Herbs and Alchemy Ch. 01

Jayla had finally settled in to writing her request after stalling for several days. The study was as clean as it as going to get, the garden was planted, and she'd fixed everything on the wagon. She had new quills, fresh scribe's ink, the best parchment she'd been able to find in town, and three scratch tablets to pen things out before using the good paper.

The school's medical curriculum was much more focused on minerals and alchemy, herb lore was being neglected. She'd run into two recent graduates lacking necessary medical knowledge. She requested the students be required to copy the herb lore scrolls as part of their curriculum. She had copies of several other requests for other departments and was focused on phrasing her letter as precisely as possible; the masters were dismissive at best, even with six years beyond the basic education and having taught for two she expected to be ignored; hence going out of her way to make the letter's appearance as high end as possible.

Two copies on clay, read twice, write onto the parchment. Next sentence, repeat. She was half a page in when her focus was shattered by a clash outside in the street, yelling, and a struggle. More yelling.

Jayla tried to work through it, but after almost misspelling a word on the precious parchment she'd had enough. This was a school damnit, and the sports arena was on the other side of town. She carefully put the pen into it's holder and went out to shut down the ruckus.

Two humans were laying in the street, one with a mace, one with a sword. The sword guy had his hand over a rather impressive cut on his arm.

"People are trying to study! Are you DUELING? Go to the damn arena for that!" She snapped.

"That bloody orc stole a ration card and attacked us!"

Orcs. Not native and not trusted by most of the locals. Fair dues, they weren't known in human communities for much save mercenary work. Jayla knew the orcs had scholars and abilities that easily rivaled that of humans, but good luck convincing anyone they were just as smart as everyone else.

"What orc?" She demanded.

"This orc." A deep voice came from behind her. She spun.

Yeeah, that was an orc. He stood about 20 feet away, was unarmed and uninjured, wearing a leather vest, leather pants, a belt with multiple pouches and no shoes to speak of. His sage green skin was smeared with dust and a fine sheen of sweat. Maybe two other times in her life she'd been this close to an orc, once she was treating for battle injuries, the other was at court, there had been several in line wanting to settle a land dispute on the South border. She'd never stood close to one that was standing up. He was nothing short of intimidating until she saw the look on his face, which seemed to be pleading.

"You must be Tharo Stonehammer." She'd heard they'd allowed an orc to attend classes and knew he wasn't going to have an easy time of it. He looked older than she'd expected. "Did you take a ration card?"

"I was issued one. I caught these two around the corner attacking a boy. I intervened."

"Where's the boy?" Jayla had no desire to deal with any of this, she just wanted to get back to her letter.

Tharo's expression darkened; "He ran off when I came after them."

"Listen, I'm doing some important work in there and lives are at stake. I don't care who's lying to me, bugger off and take your problems elsewhere, all of you." Jayla snapped.

The two men said something about getting the constable, and Tharo's scowl made her realize this was not someone she wanted mad at her. "You're lucky, where I'm from harassing a child comes with retribution, and punishment for not acting to protect one."

Jayla felt a knot of fear quickly get replaced by self-righteous indignation "I've saved a lot of children, Stonehammer. Right NOW I'm trying to make sure the students have the knowledge they need to do the same. If you've ever been up to your shoulders in blood it was to make more work for people like me. Now go back to the dorms or barracks or whatever." She regretted saying it as soon as it was out, her credibility was on shaky ground to begin with, she didn't need reports of her harassing the students.

He looked startled for a moment, then gave what she thought was a smirk, it was difficult to tell around his tusks. "Miss Thorntrail. I should have known. I was told you were a bit of a battleaxe. I'll see you at orientation."

"You're studying medicine?"

He made some low grumble she thought passed for a chuckle. "No. You will not be having me as a student. We will be sharing the apothecary though. Sorry to interrupt your..." He waved a massive green hand toward the door "whatever." He turned and started walking away, glanced back and said "I'm an alchemist."

Jayla felt as though the earth had fallen out from under her. She turned toward the swordsman, looking for a distraction, something to ground her. He was now standing and holding his wound. "Come in, let's get that taken care of." She opened the door for him and he shuffled toward it. "You too. " She said to his friend. "Leave your weapons by the door."

