Chapter 3: They know

Evander: 

I walk behind Raiko, with a bowed head. The village we are in, has people who know me from the posters that hang on the trees. Just why did my classmates have to warn people of something that shouldn't even matter? The inn didn't want to let us rent a room for the night. 

Raiko is handling this better than I. It seems,  he has gotten rejected more than once. Him being an Ettin, a beast race, is to be blamed for the way people scoff at him. I wonder if we make a competition out of it, who will get the most slammed doors in their face. 

Just as we are about to leave the village of Shieldcrest, I see it. A gray flag, on the door which is just next to the guard house. I make my way to it, despite Raiko calling out to me. He catches up to me, before I can knock. The Ettin places a hand over mine, and shakes his head. 

"You deserve better, than the scorn you are going to get inside," my traveling companion says. I shake my head. 

"This village is small. If this is something infectious, then it can't be allowed to spread. It is my duty as a healer, to heal everybody. Even if they spit at me, as soon as my back is turned," I say. Raiko sighs. 

"I doubt that they would wait for you to turn your back on them," he has the right of it. Gays are not accepted in a Theocracy. Unless they are dragon shifters. Those can get away with just about anything. 

"I have to try," I place my free hand over his, and remove it. He shrugs, and steps to the side. I knock on the door, and wait for someone to answer. 

Soon, an old lady is in the doorway. She takes one look at me, and prepares to slam the door in my face. I place my foot in the way. 

"Who is sick inside? Have you gone to the local healer, to get a diagnosis?" I ask her, as her eyes narrow. 

"We don't want help from a sodomite," she snarls. I hear someone coughing behind her. Without waiting for permission, I put a mask on my face, and push pass her.

 I can hear the indignation in her voice, when she calls out to me. There are words that I never associated with someone being gay, but she wields them like a war hammer. 

The house is small. There is just a corridor, and then a room on the other side. One that serves for all purposes. There is a man on the bed, who seems to be ready to cough his lungs out. 

I rush to him, and then take out a thermometer. 

"Sir, can you hear me?" I ask the man. His eyes try to focus on me, but the only response I get, is more coughing. This time, though, there is a trickle of mucus dripping down his lips. I place the thermometer under his armpit, and hold him in place. 

"We don't want your help," the old lady who wanted to slam the door in my face says. "Do you hear? Get lost! Only respectable healers will know what is killing Jerald!" 

"I can assure you, I already have an idea," I tell her. "For how long has this been going for?" 

She seems to waver, as I check the temperature of the man. Thirty-nine degrees. So, he does have a fever. I look back at her, and glare at her. 

"If you don't tell me, I can't help. Do you want for him to suffer?" I snap at her. That seems to break her out of it. 

"It has been three days. There is no healer in the village, so we couldn't get him treated," I smile at that. So, this is not as bad as I feared. 

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I place a hand over the man's chest, and scan him with mana. After I am done, I pull out a piece of paper from my notebook, and begin to write down the instructions for the healing of the man. 

"This is bronchitis," I say, as I keep on writing. "Fortunately for this man, it is not chronic bronchitis. It will go away on its own, by the end of the week. What he does need, is plenty of water, to be cleaned regularly, and peppermint/ginger tea blend. Do you have an herbal shop in the village?" 

"No," the woman says, and I nod. I pull out a jar with peppermint, and a whole ginger root. I really should restock, once I get to the nearest town. The beginner healer pack was never meant for more than a day or two of uses. 

As I hand the herbs to her, she seems conflicted. I sigh, and go around to place them on the table. She doesn't move from her spot. 

"Wait," she says, when I am in the process of seeing myself out. "What if it is something worse than what you said Jerald had? If you leave, how can we tell?" 

"I thought that you didn't want help from a sodomite?" I ask her. She balls her feasts to the side, and does a small bow. 

"We don't have much, but if you stay as long as Jerald needs you, then we will pay you," I shake my head, but she continues. "And we will spread the word, that you know your stuff." 

I can't help it, I chuckle. 

"And what made you think that I didn't? Just because I like men, you expected that I bought my diploma, or something similar?" I shake my head then, as she marches up to me. 

"What you are doing is frowned upon by everyone for a reason, boy. You won't have any children. Our population dwindles to nothing, and young men like you refuse to have children!" Huh, this is the first time, someone bothered to explain to me, why they didn't like gay people. 

"I can poke holes in your argument," I say, as she snorts. 

"You can leave through this door, and have the fame of someone who leaves patients behind. Or you can heal Jerald, and get recommendations," she doesn't seem to be giving up. I pull out my diploma, and let her take it. She looks at it for a while, but her eyes don't focus on it. 

"This is all the recommendation, which I should need," I tell her. She shakes her head, and hands me the diploma back. 

"Maybe back in Ogi, where the people can read and write, sure. But out here, in the forest, the only good this piece of paper will be, is as kindling," I mull over her words then. After a whole minute, I figure she has the right of it. 

"Do you have a place where my traveling companion and I can stay?" I ask her. 

"I wish I had something better than a barn, but..." she lets her words trail off. 

"I don't mind hay as a bed. Let me just talk to Raiko," she smiles at me then, and looks at the man in the bed. Jerald should get his first dose of tea soon. Yet, first, I have to convince Raiko, to stay in a place which judges me as something unnatural. 

 

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