"Thanks." She started for the door, holding on to daughter and husband.

Difyr had gone to the kitchen seeking hot water and found Mrs Cort on the floor with her ears missing. She put a cauldron of water over the fire to heat, then assisted the butcher's wife to her room to bandage the bloody stumps. The story Mrs Cort made Difyr feel ill- not because Mrs Cort got her ears cut off but because Ila's past was out in the open and people were already after her about it. She would have to find the girl, make sure she was all right and not doing anything rash.

Lek hurried into the room. "Sileas is knocked out in the garden!"

It looked like finding Ila would have to wait. Difyr grabbed her basket. "What happened?"

"Yehudit hit her." Lek stole a look at Pinja.

Pinja froze and looked away, hoping Lek would not look too hard at her, that he would not know. She wished Millie was there.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Sun 03 July 2016.

"Yehudit hit her? Oh dear." Difyr grabbed a cup and pot of sedating tea, thinking Yehudit was having one of her rages. She hurried to the garden.

Lek saw how Pinja reacted to him and stepped back, even though he was already on the other side of the room. He longed to talk to her but could tell she was afraid, and Millie was nowhere in sight. Nor were his parents- but he remembered Difyr talking to them about moving them next door.

"Pinja, I hope you feel better soon." Lek said softly and left the room.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:51, Sun 03 July 2016.

Difyr pour hot water in a teapot with ginger root. As it steeped she checked on her patients.

Pinja had drank some more broth, and had not thrown up. She was beginning to feel a little better.

Lek nervously approached the door to the healing room with a bouquet of flowers from the garden. He had picked the best flowers and had carefully removed the thorns from the rose stems. For the blue stone he could not find a chain, but he did find a leather string that could do until he could afford to buy a chain from a jeweler.

Lek knocked on the door. "Millie?"

Millie heard her brother's voice at the door. She sighed. He wasn't going to listen to anything she said. Millie glanced at Pinja. "Lek wants to speak with you, I will stay with you when he comes in."

"What does he want to talk to me about?" Pinja asked anxiously.

"I don't know, to be truthful. I only know he said he wants to help you."

"How could he help me?" Pinja asked. "Did he get me a veil or something?"

"I've told you everything I know, Pinja. I promise."

"Okay." Pinja was scared but she reminded herself that Lek had always been polite and kind, that she was not afraid of him... Or she didn't used to be afraid of him. Pinja forced herself to not think about what those men had done to her.

"I don't want him getting too close to me." Pinja said anxiously. "I know your brother would never... I just don't want him to know."

"He promised to not get too close." Millie looked at her worriedly. "Mama got ill with every babe, he may have figured it out on his own." Millie got to her feet and made her way to the door. "You can come in but don't get too terribly close."

Pinja's eyes widened. She did not want Lek to know! She was about to tell Millie to not let him in, that she wanted to hide forever from every male including Lek- but it was too late. Millie had already opened the door. Pinja trembled and sipped on the ginger tea.

Lek stepped inside and shut the door behind himself.

"I won't. If she doesn't want me to get closer I'll stay right here." Lek tapped the doorjamb. "I, er, picked this for you." Lek told Pinja, blushing slightly and holding the flowers to Millie to give to her.

"No." Pinja whispered. Jack had gotten her flowers almost every day when he was keeping her in that cabin in the woods. Usually he would give her the flowers right before he- Pinja shook her head. "No."

Lek blinked, confused but could tell he had done something wrong already. He looked to Millie for help.

Millie had started to hand Pinja the flowers before she noticed her reaction. She quickly put the flowers behind her back. "Pinja, it's all right. I'll make the flowers go away."

"Jack..." Pinja could not explain in front of Lek.

Millie couldn't leave Pinja, not and keep her word. She found a spot behind a pile of things and she dropped the flowers there.