Unanswered Questions over Morning Tea

The pale blue light of the morning sun just beginning to illuminate the sky began to sift through the window over Lady Solisbane's desk, setting a pale glow over the polished finish, the stacks of paperwork, and the Lady herself, writing in a delicate, careful cursive by the weak light of a lone candle.  A knock at the door pulled her attention from her work as the elder sin'dorei let herself in, expertly balancing a china teapot and matching teacups, all decorated with red dragonhawks in midflight.  The servant gave Aramalia a weary look as she set the tray down on a nearby table and began to restore energy to the crystalline lamps lining the walls of the room.

"Working like that for too long will straing your eyes, milady."

"I did not want to wake the household, Shavarra."

Shavarra snorted, walking back to the table to start pouring the tea, "As if I wouldn't stay awake until you got home.  You were late, you know."

Aramalia could barely hold back a chuckle, though her eyes smiled with endearment at the old sin'dorei, "Gone are the days where you needed to hold my hand, dear Shava."

Even through her barking laughter, the elder continued to pour the tea after handing the lady her cup, "I remember a certain young girl saying similar words...Of course, that was back when she had to hold her father's shortsword with two hands and still struggled to lift the blade."

"While that may be," Aramalia answered with a hint of teasing warning, "it was not due to the doctor.  There was an altercation last night in the Row."

Grumbling under her breath, Shavarra settled herself into a nearby chair, watching Aramalia over her teacup, "Couldn't you have called a guard to handle it?  You were off duty that night."

Placing her teacup on its saucer, she returned to her previous writing, her calm tone somewhat strained, "He was attacking a young woman.  By the time I could have found a guard and returned to the scene, she might have been dead."

"Which warranted you to try and detain a killer in the act while wearing a noblewoman's attire."

She looks from one piece of parchment to her current work and, seeming satisfied for the moment, continues writing, "He was not in a right state of mind...an unfortunate caught in the grip of an uncontrollable mana addiction."

Shavarra shakes her head, an expression which might even be interpreted as pity on her wrinkled face, "Even better...so what's to become of him?"

Aramalia checks over her writing once more before handing it to the servant, "After detaining and sedating him with the help of the doctor, we discussed a possible treatment for him, so that he might better control his mana cravings."

After adjusting her spectacles, Shavarra holds the paper some distance away from her face, examining its contents before eyeing her lady with scrutiny, "Such detail...do you think it wise to give him something like this?  While you might be a sort of medic on the field with your Light-given talents, that knowledge doesn't cover something like this."

Aramalia waved the comment away, pen still clutched between her fingers, "We all fight our addiction in various ways.  What difference should it make that someone knows my methods?"

Shavarra shook her head, rolling her eyes and abandoning the attempt of speaking sense with another cup of tea, "Were you at least able to find out more about this Sulvina girl?"

The recognition of her error forced Aramalia to bring a hand to her forehead with a light smack, "Light...with last night's events, I completely forgot."  She shook her head, slowly relaxing, "No matter.  Soon, I will need to speak with the doctor about this young man's medication, particularly an appropriate starting dose and how much should be reduced over the coming weeks.  I would feel more comfortable having a doctor's second opinion before giving such advice.  Also, I offered to assist with monetary funding for the project, so that will need to be discussed."

The servant scoffed over her tea, "Monetary funding...so now you're paying for this addict's treatment as well as your own?"

Aramalia sat up straight, her pen almost slipping from her fingers as the realization struck her, "No.."  Until now, she had overlooked the fact that the doctor had not charged her for their appointments, and yet, he would charge this one a fee that was clearly more than the combined total of the necessary materials...If he needed money, why not charge each patient a reasonable fee?  After pausing for more than a few moments in thought, she flipped to a fresh page several sheets after her last used one, labeling it with a name at the top: "Nachtengaal, Jakobus."