Lisaykos, Healing Shrine of Mugash

(continued from installment 115)

“It’s simple,” Raoleer said, trying to explain why Emily thought Kayseo’s edema was still a problem. Emily was too full of surprises for me to assume she didn’t know what she was talking about. This was Emily. It might take a while to understand her but she didn’t make mistakes and she always knew what she was talking about.

If Raoleer thought the explanation was simple, then I had a bad feeling that it might actually be simple and that the healers had overlooked something we should not have missed.

“When someone grows up to become a person without usable magic,” Raoleer began, “they’ll be maybe 16 or 17 hands tall. But someone accepted into a temple will be 18 to 19 hands tall on average. Someone like Kayseo was more than 20 hands before the attack, and every high priestess is taller than 20 hands. We all know this.

“When you get taller, your bones get much longer but not much thicker,” Raoleer continued. “It’s common for the femur or the tibia of a priestess to be no thicker than the femur or tibia of a magicless soldier.”

“I’m not sure I know where you’re going with this,” I raised an eyebrow at the high priestess of all mekaners.

“You’ll understand in just a moment, sister Lisaykos,” Raoleer smiled helpfully, "but it involves division and only division. Now let's say our 17-hand soldier has a tibia that's around a half hand in diameter, but so does our willowy 20-hand five-half-finger tall Blessed Lisaykos. Now, for the sake of my example, let's say both our soldier and the Blessed Lisaykos lose their foot and lower leg two hands up their respective legs, where the amputation leaves a cross-section of the tibia of that's about a fifth of a hand in area. Our soldier weighs around 1,400 stone but the Blessed Lisaykos...?"

“2,000 stone,” I admitted, looking at the raised eyebrow on Raoleer's face. She didn't realize I weighed that little. Most high priestesses weigh more.

“So if the soldier gets a leg stump from the healers,” Raoleer kept her narrative going, "when he puts his whole weight on it, the bottom of the what's left of the tibia experiences a pressure of 1,400 divided by one-fifth, which is 7,000 stones per square hand, but for the Blessed Lisaykos, the pressure will be 2,000 divided by one-fifth which is 10,000 stones ber square hand.

“Pressure?” I asked.

“Pressure is defined as weight divided by area,” Raoleer explained. “The taller you are, the more pressure will be experienced by your bones, because taller people are heavier but the width of the bones hardly increases compared to the increases in height and weight. That’s what Emily was trying to say. So Kayseo’s recovery can’t be compared to a soldier’s because she’s heavier.” She frowned and glanced at Emily who had her eyes closed.

“Is she?” Huhoti asked softly.

“No, I’m not asleep,” Emily said in her soft voice. “I’m just resting my eyes. So how bad is the remaining edema at the base of Kayseo’s legs?”

Since I was sitting next to her, I leaned over and held my hand out over her legs. Surprised, I swore, which startled just about everyone, since I seldom slipped up in front of other people. I sat back down. “Great One,” I looked at Aylem, “would you please examine this for me?”

Aylem shot me a speculative look and walked over to Kayseo. She got on her knees in front of Kayseo and gave the girl a reassuring smile in response to Kayseo’s growing look of worry. Then she frowned in concentration as she placed her hand on Kayseo’s knee.

“Healer Kibbilpos," Aylem sat back and sighed, "not only is Healer Kayseo stubborn and putting up with more pain than she should, but she's also not been following your directions despite your best efforts to stop her, and she's stubborn about it too."

“I believe that's an accurate summation of the current state of affairs," Kibbilpos nodded in agreement.

That was a very astute move on Aylem's part because she made it clear she wasn't blaming Kibbilpos for Kayseo's stubbornness. Kibbilpos was still nervous in front of the Queen. It would likely take a few rotations before she would relax around Aylem.

Aylem turned on her knees and gave Emily a look as if it was all Emily’s fault. Emily shot Aylem a look right back that made her disagreement more than obvious. It was just another round of teasing in the strange relationship the two had with one another. It was more hopeful on Aylem’s end and more tolerant on Emily’s but it was at least friendly, which was an improvement over last year when the Queen was insensitive to Emily’s fears and desire to escape Foskos altogether.

Emily’s expression shifted to one of questioning, “so the edema is still substantial, I take it?”

