First lessons

by Lina J. Potter

  Aliya didn’t just enjoy medicine; she would have lived in the hospital if they had let her. The doctors all saw her dedication, and they worked hard to teach her everything they knew. By her fourth year, Aliya was doing simple operations unassisted. And it’s a good thing this one will be simple. If one of those horns had gone into his abdomen or punctured a lung, then he’d be out of luck!

  Lily understood that she would need an entirely different set of instruments if she ever hoped to do more complex operations. But for now, a dagger would have to do. The one she was holding was sharp enough to split a hair. There wasn’t much to cut away, but it was hellishly difficult. The patient was overweight, and she didn’t have any wound retractors…

  Lily swore silently that she would go to the blacksmith the very next day and order a full set of medical instruments. Cost be damned! Saving lives was more important than saving money.

  After she finished the last stitches on the abdominal wound, she washed the area again with wine and asked Leif to find some honey. A layer of honey under the bandage as a natural antiseptic will heal that wound in no time. Leif went to ask the tavern keeper for honey while Lily started on the man’s leg.

  Setting the bone will be harder than stitching him up. Normally, I wouldn’t have to do this alone… Lily sighed and got started. She was starting to notice that being overweight had its advantages every now and then. Aliya Skorolenok would never have been able to set the leg bone by herself; she just didn’t have the mass and the strength. Lilian Earton just grunted slightly, and the job was done. She nodded at one of the Virmans. “Hold it just like this.” The pirate obeyed.

  He and the other Virmans were starting to look at Lily with obvious respect. Not because she stopped to help a stranger, but because they saw that she could do extremely useful things with her hands. As warriors, they placed a high value on skilled healers, and she did her work with confidence and decisiveness.

  Once the bone was set, bound, and braced, Lily ran her fingers over the man’s leg as if she were listening for something. Aliya was good at her job. A doctor had once told her that her hands could see like an x-ray machine. She hoped she still had it. Her intuition was silent. Either she’d left it behind in her own body, or the leg was absolutely fine. She wished for a way to make a cast.

  It can’t be done. This brace will have to do the job. He can make a sling when he gets home. For now…

  How glad Lily was that the patient was still unconscious. She periodically checked his pulse and his pupils.

  ***

  “We’ll have to take him with us.”

  “Back to the ship, My Lady?”

  Lily shot him a dirty look. It was no time for humor. “Back to the Pig and Dog.”

  “But why, My Lady?”

  “If we leave him here, he’ll be robbed for sure.”

  “Why do we care? He can die for all it will bother me.”

  “After all the effort I put into patching him up?”

  “I see. So, you were practicing on him?”

  Lily was ready to scream. “Leif, if you don’t have your heroic warriors find a stretcher this very minute, I’ll rip your big ugly head off. Do you understand me?”

  She added a few words she’d picked up from her father before she could stop herself. It worked like magic. The Virmans blushed and began running around. There was no stretcher to be found, of course, so they tied the man to a table, covered him with a cape, and four of them lifted the table.

  Leif carried Ingrid. Lily walked next to her patient so she could keep watch over him. She didn’t look forward to meeting him when he came around. As they walked, she made a mental list of things to buy at the market the next day. I’ll need plenty of medicinal herbs. St. John’s wort, oregano (if it grows here), plantain… The forest will have to be my pharmacy. And we’ll be needing vitamins over the winter. Rose hips, hawthorn berries, cramp bark… I don’t want to lose any teeth due to malnutrition. Lemons, sauerkraut…

  Lily looked up at Leif. Her whole body fought against it, but there was something she had to say…and do.

  “Let’s leave this man at our inn and go back to the market. I need to buy lots more things.”

  Leif shook his head. “There’s no reason, My Lady. We can go in the morning when we buy more animals.”

  “I need more than livestock.”

  “What else is on your list?”

  “Sauerkraut. Berries. Herbs.”

  “To use in healing, My Lady?”

  “Yes. And I need to see the jeweler again.”

  “Helke Leitz, My Lady?”

