29. Kiera
TWENTY-NINE
KIERA
“ Y ou aren’t ready to get straight back into work,” Jaxus insisted, standing in the doorway like he’d block my exit.
I gathered my hair, pulling it into a tie. “I don’t have time to rest. The medicines won’t get made?—”
“It’s only been a few days.”
“Exactly. It’s been a few days. I don’t have the time to keep sitting around.” I stood in front of him, arms crossed over my chest, matching his body language.
I’d been released back to my quarters yesterday, given the all-clear, but advised to take it easy. But they also knew me and would not have released me if I wasn’t able to resume my work because obviously that was what I was going to do.
He stepped forward, coming into my space, sending a shiver down my spine. “What would you tell a patient? ”
I would never admit he was right. “If I rest, it adds work to the other healers. None of whom have the time, either.”
“And if you make yourself worse?” he asked, concern dripping from him.
“Then I’ll work myself into a coma and you’ll get your way because I’ll be resting again.”
He gave me a flat look, but he didn’t block when I stepped around him. I felt his massive figure trailing in my wake, so clearly, I was not about to lose my dragon-shaped shadow any time soon. As long as he didn’t stop me, I could tolerate him.
I paused to put on my apron outside the apothecary. Jaxus stepped in behind me to tie it without saying a word of objection before slipping one over his own head. I tied his, as was the routine we’d developed, before touching my fingers to the handle of the door and whispering the spell to unlock it.
I slipped inside and to my shock, found the main room full of people—students?—they must be, but not healer trainees, surely? The expansive space had room enough for a class and for other healers to work on more dangerous compounds in smaller side rooms with controlled ingredients. But it had been decades since we were staffed enough to use the room to its full capacity.
“What the—?” I came to an abrupt halt, feeling Jaxus close in behind me.
“Hmm?” he queried, but I could hear the feigned innocence in his tone and turned on him. His face shone with smug satisfaction, and I knew this was his work.
“What did you do?” I asked mind to mind.
His big dumb face grinned. “Arranged help.”
“How? Who are all these people?” I spun around to assess the fae in my sacred space.
“You don’t have time to do everything as it is,” he said aloud, only for me to hear. “So with you out of action and falling behind, I figured that you could use some real help around here.”
He hadn’t answered my question .
“But—they’re not healers,” I stammered, surveying the room. My stomach tightened when I saw Koen and his cohorts over on the far bench. I whirled on Jaxus again. “They’re flyers and ryders,” I hissed through our bond. “And some of them are not welcome in my wing unless they are bleeding!” I tipped my head towards the last flyers I’d ever want in my space to drive my point home.
Jaxus turned me by the shoulders to face the room again and lowered his mouth to my ear.
“Watch them, Kiera,” he spoke softly. “Do they look like they are here to cause trouble?”
I didn’t want to look at them directly for fear they would turn this way and see me doing so. My hands and knees shook. But I made myself glance over there and saw that they were indeed working. In fact, they were working with Vanya, who was showing them a technique for blending, and they surprisingly seem engaged.
I didn’t know what to make of it.
“How? Why?”
“It’s amazing the response you get when you tell a bunch of tough flyers that the one thing that can bring them down is right at their door. Word got around that our brightest healer and newest ryder had been poisoned. I told them we needed to help make more supplies of the antidote in case this was just the beginning of something much worse, and I had no trouble getting them all signed up to help.”
I huffed out an indignant laugh. “But they know nothing of healing.”
“Well, they are here to learn. They can do more than make an antidote, too. They can do anything you need. And not just in here. We have them helping with basic patient care and menial tasks. The King has ordered us to stay within reach of the capital for now, so I’m putting them to good use until we are needed further afield. ”
“But—”
Jaxus rolled his eyes and ushered me into an unused side room.
“Do you believe that ryders and flyers should be out there with those undead creatures and not have at least some basic knowledge of how to treat things in the field?”
“They don’t have the magic, though,” I objected.
