It is now the middle of April, and not much has changed in regards to the routine Arjana has since she started living with Birger. Everyday, it was the same routine: wake up, take medicine, eat, and then go to bed. Another thing added to this routine was for Arjana to not go outside, Birger had forbidden it until she got better.

------

At first, Arjana understood that it was for her well being, but she was really starting to miss the outside. Instead she finds herself being more confined to her room in the cabin. Saddened and lonely, she lies down in her bed staring out the window to the trees outside. “Arjana! You awake, youngin’?”, Birger calls as he enters the room. “Yes, what’s wrong?” she asks, sitting up as he sits next to her.

“Izzimar dropped this off.”, he says, pulling a letter out of his pocket.

“He was here?”

“No, he used a pigeon to deliver this.”

“....Is it for me?”

“Yes,”

“I wanna read it!” she beams attempting to take the letter from him. He stops her and opens up the envelope in front of her. “Hey, that’s rude! You can’t open up someone else’s letter!”

“Izzimar can’t write in a common language. You won’t be able to understand what he’s saying.”

“My father taught me how to read different languages. I might be able to read it.”

“What languages do you know, youngin’?” Birger chides.

“I know Common, Brym, and Parrish.”

He chuckles, “Yeah, well Izzimar doesn’t write in any of those languages, I assure you.” he answers as he holds up the letter:

“Dear Arjana, 

I hope you are feeling better. I brought some rabbits for  you two to eat. I’m off practicing medicine too. I’m not good at writing letters, but I hope we can write together. Do you want to be friends? If not, that’s okay, I was just asking. Anyway, I hope you feel better goodbye.

-Izzimar”

Birger sighs in exasperation, “That boy…This must be the first letter he’s ever written. He doesn’t know how to structure a sentence or anything…”.

“Birger, how does Izzimar know my name?”

“I told him. He stopped by the day you woke up, only you were in bed at the time. I didn’t want to wake you.”

 “.....Can I have the letter?”, Arjana asks kindly. He hands her the letter and gets up to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“To skin the rabbits. I’m going to be leaving for a while, so I need you to cook us something until I return.”

“Where are you going?”

“To gather herbs. I’m running out of your medicine.”

“I want to come with you!” she pleads, not wanting to be left alone in the cabin.

Birger thinks for a moment before examining the wound on her neck. He reaches in his medicine pouch and grab a yellow plant and presses it against the wound.

When he pulls it away, the flower is stained a pitch black and it begins to wilt. Arjana is mortified as the flower dies and crumbles to dust. 

“What happened!?”

“This flower is called the Golden Tears. Physicians use them to see if a wound is life threatening or not.”, he explains before grabbing some more ointment from the bench and dabbing it on her neck. “According to the flower.....Your wound is still infected.”, his words make her heart drop into her stomach. "The flower turned black and died, what does that mean for me? Am I going to die? Or…is there a chance Birger is lying to me?", She stops that thought, not wanting to add to her troubled state of mind.  

Once he is satisfied with giving her the medication she needs, he gets up to leave, but is stopped again when Arjana grabs his tunic.

“Please don’t leave me alone! Please!”, she whines as tears threaten to fall.

“Youngin’ if I don't go, you won't have medicine. You’re a big girl, you can be home alone. Just don't leave the cabin.”

Overwhelmed, she begins to cry, huffing and gasping. She knows this is a pathetic display for a girl her age, but being alone right now is just too much. Birger hesitates, unsure of what to do before he pulls her in for a warm embrace. She calms down a little as she buries her face in his cloak, staining it with tears. As she inhales, she notices that he smells strange, like an old oak tree. “I won’t be long, youngin', I promise. Just stay here,” he says as before walking out the door, closing it behind him.

—--

Shortly after he leaves, Arjana goes into the kitchen and sees the skinned rabbits Birger left her to prepare. She looks throughout the small kitchen and finds some items to help her cook. Figs, potatoes and a random assortment of vegetables are what’s left. “Maybe I can make rabbit stew, or ribs…?” she says to herself before she begins to examine the items. Not wanting to waste any daylight, she begins to prepare dinner.

