26. The Patients
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THE PATIENTS
It was interesting to see the different styles of homes as we strolled through the residential areas. Many were not that different from what I’d grown up seeing in suburban neighborhoods, while others were entirely unfamiliar structures.
The first home we stopped at was modest, one or one-and-a-half stories, the size resembling a shack more than a house. The outside appeared to be a mud or stucco-type material, and it had bright yellow shutters. There was a small metal contraption just next to the door, which Seersthri fiddled with. It made a loud clanging sound to announce our presence.
The door opened, and a little face peeked out. At first, the boy began to smile, but then he saw me and Riel. Eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and then the door slammed shut. Loud voices sounded inside. When the door opened again, a woman not much taller than my waist stood there. She greeted Seersthri and opened the door to invite us in, eyeing me with interest. As Seersthri and I made our way inside, Riel hovered by the door.
“I think I’ll wait here,” he said, examining the height of the door frame with a critical eye. “Just shout if you need me.”
In response, Seersthri barked a short command, taking one of the jars from her basket and reaching past me to hand the basket to the prince. He took it without complaint, the corner of his mouth twitching with humor. We shared a look as the door shut between us.
The house was cozy, if small. Everything was scaled down for an effect not unlike a child’s playhouse. The residents were a mother and two sons. The first son, the one who had opened the door, stood by the kitchen table, while the mother had the younger boy perched on one hip. She began to speak, inviting us to the table.
Without Riel there, I had to rely on Seersthri for a translation. The mender wasn’t inclined to help, however, holding a brief conversation with the mother without so much as glancing my way. I remained where I was with a polite smile on my face.
Eventually, Seersthri moved on to the topic at hand. “Pain and weakness,” she said, nodding to the older boy. I blinked, taking a moment to catch up to the abrupt shift to business. “Rash. A fever that comes and goes.” She approached the boy, who stepped forward and let her take his hand. After a moment, she nodded and released it, waving me over. “Try it.”
I moved forward. The boy was slower to give me his hand, likely harboring concerns about this strange person he’d never seen before. I gave him a bright smile and crouched low in an effort to make myself as nonthreatening as possible.
“I’m Avery,” I told him gently, giving his hand a light shake. “It’s okay, I’m here to help. Let’s see if we can’t do something to make you feel a little better.”
The mother chipped in, saying something to the boy in an encouraging tone. She had hope in her eyes, as if she knew exactly who I was and what I did. It had been a long time since I’d seen that look. Taking a slow, calming breath, I enclosed the boy’s hand in mine and reached for my magic.
Like before, the mana responded eagerly. It was something I could get used to, having this amount of power just within reach. Adjusting my focus, I delved into the boy’s presence, feeling for whatever inside him called for help. Like with the faun, it didn’t take much effort. Whatever ailment he had was throughout his entire body.
My magic surged forward in an intense rush of warmth and light. I was beginning to realize the difference—before, it felt disconcerting, even painful. Now, I was one stop along the magic’s path, directing it through me rather than from me.
The boy shivered, and I quickly let go of his hand, stepping back so that Seersthri could check my work. In the meantime, my excitement faded as my thoughts strayed to how things would change now. As soon as I returned, George and the others would be eager to work out a new healing schedule. I could be doing sessions every week… every day, even.
Seersthri withdrew from the boy and fixed me with an assessing look.
“The sickness is gone,” she announced. As she relayed the news to his mother, I allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe now, I could put a dent in that never-ending crowd. My magic would no longer have to be a luxury for those who could afford to camp out at the White House all day long and were lucky enough to get to the front.
The boy’s mother caught my attention as she approached. Before I could react, she had set her toddler on his feet and dropped to her knees on the ground before me, bending at the waist so that her forehead brushed against the dirt.
“Oh, no, that’s not necessary,” I hurried to say, casting a desperate look Seersthri’s way. She observed the situation but said nothing, to my chagrin.
The mother didn’t protest as I helped her get to her feet. Once standing, she met my eyes and said something I didn’t understand, but that sounded serious.
“Ahh… she is happy,” Seersthri supplied the translation after a moment’s deliberation. “You are a gift from the Goddess. This home is honored.”
“Not at all. ”
Embarrassed, I waved away her words. I couldn’t help the smile that bloomed, though. Nothing came close to the feeling of being able to change someone’s life for the better. Even if I was worked to the bone when I went back, it would be worth it.
On our way out, the boy I healed followed us to the door. He got a glimpse of Riel waiting on the other side and became shy all of a sudden—at least until his mother came up behind him to lay an encouraging hand on his shoulder. Then he blurted something out. It was all I could do to nod along and make an effort to appear engaged.
