Closed [The White Elk Stables] Sickly Stallion

[Yousef]

3rd day of Spring, 513 AV Ninth bell of the day Tufts of brown hair cover the distraught face of a young man. He was rushing towards the direction of the White Elk Stables, trailing behind him is a limping Eyktolian Desertbred. He passed a few locals eyeing them in concern, but he had no time to stop by them. He had to get help from the one that they call Lusina, and he needed the help fast. Earlier that day, Hassan had refused to get up from his position in front of his tent. Yousef didn’t think much of it for his horse was a stubborn one, often playing the part of the master rather than the pet. But when Yousef noticed the stallion’s swollen looking eyes he immediately inquired for the nearest vet in town. Of his one year’s worth of travelling with Hassan no serious illness had struck him until now. Yousef did make sure the horse was well fed and groomed, but when they arrived to Taldera, it slipped his mind to look for a stable for Hassan to stay in. “I’m sorry Hass,” Yousef whispered while pressing his face to the horse’s neck, “I shouldn’t have made you sleep outside for so long”. Guilt washed over Yousef as he saw Hassan’s nose was runny with clear discharge, he helped his horse up and gradually led him towards the city. Slow heavy steps approached the doors of the Stables, followed by panicky rhythmic knocking. “Hello? Is anybody there?” came a voice in heavily accented Common, “My horse, he needs help.”

[Noblesse]

Lusina popped her head up from behind the horse she was currently attending to when sudden loud knocks rocked the door of the stables. It was soon followed by a plea for help, and Lusina did not waste any time rushing outside towards the distressed call. It did not bode well for the woman to receive people asking for aid early in the morning in an obviously upset voice. It could mean anything. It could mean that an animal might be in grave danger, and she would not allow it whether she had any say in it or not. The first thing Lusina saw upon stepping outside the building was a deeply tanned young man, his lack of proper clothing and his demeanor giving away his status as a newly-arrived visitor. Her eyes moved behind him onto the large black stallion, a breed of horse she had seen so sparingly within the city. “What is it? What’s the matter?” she asked in Common. Lusina slowly walked closer to the horse and upon closer view, immediately noticed that something was wrong with the stallion. Its eyes were quite swollen, and a clear, watery discharge was oozing both out of its eyes and nose. “What do you call him?” Lusina asked as she let the horse sniff her hand and acknowledge her before she continued and stroked its head affectionately. The horse felt very hot to the touch. She nodded when the man told her his horse’s name. “It seems that your horse has caught the flu. Being that it is an incredibly contagious disease, he will have to be put into quarantine so as not to spread it. It's this way” She motioned for the man to follow her after successfully coaxing his horse to move. She led the horse by the lead rope and saw that it had difficulty in walking. It pained her heart to see the horse suffering like that, and she wished that she could take the pain in its place. Lusina, however, knew that the world did not work like that, and so she had to do her best to help the poor horse recover as soon as possible. The quarantine area of the White Elk stables was located at a separate building far from where the healthy animals were lodged. Here, the sick animals are placed in separate rooms each to keep the virus from spreading. Lusina led the horse and its owner to an empty stable, thoroughly cleaned and recently sterilized for use. She tied the horse securely to a post before turning back to the man, a sad smile on her face. “I have not introduced myself yet, haven’t I? My name’s Lusina Frostfawn. I am the lead groom here, so it’s my job to make sure all of the animals in the stable are well cared for. By the way, you don't seem to be from around here. What should I call you?”

[Yousef]

What if she’s not here? What’s going to happen to Hassan? Distressed thoughts revolved in his head as he knocked on the Stable's doors, he knew worrying would do him no good at the moment but he couldn’t help it. Ticks felt like bells as he stood outside the Stables and the heavy snowfall did not help his situation either and Hassan’s shallow breaths only made the Benshira more anxious, his knocking turned heavier and louder. Finally the doors opened, revealing a wide-eyed woman, she looked like she’d rushed to the door herself, concern reflected on her eyes as she laid sight on his stallion. “He’s sick. I-I don’t know what happened, everything was fine until this morning…” Yousef managed a hurried reply. “Please help us.” The woman gave him a nod as she stroked Hassan gently. The horse didn’t even so much as grunt. This is bad, he’s usually so hostile towards strangers. He must be really sick. Yousef’s stomach lurched, he could feel guilt sharp as ice and it only increased as he saw Hassan was now limping helplessly towards around the woman, she turned the horse patiently, waiting for Hassan to catch up. She led them outside the Stables and away from the healthy animals. “His name is Hassan…” he replied in an earnest tone. “We’ve both just arrived here the other day…” he added hastily, hoping it would provide some kind of explanation. Yousef nodded his head solemnly to the woman’s diagnosis. Hassan had caught the flu, and he’d probably made it worse by making him sleep outside. They now reached a separate building which the woman called the quarantine area. This much he understood, when one of their sheep got sick his father would advise him to lead it away from the herd till it has recovered. Expertly the woman guided Hassan inside one of the well kept stables, the horse hesitated at first but went in a few ticks later. Amazing, he thought impressed, his horse was stubborn but this woman knew exactly how to deal with him. She tied the horse’s reins securely to a post before she turned back to him. She’d introduced herself as Lusina Frostfawn, the lead groom. Yousef let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, at least now he knew Hassan would be in good hands, he’d found who he was looking for. “Please call me Yousef.” He said hoarsely as he bowed his head. “I’ve traveled here with Hassan, we’re from Eyktol you see…” he glanced at his horse, his proud stallion now laid down on the hay, exhausted “I-if there’s anyway I could help you, anyway at all… I’m willing to do it. For Hassan.”