Some time has passed, and Arjana waits at the door, hoping Birger returns. After waiting for a minute, she gets bored and paces around the cabin from the washroom to the kitchen. She does this for minutes until a little glint catches her eye. Propped up in the open closet is a strange sword that appears to have leaves for a hilt. She steps closer to get a better view of the blade, moving the broom and mop aside. The sword is old and appears dull with a wavy bladed edge, but it doesn't look old. Not wanting to risk hurting herself tampering with a weapon, she backs away, closes the closet, and returns to the kitchen.

__

Night has fallen, and Birger still hasn’t returned to the cabin. The rabbit Arjana prepared is resting as she prepares a side dish from her home. As she chops the vegetables, she can help but think back to the sword she found in the closet. She wonders why a doctor would need a sword, "Doctors are supposed to heal people, not fight,right? Does the sword even belong to Birger?" ."Did he hurt someone?" So many questions raced through her mind as she began to cut faster, beginning to worry about the intentions of the man who saved her.   

"What if he’s an outlaw? That would explain why he’s not allowed in the town. What if he was kicked out for being a criminal? Was I sold to him so that he could test medicine on me?! WHAT IF HE KIDNAPPED ME AND IS HOLDING ME FOR RANSOM!?" 

These thoughts clouded her mind, making her accidentally nick her finger with the knife. “Ouch!”, she yelps before examining the wound. It looks like a dry cut, but it still hurts nonetheless. Arjana stops cutting to look for something to wrap her finger up, checking the cabinets and draws to no avail. She remembers that Birger sleeps in the room across from her, and decides to see if he has any bandages in there. Making her way to his room, she then notices something strange about Birger’s room. Underneath the door,there appears to be a blue glow underneath it. Arjana gets down on the floor in an attempt to see what's under there, but the glow is too intense. Getting up, she attempts to open the door, but it's locked and wont budge.

 She sighs in frustration before remembering the letter that she received earlier from Izzimar. It looked like the envelope was made of a clothlike paper, surely it would do until Birger returned. Returning to her room, she finds the letter with the envelope on the workbench. Tearing a bit of the envelope, she begins to wrap the paper around the cut. When she’s finished, she smells something sweet nearby. She looks at the letter and sees a small flower petal attached to it. 

“A petal..?”, Arjana remembers that she hadn't seen the letter, only that Birger read it to her. Arjana picks up the letter and examines the petal of a small purple flower attached to the plant. The rest of the letter is in a bove it is a barely legible scribble in common language. She squints her eyes and carefully reads it, “Also I….think…your…very pretty.”. 

“Aw, he used “your” wrong! Oh, how nice of him.” she giggles before smelling the letter. 

With the flower petal attached, the letter smells like sweet cherries, brightening her mood. Arjana feels happy for a brief moment before a memory surfaces. She remembers the cherry puree dish back home that her brother used to make. He had failed to make the staple dish, Cherry cones, for her birthday, so he instead made a new dish, Cherry Drops. They became her father’s favorite dessert, so much so that he created a Holiday where the dessert is served all throughout the day.  Tears prick her eyes as she holds the letter closely to her chest. 

“Papa….Monoko…” she whimpers to herself as she clutches the letter.

She takes a deep breath before taking the letter with her back to the kitchen. Arjana resumed making the sides for the rabbit, but would occasionally grab the letter and read it from time to time. The cherry smell it gives off reminds her of home, and Izzimar’s kind words give her some form of comfort. As she reads back over the scribbles for the fifth time, she feels a warmth spread throughout her cheeks. "Does this mean he likes me?", she thinks, looking over the words over and over. 

Her thoughts are interrupted when Birger returns carrying two large items, nearly making her jump out of her skin. 

“Ah!”

“Youngin it’s just me.”, he sighs in exhaustion.

Birger closes the door behind him with his foot, and sets down a crate and a barrel. “Are you okay?”, he asks before his eyes lock on to the bandage on her finger. “Oh dear, you cut yourself... Come here, let me see it.”, He carefully unwraps the bandage and leads her over to the window. Opening it, he reaches outside and grabs a bucket of rainwater from the hook outside to bring it in.. Arjana watches as he pulls a strange necklace from around his neck to whisper a small prayer. When he is finished praying, he grabs her hand and washes the wound in the bucket of water.

“Birger, that’s rainwater, it's dirty.”

“I prayed over it, it’ll be cleansed.” 

After cleaning it, he reaches into his pouch and pulls out a blue vine to squeeze its nectar onto the wound. 

“Bluemoon Vine. Good for harmless cuts and scrapes. Well, mostly harmless.” he says, wrapping the cut in a clean bandage.

