~Di~

Di stood inside of a poor man's home. She could see evidence of his wife's love and work scattered around. It was a small cottage that held a plain table, four chairs, a large bed, and a stove as furniture; there was also a pile of hay with an old quilt lying on it in one corner and small pillows and tapestries—all made by the same hard-working hand strewn about the place. Di knew children slept on the hay instead of beds and the chairs were rickety but that didn't stop the place from having its own charm as humans often made with homes.

The man lay on the bed, feverish and sweaty. His wife, Halia, wrung her hands as she stood by the table, watching Di unveil the contents of her basket. Di put a hand on the man's chest to feel his heart beat—it was fast. She checked his left arm for the wound she'd bandaged only two days prior.

"Why didn't you call sooner?" Di asked Halia. As she did, he grumbled and moved to sit up. She laid a hand on his shoulder to push him back and quiet him. All men are idiots, she thought. Sensing his reluctance to show weakness only made her irritated and reminded her of her own husband. Just one more patient after this and then I must see Matis.

"We wasn't sure 'twas serious." Halia's lower lip trembled as she spoke.

Di sighed but nodded. If only my own husband was bedridden. Perhaps then I could talk some sense into him. Di looked back at the man, Corinth. His arm was slightly red and still inflamed but it looked like the inflammation was going down. She raised her hand and let a light emit, running it from his shoulder to his fingers. And there's the infection! Di smiled to herself as her magic clung onto the reddest part of his arm, so red it was nearly purple. The rest was lightly inflamed around it. She cast another light with her other arm, this one much brighter and actually burning, before laying the hand on his arm. He hissed in pain.

He would be fine. She finished and rebandaged the wound, accidentally ripping some fresh skin from the top as she did. Di internally sighed. She was so distracted by her own problems at home, it was seeping into her work. Usually she was very careful not to hurt her patients.

"Stop your fretting, my friend." Di smiled at Halia. She took out a small, red pain relief potion and left it on the table. Di stood taller than her neighbor and if Corinth stood, she would be taller than him as well. She looped an arm around the basket and went to Halia, hugging her lightly. "He will be fine. If you see any changes besides betterment, please knock on my door at once!"

"Yes." Halia gripped her harder in thanks. "I'll get m' boys to yeh for payin'."

Di nodded and left their home, only turning to raise a hand in the sign of health toward their door. She made her way past the dusty, dry land of Halia and Corinth's, down an open path back to the closer edges of her village. On either side of her land were vast and mostly green in pastures. Her village was the closest to the castle walls, the only village on this side of the Goore Mountains for miles.

Many marked the village as a final resting spot before entering the castle walls to meet with royalty and fine merchants; it had not one but three inns competing for tourists and immigrants alike, and was known for mixing cultures. Humans, the fae, dwarves, and any other sort would come through their village before the central town of Difavose inside the castle walls. It was the perfect village for those on quests. Quests! To all-mother with them! Di shook her head as she continued walking. She wanted to focus on her last patient before thinking about anything like quests or Matis.

Most of the village was made of squat wooden buildings and always kept the air of welcome around; many were adorned with plants or decoration from several cultures and a few were brightly painted with stark contrast to the white and brown. Many were merchants who lived in this place, although on the outskirts lived farmers, like Halia and Corinth, and among them were those who did some kind of work for the royals.

Di walked past the bakery, the first building to welcome a traveler, and straight to the last inn, The Red Keep. She waved at the bar patron and walked directly up a flight of stairs to the rooms, where another man waited for her. She opened the third door to a room sparsely decorated. Only a bed and a desk and chair, where a man sat, staring at some papers. He looked up with a frown.

"I'd appreciate if you cared to knock," he mumbled. Di always forgot to knock. "I could be doing any manner of things!"

"I'm sorry," she huffed. "I must hurry, though. My husband will be home soon."

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"Get on with it," he said, eyes rolling. The only thing she knew of him was that he was an adventurer, in search of fulfilling a prophecy, hoping to get back to the trail. She didn't really care about any of that, only to fix his broken leg and go home finally, to confront Matis.

He turned, showing one stiff leg bound straight and the other bent beneath his chair. He had been here for three weeks, and she was tired of him, but he paid well. She cut open the bandage, wrinkling her nose as the smell of dank sweat rolled out. The smell was always the worst part. One could expect to see bad things but when it came to the horrid smells of wounds and earth, Di would hardly be prepared.

