[Fairleaf]

In a quandary over the Elf and his herbs

She watched him as he made his slow way toward the gardens that lay in the back of the Inn. Many of the herbs she had recognized from the hot drink he’d made and drank were in the Inn’s little plot. But some of them, the vervain and the betony, were not.

He favored his left arm, cradling it against his body, she noted as he walked. His fist clenched and unclenched periodically as if he sought to relieve some spasm that passed through it. So too his face, where the red ropy flesh twitched at times, pulling his face into a grimace.

There were other herbs he could use, she thought to herself. Ones she once grew in the gardens she had tended. In the little wooded hillsides to the north, she had seen them growing wild.

While the folk of this area slept, beneath the moonlight and the stars she could gather them. Along with the betony and the vervain he favored. Leave them for him as he lay sleeping.

But no, that would not do. She could not just leave them for him to try out on his own. There were two which were quite poisonous if not used in a proper manner. She would have to decide to speak with him should she gather them for his use.

The thought perplexed her. Perhaps he could get by with what he normally used. She watched as he rubbed his face, trying to ease the pain of the scarred flesh. Already the tincture he had drunk was wearing off.

No, she would bring him the herbs and she would teach him their use. And the One willing, he would keep her secret.