Ebha had been in the Kitwana'antara now for a couple weeks, she was feeling better now than when she had first learned where she was and why she had to stay. At least, she was determined not to let regret and bitterness consume her. And her health seemed to improve, she wasn't sure if it really had though. She didn't know what she was supposed to think, so she had found herself a healer.
Eione liked to keep busy so, despite being a Duchess and being allowed to idle more than her peers, she spent a great deal of her time tending to the ailing members of the pride. It was only by chance she had met Ebha before, she rather liked keeping track of her. New members were interesting and this one, despite a somewhat rocky start (understandable!) seemed very social now.
"So you've been feeling better?" she asked, walking a thoughtful circle around her patient before stopping and sitting down in front of Ebha, "What symptoms did you have before?"
Ebha watched Eione with interest. She remembered this healer, too. Someone had mentioned she was a daughter of the Queen, making her a Duchess. And she was also a healer, Ebha had seen enough of her around now to know that she wasn't just there occasionally for show either. It was very interesting.
"I think so," she said, "I was sick after I joined, general malaise but mostly aches and pains. I couldn't wander so far at first, it was really tiring. But I feel fine now."
She shrugged.
Eione stayed quiet for a moment, considering the possibilities from here but it was hard to say without giving it more time. It was possible her ailment was in her head but she had a feeling that wasn't it. Ebha didn't seem the type to let her mind get away with her and she had seemed more angry than depressed. Besides, declaring someone immune was not something to be done lightly, even suggesting it could be dangerous. It was definitely best to err on the side of caution.
"It's possible that you're a carrier," she said.
"A carrier," Ebha repeated thoughtfully, trying to remember how it had been explained to her before, "That means I won't get sick but I can still infect others?"
That didn't sound quite as grim as dying a slow, painful death because she had the misfortune to cross the border of this cursed pride. As accepting as she had become, there was no getting that particular sour thought out of her head.
"Not quite," Eione said with a carefully controlled neutral expression, feeling guilty that it was necessary to crush that glimpse of optimism Ebha had been allowed by her suggestion, "Carriers show symptoms of the disease for a short time and after they recover they can still infect others, you're right about that. But they are still more vulnerable to sickness than those who are truly immune, chances are they will still suffer poor health.. but around here, it just doesn't seem so bad."
She offered a weak smile.
Ebha made a face and mulled over the information she was given, it all sounded very familiar now that it had been said but she was paying far more attention now that it was more relevant and she wasn't so focused on the likelihood of getting a fatal, incurable disease.
"So, because I was sick I'm not immune," she said in an uncertain tone, "But now that I'm better, I'm a carrier?"
"Unless you show symptoms again."
Eione said, smiling encouragingly. That was about as optimistic as it could get from here. Ebha was better off staying in the pride, whether or not she got sick again, and waiting for that didn't have to be depressing.
"So now we just wait," she murmured thoughtfully, looking down at Eione's paws. She could be sick or she could be able to make other sick while being more disposed to illness herself, just not this one. Not knowing was worse than this but at least immunity didn't seem to be an option anymore. So she just had to get comfortable, and she was good at that!
"You're immune, right?" she asked suddenly, looking up at the younger lioness critically, "That's why you're a Duchess and not the Heiress?"
Eione was startled by the sudden change in topic, especially since it was such a personal topic. Of course, she knew Ebha was very social and direct.. and it wasn't surprising that she had picked up some of this information. She'd been here long enough to be learning more about how things work even if it had taken this long to stop focusing on imminent death and learn about the other ways disease might affect them.
"Yes, I'm immune," she said, smiling sheepishly, "The Queen must be diseased, to help her empathize with her subjects."
"So why are you a healer?" she asked, without a second thought to how nosy she was being. This was very interesting, she suspected it was easier to be a healer when you yourself were immune but she had definitely seen some rather sickly looking healers around too.
"I don't take for granted that I am immune," she said, pausing to think about her dear, late friend but deciding she didn't want to share that particular detail of her life with a stranger, "You see a lot of suffering and death around here, there's no denying that. I made the decision early that I wanted to help make it easier on those who aren't so lucky."
She noticed the hesitation and guessed there was more to the story but the answer she got was plenty satisfying, she didn't have to push Eione for the personal details that she obviously chose to leave out.
"So, now that we're sure I'm either a carrier or diseased, I'm definitely stuck here, right?"
Eione nodded. They had known for a while that Ebha was almost certainly not immune to the disease, all that really changed now was that she might be a carrier. Either way, she couldn't leave the pride lands for she would certainly take the plague with her.
Stuck wasn't necessarily the best word, but she understood the feeling.
"Yes," she said.
"OK," she said, her tone firm, as if she was convincing herself that this was it. She would stay here, she wouldn't let it get the best of her, not easily, "What now?"
"Make yourself at home," Eione said, putting on a genuine smile, "You've been learning a lot about the pride, now it's time to figure out where you want to fit in. In fact--"
She paused, looking Ebha up and down critically and coming back up to meet her gaze with a careful smile.
"Have you thought about learning to be a healer?" she asked, "I bet you'd be very good at it."
"Me, a healer?" she repeated thoughtfully, letting a long silence fall between them. Ebha hadn't really thought about what she wanted to be, all she'd been good for so far in her life was hunting and that was because she had to be. Now she didn't have to hunt, though she certainly could.. but she'd be doing good, and Eione thought she'd be good at it..
"OK," she said, smiling back at Eione, "We'll start with that, but later you have to show me around now that I can get around."
She smiled. It was difficult not to like Ebha, she was finding out. She nodded over her shoulder and then started walking off in that direction, expecting the bright lioness to follow after her.
"Deal. Let's go make sure you're properly introduced to the right people now, then."
Ebha beamed and followed after Eione.
Fin!