Thraah did not know how to approach what came next.
She looked to her folks and each of them held worry in their faces. All she could do was pat her mother on the arm and smile as reassuringly as she could. Hamaah did not look so relaxed as she had hoped but it was too late for that now and each of them knew it.
"Okay, come on."
Her voice was serious again as she reverted back to Anirian common and set her travel bag down by the front door. The short trip to the ladder was only a few short feet, ten at most but it felt longer. An ageless eternity of now that filled her with dread. At what she might see and what Perrine might do.
When you have lived on the bottom of the pile, trust for those from higher up could be hard to come by but the need was never greater for her.
She had lost sisters and brothers before, woke up beside them helpless and weeping. Powerless. Now she had power, she had help. She BROUGHT help to them. That was the hope, the trust. She wondered if Perrine knew anything of what was waiting in the crawlspace above.
As Thraah ascended the ladder and opened the trapdoor she saw the grim room above. The only light was coming from a single square glassless window and the only sounds where three sets of laboured breathing that came from a great bed that sat perfectly under it. The Family Bed.
Much of the room was dark and while Thraah stood transfixed on the small bodies that lay in the bed Perrine would be able to make out little save the low roof beams and the two reflecting eyes, like a cat that watched them from a standing position next to the head of the bed under the window.
No, the figure was sitting not standing and they were tall. As they stood their shaded form looked monstrous. Hunched to fit in the beams and the eyes bright despite the gloom. A telltale sign of inhuman darkvision. It took two steps on long spindly limbs, too thin to be strong and yet they supported the great structure of itself.
"Thraah?"
A voice, lilting and feminine came from its lips as it stepped into the light, its imposing silhouette now dashed in the light displayed a face with sharp but friendly features and the long pointed ears of her kind. Her great face, angular and sublime was wracked with redness and tears.
"You should not have..."
The Elf woman did not get a chance to finish as Thraah catapulted herself into her. Gripping her torso with both arms and visibly squeezing her hard. This unabashed show of affection and support earned Thraah a reluctant smile and the elf wrapped her own long limbs about Thraah in turn.
"Thank you child."
While the embrace continued her vibrant eyes fell on Perrine and just as before she was scrutinized though not in the same way as before. This look held the promise of harm much like a bear for her cub. It seemed then that she gripped Thraah just a little tighter before letting her go.
"You are Perrine, the healer."
She left Thraah and approached Perrine letting her height loom a moment while her sharp eyes looked into the periwinkle of Perrine's own as if looking for some hidden intent. It would be easy for Perrine to see the same conflict in her as was in Thraah before. The desire to protect from outside forces clashing into the need to accept that very help.
"I will be watching you!"
Was her conclusion as she stood aside and returned, lumbering somewhat to the stool she had been sitting at and allowing access to the bed and the patients within.
Thraah had moved to the foot of the bed, she was waiting for Perrine to begin.
The children, three girls, held both Human and Elf features. Their faces and bodies were blotched with red welts. They were asleep all, breathed in rasping, short breaths and with burning fevers.
Maladies were not uncommon in the slums of the outer
cities. Most were simply gotten from contaminated water or spoiled food.
Others like blood diseases came from vermin and cattle (or at least the fleas and ticks on such things).
It would be very clear to Perrine that without assistance they would likely die.
This particular sickness was known as Red Elf Pox or Elf Pox and typically did not transmit to
humans however those of both Elf and Human lineage were particularly vulnerable to it. Like chicken pox it did not usually happen more than once and in Elf folk was rarely serious.
Those in
Vel Anir who campaigned against a mixing of the races (of which there were many who frequently spoke out, especially among the Great Houses) were not above calling it a sign from Kress herself that such unions were "unnatural".
This was the great risk and secret Thraah had wanted to protect.
Her sisters, weak and small and sick, were practically a crime by nature of their birth alone. Even in the light of the Republic such promises of rights were still mostly lip service. The three children had round faces and sharp ears under thick reddish brown curls. puffed red cheeks huffed each strained breath and if you did not look for the rising and falling of little chests you might mistake them for already being dead, such was their colour. Sweat beaded and soaked their night clothes, leaving stained patches on the bed. Every now and then one of them tried to move but their face creased in pain as they made pointless shuffles to escape themselves.
Perrine Urahil
