Remedy

It was quite difficult to follow a single thing that the wolf was saying anymore. There was hardly a single shred of coherence or organized thought, as far as Falltore believed. He might have been a stickler for grammar, a devout perfectionist when it came to saying the right thing in the right way. A proper Rionnach palate, it could be said, though he for one was aware that he had Highlander heritage. Of course, such things were cultural, mutable, tamable. If left to fester and rot, the Highlander tongue could be quite difficult to discern, which was precisely the reaction he was having at this very moment. Would it inconvenience this peddler to punctuate her words and sentences more carefully? Would it be to her detriment to consider the lands she trod upon? This was not her home, after all, so why ought she speak in such an unpresentable way? Oh… perhaps that was quite a harsh sentiment to harbor. And yet, it was quite clear that the soldier would never consider this wolf to be a natural part of the realm. He need not speak it, but to hear that she had chosen to be in Rionnach, rather than back with her family where she belonged, was a mistake to admit aloud.

The merchant went on, then, to correct Falltore on a matter of grammar, a true mistake. He had misgendered her father, unintentionally. It was customary to give respect to one’s pronouns, something that Falltore was indeed cognizant about. Of course, given the wolf’s poor pronunciation, as well as that her father had been previously referred to in a most ambiguous way, he had been led astray ever so slightly. And yet, Falltore did respect their pronouns.”I apologize for my misunderstanding,” Falltore simply responded. Of course, she went on to discuss her life, her students, her husband, her housekeepers. How interesting, though it would make sense. A wolf of her caliber was not exactly affluent, so perhaps she had wedded into a noble family. Maybe they helped to give her quite the head start on this business of hers. After all… how often do wolves from the problematic north come down to make a name of themselves, and quite quickly have a shop to call their own. Well financed, well connected, and certainly well wed. She was quite proud of that, wasn’t she?

Already, Falltore had found this conversation to no longer be worth his time or interest, something that was all but sealed as the wolf gave her response to his order, something that by this point he had considered quite rudimentary. It nearly brought a smile of disbelief, when he had been told by this wolf that the medicines which he had so often gotten were poisonous, if not illegal. Perhaps her eyesight were as bad as her speechcraft was, he wondered to himself, as well as whatever education she had had before she had been gifted this shop of hers. Butterbur was quite a common remedy for skin wounds, as any medical practitioner might know. It was surely not the only one, but the size of the frond was something Falltore found quite comfortable to wear. After all, she ought to have seen the tattered remnants on his muzzle, covering his wounds. So surely the butterbur was not the issue. Henbane, meanwhile, when combined carefully with mandrake, served as an excellent remedy for pain, though it had its side effects. Poisonous as they may be, any apothecary would surely be able to determine dosage. It was, to Falltore’s knowledge, quite legalto obtain, so surely these items were not the issue either. So then it must be the sap that was the issue, oh how dangerously poisonous and illegal it was! It ust be quite the breakthrough in medicine!

It was with that distasteful showing, as well as his disdain for everything that this wolf had provided for him in this short visit, that he had simply had enough. It was quite clear that this wolf could not be trusted to conduct his business with, for far more than just one reason alone. It was clear that this shop of hers had been a gift, and that in his estimation, she was incapable of running it. But then again, what was he expecting, in a place like this? He should have known better than to sample the new places. After all, he could stomach the latest price increases, given that he was not paying for it himself. Clearly, his medical needs required the expertise of someone who knew their medicines. It almost made him laugh to her face, since she seemed far too incapable to even consider what it was he would need the medicines for. Any other apothecary would have known. But then again, any other apothecary had something resembling professionalism and experience. Falltore debated arresting her then and there for any number of crimes, but when it came down to it, he wanted simply nothing to do with her at all. If she were to get someone killed, they deserved it anyhow, for doing business here. ”Being a fraudulent apothecary is punishable with imprisonment,” Falltore simply said, turning around as he headed out the door, ”consider this your only warning.”

[Exit]

Shock followed by confusion lined her face as he suddenly tossed threats in her direction and even more so at the mention of something her business wasn't. Her tail swished and her head tilted, eyeing him for a moment while he started to turn away before a grin crossed her lips. "I never said this was an apothecary, darlin. And here I thought I were the deaf one. This is an herb infused teahouse; hence ya know the teas and herbs everywhere. I wouldn go as far as to call it an apothecary," she mused, having never advertised the place as anything more. Letting out a sigh, she straightened herself up, still confused on where in their conversation he got that idea from. She supposed when she mentioned remedies, an easy bit of confusion especially when herbs are involved. The moment he said he was a soldier though, she never intended to delve into her stash of more dangerous medicines she had concocted over time and sold so easily in Inverness. She wouldn't risk a slip up on a man of the law. That would not do.

"And by the way, even if your threat had any credit to et, you wouldn't get very far, I'm afraid. My husband is a judge, he'd trump you in court." Her kindness was gone now, her willingness to serve the man anything anymore just a dream. Had he not been a soldier she would have taken that threat into a full fight, but she wasn't going to stain her husband's name if only because she promised him not to. Still, as he left, her tail swayed. "Have ah good day, suga," she chimed and merrily hoped he stayed gone from her shop.

-end thread-