I’ve never had to wait on my body to heal before. Never had injuries that demanded it.

The first two days I am confined to the inn and its outer terrace on the second story. Not by some Sangoma declaring my schedule and duenna escorting me through it, but by careful attentions and persuasions of my new… friends? I’m not sure what to call them. But also my own bodies' weird bouts of exhaustion. Yrelia later told me that I slept at least two-thirds of those first forty-eight hours. Only getting up to handle body things like food, water, and to expel said food and water in the nice toilet down the hall.

My right arm is, weirdly enough, the fastest part of me to recover. By the second day I’m able to wiggle my fingers and hold a pencil, while Kque says the two broken fingers on my left will need to remain splinted for at least a few more weeks.

The rest of me is an annoying muss of bruises and scrapes that all seem to have different ideas of how fast they want to recover. My tongue is perfect from day one, which is great. But I quickly discover during Kque’s insisted upon routine stretches, that there are a few muscles across my back, shoulders, and left ankle that must have been pulled.

My skin still looks like my first attempts at painting when I was a child. Splotches of red, blues, and even yellowish green are all across my body. With little angry red lines that mark the scrapes and gouges.

I couldn’t help but cry a little during my first shower on that third day as I looked down at my mangled flesh. I was a quiet thing, and I don’t know if Kque heard as she waited to help me back inside. If she did she was nice enough to not ask or mention it.

Yrelia and I share a room while Tasii and Kque take the other. She’s very gentle and kind. Making sure to prop the pillows just so to help me sleep as well as I can before carefully cradling me throughout the night. Kque demanded in no uncertain terms that sex would be a terrible idea, and if we couldn’t be trusted to wait until I was healed she would wrap us up and tie us down in separate rooms.

Overall she seems pleased with my recovery, though. And whenever we’re all gathered for breakfast on the morning of that third day she suggests going on some walks throughout the city. Yrelia and Tasii seem excited at the idea, and happily chatter about different sites and shops they hope to find in the little town.

I don’t see Jevita or Lule, and when I ask Yrelia gets quiet and just shrugs. Tasii tries to cover the reaction with a quick answer about Lule being in a stable at the town’s edge and Jevita not wanting to leave him alone, but I can see the tension.

If I wasn’t so much of a coward I might have pushed back right then and there. I’d like to say I was still just too tired to argue, but I was mostly scared.

The city of Deledita is a gorgeous trade town. Much like Lyttoral, most of the buildings use their outer walls as gardens which they cover with vegetation. And, since Deledita’s main export is various wines brewed from that vegetation, this leads to a wide pallet of color amidst the winding streets. Unlike Lyttoral though, Deledita is small. Barely seven buildings wide at any point. So from most angles you can see the yawning forest and towering trees beyond.

We initially make a single pass around the town’s center circle, but soon find a reason to get distracted and head down one of the main streets that shoot off like spokes off a wheel. We stumble into a little plaza that holds a bakery with two traders on either side. We buy some of the sweetest smelling pastries and begin to wander the racks of colorful clothes.

I’m almost convinced to try on a really pretty skirt and top that catches my eye. Soft rich red fabric embellished with frills and little beads that hang off a length of rope perfectly set to hold a small pouch or bag.

But… no. Not while I look like a pulped and beaten fruit.

After lunch, its decided that Yrelia will go out again this evening. So she can start to get a sense of the town and weave some relationships and little trades. Tasii offers to go with her to help carry any bags of the goods they’ll sell, buy, and trade.

Kque offers to stay with me, and suggests we go exploring if I’m not too sore or tired.

Truth is, I’m a little of both, but there’s something I feel I have to do.

After Tasii and Yrelia are gone, and we’ve explored another spoke of the town, I work up the courage to ask.

“I’d… um… Like to go see Jevita and Lule.” I try to sound confident.

“Oh… okay. That shouldn’t be a problem.” Kque stops and looks over to me. “Any particular reason why?”

I sigh, “I’m worried about her. She’s been sleeping outside while the rest of us get nice rooms.”

Kque shrugs, “Believe it or not she actually prefers to sleep outside when we’re in most towns. Wants to be close to Lule. Most inns in this area don’t even have a place for Quelekita.”

“I… why? Not to the stables part, I get that. Not many Quelekita come through here. But… why is she so close to him?”

“He’s basically her child, he imprinted on her.”

“I… I don’t know what that means.”

“Normally a Quelekita bonds with a partner for life, when they're like… really young.” She explains while leading us. “Most of the time it's to another baby Quelekita, but there are breeders that specifically sell eggs and unbonded chicks to women.”

“Bond… Like some kind of magical thing?”