“He says that his parents attended our celebration the other day,” Riel translated from behind me. “They mentioned seeing you there, but he never thought he’d get to meet the Goddess-blessed human.” A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “From their description of you, he had imagined you taller.”
“Oh!” I glanced down at myself with a frown. “Uh, sorry?”
The boy’s mother tsked and shooed him away, but not before meeting my eyes once more and bobbing her head in thanks. I nodded back and let Seersthri sweep me outside.
The second and third times we stopped, things went equally well. I managed to set someone’s gut health straight and do away with a growth that kept returning despite Seersthri’s best efforts. Although I was grateful for the chance to practice using my powers properly, I began to flag on the way to the fourth patient. I intended to tough it out and thought I did a good job of hiding my exhaustion, but Riel must have been watching me.
“This is the last one,” he announced, having been a quiet and supportive presence until then. He still had Seersthri’s basket draped over one arm—she’d taken items out at each place we stopped, but I still wasn’t sure what was inside. I would have thought that the jars of liquid were some kind of healing tea if not for the fact that we had magic for that.
Seersthri paused in the middle of the street and pulled an unattractive face.
“You feel pain?” she asked me. “Tired?”
“No pain. A little tired,” I admitted reluctantly. “It’s okay, though. We’re almost done, right? I can keep going.”
“We listen to bodies every day,” Seersthri said with an exasperated sigh. “Listen to yours also. If the mender is sick, who heals?”
I expressed my understanding with a meek nod. It was easy to get caught up in the flow and not pay attention to how I was feeling, but all the walking and healing was exhausting.
“One more,” she announced, striding onward with purpose. “Then, you rest.”
Riel and I followed dutifully. At first, I thought that we were heading back to the clinic, but we took a detour at the last minute, instead stopping at a multi-story hive-like structure. It had numerous holes from top to bottom and side to side, and as we approached, something began to emerge from them. My lips parted in awe as I realized they were little ghoulishly pale people with multiple sets of iridescent wings—pixies, perhaps, for lack of the actual term.
From a larger hole near the base, another form appeared. This one was no taller than my knee and looked young except for the commanding way she held herself and the resting bitch face. Her lime-green hair lay flat along her head in a series of intricate braids, and she had on full-body chain-link armor and a face full of colorful war paint.
Seersthri strode forward to greet them. When I moved to join her, Riel stopped me.
“Careful,” he murmured. “The Aminkinya are known to be aggressive to strangers. That one is the queen. Best to let Seersthri introduce you.”
I had trouble seeing what danger the little fairies posed, but I wasn’t stupid enough to try my luck and potentially insult an entire people while I was at it, so I kept my distance.
When I heard what sounded like my name being spoken, I eased forward a few steps. “This is Naigatiy’ana,” Seersthri said for my sake, seemingly unbothered by the fairy’s attitude. “She is… ah… leader for the Aminkinya .”
Riel stepped forward then, arms arranged in the formal fae greeting. The pixie queen’s dark expression lightened. Her wings flicked, making a chirping sound, and dozens of the smaller fairies moved forward to line the ground before us, one arm raised straight in a salute. I swallowed down an awkward laugh and waited for Seersthri’s guidance.
“Her wing”—Seersthri pointed—“was hurt during battle.”
Sure enough, when I looked closely, I could see that while she had three wings on her left, she was missing half of the middle wing and almost the entire bottom wing on her right side.
“The injury is difficult.” Seersthri shook her head to drive the point home. “We tried healing for many moon cycles. Still, she cannot fly. But, you try it.”
I eased forward nervously, aware of Naina… Naigat… the fairy’s expression and body language. A couple of the smaller ones fluttered their wings as I approached, but I couldn’t tell if it was meant to be aggressive or friendly. The queen remained impassive as she gave me her hand. Since I’d never tried regrowing limbs before, I took my time.
Right off the bat, I noticed that her injury felt different from what I’d healed in the past. Although the urgent “wrongness” that came with terminal illnesses wasn’t there, the injury to her wing gave off a sense of something missing, like her body yearned to be whole again.
When I opened my eyes, the scene before me was awash in a flood of gold. Frowning again, the fairy queen regarded me with interest, taking in my glowing eyes before shuddering as my magic swept through her. Several seconds passed in silence while I encouraged cells to multiply and flesh to knit together. Her wing began to twitch. It took longer than usual, and I kept having to draw more mana , but soon her wings were whole and symmetrical once more.