[Noblesse]

Lusina had heard of Eyktol before from the stories shared by travelers who came to visit Avanthal, but she had never actually seen one who hailed from the burning sands so very far to the south that braved the frigid climate and managed to reach the everwinter city of Avanthal. If what the young man said was true, then that would mean his horse might be an Eyktolian Desertbred. That would explain why she had not seen the horse's breed very much around the city. “I am really glad that you care for your horse very much, but right now all that we can do is separate him from other horses to prevent the spread of the disease, and to let him rest until he fully recovers.” Lusina furrowed her brows in deep thought as she looked at Yousef, then at his ailing stallion. Usually, she would personally see to a sick animal’s needs to make sure that they are very well cared for, because after all, proper care of a sick animal is what will ensure their speedy recovery. However, this man really cared for his horse like the Frostfawn cared for their animals. He had also expressed strong desire to help for his horse’s recuperation, so Lusina had to take that into consideration. After a few moments, the woman’s lips eased into a small smile. “I suppose it would be best to let you take care of Hassan for today. Do not worry though, I will help you and guide you along the way. This is to make sure that when this kind of thing happens again and you do not have anyone to tend to Hassan but yourself (but I very well hope that it would not happen!), then you would already know what to do in that situation.” She ushered the man closer as she explained. “First, you must know what kind of illness has stricken your horse.” Lusina began, “As I had mentioned earlier, Hassan has caught the flu. I have been repeating this for record time, but a flu is a highly contagious disease transmitted when an infected horse comes into contact with a healthy horse. When that happens, there is usually a period of two to four days before external symptoms start showing up. “You can, however, determine at an earlier time if something is wrong with your horse. The earliest signs of flu includes a slight loss in appetite and depression. It is usually around this time you will be able to notice an abnormal increase of the horse’s body temperature. You will also notice that he is quite reluctant to do any kind of physical exercises, and generally be stricken with lethargy. You should have brought him here when these signs were just starting to show,” the woman clucked, placing her hands on both of her hips, her voice stern. “...but you did not know then, so I will forgive you.” She patted him on the shoulders and shrugged, smiling reassuringly this time. “After that, a clear and watery mucus will start to come out of the horse’s nose. This can also ooze out from the eyes too, as you can see here with Hassan...” Lusina stroked the horse’s forehead before she continued. “The occasional cough will also develop too, and the experience varies from horse to horse. And if you feel here,” she took Yousef’s hand and placed it lightly over the swollen spot between Hassan’s jaw bones. “...you will feel a slight enlargement and tenderness in the lymph nodes over here.” Lusina nodded her head and sighed slowly. “I am just thankful Hassan’s ailments does not seem too serious. You see, if he had shown pain from being touched on his lymph nodes, it might mean he had the Strangles instead. Do not worry though, I will personally look after his condition as long as he is here in the stables, and I will immediately let you know if something comes up.” She smiled kindly, clasping both of her hands in front of her. “Do you have any questions you want to ask before we move on to basic horse care?”

[Yousef]

