Kaede, however, was anything but steady. Her eyes were red, her fingers twisted in her lap, and everything about the way she sat said she was keeping herself upright through stubbornness alone.
Ayame crossed the room and stopped in front of her. "How do you feel?"
"...Terrible."
Ayame's mouth stayed level. She nodded in understanding.
Losing most of her stats, getting carved apart in the arena, then healed while everyone else interrogated the elders who, as she learned today, were using her as a pawn.
The toll of all that would've put anyone on the floor. "I can imagine," Ayame nodded.
Kaede's fingers tangled tighter at that. "Ayame..." She opened her mouth, closed it, and the guilt pressing behind her eyes stayed where it was.
Ayame turned to the two healer souls stationed on either side of the frail oriental woman. "Take her to a room and put her to bed. Get her something easy to digest, and fresh water."
