I was called to heal the Young Lady of the Arkesh household two days after her Magi Circle Ceremony. When I arrived I was told that she had collapsed after the Ceremony, slept for almost an entire day, and had only woken up on the evening of the following day.
I asked questions about how she ended up in that state, what exactly all her injuries were, and why they waited to call me for almost two days.
No one wanted to give me any straight answers other than 'she has cuts on her palms' and 'she passed out immediately following the Ceremony.'
I am livid. There's no reason to keep a child from being treated for two days like this. If there was something serious that happened while she was unconscious for so long, then it would be too late to help her at this point.
"I'll need to see the patient immediately before she eats any more food than she already has. If she has internal damage feeding her could make her worse. I don't think she does based on what I've heard, but there's still a risk."
"Of course Healer Yumi, I'll take you there right away."
"And allow me to speak to the officiator of her Ceremony."
"That won't be possible."
The voice of Duke Arkesh interrupted me before I could leave his office.
"Duke Arkesh, my apologies, but if I'm not allowed to speak to the officiator, then I'm not treating your daughter. If anything happened to that girl that I need to be aware of and you withhold that information, that child could very well be killed by any treatment I perform."
He paused. He's thinking about this. This man is actually thinking about risking his daughter's life to keep something a secret. If I didn't think I could help this girl, I would have already walked out. I hate nobles, every last one of them.
He turns to the older butler who escorted me here and who oversaw answering my questions and bringing me the things I needed.
"Trevor, send a message to Mage Reginald to come back, make sure he's told to hurry and that he will be sufficiently rewarded for his haste."
He then gave me a pointed glare. I know that at this point I'm putting my life on the line to continue working with him, but I don't want this girl's life to be on my conscience.
"You will do your utmost to make sure she's treated and recovering before you leave, and you will also keep anything you hear here secret, at the cost of yours and your family's lives, by order of the King."
This is more serious than I thought, but I don't care about the King's orders, I only care about what I can do for this girl.
I was escorted by another servant to the Young Lady's room immediately following our discussion, and I was fast enough to make it before her first meal.
I healed the palms of her hands, and then did a cursory check of the rest of her body with my magic, keeping that fact hidden by using two circles over her palms instead of just the one necessary for healing.
She's fine, for the most part. She has magical exhaustion, is malnourished, and sleep deprived, but otherwise okay. I'll need to speak to Mage Reginald to find out if there's more and then to the Duke about her care.
I go to leave the room, but before I get too far, I pull the maid in charge of her care to the side.
"Make sure the Young Lady eats something healthy, I'll be working with the Duke regarding her diet soon. Keep an eye on her behavior as well. If she seems too lethargic, immediately report it."
"Yes Healer Yumi. The Duke has already ordered that her food be increased and monitored. Are there any other instructions?"
"Don't let her do anything exhausting, and make sure she gets plenty of rest. I'll be back to check on her soon."
She appeared to take what I told her to heart, so with that I left to go to the sitting room on the first floor to wait for Mage Reginald. I informed the servant who was escorting me to let the Duke know of my whereabouts.
Not two hours later a disheveled and tired Mage came rushing into the room.
After getting his bearings he finally managed to spit something out.
"Oh, thank the Gods that someone sensible was sent as a healer. I've heard you're one of the best in your field and judging by everyone's actions already, that's probably true."
"I'm not in the mood for flattery Mage Reginald, just tell me what happened. You don't have to divulge the Kingdom's secrets if they won't affect her care."
"Okay, but you don't understand how ridiculous this situation is. First, it's true that the only thing that happened to her was that she collapsed after her Magi Circle Ceremony, probably because of magic exhaustion." His expression was grim, and he was anything but calm about this.
"I've already confirmed she has magic exhaustion, so that lines up."
"She was also clenching her fists tightly enough for her nails to dig deeply into her palms, cutting them open. You probably know that if you've been to heal her already."
"Yes, that was clear from the uneven cut marks in the palms. If there's anything that I might not already know, please get to the point Mage Reginald." My patience was starting to wear thin, I needed information on anything that couldn't be found with just a magic scan.
"What bothers me is that she was so malnourished when I met her that I was scared to start her Ceremony at all. I brought it up to the Duke, but he was evasive about it and told me to press forward. When I asked around with the servants after her collapse, some of them said they'd never met the girl but heard rumors that she would throw fits and refuse to eat if she didn't get her way. Her body doesn't look like some petulant noble child who just threw a fit to get something she wanted though."
He's confirming my worst fears, but it seems he doesn't have any new information for me.
"I completely agree. I'm staying here to adjust her diet, monitor her health, and help her get back to a healthy weight. If the Duke allows me of course. Are you aware of anything else?"
He gets a little quiet, and then harumphs in frustration, probably with himself judging by his sullen expression.
