Herbalists' Cache This Land

Dante listened well to him as he spoke. It felt rather odd to have someone interested in what he had to say. He was starting to get more used to opening up around the right company. It was something he struggled with, but appeared to come fairly naturally as he grew comfortable around more people. It was much easier when said company was an elegant young man like this.
As the Court member grew pensive and asked further questions, Taikon's nose twitched. He blinked, pausing for a long time after the boy had apologized for pushing for more information. The white male's mouth was partially open, as though he wanted to speak, but did not have the words. He searched for them.
I'm all right, he lied, but our members have been unsettled since the death of our healer. Others too had gone missing before that, and with the Saints threat looming, people are anxious. The biggest problem for him was that young Juniper was no longer herself. The death of the healer had forced her into a very long mourning period. Taikon knew that it was unlikely she would emerge at the end of the tunnel as the spirited child he had known before. His scrub was changing.
Or, maybe it was him that was changing. How is the Court holding? He changed the subject as quickly as he could, feeling pain in the pit of his stomach.