Kque giggles, “Some would say that, but no. It’s just an imprint. In nature Quelekita pairs do everything together, get anxious when they are apart for too long. But when it's with a human the Quelekita begins to try and be a human too, it's why Jevita was able to teach him to understand a ton of Arudian language.”

“Oh okay. That’s actually really neat.”

“Mhm. You should get Jevita to tell you all about it sometime. She doesn’t always show it, but Lule is genuinely a part of her life that she’s really proud of.”

I nod, “She was really offended when Tasii implied Lule might have bit me.”

“Oh you’ve no idea. If it comes up, ask her why we’re all banned from ever sailing on an Ingloken ship. You won’t regret it.”

We reach the city’s edge soon after. The soft light of the evening sun baths the forest’s edge in golden light. But it’s the smell that hits me the hardest, the soft but unmistakable scent of thick foliage.

'Stable' is a kind word for where Jevita and Lule have made camp. It’s a simple hollowed out and abandoned stone building on the city's edge. Lule’s head is hanging out of the window openings on the side, happily hooting and chirping out at the birds and other forest critters as they sing. Jevita sits on a pallet of blankets pressed against the wall next to him, reading a book and taking notes in a journal.

Lule is the first to hear us coming, and he pulls his head back into the building to hoot and trill a hello. That makes Jevita glance up.

“Hi.” Kque waves at them, I do the same.

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Jevita tries, but fails to hide the tension at the sight of us. But her smile looks more like a grimace as she stares at my mangled hands. “What brings you both out here?”

Lule hoots and turns back to his window. Kque looks to me.

“Well… I wanted to check on you and let you know that we have two rooms if you’d like to sleep inside.” I see her begin to form a rejection, but I keep talking. “But Kque let me know that you often sleep out here with Lule so I didn’t want to push if you’d rather not.”

There is an awkward pause.

“Thanks?” Jevita replies, confusion clear on her face.

“Sorry, that was a mess of words that I didn’t think through.”

“No, no. It’s fine, I think I get what you're trying to say.” Her grimace finally tilts more toward being a smirk. “Thanks.”

I sigh in relief. “I also wanted to offer to keep helping with the journal, if you have the free time and… still want to?”

That seems to put a spark in her.

“Oh! Yeah, definitely.” She motions back toward her pile of books and notes, “I’ve got nothing but time. Just been working on some old projects.”

“Old projects?” Kque suddenly asks, a bit of faintly concealed worry in her tone.

Jevita moves to rub the back of her neck, stops mid way through the motion, “Just theory, no… uh…”

I look over to Kque, the tension making no sense to me. She is giving Jevita the same look she gave me the other day when I tried to get dressed by myself. She and Yrelia had come running in to find me tangled in a mess of cloth between the bed and the wall, stuck fast.

Jevita glances back, sees Kque’s expression, and looks down. “It’s just theory Kque. I wouldn’t… I’m not–”

She bites the next words, clenches her fists.

Kque walks over and kneels next to her and whispers in Arudian, “Do you need me to take them?”

The pain on Jevita’s face at those words is enough to make my eyes go a little wet, and I look away. I know that look. I can relate to that pain, even if I don’t understand it. I’m intruding on something very very very private.

“Yeah.” Jevita replies with a huff and slump of her shoulders, “I uh… think that’s a good idea. I’m sorry.”

Kque, opens her arms toward her, and Jevita leans over to accept the hug.

“It’s okay.” Through the embrace Kque assures her. “I should have come to check on you.”

When they pull back Jevita wipes a bit of moisture from her eyes and nose. “You’ve got your hands full. I should know better.”

Jevita reaches over and into the chest that sits in Lule’s shadow, pulls out a small red pouch, and drops it into Kque’s waiting hands.

“Thank you for trusting me with this.” She says as she carefully puts the pouch into her own bag.

Jevita shrugs, then looks up to me. “So, you want to take a crack at it now?”

I nod, glad to not be an awkward third wheel to this emotional wagon, “It’s just myself and Kque right now. If you think Lule would be okay alone we could go back and get some dinner from the inn?”

Jevita shows obvious discomfort. “I’m not sure we’d be comfortable with that. I can wait until after you’ve gotten food to–”

“I can go get us food.” Kque interrupts.

“Are you sure?”

She nods at me and looks to Jevita, “So long as you promise to keep an eye on her and stop her from doing anything too strenuous.”

After Jevita agrees Kque rises, and has me take her spot on the pallet. After she’s gone Jevita cleans up the previous pile of books, old tomes and replaces them with my tome and a fresh stack of pages.

“Would you like me to translate them or just…” I ask as she lays out the work.

“Honestly if you’ll read them aloud I can write them down as you go.”

“Oh yeah, I can do that. If it's not too much work for you?”

“Not at all.” She sneaks a glance at my burned and splinted hands.

