The whole situation was troubling.
“We ought to be able to ease the pain of the lesions if we bind them in soil compresses,” Aelfric said, looking up at Demi from where he knelt. “I can teach you how to make them.”
Demi nodded.
After Aelfric confirmed Tata’s condition, they let her return to the lean-to to sleep. It would take a little time to prepare the soil compresses.
As they walked back to the farm house together, Aelfric offered his own thoughts.
“She can be stabilized and her life prolonged if you’re willing to supply her with potions of that grade regularly,” he said.
That thought uplifted Demi and without even thinking about it, she took hold of his arm, hanging on it like a little girl.
“Really?” she asked hopefully, her eyes sparkling. “Really really and truly?”
He was apparently startled by her sudden close contact, but managed to keep from showing it (overly much).
“Really and truly,” he answered seriously, then glanced down at her. “You ought to consider carefully whether or not you are willing to do this. You will have to invest a great deal of time and a not inconsiderable amount of funds. It will be an ongoing drain on your time, energy, supplies, and material resources. Her pain and distress are constant. She will need to be perpetually medicated for this to have any substantive effect on her quality of life. The wealthiest dryad in the world would not be able to pay for such a treatment.”
“Well, of course I’m going to do it!” Demi answered indignantly, tugging on his arm and puffing out her cheeks. “She needs my help.”
And this caused Aelfric to stop short. She almost tumbled forward because of the sudden stop, but managed to keep her feet because she was still hanging on his arm.
He considered her very heavily.
“You cannot save everyone,” he said flatly.
His words did not feel callous. They felt weighed down by grief and suffering. He was clearly speaking from experience.
He’s really been through something terrible, hasn’t he? she thought wistfully to herself.
She smiled weakly.
“I know I can’t,” she admitted. Her own lived experience had already taught her that she could not, before she had even come to this place. She had not been able to save her mother, after all.
But then she squeezed his arm tightly, drawing it to her chest, hugging it. Somehow doing that gave her courage.
“I know I can’t save everyone,” she repeated. “But I won’t know whether or not I can do something unless I try. I want to try,” she said. “I want to try and try and keep trying.” She took a deep breath and then said, “There has to be a path forward, if only we keep looking for it.”
He looked away, into the woodland.
“What happens when the path ahead turns out to be even worse than the path behind?” he asked quietly, almost to himself.
She squeezed his arm again gently.
“Then I’ll just have to keep moving forward,” she said, smiling gently. “And make things better as I go, a little at a time.”
He had nothing to say to that.
They were silent again as they walked.
At last, he spoke up again.
“I meant it when I said that this will be a drain on your time and your energy. Even putting the question of funds aside, you do not have an infinite supply of either, regardless of whether you behave as if you do,” he said evenly. “Based on my observations, you already have many responsibilities, and I doubt that you plan to give one of them up to make room for this one. You just plan to add it in on top of everything else and carry on as you have been doing.”
“I know,” she admitted, looking down at the ground. “I know that I have a lot to do, and that people are depending on me. Tata is also depending on me,” she insisted. “If I don’t help her, then who will?”
“No one,” he answered flatly, his voice very quiet.
“Then she’ll die!” Demi pointed out, distressed.
“And sometimes that happens,” Aelfric said, then pressed his lips together thinly. “If you take on too much, you are likely to fail at everything, fail everyone, and you will hurt yourself badly in the process.”
“But I want to do what I can—” Demi said, trembling as she held on desperately to his arm.
“You cannot keep others warm by setting yourself on fire,” he said sharply. “You should not.”
Demi winced, ducking down against his arm.
They both stood very still. She was still trembling.
Previously, this would have certainly triggered an asthma attack.
Finally, she heard a soft sigh and then she felt something gentle against the crown of her head.
She looked up, her face flushed and tears standing in the corners of her eyes.
Aelfric was gently stroking the top of her head, as if she were a small kitten.
“I understand that you want to help her,” he said quietly. “I will do what I can to support you in your efforts.”
Demi sniffled, and then nodded slowly. He kept stroking her head and she leaned against him. They stood that way quietly for a long time.
At last, Demi’s breathing slowed and she felt as if she could face the world again. She rubbed the dampness from the corners of her eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Now,” she said, showing him her smile. “Let’s go back and you can teach me all about making soil compresses.”
“Mm,” he replied, and they walked on.