She gave the guy with the mace a quick examination, he had a bump on the back of his head but nothing serious, though she assured him he'd have a headache for a couple of days. She grabbed two mugs and dropped some willow bark and wild ginger in, took the kettle from the fireplace and filled them, topping it off with some brandy from a flask on the shelf. "This will taste pretty bad, but it will help with the pain. Wait a few marks and drink it."

She got out the needle and gut for the swordsman; if you could call him that, she thought. After all, his opponent had been unarmed. He balked.

"Let me see it, trust me, I won't stitch you if it doesn't need it." He was visibly shaking. The man was fairly big, but looking at his terrified expression she realized he couldn't have been more than 17 winters. Thankfully the wound was shallow. She washed it with a plantain tea, patted it dry, put a honey poultice on it and wrapped it. He continued to tremble and would hiss through his teeth during the process, though she was being gentle.

"If this doesn't stop bleeding by curfew you need to come back here and we'll stitch it. Otherwise return in two days and I'll give you a fresh bandage. If you don't do as I say you could lose your hand, understand?" She looked sternly into his watering eyes.

He nodded.

"All right. Drink your tea. All off it. Now." She snapped. They hurriedly downed the mugs, wincing at the taste. "Now get out and mind your business. If I hear you've been harassing anyone else you'll be reported and banished."

"But..." The mace-wielder said.

"Shut up, lets go." Snapped the other one. They grabbed their weapons and left.

You're welcome. Jayla thought. She sat back down in front of the parchment, her concentration completely shattered. Alchemists. ORCISH Alchemists. They're going to teach him alchemy so he can bring it back to his tribe, the next border skirmish will not be in our favor. Why would they agree to this? She sighed, got up and took a swig of her brandy.

The next morning after a quick wash she went to deliver the finished request to the Master's office, only to pass Tharo on the way out the door, he was wearing a loose linen shirt, belt, leather pants and simple boots, it seemed strange after seeing him and most orcs showing a lot more skin. He nodded "Miss Thorntrail."

"Mister Stonehammer." She said, almost hitting the door on the way in, whether it was maneuvering around him, staring, or just that she was nervous already, she ended up stumbling into the Master's office.

"Miss Thorntrail." The School Master was a bald, gaunt man approaching his seventh decade. He immediately registered as a soldier, though diplomacy and language had been his areas when he was teaching. "Close the door." He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers, eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Master Cooper, I am here to p..." He waved her quiet.

"I hear you ran into some trouble with Mr. Stonehammer." Taken aback, she'd had a speech ready, the interruption had her flustered.

"It was handled."

"Presumptuous of you. He injured two of my students."

"He claims they falsely accused him of stealing a ration card and were attacking a child. I believe him."

"Ah, yes, a known pickpocket, I'm told. One was injured badly enough he won't be able to continue his studies for the summer." His expression was darkening.

"Horseapples!" She covered her mouth at her outburst. "Apologies. I treated the wound myself, it didn't even need stitching. If it doesn't go green he'll be fine in a month."

Silence stretched for a bit, he studied her face, picked up a quill and tapped it on the desk. "So what do you think of having an Orc here?"

She swallowed, Tharo was a bit rough, but he had a hard enough row to hoe. The Schoolmaster would know if she tried to lie. "I'm fine with them as students, though I think teaching orcs alchemy could give us a disadvantage if there are any more conflicts."

"Noted. We are told by the Royal Court that he was banished from his tribe and is loyal to the kingdom. He proved himself in the battle at Slackwater."

"Well that's a relief." She hadn't meant for it to sound sarcastic but the Schoolmaster's raised eyebrow indicated otherwise.

"Miss Thorntrail, since you will be sharing the apothecary with him and the other alchemists, do you see him as a threat?"

She wrinkled her brow, not understanding.

"To the women."

"What? No, of course not. Less so than the other men. I didn't think Orcs would be interested in ... other species."

"You are naive. There have been many reports..."

