Pounamu stared at the broken vase, her chest feeling strangely empty as she looked at the pieces. She was still stuck working in a noble’s manor since arriving in Oba, and every moment felt like a blur the more she leaned into the numbness offered to her. Last night was yet another formal event at the manor, the Kahi hybrid dressed in luxurious silks with her hair curled and decorated in pearls and gemstones. Now those curls had fallen into loose waves with only a few of the pearls and gemstones still there, Pounamu feeling barely awake from the late night despite the late morning sun. The accessories she was accustomed to by now, the golden and gemstone bangles on her wrists were something she realized Obans wore a lot with the necklaces hanging at her neck being another thing that differed from the usual seashell and soft woven accessories she wore before coming to this strange country. This new feeling now was odd, her fingers were decorated with something crimson as she rubbed them together. Ah, blood. That’s what this was. Pounamu shook her head to try to clear the fog as she gathered up the pieces and threw them into a bucket that a maid had left behind for cleaning. “I’m sorry.” She murmured, frowning as she made certain all of the pieces were swept up accordingly.

“Don’t apologize.” A soft voice whispered, a petite Matori and Oban hybrid appearing beside her as she stood there. “You hurt yourself.” The girl pursed her lips, ripping up a cloth and taking Pounamu’s hands into her own. “Here.” She wrapped the fingers tightly and gave them a light squeeze, the pain finally registering more with Pounamu now that pressure had been applied to the cuts. “She’ll be angry if you get scars so you have to try to heal quickly, okay?”

“I know.” Pounamu’s expression faltered as she tried to piece everything together. “I just got lost.” She had been doing better, but then last night she hadn’t been careful enough and the soup hadn’t been quite right. So it was really hard to get through the fog today. Still, the girl in front of her was genuine and kind enough that Pounamu easily allowed her to guide her down the hallway towards her room.

“Do you remember leaving?” The girl asked quietly as she helped Pounamu towards the bed, allowing her to sit there while she prepared warm water and healing ointment to clean the wound better. “Keep holding onto your fingers to help stop the bleeding, I’ll work on getting this ready with real bandages for you.”

“I don’t.” Pounamu admitted quietly. “I think I fell asleep at some point and woke up in the hallway. I stumbled while wandering and knocked over the vase.” At least she was up here in the quieter area of the manor and not by the guest rooms. She probably had been trying to get to her room before passing out last night, the guards more relaxed on the upper floors since there was no easy escape from the closed windows up here. Everyone was so distracted with cleaning up and the other situation that she had simply slipped away as usual. The thought brought a small smile to her lips, Pounamu finding it amusing somehow as she tried to focus. “Still, thank you.” She offered, allowing the girl to carefully wash her fingers with her blood mixing into the clear water that was in the bowl. Pounamu watched the swirling red as it mixed in, her gaze focusing slowly over time as she started to wake up more. “If anyone else…”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re fine.” The girl managed, sitting back once she finished washing Pounamu’s fingers and bandaging them. “I can bring you some real food, but then I’ll probably be caught up in lessons for the day.”

“Ah.” Pounamu nodded, her stomach rumbling at the thought. At first she had thought to decline, but the twisting in her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since that sip of soup yesterday afternoon. “Food sounds good. What about the broken vase though?”

“I’ll handle it too.” The girl smiled as she reached over to pull a blanket around Pounamu’s shoulders. “Just sleep and I’ll leave the pastries on the table.”

“Thank you, Arunika.” That was right. That was her name. Pounamu smiled warmly as she watched the younger hybrid slip through the doors, knowing that out of everyone here that girl was one of the few she could truly trust. And she was thankful for that because at the moment all the Kahi could do was lay down and sleep, she was simply too exhausted for anything else.

[793]