"Yes, it's bad. Her legs are not healing at an acceptable rate. Even with the new crutches and the walking frame, our newest bad patient needs to avoid putting her weight on her legs entirely so the edema has a chance to go down. I'd like to have a bell's worth of time to smooth the base of where the bone was severed, which should help with that."

Emily was shaking her head with a frustrated look on her face, “I don’t understand why you can’t reduce edema and other similar phenomena like bruising. It just doesn't make sense to me. If magic allows for the manipulation of time, which is the basis of most healing magic, then why does it not work on edema too? The underlying physics of moving time forward or backward for the edema should be the same as for any other injury. If anyone can figure this out, it should be you, Aylem.”

“Is that how healing works?” Huhoti asked, fascinated with the exchange.

“Apparently,” I remarked. “I never really thought about how before these two came along and started talking the theory behind it,” I pointed to both Emily and Aylem.

“I’ve tried it, Emily,” Aylem replied. “Here, can I borrow you as an experimental subject, Kayseo?”

“Will I turn purple and maybe grow horns?” Kayseo asked, a little concerned and trying to make light of it.

“You know, Kayseo, dear heart,” I worked on sounding guileless, “I think purple would suit you.”

Aylem waved her hands in disagreement, “no, no, no, no! Lavender! That’s the right color for Kayseo.”

"Ppfffttt!" Emily tried not to laugh and failed. She looked at the helpless expression on Kayseo's face and covered her mouth to not laugh too loudly. Kayseo gaped and then shook her head, rolled her eyes, and smiled her promise of retaliation back at Emily.

“What you’ll feel, Kayseo, is some warmth and some cold, and that’s about it,” Aylem reassured her and took the end of one of the severed legs in her hands.

“Brrrrrr, that is cold,” Kayseo shivered.

“Yes, that was the use of the same technique as healing wounds and blunt trauma, which we now know is a time reversal effect for the soft tissues, effective for almost everything but tumors and cancers," Aylem said out loud for Emily's benefit. "And now here's the healing effect for bones applied to tissues."

“Ow, that’s prickly, and warm too, but prickly,” Kayseo frowned.

“There, all done,” Aylem removed her hands and returned to her armchair. “Sorry, Kayseo. Lavender and a horn in the middle of your forehead will have to wait until later.”

Kayseo just shook her head.

There was a quiet knock on the doorframe of the open double doors into my study. I looked up and saw the Revered Twipdray, who was the Holy Senlyosart's healer. Senlyosart and Twipdray were Opa's tutors

Twipdray knelt to do her obeisance, “may the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Great Ones.

“And upon you too, Revered One,” Emily said in a voice that carried to the doorway a moment before Aylem had collected herself to say the same thing. “Please rise and come in. Are you looking for your wayward student?” Emily winked at Opa.

“Well, maybe not,” Twipdray said, which surprised me since I expected to hear otherwise. “The Holy Senlyosart noted there was an interesting gathering here with interesting magic happening. She was wondering if you folks were getting ready to make the new thing from Galt's revelation from last rotation? If you were, she was wondering if it might be possible to arrange things so she could watch, if it isn't too difficult given her current state of infirmness. The Holy One knew you were here, Voice Trainee Opa, and she considered that you would profit from the current company assembled." She smiled at her missing student, "she has not yet decided what extra homework she will assign you for neglecting to ask permission first." Twipdray smiled with an unreal amount of innocence. Opa groaned.

How wonderful it was, I thought, to be young.

Emily didn’t miss my reaction. She picked up one of the wax tablets she liked to keep within easy reach and wrote something on it. She tilted it so I could see what she had written. It said: “schadenfreude!” Yes, she’s lived with me long enough that she knows all my character defects.

I sighed and then collected myself, wrapping the authority and prestige of my office around me. “Wolkayrs, can you move what you set up for Emily, from your work table to the low table here?”

“If we move everything else off of the lounge table, yes, it will work,” he replied.

“Emily wants to demonstrate with the glayon vines for the benefit specifically of you two,” I said to Raoleer and Huhoti. “Do you mind sitting on the floor on cushions? That way, I can place our sister Senlyosart with the Revered Twipdray on the lounge where Emily is currently sitting.”