She shrugged, tamping down frustration and anger at being condescended to yet again. "Any issues of that nature will be handled as well as they are with human men, I'm sure." THAT was sarcastic. She'd had enough. "I don't want to take too much of your time, here is my request for some additions to the curriculum, please consider them for all our sakes." She put the rolled parchment on his desk and slipped out the door as quickly as she could, closing it behind her.

Tharo was right outside the door, cleaning his nails with a knife. "Evesdropping?" she whispered and kept walking, he followed, not saying anything until they were outside the building.

"Jayla." He rumbled.

She stopped dead. She rarely heard her first name.

Tharo came around in front of her, his hands reached toward her, clenched into fists and dropped to his sides. He looked at the ground. "Thank you."

She softened, realizing he'd wanted to hug her. She patted his arm "You've got a harder road than most. But I was only honest." She walked away before it got awkward. He was making her nervous. Most people avoided her unless they were injured, and while he seemed to be making an effort to be less intimidating, his presence caused a physical reaction she wasn't comfortable with. She made a mental note to examine that a little closer.

School started and the next few weeks meant constant work, herb gathering, and some chemistry.

Tharo's victim did find his way back and everything was healing well.

Tharo and three other alchemists had the other half of the building, which was one big room. There were two studies and her bedroom in the attic upstairs. The previous building for alchemists had been perhaps a quarter the size and had burned down the previous year. After the first week they all agreed to build a second fireplace for her side. They were also considerate enough to keep the metalwork outside of her class times. Tharo's appearances became routine and she found herself relaxing in his presence a little more. He left her alone unless he had a question.

Her request for the curriculum change was granted, and she somewhat regretted making it as suddenly she had two classes totaling thirty students, all crammed into her half of the room when she was teaching preparation. Initially they spent a lot of time on the edge of town identifying and gathering plants, so it was two weeks before any of them saw the orc in her classroom.

The first day they saw Tharo, Jayla heard a gasp while showing them how to get the most out of plant extracts, "That's an orc!" One whispered shrilly. They clustered away from him like sheep, never mind he was 30 feet away.

Jayla sighed noisily. "OK, all of you stop it right now. Pay attention." She strode toward Tharo. "Tharo, can you come here please?" She pointed to the ground right next to her.

He looked terrified. He hunched a little and padded over to her. He stopped about four feet away. Jayla closed the gap and put her hand squarely on his arm and faced the students. "Class, this is Tharo Stonehammer. He is studying alchemy. He is here with an endorsement from the royal courts." The orc raised his hand and waved. "He shares this building with me, Master Gillard and Master Corish, so you will be seeing a lot of him. Get over it NOW. You need to keep a cool head in this business." She patted his arm again, briefly enjoying the feel of his bicep under his rough shirt. "Thank you Mister Stonehammer, sorry to interrupt." The orc nodded and went back to his table. The students seemed to calm down.

Once everyone had left, Jayla was cleaning up and putting her pestles away, she heard a cough ten feet away. She turned and faced him. He looked slouchy again, a weird submissive posture that she could tell was affected. "Tharo, stand up straight, pretending to be small makes me more nervous than you being at full height."

His Jaw dropped, his voice was high with outrage, eyes wide and yellow, "I CANNOT win! I try not to scare people and I scare people! ARGH! I should just go back to the front lines!" He shook his fists.

Jayla dropped her face to one of admonishment. "You do you. If you're intimidating, own it. Don't be fake, they'll be on you like vultures."

His eyes narrowed, "You mean like you're a bitch?"

Her jaw dropped at his audacity until she saw the corner of his mouth twitch upward. She recovered and grinned, "Yes, like I'm a bitch."

He had a soft smile if you could get past the tusks, "Bitch, would you like to join me for an ale when you're done?"

She managed to keep from stammering, but it meant a long pause before she could answer "I would. Just give me a slow count to thirty." She turned and had to put her hands on the table a moment to quell the rising panic in her chest, her heart hammered. She focused on the equipment, finished putting everything away, pestles rattling on the shelf as she was trembling, and hung up her apron.

He'd been watching her the entire time. Leaning against the door jamb, arms crossed. She went out into the evening light, they stood next to each other for a tense moment, she took a deep breath. In a move that took a ridiculous amount of courage, Jayla put her hand around the inside of his elbow. "All right Mister Stonehammer, where are we going?"

