Completed [Opal Healing Tents] Time To Look Forward

[Taylani]

Time Stamp 32 Fall 513

The evening light was golden as the Tent City Endrykas, the daily move finished and the peoples finishing up their days before heading in to their pavilions. Horses whinny in the distance as bonded Drykas care and settle their striders in for the evening. All of which was normal for life in Endrykas as Taylani has had reason to learn. Moving quietly, not sneakily just with little to draw attention to herself, the former Dancer rounded the healing tent within the Opal clan pavilions. She noted the distinctive color patterns that denoted it as opal though she cared little for such identifiers.

Taylani stopped outside the tent, to work up her nerve to enter, red hair still loose and stubbornly free of braids or beads. Her dress was still the plain one she had wore the day she had been kidnapped, though she had purchased a newer set of clothing since. They looked too Drykas for her comfort, and only wore them when Fallan insisted she work on riding.

Butterflies were in her stomach, because the reason she was outside this place would leave her more vulnerable to the Drykas then she ever wanted to be. However Taylani knew that it was a necessary evil, if she wanted to ensure her chances of returning home. Remembering the last time she had been held against her will inside one of the Drykas healer tents, when she was kidnapped and examined like a horse one was considering purchasing, caused a flush to rise in her cheeks. However this would not be the first time Taylani has found herself having to do something that was shaming and, she feared, it would not be the last. So she dredged up the pride, stubbornness, and yes some bitterness as a shield around her heart and lifted her chin, ducking beneath the flap and entering.

[Waisana]

There wasn't a lot for the young healer to do. Few Drykas had come into the tents today for the treatment of ailments and they had been older men, scoffing at the idea of her coming near them. There had been only one emergency communicated through the web and that had been dealt with by an older more experienced healer. Waisana would never get any better if they didn't even let her help them with patients. 

The idea that she should be off finding a husband seemed to be forefront in the minds of her fellow healers. They were of the opinion that she was approaching the age where she should start popping out children. She was not a baby making machine and she didn't want to have children yet. She wanted to heal but everyone seemed to think that she was too young for such thoughts and should wait a few years. In other words, she should take up healing when she was no longer fertile. Sometimes people's attitudes made her feel like one of those captive women brought to Endrykas for the sole purpose of reproduction.

A woman entered the tent. Waisana's eyes instantly snapped to hers and then glanced around to see if any other healers were about. There weren't. Feeling pleased with herself, she strode forward to greet the woman, taking in her appearance as she did so.

The healer had seen her before being led around by a Drykas man. Her eyes widened as she realised that this woman had been a captive, sold as a "wife". It was strange that she should choose that moment to walk into the tent as Waisana had been thinking about the captive women...

"Can I help you?" she asked in Common, doubting that the woman would know much Pavi.

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[Taylani]

Startled, Taylani hadn't expected quite so young of a person to be manning the tents. Perhaps the girl was an assistant, or someone who helped keep the people coming to the tents in some orderly fashion, but a quick look around showed that there was no other person in the general vicinity. Another surprise was the common, most of these people seemed to assume she should know basic Pavi and flooded her with the gestures and words that were so foreign yet now slowly -painstakingly slowly!- starting to work themselves into tid bits, scraps of understanding.

"Uh.." Taylani stammered just briefly, before stiffening her spine and not letting her normal sense of decency undercut her purpose for being here. "Yes." All the while Taylani cursed her fair skin as the pink flush suffused her cheeks and into her neck, looking back toward the flap of the tent. "Are you, that is do you know medicine or do I need to come back?"

The red head stopped again, looking once more at the flap, before she looks around the inside of the healing tent. Taylani bit her lip, watched the younger girl with a mix of wariness and awkward silence before she just spilled the reason she was here, "I have a need to ..I need to become pregnant." The words tumbled from her lips in a rush, and her face ducks down in an attempt to hide the fact that the flush that already bloomed there turning a deeper shade of red. This was much more difficult then she had imagined it would be, but Taylani had made it almost a full sixty days in captivity much of that time spent embarrassed in one fashion or another so this was simply one more thing to endure. "I mean. There is reason for some speed in..in becoming pregnant. "

[Waisana]

The woman's surprise was evident. She hadn't expected someone of her youth to be in here. On closer inspection, she decided the other shouldn't be that surprised as she was fairly young herself. She could only be a few years older than her yet she had that air about her that said, "I'm only a few years older than you but I'm going to act as if I'm far older than you." 

It was clear that her assessment had been right when the girl asked if she should come back later. In other words, will I come back when there's a "real" healer, she thought. Rolling her eyes, Waisana replied coolly, "I'm a healer despite what you might think. You shouldn't judge by appearances."

Her expression became sympathetic when she saw the teen's embarrassment. Whatever help she'd come seeking help with was something that she was ashamed of asking about. She had probably had to work up the nerve to even come in here, especially as an outsider.

Waisana's eyebrows shot up in surprise when the woman stated her reason for coming. Her embarrassment made sense. Such matters were rarely discussed, even in secret among the women the subject was very nearly taboo. Talking about your role as a baby maker was fine but discussing the mechanics...

"Well it's a good thing that you came in when you did. If you'd come in earlier you would have had to deal with one of the men. This needs care, womanly care. Come and sit." She rested a hand gently on the captive's arm and attempted to steer her to a chair. She murmured words of reassurance that this was a common question (although it wasn't as far as she knew) and that it was nothing to be ashamed of. 

Waisana was mindful of the fact that the woman was like a spooked horse, ready to bolt at any moment, and so she tried to allay her fears.

 

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[Taylani]

At the others' words on judging by appearances, Taylani raises her gaze to meet Waisana's full on. Chagrin mingles with the embarrassment that lingered in her eyes, but she does not speak directly. When the healer put her hand on her arm Taylani stiffened but did not jerk away, her lips compressed into a thin line but allowed herself to be led to a chair.