“I don’t mind,” Raoleer blinked, “not in the least. You, Huhoti?”

“You could even skip the cushion, though one would be nice,” Huhoti joined in.

I didn’t doubt them at all, since mekaners will be mekaners, but I had to ask for courtesy’s sake.

“Can you manage with the low table, Emily?” I asked. She was my one worry.

“If I can catch a nap between now and then,” she said, “I think I’ll be fine.”

“What about mid repast?”

"Wake me up for it and keep it short so I can conserve what energy I've got." She hopped off the lounge and waved goodbye to everyone as she vanished into our living quarters. "I’ll catch everyone in a bit.”

I have to admit that I'm having a hard time getting used to Emily who is getting her health back.

We took a break while Emily took a nap. In the meantime, Aylem took Opa to visit Senlyosart. Aylem showed back up and carried one of the large armchairs into the dining room. Then she disappeared into the guest quarters and reappeared with a padded hassock that she carried into the dining room. I followed her.

“Are you trying to seat Senlyosart at the table?" I asked, watching her arrange the armchair and hassock next to Emily's chair.

“We're having sandwiches today for mid repast," Aylem started going through the sideboard upper cabinets. "Aha!" She reached in and removed one of the lap trays I sometimes used to eat in my study. "I was thinking we can put Senlyosart in the armchair with her legs up and wrapped in her blankets. Her arms aren't strong yet, but if we cut her sandwich into smaller pieces and put them on a lap tray instead of on the table, she can eat with us. We'll need a side table to put her beaker of tea so she can reach it. And we'll seat the Revered Twipdray right next to her, in case Senlyosart needs a hand with anything. Emily should sit next to her because those two get along well and they'll talk fishing, I have no doubt. That seating arrangement will also keep the mekaner chatter to a minimum."

I shook my head, "Aylem, I would never have thought of any of this. This will work. Thank you. Senlyosart will be ecstatic to escape her sick room and eat with us, and I for one will be happy to have her company back among us. She is a good soul and also good company at the table.”

“I think I was thinking the same about Senlyosart,” Aylem said softly, “though I certainly didn’t express it as well as you just did. She looked so lonely just now, especially since she could feel all our activity across the main corridor from her room.”

“Thank you for thinking of her and all this," I walked up to Aylem, who was looking lost, and hugged her because she looked like she needed a hug. "You look like you're adrift and don't know where the shore is," I remarked. She nodded. "And your daughter is being pouty again at you and you have no idea what Emily thinks of you and you're scared to death that everyone is scared to death of you." I took her by the shoulders, "you're doing fine, Aylem. If everything around you gets to be too much, take a walk or take Asgotl fishing or hide in your room and balance the exchequer accounts like I know you love to do, or maybe I should say, like I know you love to catch the ministers who think they can hide their fraud from you."

“I keep frightening Emily,” she sounded dejected.

“Aylem, you're being thick-headed," I steered her to a chair and sat her down. I sat down next to her. "It's not you. Emily will never stop being frightened of us at some level. Some days she does better than others. She's not managing to do well right now after the previous four days of trying to be polite with Moxsef, who has never had to deal with a Coyn before who wasn't a spoot slave. I think she's keeping herself together because Raoleer and Huhoti have the knack of making her forget that they are big and she is small. It's a mekaner thing."

“No, I saw the fear in her this morning, Lisaykos, because what Raoleer said kicked whatever it is that sets me off," Aylem stared at her feet. "Emily recognized and cut me off, but I couldn't miss the burst of hard fear out of her. She hides it so well on her face, but I can feel everything from her. I don't know why but I can't block her at all."

“Look, you big idiot, you've been teasing her this morning, and she's been teasing back. The two of you have been making jokes with and at each other, and she's been giving you more leeway and liberties than she gives anyone else in our present company. Just wrap your mind around that and think about what that means for you and her."

Aylem looked at me, brows knitted together wondering what I meant.

“One other thing you might want to consider, Aylem dear,” I stood up because I could sense the serving crew coming up the stairs with the food for lunch. “You might want to apologize to Emily for your slip this morning, for both your sakes. But before that, why don't you and I see what we need to do to get Senlyosart out of her room and across the corridor."

---