.” He said.

Tria hunched her shoulders guiltily and looked at the floor.

“I’m aware…I smelled the powder on you.” The kitsune said. “Do you have cups and water in here? Otherwise, you’ll have to eat the leaf I have for pain. It doesn’t exactly taste good.” Turning her gaze back to Tria, she sighed. “You should probably go…he’s not going to be okay.”

Neither am I. Tria thought. Fortune was going to be furious, and worse was in store for her for failing. She edged reluctantly towards the door.

“Yeah, there’s water and a cup on that… Dragon?” Lek peered at his table holding a pitcher of water and a cup.

Miyuki glanced at Tria, eyes narrowed again before going to the table and grabbing the cup. Putting the proper ingredients in, she added the water and swirled it around a little to mix everything. She really should have made more stirring sticks. Stepping over to Lek, she held the cup out to him. “That dragon is your table, Lek.”

“Has my table always been a dragon?” Lek asked, confused as he accepted the cup. He took a sip, waving his free hand at the cloud of dragonflies that were not really there.

“You’re hallucinating, Lek,” Miyuki warned as she watched him, making sure he drank all the water.

“Why am I hallucinating?” Lek wondered if he should be more scared. The walls had eyeballs now. “Did you drug me?”

“No, but the girl that was in here with you a moment ago did.” Miyuki took the cup and set it aside. “Do you have a bucket or anything to vomit in? The medicine may cause that…”

“Tria. De-me-tri-a.” Lek looked around. “I had a wash basin but it turned into a badger. The chamber pot… oh, I am never using that chamber pot again.”

“It’s not a badger, Lek,” Miyuki reassured him as she found the wash basin and pulled it over to him. “Tria Demetria? Why was she in your room, Lek? She smells like trouble…” And she would know. Her nose was one of the best. Not as great as Bella’s, but still…

Lek cradled the badger in his lap and stroked its head. “Tria is short for Demetria. Her grandmother wants me to marry her. Millie was afraid she might try putting me in a compromising situation.” He blushed slightly.

“That is what it looked like she was attempting to do.” Miyuki sat on the edge of his bed and watched him carefully out of concern. He had been so kind to her and she wished to help him any way she could. “Just try to relax and breathe. It’ll help…”

“Tria is Millie’s new apprentice.” Lek said, amazed at how calm the badger was. And how its fur felt like porcelain. “Pinja used to be her apprentice. But now she’s not…” His eyes filled with tears. “She’s afraid of scissors. And men. And me.”

“After what she’s been through, I understand her fears,” Miyuki explained and gently patted his shoulder. “It will take time, but you have to understand that some people never come back from those places, so it’s best not to push her. Be a friend from a distance until she is ready to have men closer around her.” Though, from how Pinja acted, she fearfully doubted the woman would ever trust men again.

“That's what I was trying to do before the Raid. That bastard Jack… I knew she needed time so I was patient, I never even mentioned courting, I was her friend, I think she trusted me. Then…” Lek puked into the badger.

Miyuki let him vomit as she got him another cup of water. He would need to keep hydrated. “Just breathe…” She instructed, wetting a small cloth from her bag to cool his forehead with.

Lek rinsed out his mouth, spitting water on the poor badger before he drank the rest of the water in the cup. He continued after he recovered. “Then the raid happened… I thought they killed her. The seamstress shop-” Lek vomited again.

Miyuki got him more water and stroked his hair back so it wouldn’t get filthy. The smell of vomit hurt her nose as she watched him basically vomit into his lap where the basin was. Ignoring it, she kept tending to him, wanting to make sure he would recover well.

“I never thought anything worse could happen to a girl than being kidnapped and held by a rapist for a month.” Lek leaned back against the wall, watching a giant mouth open in the ceiling.

“It’s surprising how cruel people can be…” Miyuki said through a sigh and offered him another cup of water. He should be done vomiting, but she wanted to make sure. The hallucinations would last a while, sadly.

Lek nodded, watching the mouth chomp at the air. “The raiders… I think all of them…” Tears ran down his face. “They cut her up too. Her face… She’s still so beautiful but they hurt her so much.”

Miyuki felt horrible for Pinja - the poor woman had obviously been through a lot. It even made her suffer a little self-loathing because of how she was stupidly feeling about Lek. Unable to think of what to say, she let him continue speaking, vigilant about making sure he was getting better.

“She got pregnant.” Lek closed his eyes so he would not have to watch that mouth of the eyes. “I got her some flowers and asked her to marry me.”