[@StormHeart] [u]The Healer's Apprentice[/u]

"Work faster, you stupid elf!"

How did Kiera Akello get herself into this? One minute, she was meditating on spirit binding theory, minding her own business, and the next minute, she was press-ganged into slavery on a luxury yacht with a misfit gang of orcs, dwarves, and elves. The rich tycoon they served was a particularly obnoxious halfling, whose great girth was sustained by a constant influx of beef, cake, and pain.

Kiera had the unenviable job of being the heal-monkey. Some people could get high off being healed, and for a glutton like His Royalness Lord Gurk, eating as much as he wanted and being healed of nausea and stomach pain was his greatest delight. People like him made a mockery of the noble profession.

In a nearby corner, a group of Gurk's minions entertained themselves by teasing a young human woman. Though they yanked her silver hair, dumped out her bucket of cleaning water, and grabbed at her butt, she put on a brave face and refused to give them the reaction they wanted.

A spray of spittle and chewed chicken bits regained Kiera's attention. "What are you gawking at? Want to trade places with her?"