  The jeweler happened to be waiting for them back at the inn. When Lily walked in, he stood up from the table where he had been waiting and gave a low, respectful bow.

  “My Lady…”

  Lily wanted nothing but to lie down and sleep. Better yet, she wanted to take a bath, lie down, and sleep, but business was business. She gave him a friendly smile.

  “Honorable Helke, wait here for me. I’ll give some orders and change clothes and be back in five minutes.”

  He bowed again.

  Lilian went to her room. She was not particularly worried about the injured man. Leif would find a servant girl to watch over him. She had more important things to do. She took out a new dress to change into and then remembered that she couldn’t unlace the dress she was already wearing without help. It was enough to make anyone use strong language.

  In the end, she had to peek out into the corridor and call for a servant. A young woman dropped what she was doing and ran in to help. Lily was fuming inside. She swore she would find a tailor, or a seamstress, or whatever they were called as soon as possible.

  The pink silk dress was as big as a tank cover. Lily swam out of it and looked at herself. Is it my imagination, or are these dresses getting much too big for me?

  As a medical student, Aliya had read up on metabolism issues and knew not to try to lose the extra pounds too quickly. She supposed Lilian Earton had started gaining weight as a young girl, so it made sense that it would take at least a few years to get it all off. She wouldn’t stress her new body with a starvation diet. Normal weight loss is just a couple of pounds a month. Losing weight too quickly can be a sign of serious illness. And diets are worthless because as soon as you let your guard down, all the weight comes right back.

  She would continue to avoid sweets and fried food and not eat anything after six in the evening. Instead, she would fill up on steamed vegetables and whole grains. Pasta and dessert were a thing of the past. And she would exercise.

  In the end, however, she knew that weight is a highly individual issue, and there was no way of knowing what kind of metabolism Lilian Earton had. She was just glad to see that one of her chins had disappeared. I’m rocking this new body!

  ***

  Once dressed, Lily went to check on her patient. As it turned out, the Virmans had put him in the room next to hers. A handsome servant girl was doing her best to look busy by fixing his sheets and wiping the sweat from his brow. Just in case, Lily gave her a cold stare. “If even one coin from his purse goes missing, I’ll have you skinned.”

  The girl’s hands flew to her face. “My Lady! I have never…”

  “And you won’t start now. Back on Virma, they cut thieves hands off,” she added. “Just sit here and wait for him to come around. When he does, give him some water and call for me. Understood?”

  “Yes, My Lady.”

  Lily sighed. Am I starting to feel a little too comfortable with my role as a feudal lady?

  ***

  The Eveer bowed as she entered the room. “My Lady.”

  Lily nodded. “I’m pleased to see you. What brought you here?”

  “I’m afraid that what brought me here was terrible audacity.” He assured her in many words that he didn’t want to offend Lily and that he had the greatest respect for her. She noticed that the look in his eyes was not exactly respectful. They were intelligent, clever eyes…and calculating.
He was testing her reactions to see if he could do business with her. Lily smiled.

  “Honorable Helke, I suggest that instead of flattering each other, we get down to brass tacks. Time is money, and silence is golden. What brought you here?”

  “My Lady, such words could have come from the mouth of a wise man, not a lovely woman…”

  Lily feared he was launching into another half-hour recitation of her remarkable qualities. She sighed. “Honorable Helke. Please tell me: what brought you here?” It had been a long day. The market, the bull, the operation… And now I’m expected to stand here listening to empty chatter? Lily was ready to roar.

  “My Lady, I brought you this tiny gift as a sign of my respect.”

  Helke took a small box out of his pocket. He opened the lid. Something clicked in Lily’s head. I know how small locks for jewelry boxes are made. If I draw one for him, I bet his eyes would pop out of his head. We could really make some money…

  Then she looked down at the red velvet cushion in his hand and saw the earrings. They weren’t much to look at, but to Lily, they were worth more than all the gold in the world. Two little pearl earrings…with perfect clasps.

  Lily smiled. She tried one on. It locked perfectly.

  “Honorable Helke, have you taken this idea to the guild?”

  “But the idea was yours, My Lady.”

