Chapter 1 (part two)

Gale waited by his chair at the twelve seat adorned wooden table. She stood there patiently as Tempest made his way to the end. “I can seat myself..” he spoke to her and she quickly darted to the side.

“Y-yes s-sir” she said a little flustered.

Tempest looked at the food that lay before him and then looked around the room, searching for the third person of the party, “Where’s Gust?”.

“S-she’ll be along shortly, s… Tempest.” Gale reacted wit a slight smile.

Tempest nodded and motioned toward the chair next to him, “Go ahead and sit down then. Your eating, too.” She nodded and slipped into to one of the seats.

Tempest looked a her as she sat in the chair, wondering what was the matter. She looked flushed. Her brown hair seemed to be tattered and her apron was a bit askew. Her nervous appearance made him worry. He looked towards the kitchen door and then back towards Gale. She was faced in the opposite direction, straight at the main entrance. “Gust.. Is sick again. Isn’t she?”.

Gale seemed to jump at his question. She looked astonished that he knew, but quickly adjusted herself back into a more proper expression. “Yes, sir.” She responded with a worried look.

“Is she all right? Is she in her room?” he pelted her with questions as he began to rise. She still seemed to be caught off guard with each question, unsure of what to say. “Never mind..” he stated, “I’ll go visit her. You stay here and eat up. Then after this I want you to take the rest of the day off and relax.”

“Yes..” Gale began as Tempest made a quick plate to take with him, “Master..”

Tempest didn’t hear what Gale had said before he walked out of the dining room doors with a small plate of food and glass of water. He was too worried of how ill her mother was. They were both like family and there was no way that he was going to let them work themselves to death. He hurried as fast as he could on the first floor until he reached Gust’s room at the back of the ‘great hall’. He still had no clue why his mother called it that, but this wasn’t the time to ponder. Tempest slightly opened the door. “Gust… Are you in here?” he whispered loud enough for her to hear.

“In here..” gasped out a slightly wheezy voice, “Unm.. Ahck. *cough, cough, cough*
“Don’t speak… It’s alright.” He explained to her, “I brought you something to eat. "

He walked in the medium sized room to find the later-aged woman sitting on the ground. Her slightly graying brown hair had not yet been combed out yet and she hadn’t even gotten out of her nightgown yet. Tempest set the plate and water to the side as he helped her get up and over to the bed. She crawl under the covers to lay down. Her face was marked with a fever and she had coughed violently every few minutes. Tempest helped her sit up and brought over breakfast. “Here.. You need to eat and drink.” he said holding the glass of water to her lips. He knew how much she wanted to fight him helping her. She was too use to doing it for him to do so. However, she was too weak to struggle without making herself even more ill. “I want both you and Gale to get some rest today.” he calmly ordered while helping her, “I’ll go talk to the doctor and get some more of your medicine…” Her eyes looked at him desperately. She didn’t want him to waste what little money he had on her, but there was nothing she could do.

“Ahm.. Ah.. M.. Master.. P-” was all she could muster before falling to sleep. Tempest removed the half-empty plate and water and repositioned her so she could sleep in peace.