Drained, I let go of her hand and straightened only to stumble. Riel’s arm shot out, wrapping around my middle and keeping me from falling. I looked up to thank him and winced at the disapproving glare I was met with. Wordlessly, he tugged me aside to make room for Seersthri and shifted his body so that I could lean on him if I needed to.
Seersthri stepped in to speak with the fairy queen, and I noticed that the rest of the fairies all eyed me with varying degrees of awe and alarm. They were used to magic, so was it because I was human? I tried not to feel self-conscious.
“You did well,” Seersthri remarked, coming to my side. “She is pleased.”
“I’m glad I could help,” I said truthfully, watching as the little queen stretched out her wings to examine the areas I’d healed more closely. Satisfied, she folded them back and barked an order at one of her minions. The pixie retreated into the hive-like structure and emerged with a small glass vial with a chain.
I watched with interest as the queen drew a small knife from behind her back and deftly sliced off the end of one of her braids. She stuffed it into the vial and closed it, then flicked her hand to let it dangle in the air. The vial was thrust out toward me with a brief command.
“Wh-what is this?” I stammered, confused even as my hand reached out.
“She says the Aminkinya are in your debt,” Riel murmured, nodding for me to take it. “It’s a sort of… favor. They don’t give them out lightly, so it would be rude to refuse.”
No less confused, I accepted the item and gripped it to my chest. “Thank you.”
Almost as one, the pixies turned to head back inside their nest home .
“I… guess that means we’re dismissed?” I ventured after a moment’s silence. Seersthri made a huffing sound and set off in the direction of the clinic. Riel and I exchanged a glance.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Embarrassed, I shook his hand off and stepped away. “You don’t need to carry me again. I think I can make it back on my own. Thank you, though.”
With a slow nod, as though he didn’t quite believe me, Riel replied, “After you.”
As I’d thought, the pixies’ dwelling wasn’t far from the clinic. When we made it back, Riel ordered me to wait by the door and went to find me a chair. I sat there with my hands in my lap, admiring the vial of green fairy hair that I was now the proud owner of, while Riel spoke with Seersthri in hushed tones. After several minutes, he came to get me.
“Ready to go?” he asked, offering me a hand.
“Yep. Everything good?” I slipped the chain around my neck and let him help me to my feet.
“Indeed.” Riel held the door open for me to walk through. “Seersthri is very impressed with you. She says you are the most talented mender she’s ever seen.”
“Really?” I beamed, pleased with myself, and was surprised to find that when I stepped outside, the sky was already turning golden. I hadn’t realized how late it was getting… How long had it been since we last ate? I dropped a hand to my stomach. Too long.
“Hungry?” Riel inquired.
“Ravenous,” I admitted, patting my belly. “Do you think the proprietress will have the evening meal ready?”
“I’m sure she will. The main road is closer; would you like to stop by and see what food vendors there are? We can pick up something quick to settle your stomach.”
“Oh, that’s fine, I can wait. I’d rather be back in our room anyway. I’m pretty tired.” As if to back me up, a yawn escaped me. Riel chuckled.
“Let’s get you back, then,” he said, affection lacing his tone.
The walk back to our hotel was only about fifteen minutes, but I felt every minute of it. Maybe I should have taken it easy , I thought, wincing as we made our way up the front steps. The invincible feeling from that morning was gone, replaced by fatigue and dizziness once again. Oh, well. A meal and a good night’s sleep ought to set me straight.
Riel sent me up to our room while he hunted for food. The room was just as we left it—bed made, Oyanni’s harness on the floor by the door, our bags tucked under the bed. I pulled off my cloak and deposited it on a chair, then went to the window to close the curtains.
The room went dark.
“Oh, geez,” I muttered, fumbling around to open them again. I’d forgotten that our only source of light besides sunlight was Riel’s magic. Though… Now that my eyes glowed when I channeled mana , could my eyes work as flashlights? That would be something to test out at a later date.
My train of thought was interrupted when Riel returned with dinner. Closing the door behind himself, he set the tray on his bedside table and bent to remove his shoes. I hastened to take mine off as well. Since I was already on my side of the bed, I stowed my shoes and went rummaging through my bag for some pajamas to change into. Once I had my clothes in hand, I caught Riel’s attention with a little wave.
“I’m just going to”—I made a broad gesture in the direction of the bathroom—“right quick. Feel free to eat without me.”
“Take your time,” he insisted. “Your food will wait for you.”
Without further ado, I ducked into the bathroom, pulling the screen into place so that I had privacy to use the toilet, change, and brush my teeth. I debated leaving my bra on but decided against it. My boobs weren’t terribly large, and I didn’t feel like sleeping in the restricting garment. It wasn’t like my PJs were particularly sexy either—just a matching T-shirt and shorts set with stars on them. Surely, Riel wouldn’t even notice.