Tharo looked well pleased and put his hand on hers to keep it there, "The Green Harp all right? I like the chairs, they fit me."

She shrugged, she'd been there once or twice. It was a little higher end, velvet seat cushions and wines you could spend a month's wages on, but more reasonable drinks as well. Certainly not somewhere one would expect to find an orc, but definitely where one might find an academic. "Lead the way."

The Green Harp was just two blocks away. Tharo disengaged and opened the door for her "Grab the spot in the corner, I'll get us drinks. Ale all right?"

"Sure." She went in, the place was moderately full but the small table he spoke of was available. She sat down, he went to the bar and held up two fingers. The bartender pulled two massive tankards and handed them over, leaning to watch where he went with them, and looked mildly surprised when he sat down across from Miss Thorntrail.

Jayla suddenly found herself blushing furiously when she caught herself admiring his muscular backside, coupled with the room going quiet and everyone staring at them, even the musician had stopped playing. She glared at the other patrons indignantly as Tharo slid a tankard toward her.

"You'd think we were the most interesting thing here." she hissed.

He grinned, which was delightfully terrifying, she noted he had four upper fangs as well as three inch lower tusks; "We are." he said quietly, looking back at the room. She noticed he had a little gold earring at the top of his right ear, which came to a short point. She could see the pulse by the tendon in his neck when he turned his head. The skin there looked enticingly soft.

She took a sizeable swig from her mug and stared, wide-eyed at the rough wood on the table. What was happening to her?

"Apologies if being seen with me tarnishes your reputation." He rumbled.

She almost snorted ale, "I'm a bitch, remember?" She flashed a close-lipped smirk.

His yellow eyes lit up. "To bitches." He raised his mug and held it out to her.

"To bitches." She tapped it with hers, noticing only three of his fingers fit in the handle. What the hell is wrong with me?!

He settled back in the chair, his shirt outlining the shape of his massive chest rather nicely. STOP IT! Jayla made an effort to sit up straight and keep her chin high. Be normal be normal be normal. "So...?" She asked, ultimately no one had EVER just wanted to just hang out with Jayla.

"So. You do a lot of foraging east of town."

"Mister Stonehammer!" She gasped in mock outrage. "Have you been stalking me?"

A downright mischievous smirk, "No, but if you want me to..." He tilted his head.

Having no idea what to say to that she lowered her head again, flustered. Weren't planning to go THAT far, were you? She chided herself.

Thankfully he redirected the conversation, "In your foraging, have you found any goldroot?"

"I wouldn't want to give away my secret patches. How much do you need?" Goldroot wasn't widely used, it was pretty, but it tasted bad. It was supposedly good for heart and breathing trouble.

"A lot. A half pound to start."

"That is a lot. What for?"

"The extract reacts with alcohol, and..." He waved his hand dismissively "Alchemy stuff."

"Well that's going to pique my curiosity."

"I came across a recipe that is meant to instill courage in soldiers."

"Courage or fearlessness?"

Tharo held up a massive finger; "Good point. Probably the latter. Are you willing to help? The only other place I think I can get it is a week's ride to the coast."

Jayla took a deep breath, "Having something like that available has implications, I don't know if I want to be involved."

"It's just for research at this point, I wasn't going to use it in the arena." She tilted her head and scowled. He put his hands up, "OR give it to anyone else to use in the arena. Only for war."

"All right. Give me a few days, I can't promise I can get that much."

"I'm happy to help dig it. When are you going out?"

"No." She felt anxious. Being alone in the woods with him... The way her body seemed to be reacting at the moment it wasn't his behavior she was worried about.

"Suit yourself." He shrugged and they were silent for a bit. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet."

"No, for introducing me to your students and coming with me tonight." He swallowed noisily and scratched at the table, "It's been really hard." His voice was a little choked.

Jayla wanted to hug him and kiss his big bald green head. She straightened instead, putting forth an air of strength, "We aren't here to fit in, Tharo. We're here to make a difference. You should be used to this."