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“You must let Laethan fix her. You have to,” Markaeus cried. “Please—”
“Enough! Out of my healing house! Leave me to my patient and go waggle your tongues about in some other place.”
That’s Laethan. Who else sounds that grouchy? Well, besides Doc?
“Any who remain here beyond the next breath will be chained to a bed and treated with a double dose of leeches.”
Cries and scuffling of shoes on the wooden floor marked the abrupt departure of the crowd. Greatly fearing the leech treatment, Alora struggled to open her eyes, desperate to leave with the others.
“You’ll let me stay with her, won’t you?” Kaevin’s anxiety made her heart beat even faster.
“You may remain, if you follow my direction.”
“I believe she’s waking up.” Kaevin’s voice shook as gentle fingers caressed her cheek.
“I hope not,” said Laethan. “I find unconscious patients much easier to leech. Perhaps I should attach my hungry friends quickly, before she awakens.”
“No...” Barely a whisper, Alora breathed the word, praying someone would hear. “No leeches.”
Kaevin’s lips touched hers, warm and tender. “Don’t listen to him, Alora. He’s only teasing you.”
“Lower your voice, please. I’ll not have you undermining my authority with such nonsense. I never tease.”
Finally, her eyelids came unglued, cracking open just enough to see a tiny sliver of light.
A wide smile lit Kaevin’s face, but there were deep shadows under his eyes. “I feared you’d never come back to me. You’ve been asleep for a long time.”
Alora’s stomach growled in confirmation. Forcing her eyes open wider, she saw Laethan scowling at her. She reached out, trying to sense his emotion. Was it anger? Impatience? Something else? His mind was a blank slate—nothing.
His lips stretched in something almost like a smile, not quite eliminating his grumpy countenance.
“That won’t work with me, my dear. And now that you’re in my healing house, you’ll follow my orders in everything you do, especially concerning the use of your empathy.”
Wait... I’m in Laegenshire? Her eyes focused on the rustic stacked stone walls and panned the room, sweeping across the orderly rows of beds, a few of which were occupied with other patients.
“It’s amazing,” Kaevin remarked. “She hasn’t been here more than three or four fingers. How did you wake her?”
“You’ll understand, Kaevin. All in good time.”
“How did I get here?” she rasped.
Ignoring her question, Laethan reached for a mug of water and held it to her mouth. With Kaevin supporting her, she sat up enough to take a few soothing sips. She fell back onto the bed, still weak, but more alert by the second.
“Do you remember what happened?” Kaevin asked her.
“Not really... I remember we were making chocolate chip cookies.”
“Do you remember getting this burn?” Stretching her arm out, he pointed to the back of her forearm where an angry red welt had taken up residence.
She tentatively probed the blistered skin with one finger, expecting it to be sensitive. “I don’t remember how this happened, but it feels numb when I touch it. It doesn’t hurt at all.” She pressed a little harder.
“Yes, Alora. It hurts,” said Laethan. The words had no sooner left his lips than a throb erupted from the burned skin.
“Ow! It does hurt. No, it stopped again. Weird... I guess I’m controlling the pain.”
“No, you aren’t,” Laethan replied. “I am.”
~7~