  “I will not object to having my ideas implemented by you,” she said with a clever smile. “For consideration, of course.”

  “But My Lady, what can a poor old man give you?”

  “You won’t be poor if you reach an agreement with me.”

  Lily smiled again. It was time to negotiate. The Eveer seemed to understand and smiled back.

  “My Lady, do you mean…”

  “I will give you good ideas. You will carry them out. I will get a percentage of the profit.”

  Helke shook his head. “My Lady, are you sure that your ideas will be successful?”

  Lily shrugged. “If you don’t think women will want earrings like these, I can take my idea elsewhere.”

  The jeweler’s eyes shone. “How much do you want?”

  “I provide the ideas. You provide the materials, the workshop, and the work. I think that earns me fifty percent.”

  The man looked pained. “My Lady, you will bankrupt me!”

  “Not so. I will make you rich!”

  “But I am a poor old man. I cannot give you more than fifteen percent.”

  “A poor jeweler? Forty-five percent. And not a percent less!”

  “What about guild dues? And taxes? My Lady, twenty percent is all I can do!”

  “And what about the fees the guild will pay you as the inventor? If I wasn’t such a nice person, I would ask for sixty percent.”

  “But I still have to pay heavy taxes.”

  “So do I.”

  Lily enjoyed horse trading. The Eveer was a strong opponent, but she had grown up in Russia and knew better than to give her money away to strangers. In the end, they agreed that Lily would get forty percent. She was satisfied. They would sign a contract at town hall. That reminded Lily that she still needed to shake down the Baron.

  She and Helke would turn a profit, of that much she was certain. Helke would be paying for the work, the materials, the rent and his employees, as well as any costs to advertise and bring the goods to market. That meant that he would skim a little off the top—she didn’t need a fortune teller to figure that out. But he wouldn’t take too much. Once he realized that working with her was profitable, he would do anything to keep her loyalty. In time, she would audit him. That would be interesting.

  Lily sat down in front of him and sketched a dip pen. Then she went to her room and brought back her non-spill inkwell. She poured some milk into it to demonstrate how it worked. She had discovered that Eveers never touched any drinks that affected the clarity of mind, so she and Helke had been toasting their arrangement with mugs of milk.

  “You could sell three versions of this.” Helke’s eyebrows went up. Lily started her explanation. “Make plain copper ones for regular people. For merchants, you would have nicer ones made of silver, gold, or carved wood. And for aristocrats, you would have ink-wells made of gold or mahogany decorated with precious stones and packaged in beautiful little locking boxes…”

  Helke thought for a moment. It looked like a promising idea.

  “My Lady, what if we were to send a nice set like that to someone as a gift from you?”

  Lily paused. Who could I send a gift to? She didn’t want to think about her husband. There was always her father. Perhaps she could send the ink-well to him. Why not? He might even send me something in return.

  Lily wished she could remember how fountain pens were made. She was prepared to try to make a ballpoint pen, but she would have to find out what the locals used for ink. If they were just mixing ash and water, then the ballpoint mechanism would get clogged. The Eveer was studying her drawing with hungry eyes.

  Lily smiled graciously. “Honorable Helke, when can you show me a prototype??

  “My Lady?”

  “The first one you make.”

  “Of course, My Lady. As soon as I have something to show, I will find you right away!”

  “I won’t be here much longer, so…”

  “My Lady, I will start working immediately.”

  “Wonderful. And Helke, I wish you would recommend a good dressmaker, a blacksmith, and a glass blower.”

  The jeweler looked surprised, but he didn’t take long. “Fine ladies here have their dresses made by Marion Alcey. Her shop is two streets away. There is a fine blacksmith near City Hall. As for glass blowers, there is only one of them in town. His name is Barney Agribas. But I must warn you—he is a strange man, and I wouldn’t want you to encounter any unpleasantness.”

  Lily shrugged. “I don’t suppose I will, not when I have my Virman guards with me. Thank you for your concern, Honorable Helke. Come back at lunch tomorrow, and we will sign a contract. And now, I think you probably want to get busy working on what we’ve drawn out here?”

