Theon propped his office door open and returned to his work with a clear view of his patient from his desk. The healer worked in the quiet, his only company the soft scratch of his pen on paper. There was a soft knock on the door before it opened enough to reveal inquisitive young eyes. Theon smiled and the boy entered. The kidnapped children had all been taken to the temple after their interviews the day before, and their families had been notified. This was, surprisingly, the only child who had no family to go to.
"Hello, I suppose you heard that the lady you rescued was here," Theon said with a smile. The boy nodded. "She is resting but you can sit quietly in the room as long as you don't bother her."
The boy smiled at him for the first time before walking through his office and sitting in a chair facing Theon, as if to prove he wouldn't interfere with the sleeping young woman. Theon was actually working on the paperwork for the twenty younglings and the protections that would be put in place going forward to keep them safe from the same recriminations that Kiava was recuperating from.
He was preoccupied for over an hour before he turned his attention back to the two in the infirmary. The boy had fallen asleep and his head was slumped on the side of her bed. Theon went and redeposited the youngling in the bed next to Kiava, relieved that it didn't wake him.
A quick check of her status showed there was no further damage. He sat on an empty chair and rubbed his temples. He honestly did not want to think about what would have happened if Silas had held off telling them that she was under threat. Though he also understood why he held off until he knew she was also Archeus' savior.
His knighted friend was the head investigator in the human trafficking case and as far as he knew the only person to ever encounter Miss Kiava was Theon and Silas, and why would the duke and mage care that she was in danger? He had his men looking into it and he himself could not ignore an appointment with a duke, friend or not. Besides, he had been the most reluctant of them all to allow Archeus an official role in the investigation since his kidnapping.
Not that Silas would be able to keep Archeus out of it now. It's not as if every mage walking around could dispel entropy spells like the High Mage. So far they had used illegal spells to overcome the wills of their victims temporarily - an act they had twenty-one witnesses to - and now they also had proof of entropy spell use.
The human trafficking in the capitol had gone from a persistent irritation that had proven difficult to eradicate to a full infection of criminal pestilence. As a healer Theon knew the only way to end this matter was to drain the infection, but that did not change the fact that his friends were in for some persistent violence. Not for nothing, he was glad to be finished with his necessary field work. He wasn't a huge fan of violence - he was blessed by the god of love, not war, after all.
A knock at the door turned his attention as Luka entered the room. "Hi, my brother sent me a message that his savior was here."
"She's resting right now."
"Yeah, I figured something must've happened, not that he told me what it was." Luka rolled her eyes as she sat down in an empty chair and looked at the sleeping boy. "Who's the little one?"
"Another that calls Miss Kiava savior," Theon explained with a grin. "She's been in the city less than a week and has twenty-one rescues under her belt already."
Luka seemed impressed but it quickly faded to boredom. "Is she going to be asleep for long?"
"She almost died, so it's likely she will be resting until she gets hungry," he chuckled. "What did your brother tell you, exactly?"
"That his savior was with you at the infirmary and that I should head over immediately." Luka sighed. "He was probably also worried about me. Now that Archeus is back safe I think he is more worried about me being the next one to disappear."
Theon didn't argue with the teen because he agreed. His mage friend was fiercely protective of Luka and the safest place for her when everyone else was busy was here at the temple. Still, Theon had strapped his twin daggers about his waist. They wouldn't be necessary, but Theon was positive that Archeus would appreciate the show.
"You know that paladins are more scary than you can ever be, right Theon?" Luka drawled from her seat, unimpressed with his weaponry. "I mean, I even know how deadly you can be and I still think you look silly."
"Shut up, Luka." Theon ground out, noticing that the young boy had woken up and was watching them with great interest. The boy noticed Theon's attention in turn, offering an innocent smile and a thumbs up.
"Why do I feel like you're mocking me too?" the healer bemoaned in a voice of long suffering as he fell into an empty seat and held his face in his hands dramatically.
Luka snorted at the theatrics but a small warm hand patted his back gently after several moments. Theon looked up and smiled at the child before scooping him up and tossing him in the air, catching him and then setting him on the floor safely. The boy's face was flushed and he was smiling widely, but he didn't laugh aloud. He instead bounced and jumped up as he lifted his arms. Theon complied and threw the child again, deciding to send a note to the kitchen to increase the density of the boy's food - he was small for his age.
Luka watched their antics with a grin. "This is the most lax sickroom I've ever been to,"she teased. "What if the patient sees you?"
"She'd be impressed he could catch a child that size so many times without his arms falling off." A voice laughingly responded from the bed. Three sets of eyes turned to the patient as one. "Hello? I'm sorry, but I'm really hungry." As if summoned by those words her stomach growled loudly.
"I'll send word to the kitchens," Theon said as he went to his office, using the internal communication device to order easily digestible foods for the young woman who faced entropy and lived. Behind him he heard her softly bemoan that she was probably going to get porridge. He grinned with his back turned, because she was right.