"No, I'm not. I'm happy that someone can do something, no matter how small it is. That child doesn't deserve the kind of treatment she seems to be getting. She's way too polite and considerate for me to believe she's some arrogant and snobby noble. She certainly hasn't been treated like a noble in my opinion."
"You've heard the rumors of how the firstborn daughters in noble families can be treated. She's only the second one born in her current generation, with the first being expelled from the family's roll not long after her birth."
He grimaced when I brought that up.
"Thank you for your time, Mage Reginald. I'll be reporting to the Duke about my findings and about what I want to do for further treatment. If you have nothing else to add…"
"Yes, Healer Yumi. I hope things go well, and I hope Lady Marisilea can recover quickly."
I'm exhausted already, and I haven't even done any work related to caring for the Young Lady except for healing her palms.
Standing up and leaving the sitting room following Mage Reginald's departure, I headed towards the Duke's office to give my report and detail the Young Lady's possible care. After a few knocks on the door, I heard his stern voice give a firm "Enter."
He's sitting at his desk, shuffling through the papers as I approach. He takes a minute to get things organized before looking up and giving me a nod to report.
"Duke Arkesh, the ladies health is stable, and she isn't at risk of anything serious right now. However, she is suffering from severe malnutrition and her physical health and diet will need to be strictly monitored."
He looks conflicted and maybe a bit concerned. I can't tell what he's concerned about specifically though. Maybe about how having a malnourished daughter would appear in the noble circles? I wouldn't put it past him.
"Okay. Will you be staying here to manage her care?"
I'm utterly surprised that he asked me to do it. I thought, considering how rude I was being, he'd immediately kick me out and look for someone else after he knew what needed to be done.
"I am more than happy to Duke Arkesh. I'll need permission to manage the kitchens and her food, as well as having a room close to hers to monitor her care, if you'll permit me." I give a deep curtsy, hoping to earn back a little of the goodwill I probably lost from my snippish attitude earlier.
"You have my permission. I'll have Trevor arrange a room for you. He'll meet you in the sitting room on the second floor of the north wing when the room is ready. Lizabeth, Lady Marisilea's head maid, will show you around the north wing and the kitchens. You're dismissed."
Can't expect a Duke to spend more than a few minutes on a Healer he called. He's too busy for that. Couldn't even show more than a Gods Damned passing interest in his daughter's health once he knew I was staying. Hopefully I won't have to deal with him too much while I'm here.
The rest of the day was uneventful as I spent it being shown the north wing and the parts of the castle that I would be allowed to venture around while I was here. After all that commotion, I was ready for a long rest.
Apparently that wasn't what the Gods of fates had in store for me though, as I was awoken early in the night by a scream coming from the Young Lady's room.
Rushing over I found two maids standing at the door looking in worriedly. I grabbed one by the shoulder and pulled her aside to get access to the Young Lady quickly and see what was wrong.
Lady Marisilea was slumped over the side of the bed with one arm tangled in the servant bell rope, bent at an unnatural angle. I motioned for one of the maids to quickly come in.
"You gently hold her arm in place while I move her body to ease the tension on the rope. Do not, under any circumstances, allow her arm to move. Only her body will be moving. Do you understand?"
She nodded, her face pale but her attitude compliant. Thank the Gods for well-trained maids.
Shifting Lady Marisilea's body gently, I turned her so that the arm lined up with the shoulder properly before gently lifting her up to ease the tension on the rope. I looked at the maid holding her arm and motioned her to follow my lead.
"Now that there is some slack in the rope, I need you to keep her arm steady while slowly unraveling the rope from around her arm. Don't let go of her arm and keep it supported but unmoving as much as you can. Are you ready?"
She nodded again, and then started to do as I asked. She was pretty adept, and I thought about asking her to help me care for Lady Marisilea while I'm here.
After the Young Lady's arm was free, I lowered her down while motioning the maid to gently follow me. Now that she was finally in a position where she wouldn't risk further injury, I needed to examine her.
With a scan of her body I could tell that her muscles were cramping and the water in her body was greatly diminished. Her malnutrition was probably so far advanced that getting a full normal meal caused her body to react by cannibalizing her own nutrients, including the water she needs to function. I've read about this but never seen it myself. At least I know how to treat it.
I looked to the maid at the door, motioning her to come closer.
"I need you to get me some coconut milk. If you don't have any of that then fruit juice will do, but make sure it's not overly sweet. When she wakes up, I'll need some pumpkin seeds or boiled spinach, so tell the kitchen to prepare those now."
The maid left quickly, so I went to bring Lady Marisilea to her bed. She was so light that I was disgusted. How did it get to this point?
The only thing that matters now, though, is her care.
After a few moments, the other maid returned with some coconut milk, so I propped the Young Lady up and then drip fed it to her. I'll need to slowly feed her this and monitor her body with my magic throughout the night. I can already tell I'm going to be exhausted come tomorrow.