#rivervale_lodge

Kerri looks over her work...and grins. "That looks a lot better, yes. How do you feel, Dagmar?"

"...better..."

"Not dizzy. Or cold."

"Sylvi, get her some water."

Sylvi does, handing her the glass carefully.

"Were you dizzy and cold before? You didn't say so," Sylvi says.

The dogs woof! What's going on?!

"I could handle it..."

"But..." Sylvi starts, but Kerri shakes her head.

"And the dizzy was new." She takes the glass with both hands.

"She's okay, Oak, Edie," Kerri calls out.

Edwelwiess seems to accept, but Oak wants in.

She tries to subtly check for new scars.

Oddly, some old scars have sections missing thanks to the cross cross of the restored flesh

Kerri sets the remnants of the aloe and cork aside to be disposed. "Now...I'm going to have to ask you to do something for me, Dagmar."

She self-consciously tugs at the torn sleeve, regardless.

"Yes'm?"

"Well, first, hold still again..." She plucks a sprig off a potted thyme plant, strip off the little leaves in one quick motion, then pokes the stem through the ripped fabric on both sleeve and shoulder nine times. "A stitch of thyme," she quips with a wink.

That gets a soft chuff of a laugh.

The sleeve heals up just fine

"There. Now, as for what you need to do..." Kerri looks at her seriously. "You need to not hate me, because I do have to tell your parents about this injury."

Her eyes go wide and she shakes her head. "No you don't. Miss Kerri, please!"

"I do, sweetheart. I'm sorry, but they're your parents. It's been pointed out to me that it's not my right to keep things like this from parents or guardians. But I don't understand why you don't want them to know."

"I'll do extra chores.... they're gonna be mad, I'll... is it the glamour? I have dross, I'll pay you back..."

"They're gonna be mad..."

"It's not the dross, and extra chores wouldn't change this. Dagmar, why would they be mad about this?"

"Because..." A look at Sylvi for help. "Because I... it..."

Sylvi frowns. "Mom, I was there, too. When she got hurt. Symon gave us an emergency call on Adam in the middle of the night...and we just went."

"Dad was there when I got home... he knows.. I mean, he knows I was in a fight..."

Kerri's frown is the progenitor of her daughter's. "You never mentioned. Did anybody else get hurt?"

"And he was... I told him I was okay, and that we won..."

"I told him I was okay..."

"You thought you were okay," Sylvi points out. "You didn't lie."

Then she shakes her head to Kerri. "I don't think so. It only tagged Dagmar."

An irritated sigh. "I wish you'd said something."

"It was just a cut, and it wasn't too bad. Been hurt worse."

"I didn't wanna make a fuss..."

Kerri nods. "You were doing everything you knew to do to care for a wound. I don't think they'll be mad, Dagmar...but we need to go and tell them, and we should do it right now."

"They're gonna be mad I didn't tell... "

Kerri looks at her seriously. "If they're mad, Dagmar, which I don't think they'll be, but if they are, what do you think is the absolute worse they would be likely to do as a result?"

She shrinks. "I don't know..." It doesn't take a boon to hear the lie.

"You know what you're thinking. What is it?"

"Be hurt. They'll be hurt."

"Possibly, yes. And that's a terrible feeling, knowing you hurt somebody. But did you mean to hurt them?"

She fervently shakes her head.

"No. And they'll know that. And you'll find a way to make it right. I'm sure of it, Dagmar...because they love you as much as you love them." Kerri is looking at her very, very seriously.

"I was trying to fix it, I didn't want to... to... "

Sylvi bites her lip, listening.

"..make a fuss..."

"You're not making a fuss." Kerri shakes her head. "You're a warrior, and as a warrior, you're going to get hurt. That's part of what it means to be a warrior."