Chapter 29
“Aurelia, darling, you are thinking way too hard about this,” “
Thea gently chided as I opened my eyes in frustration.
Thea and I had spent all morning going over the written theory of basic and advanced forms of fae healing.
The fae believed that the root of any illness was an imbalance within their aura or energies.
Their healing methods predominantly focused on repairing disruptions to their auras and energies in addition to physical injuries, which required a lot of visualizing and summoning of the essences.
Healing humans was done in the literal sense of fixing what was broken, usually with the assistance of one elixir or another.
By using my arcana in conjunction with some incantations, I was able to create elixirs that could heal most human ailments without much difficulty.
Fae healing was another, far more complicated story.
I didn’t have a problem with summoning my arcanal abilities.
That part I seemed to have a decent handle on.
It was the visualization of auras and energies I was struggling with.
Thankfully, Thea was patient as they came and, for the most part, unbothered by my lack of progress.
“How am I not supposed to?” I cried. “This is so different from what I’m used to. Not to mention, these texts don’t really tell you how you’re supposed to see an aura. Like, how do I do that?”
Thea laughed and then sighed. She adjusted herself in her seat, leaning on the armrest of the chair.
“You are supposed to envision it. Just like you did when you thought about the small bloom or the water. Take a deep breath; close your eyes, and let your body feel me and my energy, and then tell me what you see.”
I grabbed the glass of water resting on the desk beside me and took a quick sip.
After placing it back down on the desk, I took a deep breath and put my hands on my lap.
I closed my eyes and thought of Thea. I imagined her sitting in her chair, looking back at me and smiling.
The buzzing sensation of arcana surfaced as I imagined the same aura around Thea as I had seen days prior in the aura mirror.
Hanging my head, I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on the faint pulsing sensation around me.
Looking up, I saw the palest shade of blue light ripple around Thea’s body.
I concentrated on the surging energy around me, and Thea’s aura brightened.
Then it swelled and intensified. The air around me felt lighter.
The energy around her felt warm and inviting.
It was like being hugged by an old friend.
I opened my eyes and smiled. “I did it! I mean, I think I did!” I cried out, so excited that I might have made some progress.
“Tell me about it. What did it look like, and what did it feel like?” Thea inquired. She stood up and walked behind her chair to lean over the back of it.
“Well, it was light blue but bright. But not at first, though. At first it was very faint, but then it got brighter. The brighter it got, the more intense it became. It also felt warm and familiar, if that makes any sense.”
Thea stood up tall. “It absolutely does. Now, tell me, how did my energy make you feel? Did my energy give you any hints as to my mental or physical health?”
Running my hand through my hair, I tried to think about any feelings that translated to diagnosing someone’s health. “If there was something off, I would have felt something cold and heavy. All I felt was warmth and lightness. My uneducated guess would be that everything is all right with you.”
Thea clapped and jumped up and down. “Good! That’s so good, Aurelia! All right, now let’s get you healing something … or more specifically, someone.” A mischievous smirk spread across her face. “You need a test subject!”
I raised my eyebrow at her, slightly concerned. “What do you mean by ‘test subject’?”
“Well, someone needs to be sick for you to heal them. I can give myself an innocent little plague, and then you work your arcana on me to cure it.”
I shook my head at her. “No, you cannot do that.”
“Well, either it’s me, or I go and ask Prince Sterling or Guardian Thorne for their assistance.”
I immediately interjected. “Nope. No. That’s all right. You will suffice.”
Thea walked over to the wall of glass jars and grabbed a small black one from the top shelf.
She popped the cap off and quickly threw back the contents of the jar, grimacing as she swallowed the mysterious liquid.
“In a few moments, I am going to start retching all over the place. Grab me that basin from over there, will you?”
I ran over to the other side of the chamber and grabbed a large basin, along with a small hand towel.
I brought them back to Thea’s chair and sat while she made her way back.
We both sat in silence, staring at each other, while we waited for the plague to come on.
Moments later Thea’s face turned a ghastly shade of pale green.
Her beautiful porcelain skin erupted with small pustules, and she clutched her stomach tightly.
A loud belch exited her mouth, and her skin started to glisten from sweat.
Whatever this plague was, it was coming on quick.
“Get ready, Aurelia!” Thea picked up the basin and then began retching profusely into it.
I shut my eyes and tried to centre myself over the sounds of Thea’s stomach emptying into the basin.
I couldn’t focus, no matter how hard I tried.
The combination of being put on the spot so quickly and the nauseating sounds of Thea’s retching was far too overwhelming for me to centre myself.
“I’m so sorry, Thea. I don’t think I’m ready for this,” I pleaded as I opened my eyes.
Thea rolled her eyes at me before she retched into the basin again.
“How did you help humans? You didn’t dwell on it.
You just did it—” Thea retched again, loudly, into the basin.
Wiping her mouth with the small towel, she continued.
“You knew what spells you had to use. Stop overthinking things, and just let your instincts guide you.” She tilted her head back in the chair and took a deep breath before another wave of nausea overtook her.
I shook my head, as if that would help dispel all the doubts I had about myself and this process.
I leaned forward and placed my hand on Thea’s clammy, pustule-covered forehead and closed my eyes.
Cutting out all the noise, I focused my mind on the being beneath my hand.
I envisioned Thea holding her stomach, grimacing in pain.
I let my body feel the energy around me and guide me.
Thea’s aura began to shine. It was faint and bile green in hue.
At the centre of her core, where her hands were, I could visualize a small, swirling red mass.
I focused my thoughts on the foreign aspect of her aura and the negative energy it was emitting.
My stomach was aching, but not in the same manner as Thea’s was.
I focused on the foreign mass of energy and recited the healing spell I was most comfortable with.
“You are strong. You are whole. You are healed.” The now familiar buzzing arcanal sensation whipped through my body.
I imagined it as a healing beam of light and directed it at Thea.
The swirling red mass shrank under the power of the energy I was expelling as the aura around Thea grew brighter, shifting from the sick-green colour to her usual pale blue.
The aching in my stomach subsided slowly.
I continued to focus my thoughts and energy on dispelling the sickness until the reddened mass and its negative energy had disappeared completely.
I opened my eyes, relieved to see Thea sitting upright, colour returning to her face.
Thea smiled brightly at me. “You did it, Aurelia! See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
I laughed as I wiped my brow. “Actually, Thea, it was quite difficult. And exhausting.”
Thea picked up the basin she had been using and brought it over to one of the counters at the edge of the chamber.
“Well, I never said it was going to be easy once you sorted it out. That’s part of using your arcana—figuring out how to regulate your energy so you don’t exhaust yourself or your abilities.
Arcana itself is an endless source of power, but the wielder’s energy is not.
The more you use your arcana, the easier that will come to you. ”
I sat at the desk and slumped over. My body and mind were exhausted from the short bits of fae healing I had done.
It was reassuring to confirm that I had the ability.
Its usefulness was another matter entirely.
I grabbed a couple of grapes from Thea’s cheese-and-fruit plate and popped them in my mouth.
Surprised by how ravenous I was, I grabbed a small cube of cheese and another two grapes and threw them in too.
Thea joined me at the desk, bringing two tall glasses of water. “Good call on the snack break.” She sat down and started grazing on some cheese and crackers, followed by a dried apricot.