15min fic #81
Dec. 10th, 2004 11:51 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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yrae
Title~ Madame Yamin
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ 'min is mine~ and so's everyone else
Notes~ 15 minute fic, word 81. Um. Yeah. Nothing to add to this one. 'min gets initiated. Good~ on 'er ^^
~ ~ ~
A week had passed since Auin, head healer of Ni-Yana’s palace healing house for the past three decades, had left the realm of the living to be with the goddesses. All fifty healers who practiced at the palace healing house had attended her funeral, along with many of the other healers in the city, but the official mourning period had now passed, and the healers needed a new leader.
Yamin had been suspecting that the old woman would not survive the summer, and sure enough, come the first heatwave, Auin had been unable to cope. As a result, the young healer had been carefully watching her colleagues, deciding which among them would be best suited to the role.
Now, with all the practicing healers, including the three apprentices, gathered in the healing house, the day had come for them to make their decision. Traditionally the task was given to one of the younger women, since any of the older healers, though they had more experience and knowledge, would pass on too soon, and a new head healer would be selected every few years, rather than every few decades.
It was a hard decision; she knew of at least four women she would choose from. They all knew herb-lore well, were experts with various venoms and antivenoms, didn’t pale in the slightest when setting a broken bone or bandaging a deep, ugly wound. They each treated the patients well, didn’t patronise them or poke fun at the minor abrasions of the palace staff.
Most importantly though, they had what it would take to be a leader. They got on well with the other healers, but were strict enough that they wouldn’t allow anyone to get out of line. It was this quality that made Auin so missed already.
Yamin carefully inscribed her final decision onto the small piece of parchment she had been given, then handed it back to the woman entrusted with counting the votes—a head healer from one of the smaller houses in the city.
As the woman counted, five distinct piles formed on the stone bed block, one considerably larger than the others.
The surrounding healers murmured quietly to each other. Some had their eyes very deliberately averted from the rustling piles of parchment tickets, while others stared fixedly at them, murmuring the name they suspected would be written on all the papers in the largest pile.
Yamin wasn’t naïve. The murmurs around her only confirmed her suspicions that her own name would be amongst the piles. She tried to think realistically, that a girl who could actually ask people to do something would win, but a small part of her mind niggled at her, raising her hopes.
Finally, the outside healer finished counting, and a hush fell over the group as she turned her gaze to them. Yamin could see the twitching at the corner of her mouth that told her the woman was very much enjoying the suspense. She regarded each nervous face before finally grinning and calling out the name of the palace’s new head healer.
Yamin felt as though a huge knot in her shoulders and brow had been untied. She grinned broadly and pressed her palms together to thank her fellow healers, who each bowed their heads respectfully to their new leader.
She’d made it, just as King Yan had told her she would, eleven years ago. Now there was nothing left but to wait.
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ 'min is mine~ and so's everyone else
Notes~ 15 minute fic, word 81. Um. Yeah. Nothing to add to this one. 'min gets initiated. Good~ on 'er ^^
A week had passed since Auin, head healer of Ni-Yana’s palace healing house for the past three decades, had left the realm of the living to be with the goddesses. All fifty healers who practiced at the palace healing house had attended her funeral, along with many of the other healers in the city, but the official mourning period had now passed, and the healers needed a new leader.
Yamin had been suspecting that the old woman would not survive the summer, and sure enough, come the first heatwave, Auin had been unable to cope. As a result, the young healer had been carefully watching her colleagues, deciding which among them would be best suited to the role.
Now, with all the practicing healers, including the three apprentices, gathered in the healing house, the day had come for them to make their decision. Traditionally the task was given to one of the younger women, since any of the older healers, though they had more experience and knowledge, would pass on too soon, and a new head healer would be selected every few years, rather than every few decades.
It was a hard decision; she knew of at least four women she would choose from. They all knew herb-lore well, were experts with various venoms and antivenoms, didn’t pale in the slightest when setting a broken bone or bandaging a deep, ugly wound. They each treated the patients well, didn’t patronise them or poke fun at the minor abrasions of the palace staff.
Most importantly though, they had what it would take to be a leader. They got on well with the other healers, but were strict enough that they wouldn’t allow anyone to get out of line. It was this quality that made Auin so missed already.
Yamin carefully inscribed her final decision onto the small piece of parchment she had been given, then handed it back to the woman entrusted with counting the votes—a head healer from one of the smaller houses in the city.
As the woman counted, five distinct piles formed on the stone bed block, one considerably larger than the others.
The surrounding healers murmured quietly to each other. Some had their eyes very deliberately averted from the rustling piles of parchment tickets, while others stared fixedly at them, murmuring the name they suspected would be written on all the papers in the largest pile.
Yamin wasn’t naïve. The murmurs around her only confirmed her suspicions that her own name would be amongst the piles. She tried to think realistically, that a girl who could actually ask people to do something would win, but a small part of her mind niggled at her, raising her hopes.
Finally, the outside healer finished counting, and a hush fell over the group as she turned her gaze to them. Yamin could see the twitching at the corner of her mouth that told her the woman was very much enjoying the suspense. She regarded each nervous face before finally grinning and calling out the name of the palace’s new head healer.
Yamin felt as though a huge knot in her shoulders and brow had been untied. She grinned broadly and pressed her palms together to thank her fellow healers, who each bowed their heads respectfully to their new leader.
She’d made it, just as King Yan had told her she would, eleven years ago. Now there was nothing left but to wait.