That third evening passes by with me reading the odd tome aloud while Jevita compiles my words onto the loose pages. She has to correct my pronunciations and help me sound out some of the stranger syllables, but I actually really enjoy learning and sharing this passion of mine. Kque returns after about an hour carrying a basket of wonderful smelling food and a cluster of some brown big hard-shelled fruits for Lule. I’m happy to rest my voice, even if Jevita seems eager to continue.

“So um…” Jevita says awkwardly as the meal is laid out, “I wanted to apologize for before, on the path. When Lule got spooked and–”

I shake my head and wave my hands, “Don’t be. Seriously. It’s alright.”

“No.” She bites out, “It's not. We’re supposed to stick together, help each other. And I just… I couldn’t even come back after the thing was dead and you were bleeding on the road.”

Kque purses her lips. I can’t help but lean back at the anger in her tone.

“But… Lule was scared. You had to… He needed you.”

“No.” Jevita slumps in the quiet after her storm of words, “They’re right. I’m so fucking useless.”

They?

Lule pulls away from his meal of crunchy treats and nuzzles Jevita. She only reaches up and cradles his head in one arm as she glares down at her meal.

“Fuck.” Is all I can say at first. “Jevita… what happened… that’s… that’s not on you. Lule is kinda your baby, right? You needed to keep him safe.”

“But they’re my family too!” She shouts. Then in Arudian she whispers to Lule. “Biggest scary and supposed to protect.”

Lule lets out a little whistle, sad and low, and presses his head to hers.

There is a long silence. The steam from our cooling meal is the only thing passing between us for at least a few minutes.

“I… I forgive you Jevita. But I’m not sure you need it from me.” I finally say.

Jevita winces, “They kinda hate me right now.”

“I doubt…” I begin to say, but Kque shakes her head.

“I think Tasii would really appreciate hearing this.” Kque picks up for me, voice quiet. “She saw how spooked Lule was, told us how he clamped down on your shoulder and wouldn’t let you go. Almost really hurt you.”

Jevita looks up to us, real fear on her face. “Don’t… No. That didn’t happen. Don’t tell anyone that!”

I look between them, “I… okay. But I don’t understand. Wouldn’t that help?”

Kque answers for her, “Quelekita who attack someone, especially their bonded partner are… It’s rare. It’s a really bad thing, a bad sign.”

“He was just trying to protect me.” Jevita has turned to hug Lule with both her arms. “He’s not… He’d never hurt anyone. He’s so sorry for it and checks on the spot every few hours.”

“I know, we all know.” Kque breaks the stillness by pouring us all some cold sweet wine. “But I think you should still talk with Tasii. She’s tearing herself up. Blames herself.”

Jevita nods and pulls away from Lule, patting him to assure him that she’s okay. He hesitantly goes back to his meal.

We all drink and begin nibbling at our meal.

“I don’t think Yrelia can forgive me” Jevita finally says, “Not so soon afterwards.”

“Why?” I ask.

Jevita levels a look at me, at first with a type of annoyance. It takes a second for it to become clear to my stupid self.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” She rolls her eyes, but with a sad smirk on her lips.

“Fuck. Yeah that tracks. Kinda.” I look down to my food, “But I only just got here. You all seem really close. I can barely keep up with her.”

Jevita snorts, Kque pats my hand. “She’s a bit smitten.”

I shake my head a bit at that. “I doubt that, I’m not nearly good enough for that. I’ve only really been… well, alive for a few days now. I’m still shedding all the old parts of me.”

They don’t push, but I can tell they think I'm being incredibly stupid.

I sigh, “Maybe I can… I dunno, talk to her? For you?”

Jevita shakes her head, “No, she’d just hate me secretly.”

Kque sets down her drink, “I don't think you're giving Ina enough credit.”

Jevita raises an eyebrow, confused.

“If Ina was just a passing fancy of Yrelia, then yeah. It would be a horrible idea.” Kque provides, “But Ina’s smart, and she can explain herself well, and she’s right. And as I said, Yrelia is… well… I try to let these things go unsaid, but she’s kinda crazy about you. At least for the moment.”

“This sounds like a horrible idea.” Jevita mumbles through a bite.

I’m not sure how to react. To… like… any of that. So I move back to the main point.

“I’m not going to make it a big deal.” I add, “Just… you know… encourage her to come talk to you. Maybe let her vent if she needs it. I’m not going to try and be anything more than a little voice of reason.”

Jevita glares up at the ceiling, “Alright, but… seriously. Don’t be weird about it. Don’t try to force her into anything. If she really doesn’t want to talk or forgive me, don't push her. I want her to have the space she needs to heal too.”

We can all agree to that, and as the sun sets Kque and I return to the inn.