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“Yes. Go defend the city,” I pressed, and he nodded with extreme reluctance. He stood up, lifting me gently from the ground. I pressed my feet against the rock floor and lifted my chin, showing him that I was fine.
“I don’t want to leave you,” he murmured. His fingers wrapped around my shoulders gently, pulling me towards him.
“I will find somewhere safe,” I promised.
His hand brushed against my cheek, his chest rising and falling with barely contained restraint. He gritted his teeth and slowly pulled away from me as I steadied myself on my feet.
“You will return to my chambers and wait there. I will come and walk you through the threshold to safety as soon as I am able,” he dictated.
“I can pass the threshold without you.”
He furrowed his brow in confusion, but there wasn’t time to explain. In some way, his magic had touched me, and the magical barriers spelled in the entryway recognized it enough to let me through safely.
“Go!”
He nodded once and turned away, striding down the curved rock slope to meet the soldier. I dipped my head as he met my eyes one last time, before the two of them took off out of the room. I heard Nykor start to ask him questions about numbers and formations, but their voices faded as they hurried off.
A sharp jab of agony pierced deep within my chest, and I gasped, pressing my hand directly over my heart. Once the pain started to ebb away, I gripped the neckline of my dress and pulled it away from my chest.
There was a scar left behind that was tinted blue. Another sharp, stabbing pain caught me by surprise, and I watched the blue darken in color.
My wound had been healed, but only just so. There was still magic left behind. I looked at the exit of the cavern, replaying his words over in my head. I couldn’t shake the distinct feeling that he’d left something out.
With a deep breath, I left the cavern. It wasn’t difficult finding my way back up into the castle.
People were running in all directions. When I made it back to the Great Hall, I was relieved to see that it wasn’t as I last remembered. It appeared to have been set up as a makeshift hospital ward. There were more than a hundred cots arranged in rows, along the walls and throughout the room. Each one was occupied. Some of the men had passed out while many others were groaning in pain. There were a group of women attending to the ones with the most severe looking injuries, but there many others who were not being tended to.
Some of the merchant tables had been left in place along the edges, including what appeared to be a cart full of gathered flowers and plants.
I could find somewhere safe, like returning to the king’s chambers and hiding there until the battle passed, but I didn’t want to hide. I knew I couldn’t fight. I did not have skills with a sword, nor a bow and arrow, or anything that would be useful on the battlefield. I didn’t want to get in the way, but hiding didn’t seem like the right thing to do.
I moved closer to the table covered in forgotten gatherings. I may not have the skills needed on the battlefield, but what I did have was a knowledge of plants. In my free time, I’d helped the chef in the gardens and made friends with the landscaping staff. Not only could I recognize different signs of diseases that might afflict plants, as well as if they were underwatered or overwatered, but I also liked to look up other uses for different species in my free time. There were several kinds I did not recognize on the table, but there were far more that I did.
Several colorful sprigs of lavender cast a lovely scent and next to it were several vials of oil. I couldn’t contain my excitement as I popped one open and found it to be lavender. One of the lesser-known uses of such an oil was that it could be used topically to help cleanse wounds and alleviate pain. I’d used it many times on myself growing up to tend to minor wounds, like a skinned knee or an accidental cut from a knife.
I saw yarrow root, tea tree oil, echinacea, and several other useful plants that could be ground down into a poultice, brewed into a tea, or a litany of other uses. Someone had left a white apron on the rung, and I grabbed it, throwing it over my blood-stained dress. I pocketed several bottles of oil and other supplies before finding a red-haired woman bent over one of the nearest soldiers.
“I would like to help tend to the wounded.”
She turned to face me, her green eyes glimmering with skepticism. “I have not seen your face before.”
“My name is Ella. I’m no healer, but I do know how to use some of these for the men,” I offered. I pulled out the yarrow root, and she glanced at it and then back to me.
“Call me Valencia. Start by boiling some water over the hearth.”
I nodded quickly, and she turned away to tend to another of the wounded. An arrow was lodged inside his ribcage, and she grabbed the shaft, snapping it in half with her hands. I watched her work for the briefest of moments before she glanced back over her shoulder. Immediately, I scurried towards the massive fireplace. Thankfully, there was already a roaring fire. After a brief perusal of the supplies left behind from the festivities last night, I found a bowl and a pestle and got to work.
I’m not sure how much time passed, but I kept working and attending to the wounded until the sun went down and the shadows of night crept into the hall. There were a few healers that kept working alongside me. Several new faces came and went, but there was a large group of them that stayed and worked the whole time.
The wound in my own chest started to ache. A particularly hard jab made me cry out, which caught Valencia’s attention.
“Are you injured?” she asked.
I pressed my palm to my chest and dipped my head. “It is a wound touched by magic. The teas I brew will have no effect on this, I’m afraid,” I murmured.
“Maybe so, but do see to it that you get some rest soon,” she stated, her voice soft. I was just about to protest against her concern, but the doors opened, and a fresh wave of wounded were carried through the door. By the numbers that needed to be treated, I worried about the tides of battle.
I hoped that Nykor would be able to turn them in our favor.