She wiped the front dry from the sweat of being in a cast for so long, then carefully gripped his leg from knee to ankle. No bumps. Just hard bone it seemed. She exhaled. Di took another potion from her basket, this time a dark green one in a round jar, her own cocktail for bone strength.

"This must be taken with food for the next two nights. It's only to strengthen your bones." She left it on the desk and stood, grateful that this visit did not require her magic to test for further injuries. This man was intent on healing properly, unlike Corinth. "Taken with ale and you will throw it up. 'Tis no matter to me what you eat with it—can be bread, just remember to walk carefully over bridges from now on."

He huffed. "Oh for fuck's sake. Is it healed yet or not?"

"Of course it is; go running if you must." She disliked his tone but kept her insults to herself. Hopefully he would leave first thing tomorrow, and she'd no longer have to even look at him. A whiny adventurer if she ever met one! Nonetheless, he smirked and handed her a few silver coins as payment.

"I never caught your name, friend." He stood with triumph. She shook her head and walked out.

Finally, she was able to return home. She left in haste, leaving a coin for her friend the barkeep as tip for always recommending her, and strode straight home. Hers was flourishing in plants of all kinds, and two quails that often went off on their own adventures, all in the gated garden of her front yard. Hers was another plain brown-and-white wooden cottage, but inside there was a fireplace, as well as two rooms more than Halia's.

One was the main, holding a stove and counter space, a bearskin rug, and a table for two; the one directly to the right was her workroom, that held a table full of books and jars, another with various plants and liquids, and along one wall rested her husbands weapons and alternate armor; the last room, past the work room, was her bedroom that kept their bed and clothes in separate trunks. Each room had large, open windows; Di loved light and air streaming in.

She sighed, placed her basket in the workroom, and left her apron on the bed. The bed itself had Halia's work, with a beautiful blue quilt laid over. It was her gift the first time Di came over to treat Corinth's wound, and Di made sure her own husband knew to treat it with care. She appreciated the payment knowing it was one of Halia's finest works.

When her husband came, right before sundown, she had vegetables cooking over a buttered ham shank. He slightly clanked in his armor and went to kiss her, ignoring her wrinkled nose because of the scent of metal and sweat on him. Matis was a very large man with dark brown hair all over his tan skin. His eyes were kind, and very brown like a puppy's. Most importantly, his heart was pure. Matis was a knight, the best she'd ever met—and living in this village, Di had met a great handful of knights. He was the prince's personal guard, and head of the Royal Guard.

Matis was silent as he went about, changing and prepping his armor for the next day. She knew he was preparing for their continuation of the fight they'd been having for the past week. She tried to instill a calm within her.

Di set up the table with the food in the middle and places set for two. She waited for him to grow some courage and come to sit with her. Matis stayed silent as he sat, taking a drink of water from his cup.

It was a few minutes before either tried to speak.

"Look—" Matis began as Di started to say, "Please—"

They both quieted. Her heart beat quickly, and she could feel the tips of her ears redden in frustration. She stayed quiet, instead scooping vegetables onto her plate. He frowned.

"Di," Matis began, "I want you to understand how necessary this is."

"Necessary for you," she quipped. Her face was stony as she ate, waiting for him to continue.

"The prophecy calls for a specific group of people and the timing is within the year. The likelihood of another half-elf Healer taking residence in Difavose within the year is quite low. You are one of the few components we were so sure of our decipherence of this prophecy."

"Explain the prophecy then!" She shouted. Di never shouted, so Matis winced. "Why can't I know? Why must I go?"

Matis sighed and put his hand open-faced on the table. His voice was much softer when he replied, "You just can't, Wife. Di. You know how these things work. Sometimes we must trust the Golden Priest to know what's best."

Di scoffed.

"Does it matter not whether I want to go?" she responded. He sighed again. His brown eyes twinkled and softened, his hand reached for hers. Di hated how he could turn her heart so simply. One soft look and she was his.

"Of course it matters." His response was low. He looked down at his empty plate, then back at her, piercing her with his gaze. "I know we have bad memories from our last quest but one cannot fight fate. We would never have met if I had never gone! Besides, won't you miss me terribly?"

Di smirked. What a fool I must be. She nodded. Matis grinned and leapt up, rushing over to hug her tightly. Her heart was pounding in fear, but if it meant this much to Matis then something must be fateful about it. He was not one to lead her astray. She hugged him back, trying not to recede her acquiescence.

"We leave tomorrow!" Matis said, still holding her in his bear hug.