Aera watched Kentaro slink off, knowing she would be in trouble later, for going straight to Taris, rather than her own husband. Or maybe she wouldn't. It was hard to tell, Kentaro was so full of wine. 

She nodded at Taris' question and continued walking, getting into the palace as quickly as possible, so the shadow elf behind her could get some relief. They went up a few flight of stairs, Aera occasionally glancing over her shoulder to see how Taris was holding himself. Being indoors seemed to help him, but he was very clearly still in pain.
The pale elf crooked a finger at one of the older maids that they passed, motioning for the brown haired woman to follow. Inside Aera's chambers, she pointed to the center of the room. "Strip." She said. "Any part of your skin that's cracked, we need to get to." Taris began to slowly remove more layers, but it was so slow going and painful looking that Aera waved her hand and the maid stepped forward to help.

While he was being undressed, Aera turned and found the jar of the mossy green salve she had been given. She set it down and waited for the maid to finish. The maid was middle aged, in human's terms, her face set with light wrinkles, her auburn hair flecked in grey. She had worked around Aera before and Aera felt she could be relied on. On Aera's request, the maid brought over a little stool and had Taris sit, which he did, stiffly. 

Then the salve was administered. Aera put her hand in the jar and took out a large amount, the stuff seeping into her gloves and draining the color from them. "A friend of mine made this for me. He used it the day I'd made my first walk under the sun." With her clean hand she lifted his hair and began rubbing it along his back, her eyes following the scars that could be seen between the cracks. "I wasn't this bad," she continued. "My skin was red, I had blisters and burns. It looked like I had been tossed into a fire."
While the maid worked on his stomach and chest, Aera covered his arms. Almost immediately, Taris could feel the difference, the searing pain of his skin ebbing away. 

Letting the maid finish covering him, Aera stepped back, untying her gloves and pulling them off to change. This pair would have to be tossed. She picked up a white pair and began pulling them on, watching Taris. "How does it feel?"