#TheMoonsHindMostWound
2. The Moon in a Sty 豚小屋に宿る月
#FanFiction #TheApothecaryDiaries
#wss366 #MastoPrompt
Basen and Mao passed the guards and entered the inn. The air inside was as noxious as the courtyard had been filthy. This was not a place for Jinshi. Who knew what foul toxins #distilled in this fetid environment?
Mao surveyed the room. Soldiers slept under tables while a worried innkeeper served thin millet stew to the soldiers who were still awake. Seeing the innkeeper’s filthy apron and grimy hands dashed Mao’s waning hopes of being fed. She would skip eating, hungry or not.
The smell of huangjiu and millet wine hung in the air: a sour, stale odor. The fresh smell of recently served beverages was absent. Willingly or not, the troops were sober. The captain of the guard was on top of things, keeping the troops ready for anything.
Basen led her across the floor to the cloth-covered doorway that probably led to the owner’s quarters. A shaman’s #ward against disease was crudely painted on the blanket. Mao had never noticed they did any good, but they did no harm.
Her guild stopped, waving away the two guards standing there. “The Moon Prince sustained a wound in a sensitive place,” he began in a low voice. His mouth tightened. “And for reasons you know, the royal doctors cannot treat this wound.”
Maomao didn’t need the reminder. There were things about Jinshi’s body that were best left unspoken.
“That is one reason we summoned you. You are also the best person to treat a poisoned arrow wound. I needn’t tell you that this is all secret. We are circulating the story that the prince has detoured to a small lake and is recreating there. You have called to keep him company.”
Mao wasn’t happy about being summoned to “keep Jinshi company.” The implications would make her life difficult, but she could deal with that later. She would ask them to change the story. They had wanted her either because of a rare medicinal plant or because a minor official had been poisoned. Either excuse would be better.
Entering the room, she noticed it had been hastily cleaned and a brazier lit to warm it. Jinshi lay pale and still on his travel bed.
She stopped, and the words, “This is bad,” escaped her.
#MicroFiction #TootFic #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP
#ApothecaryDiaries