Sitting, the assurance that the other was indeed practiced in the arts of medicine helped to alleviate some of Taylani's nervous energy, though the flush never quite left her cheeks. For a moment she sat quietly composing her thoughts, unsure of where she should start. "I am sorry for the assumption. With this, topic I wanted to be sure.." Her voice was quiet, but her chin stayed lifted now even if her fingers clenched tightly in her lap. Still she was unsure and unsettled at how to begin this conversation, so she picks the very beginning.

"Regardless of why. I need to give birth, before..." Taylani trails off again trying to find away to express what she needed without going into too much detail. Yet, it is not as if the Drykas were not well aware of what the captives role was. "To be able to go home, I must birth two children. I don't want to be here for the rest of my life...I want to be done." Through her speech her voice had stayed monotonous and steely, though the last phrase of being done held the barest bit of quaver, the most subtlest form of sorrow.

[Waisana]

Waisana was relieved when the woman allowed herself to be led and didn't just run from her. She was certainly skittish enough. The healer wondered what exactly she wanted her to do. The need to become pregnant seemed to occupy her mind but she didn't know whether there was some factor that was preventing her pregnancy or whether she just wanted her husband to leave her alone and saw pregnancy as a solution.

Nodding to show she understood the captive's reasoning, she waited patiently for her to explain her situation and her obvious anxiety. When the answer came at last, Waisana was stunned. She'd actually been given the chance to go home when she fulfilled her duty but the horse maiden felt sorry for her. By the time she had had two children she wouldn't be willing to part with them, wouldn't want to leave and she had no idea.

"I see. So you need to get pregnant in a hurry. What is it exactly that you need from me? Is there some sort of problem?" she queried, gazing at the girl intently, trying to read the answer from her face as if that was possible.

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[Taylani]

Taylani's brow raised at the girls question, and just for a moment her control on her tongue almost failed her. She had to bite back the retort that the problem was she was expected to breed like a mare, she had to bite back the retort that the problem was she was given to a man like a cheap gift. Instead her face scowled but she did not say these things.

"I was hoping that there would be some..way of helping conception." Again the red starts to creep across her face but she does not duck her head or look away. "My mother and father tried most of their married years to have children, they had long given up when surprise I was conceived. My mother was thirty eight years old when she became pregnant for the first time." Taylani fingers finally unclenched in her lap, not because she was less uneasy, but because her fingertips were screaming for the return of blood flow. "I ..can't wait that long."

[Waisana]

The healer nodded to show that she understood and clicked her tongue as she tried to puzzle out the problem. She knew that there were plants that were supposed to increase fertility but she wasn't entirely certain that they actually worked. She also understood that there were circumstances that could reduce fertility and she knew she'd have to discuss it with the young woman so that she was made aware.[/color]

"Well I think that Salialana root is supposed to increase fertility but I don't know if that's a sure thing. It won't make much difference though if there's some reason for lower fertility," Waisana explained, wondering how best to phrase things without causing the woman any more embarrassment. Judging by the woman's flushed complexion it was probably too late for that.

"If you're anxious, particularly about getting pregnant, that can disrupt your cycles and make it more difficult. If there are any problems in your cycle such as irregularity, terrible pains or very heavy bleeding when your time comes then that might point to a problem. I'd rather not have to do this to you but you may need to describe your cycle to me." Her expression was apologetic but she waited patiently for the woman to do as she'd asked.

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[Taylani]

While Fallan was indeed Taylani's first lover, if she could even describe him as that, Taylani was well aware of plotting her cycle and 'fertile' days. Mostly because she and her mother were rather open about such things, due to both their close relationship and Angelia's insistence that her daughter be well informed. So the question was not unexpected, though her blue eyes do dart to the entrance again before settling back on the young girl.

"My cycles have been pretty regular, every twenty-eight days. Definitely not heavy bleeding, more often then not it is very light ..sometimes no more then spotting." Her hand raises to push back the brilliant red strands of hair off her face, taking a deep breath. "Though I am...I was dedicated to learning Dance. I practiced it every day for fifteen years. My dance instructor informed us that some times that can have an affect on cycles.."

Taylani shifted in her chair, perhaps to find a more comfortable position or maybe just to hide fidgeting. This was all going wrong, her entire life turned upside down. Discussing fertility, contemplating pregnancy, these were things she was supposed to share with her mother, with her husband, not with her captors and their people.

"I was taken fifty four days ago. Each day that slips by that I am not pregnant is another day wasted and gone."

[Waisana]

Waisana bit her lip as she contemplated the young woman's plight. She seemed to have a fair understanding of matters, even thinking to mention that she'd been a dancer. There were a few options for the woman she supposed.

"Well regularity is good. When was your last bleed? If you are still due it then there is possibility that you may already be pregnant but that isn't definite. If not, then you need to be in the right conditions to increase your chances. You could perhaps do with putting on a bit of weight, to try to remain relaxed and contented, though it will be hard for you, and you'll probably have to instigate things with your husb- lover," she explained, catching herself before she said husband. The woman wouldn't consider the man who had bought her to be her husband so she would avoid using that word.

This wasn't a subject that she liked to discuss so she took a deep breath to steel herself before continuing. "When you and your lover are abed you must ensure that his seed gets as close to your womb as possible so that it will quicken. You must ensure that not a drop is spilled and it may be necessary to instigate things at every opportunity to ensure his seed quickens. Men do not like the bleeding time so that's best avoided," she told the redhead in a rush, her cheeks warming. The healer didn't like talking about begetting children at all. She didn't want to discuss the mechanics anyway.

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