  The jeweler very much wanted to get busy. He jumped up, bowed and flew out of the inn. Lily gestured to the innkeeper. “Cheese, greens, and a mug of ale.”

  It was an indulgence, but she felt she deserved it. She couldn’t overdo it, though. It would be too easy to use alcohol to hide from the world, and Lily had things to accomplish.

  She stuck a bunch of parsley in her mouth—it was bitter—and headed off to find her companions.

  ***

  Leif was nowhere to be found. The peasants were gone, too. She remembered that she had told them they could wander the fair. Then she ran into two of the Virmans who had been with her that morning. “Where is Leif?”

  “He took Ingrid back to the ship. He said to tell you that he’ll be back in the morning unless you need him sooner.”

  Lily shrugged. “I don’t think I will need him before that. And you are?”

  “Ivar Reinholm.”

  “Olaf Raivesson.”

  The Virmans glanced at each other. If they let her go out alone, Leif would skin them alive. “As you wish, My Lady.”

  Lily nodded and headed for the door.

  ***

  It was not difficult to find Marion Alcey’s shop. The first person she asked pointed her in the right direction. She didn’t like the looks of the place. From the outside, it was a two-story stone building like Helke’s, only a little smaller. She opened the door and found herself in a small room full of bolts of fabric. Two young women were at work on some blue material. At the sound of the door, they looked up with frightened eyes. Their cheekbones stuck out, and they had dark circles under their eyes. Don’t they get anything to eat around here? I don’t want to be that skinny! Something about the place bothered Lily. Is it the fearful look in the girls’ eyes? Or is it the shop’s owner?

  A bell above the door had rung when Lily opened it, and Marion Alcey slid out from a back room. Her face r
eminded Lily of a dried fish. She was wearing a plain, dark dress and had a tiny lace cap pinned to her hair. Her eyes were small, dark, and deep-set. How did a woman that homely become a fashionable dressmaker? She must be really good at what she does. We’ll see about that.

  Meanwhile, Marion was sizing up Lily’s jewelry and the expensive silk of her dress. Her mouth stretched into a wide, gruesome smile. “I’m pleased to welcome you, My Lady.”

  “Countess Lilian Elizabeth Mariella Earton,” Lily introduced herself.

  “What an honor for my humble shop.” Lily lowered her eyes. In her normal life, she never gave salespeople attitude, but something about this dressmaker was very off-putting. She held a long pause, forcing Marion to speak again. “May I help you with something, My Lady?”

  “Yes, please. I want to order a dress.”

  “At your service, My Lady.”

  “Show me what you have.” It came out in a tone that combined arrogance and a lack of interest. Lily was proud of herself. I’m getting good at this.

  “Does My Lady prefer pink? That’s a lovely color, and it suits your face.”

  Lily winced. “White and green.”

  “Then you must be in mourning?”

  Lily cut her off. “I don’t think that’s any of your business, is it?

  “Forgive me, My Lady. I have a wonderful piece of green velvet.” She turned to the shop girls. “Get up, you good-for-nothing girls! Bring me the green velvet!”

  The girls disappeared into the storeroom. A few minutes later, they returned carrying cloth samples in green and white. Lily liked the velvet. It was a handsome shade of spring green. The white batiste was also nice. She wanted a dress that could be altered easily as she lost weight.

  “My Lady, shall we take your measurements?”

  “Of course.”

  Marion never did that kind of work with her own hands. “Marcia, get in here!” A shy girl came out of the storeroom with her head bowed. “Yes, ma’am?”

  “Take My Lady’s measurements. Come on, get moving!”

  The girl bowed to Lily. “May I?” Lily gave a slight nod. She was sorry for the girl, but for some reason, she felt she had to be arrogant in front of the frozen fish who owned the shop. “Raise your arms, if you will, My Lady.” Lily complied with a sigh. She wondered how they would manage to make something to fit her without having her undress. Maybe they could just baste something together and then adjust it to fit. Apparently, women in her new world didn’t go around taking their clothes off, even at the dressmaker.