Ralph and the Pixie

He then showed them how to take both pulse and respiration, and outlined the significance of monitoring a patient’s vital signs. When this was accomplished it was past noon, and he was about to check on some paperwork when he was approached by one of the Thane’s aids. Approaching him as nervously as Luni, the young Elf cleared his throat and spoke.

‘The Thane requests, that is if you are not too busy, that you come with me to where the Thane is having his mid-day meal. Sir.’

Needing a break from the infirmary, Doc rose and said, ‘Lead on, master Elf. I could use a break.’

They found the Thane in his anteroom, at the rear of the hall where Doc and the others had first been introduced to him. He was having lunch with a certain elderly Merchant, one who didn’t go in for the gaudy finery of his peers. A veritable giant of an Elf, he was stout without being portly, belying an underlying strength, as could be seen in his thick wrists and big hands, and his thick white beard bore an incongruous appearance, as though he grew it to conceal a wry sense of humour. His eyes, when seen at first, though kind, were almost too sharp, like those of a soldier.