“What’s that necklace for?” she asks, taking a look before he abruptly tucks it back into his shirt.

“A ... .deity that I pray to. But enough about that, I brought more of your medicine, got more food and clean drinking water.” Birger states, gesturing to the crate and barrel. “So, what did you cook with the rabbits?” he asks, “I smelled them all the way from outside.”. Arjana  goes to the kitchen and fixes his plate. “Here”

“It's roasted rabbit with mashed potatoes, seared mushrooms, and a fig.”she explains, placing the plate on the table, before fixing her own meal. "We called it Rabbit in the garden back home." she added proudly.

“Rabbit, it’s been a hot minute. Surprised you didn't make a stew of this.”, he chuckles before sitting at the table. Soon, Arjana joins him and they eat in silence for a moment. Finally, Arjana asks,

“Did you get the food and water from Rockridge town?”

“No, a caravan was passing by and offered it in exchange for treatment.”, he corrects.

“Did you treat them?”

“I got the food and water, didn’t I?” he answers, slightly irritated, making Arjana go quiet. Realizing he spoke a bit rudely, he corrected himself, “Sorry, Arjana, it was just…. a stressful task.”.  Once again, the silence resumes, but only, it is Birger who breaks the tension.

“Say, Arjana, do you have enough of this… rabbit dish? I’m sure Izzimar would love to try some.”. Hearing Izzimar’s name makes Arjana flustered for a bit. “We have enough.”

“Good, I’ll wrap some up and next time he stops by, I’ll tell him you made it for him.”

Embarrassed, she abruptly gets up from the table, knocking over her food. “Careful youngin’ you nearly ruined your dinner!” he yells as he catches her plate. 

“What’s gotten into you?”

“ Mister Birger, does….” Arjana hesitates, turning away to fidget. Usually, she would have this conversation with her father. But since he's not here, she hopes that maybe Birger would know something.

“Well, out with it, I can’t figure out if you don’t tell me.” he sighs in exasperation

“...Does Izzimar…like me?”

“I would be surprised if he did. He doesn't usually like anybody.” He says with an unamused tone.

“But in the letter, he asked to be friends.”

“Arjana, I am…his “friend” but we don’t get along.”

“Not even a little?” 

“ Not. At.All. He always curses me whenever we interact with each other.”

Feeling disheartened , Arjana sits back down and resumes eating her meal. It takes a moment before he finally understands what she was trying to ask him. 

“Oh, but don’t worry, he may actually…like you.”

“What…makes you say that?”

“Well, he did write to you. I've had patients come and go, but you're the only one he gave a letter to.”

“Now you’re just saying that to make me feel better!” she complained.

Birger chuckles, before he takes a sip of water, “Well, Izzimar is a young boy, maybe he’s nicer to you as opposed to me.”

“How come?”

Birger pauses, he doesn’t really know how to answer this, but he tries his best.

“Well, that’s how some young men like Izzimar are. Give their father’s hell, but a pretty girl comes along, then they start acting all shy.”

“Why doesn’t he listen to his father?”, Arjana asks with slight disappointment. Birger stops eating and places his utensils down, with a slight pained expression on his face. As Arjana watches him, she doesn't notice the room getting cold, and the blue light from his room slowly pouring out towards the kitchen.

“....Arjana, Izzimar’s father, is a terrible man.”, Birger answers with a straight face. The room gets colder,and the light starts to reach their vicinity, getting Birger's attention as he quickly begins to finish his meal.

“.......Oh…What did-”

“He put his hands on his son. And I’m just going to leave it at that.”, he abruptly says before getting up from the table and quickly rushing to his room. In that brief moment, Arjana sees the blue light from before almost enveloping the room from down the hall. She gets up to follow him, but the door is locked and this time the light is giving off an icy fog from underneath the door. Curious, she peeks under the door, but as soon as she does,the light fades and the cold wanes. 

"Strange… What was that?", She thought as she stood up to process what just happened. Before she could call out, Birger opens the dorm but notices something…strange…about him. Before she could process his appearance, everything goes black as she falls to the floor.

In the dark, Arjana can hear Birger’s frantic voice as he carries her back to her room. She tries to open her eyes, try to let him know that she is fine, but she can’t move. She can only hear his voice as he calls out to her. As his voice gets farther away, she manages to hear him say…..

Kynda!