When I emerged from the bathroom, the curtains were closed, and the room was lit with the blue glow of Riel’s magic emanating from the mana lantern. He sat on his side of the bed, his bag open at his feet and a book in his hands. The tray of food sat in the middle of the bed, my portion untouched. I padded over to it, stomach growling in anticipation.
As I drew near the bed, the thought occurred to me that I would not be alone in it tonight. I cast a sidelong glance at Riel, who had his back to me. Would he try something? Did he expect anything? We finally had the privacy and time to ourselves that we’d been missing. Was the prospect of getting cozy with him exciting or nerve-racking? A little of both, I decided.
As if hearing my thoughts, Riel twisted around to regard me. I almost jumped. “Everything all right?” he asked, studying my expression for signs of concern.
“Everything’s fine,” I said quickly, dumping my daytime clothes on top of my suitcase. “No problem. It’s just that I don’t usually share a bed with someone else, that’s all.”
“We slept in the same bed last night,” Riel reminded me.
I frowned, thinking back. “Well… that was different. I wasn’t all there.”
“You don’t have to worry.” Riel settled back on the bed and lifted his book. “It’s been a long day, and you need your rest. Eat and get some sleep. I won’t try anything.”
Eyeing the fae prince with suspicion, I began to say, “You don’t…” and paused. Had I really been about to ask if he had mind-reading powers? Could I be any more obvious? “Okaaaay,” I said instead, drawing the word out as I climbed into bed and tugged the tray toward me. “Thanks. Good to know. Glad we’ re on the same page.”
Riel didn’t respond, but I kept watching him out of the corner of my eye. When my stomach growled again, I turned my focus to the food in front of me. For the next few minutes, my chewing and Riel’s periodic page-turning were the only sounds in the room. When I finished, I stood with the tray in my hands.
“You can leave it in the hall,” Riel told me, breaking the silence.
“Oh, okay, thanks.”
I put the tray outside and returned to the bed, a yawn coming on as I climbed back in and got comfortable. While I fluffed up my pillow, I snuck another peek at Riel. He was such a picture of elegance, lying there on top of the covers with not a care in the world, his book in one hand and his legs crossed at the ankles. If he put the book down and closed his eyes, he’d give Sleeping Beauty a run for her money.
Sensing my gaze, his eyes slid sideways and locked with mine. In the dim light, they looked almost as dark as his brother’s. I didn’t know if I’d ever seen eyes as blue as theirs on a human. People would kill for eyes like those… Not to mention that perfect skin. And the height, the physique, the bone structure…
“Would you like a goodnight kiss?”
“Huh?”
Shit, I was staring. Blinking myself back to the present, I slammed my pillow down and threw myself down on top of it. “No, I don’t need a goodnight kiss,” I asserted into the pillow with more force than was necessary. I waited a second before adjusting my position so that I could breathe, but that made it so that I was face to face with Riel again. He gazed down at me, lips curved as though he were looking at something particularly amusing.
I second-guessed myself. Why did I need to turn down a goodnight kiss? After all, it was just the two of us. We were safe from prying eyes here, and we were technically dating, weren’t we? There wasn’t anything for me to be afraid of. Hell, we could go all the way if we wanted. If he had his ears and his nipples pierced, maybe he had other places pierced too, like…
My eyes betrayed me by glancing downward, and I could hear my blood rushing in both ears. When I looked back up, Riel’s grin had transitioned to something that bordered on predatory. Of course, he hadn’t missed it.
“I… you could… maybe just a little one.”
The invitation had barely been audible, but that was enough for someone with fae hearing.
The book in Riel’s hand closed with a snap . As he reached to place it on the nightstand, I drew the blankets to my chin in hopes of finding some courage underneath. The bed was huge, but Riel made it feel small with the way he closed the space between us. When he leaned over me, memories of the night of the party flashed before my eyes. Namely, the feeling of his skin against mine, the heat of his mouth on my breasts, and the way I’d shamelessly brought myself to completion by grinding against his leg.
My breath caught in my throat as a foot of empty space became eight inches, then six, then three. All I could see was those expressive blue eyes and those soft, perfect lips coming closer and closer until finally…
“Sleep well, eseri .”
He placed a light, chaste kiss on my forehead.
It was exactly what I asked for, the amicable part of me reasoned as he gave me a sweet, self-satisfied smile, turned over, and picked up his book once more. The rest of me couldn’t help but feel cheated, so I glared daggers at his profile until I succumbed to sleep.