(Kasm)

The boy lacked strength and after managing to spit out only one word his clammy hand fell back down on the bed. Kest leaned down, “You’re in the palace of the Kasm tribe of the Yelii.” She answered, fighting to keep her voice gentle and soft as she shook with excitement.

But the boy shook his head, “Where... are... my... brothers?” he asked, each word punctuated by a long laborious breath. Kest only had time to stare at him in confusion before he passed out again.

***

It was many hours later when the boy awoke again. A few doctors had come and gone, setting bones and writing prescriptions. While the boy sweated, moaned, and even cried out in pain when he was touched, he didn’t open his eyes and speak again until it was late into the night and Kest was all alone with him.

Unfortunately at that point, Kest had fallen asleep. She sat in a cushioned chair to the side of the boy’s bed, her knees drawn in tightly to her chest. The stiff shape of her uniform was warped and wrinkled and her hands were pinned awkwardly to her chest by her knees. Her mask had fallen off her waist sash and onto the floor. The normally uniform hair of the Kasm was messy in Kest’s sleep, a bit of it having fallen onto her face, the ends just long enough to tickle her nose.

The boy, who had just awoken, stared at that piece of hair, wondering how it wasn’t waking her up.

As if from the pressure of the boy’s gaze, the tress of hair shifted. Kest’s nose twitched. Once... Twice...

“Achoo!” Kest sneezed rather loudly and the boy flinched, before calmly wiping off the spittle that had been flung onto his face. Kest rubbed her bleary eyes and yawned, stretching out her legs. Then her eyes opened with a few blinks and she saw the boy sitting up and looking her in the eye.

“You’re awake!” Kest got to her feet quickly, “who are you? Where did you come from? How did you fall from the sky like that?”

The boy looked down at his bandaged hands on top of the sheets. “My name is Deo. I... don’t know... I don’t remember anything else.”

Kest frowned, “What about those brothers you asked about?”

Deo raised his eyebrow and shook his head again, “I don’t even remember asking that.”