The Benshira listened silently to the head groom’s examination of his horse’s ailment. His face remained still, but his chest continued to hitch with guilt. Everything Lusina told him felt like a stab to his throat, all the symptoms he noticed and should have done something about—but he didn’t. A voice in his head continued to tell him it was all his fault but he ignored it and fought the urge to break down, he was determined to fix this mess and blaming himself does not help his situation. Lusina took his hand as she explained the cause of the swollen spot between his stallion’s jaws. She let Yousef feel the tender bulge where the horse’s lymph nodes were inflamed, Yousef felt sick. How could he have let this happen? He let his fingers linger on the spot then he traced Hassan’s jawline, until he reached the horse’s muzzle and gave it an affectionate rub. “Sorry…” he murmured to his horse, silently wondering what Hassan would say if he could answer him. Yousef realized that Lusina paused her explanation as he talked to Hassan, feeling himself color he gestured for the woman to go on. And she did, continuing to talk about stangles, and reassuring him that Hassan’s condition wasn’t grave. The Benshira decided that, he liked Lusina. “Do you have any questions you want to ask before we move on to basic horse care?” she inquired, her face reflected concern and haste. She probably wanted to get started with Hassan as soon as possible. For the duration of their conversation he hardly said anything, Lusina must have worried over that, he inhaled deeply and looked up at the head groom. “I’m very thankful you’ve given me this chance Ma’am and I thank you as well for reassuring me about Hassan’s condition…” he paused, trying to recall something about his sheep. “I was wondering how long a horse flu lasted… and how long Hassan would have to stay here…” Yousef sensed that he said the wrong thing, did that make me sound too helpless? He hoped not, because that’s exactly what he felt. He wanted to tell Lusina that he knew how unstable an animal’s diseases were, that there would always be a possibility that there’s more to the flu, would that make me sound arrogant? Rubbing his horse’s ear, he thought of a way to explain himself, so he decided to share his experience with his sheep. The Benshira began, “I’ve had to look after a flock of sheep back at Yahebah, my father was a shepherd you see… and once, a lamb got pneumonia, we had no idea at first. But eventually as the days passed it refused to eat its meals and it stopped playing with the others, it began to cough and have swollen eyes...” Hassan’s shaky breath mingled with his solemn tone, and that was all that could be heard in the large quarantine. “After a few days, we had to take the poor thing away from its mother to avoid it from infecting the other lambs. It took us more than twenty days and almost 150 gold miza’s worth of medicine to cure the little guy… and even after that he managed to infect ten others…” His breath hitched, and he paused for a while—I wonder if I’ll get my message across—finally he continued, “We lost eleven lambs that season.” He related his story with a pained expression, he was nine then, surely the experience was far more painful for him then, when he was a kid. Hassan wasn’t around that time. He wasn’t sure if he did the right thing, sharing a grim memory at a time like this didn’t help them at all. But he hoped Lusina knew what he was trying to say. Yousef cleared his throat, “I’m sorry for that, I know that story was uncalled for, please excuse me… but I’m still wondering how long Hassan would have to stay in quarantine? And if he’d gotten better eventually, wouldn’t he be infected with the other sick animals if he continued to stay here?”

[Noblesse]

The young man had inquired as to how long his horse might have to stay at the stables. Lusina listened quietly as Yousef shared his loss. The kind woman noted that this must be where the young man’s love for animals stem from, and as someone who considered animals like her own children, she felt sad how many die every day from the clutches of sickness. Lusina looked pensive, but after a short while she replied, “Hassan will have stay here for at least thirty days so that he may be able to recover well. If his temperature doesn’t go down after a day or two, he might have to stay longer than that. But really, he will only stay in quarantine until he gains his full strength back. After that, he can stay with the healthier horses at the other part of the stables until you decide to leave the city.” She placed a hand on the forlorn man’s and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I understand how worried you are for Hassan right now, but you have to believe in us. You also have to believe in him. Right now, Hassan is doing his best to fight this disease. All that we can do for now is make him as comfortable as possible while he gets better on his own. “And you do not have to worry about him getting infected from the other sick horses here. As you can see, we do not put them in adjacent stalls.” She gestured for Yousef to step out of Hassan’s stall and look around before she continued, “That keeps them from having any nose contact, which is one way of infecting healthy horses. We make sure to keep the area clean and sanitized to ensure the animals’ speedy recovery, and that includes cleaning up the sick horses’ body fluids on walls and floors. Washing of the hands with soap thoroughly is a must too, because we can transmit the infection from one horse to another, even if we ourselves are not infected. All it takes is just one touch, so I only really allow my people with basic medical training to care for the sick ones. As I have said earlier, the only thing we can do for now is help make him as comfortable as we can. You have to make sure he stays warm and dry. He will have to get lots of fluids as well because they get dehydrated very fast, especially when their temperatures are even higher. Monitor his appetite too, because he needs to get all the nutrients he can to get well fast. Speaking of feeds…” Lusina beckoned Yousef to follow her through the barn until they reached the feed room. She pulled up a wooden wheelbarrow and asked the young man to help her haul out a medium-sized haynet soaked in a large container of water. “Horses with the flu often get very bad sore throats, so soaking their feed will assist in nasal and throat drainage. It will also less likely irritate an inflamed throat. Often, it helps lift their appetites as well.” There were other haynets filled with hay soaked in it, but Lusina only asked for one. Before they left, Lusina went over to a shelf and took a small jar containing a dark, syrupy substance. The two then carted the hay back to the sick horse’s stall, and Lusina let Yousef take over in feeding Hassan. She asked him to spread out all the feed on the floor. Hassan coughed as he was trying to reach down and eat. Lusina sighed, shaking her head sadly. She went over to Yousef and handed him the jar she took earlier. “This is molasses. It’s sweet and really sticky, and it will help soothe irritated throats and lessen his coughing fits. Here, give him some.” She opened the jar and let a copious amount dribble on Yousef’s outstretched palm. “Let him lick it. He would feel a lot better, I’m sure.”