“Many do have a little. It’s just overlooked. With some solid basic training, it could be used. Think about it. If every flight had the antidote and at least one fae with some field healing knowledge, how many dragons could we save? Even against this new threat, it’s better than nothing at all.”
I didn’t want to agree because I was raised to guard healing magic and having half the flyers in the palace stomping around here seemed to conflict with that in every way. But I had to admit, what he was suggesting was actually quite brilliant.
He was right. We couldn’t afford to lose any more flights, and this was something that could at least give them a chance if they were attacked. And if it helped us out here even a little, then it was worth a shot.
I watched them through the glass. Even my nemesis was working diligently. I wasn’t sure I could bear to be around him, but I would take their help for now.
“You are a ryder, Kiera,” Jaxus cut into my thoughts. “Whether you like it or not, your world and theirs have collided. So why not use this as a chance to change things for the better? Where I’m from, we don’t draw such lines. Everyone helps out, or things don’t get done. This kingdom is in dire need of a real change, and this is the start.”
“We only follow the Goddess’ teachings. Healers are blessed with the magic by her. If she wanted all fae to heal, surely she would have bestowed them with the magic?”
“Then we are not breaking any rules. Their trace amounts of healing magic have been ignored.” He had a point I wouldn’t admit to because it felt like it went against my people. "Maybe the way the teachings have been interpreted over the centuries has clouded their intention? I personally believe that those blessed with the pure magic are the perfect teachers for those who have enough power and the will to serve. Think of what this kingdom could become if passion and desire were the driving force behind one’s contribution, rather than genetics and law.”
I had no words. I’d never considered things this way. Where did his ideas come from? They seemed so radical, but I couldn’t deny they were worth consideration.
“I don’t think the Goddess does anything without reason. I think we are all guided to our destiny by fate,” he said. “And I feel like resisting the Goddess is the only wrong move we can make here.”
I slowly nodded my agreement, my head swimming with the possibilities. “So how will this work?”
Jaxus’ face broke into a smile. “For now, they are just here to help with the tasks that don’t involve healing magic. Prep work and such. But you also don’t necessarily need full healing magic to assess people, to change linens, to care for and check on the wounded. There’s all sorts of tasks that you and all the other healers are doing every day that your magic is wasted on.
“Then, if some of them show they have some level of healing magic, they can be trained for emergency fieldwork and used here where they are needed to take the strain off.”
I processed what he was saying, and my thoughts ran wild. “We could teach the spells we use for things like bathing a bed-bound patient and moving them without causing injury,” I suggested. “Those weren’t originally healing spells. They were adapted from basic magic, with patient care in mind.”
“See, now you’re thinking,” Jaxus said with a smile.
“I’d never thought about it like this before.”
“No, I don’t think anybody in this kingdom has. I think a lot of what is in place now dates back to the time when the kingdoms were unified. It was a time when the war had torn the realm apart and some structure was needed in order to rebuild. But times change, and these things never have.”
“I can’t believe you got anybody to go for this.” I mused out loud.
What would my father say when he heard of it? As much merit as I think Jaxus’ ideas have, he is going up against the most closed off of all fae. Healers were not going to welcome such radical thought.
“We need all the help we can get,” he argued. “If there is a war and their weapon is Dragon’s Bane, we won’t be able to send vital healers out with the flights. So we have you. And then we have what we can train others to do.”
He had thought of everything.
I had to go over all of this. Make sense of it fully in my mind, but it could work.
“I see your wheels turning. Don’t worry, you can shape it how you want it to be. And you can set up a schedule and a plan. I know you like to be in control. But I wanted to show you before you said no.”
I tried to reply, but he stopped me with a finger pressed to my lips before I could say anything. “And you would have said no, Kiera, so don’t deny it. You’d have said it can’t be done. But I’ve proved it can, and your father agrees.”
My mouth hung open. “My father knows about this and thinks it’s a good thing?”
“Of course. Did you think I made this happen behind his back?”
Come to think of it, that would have been nearly impossible. But I couldn’t believe he was on board so easily.
“Did he put up much resistance?”
“He made me show I’d worked through all the possible issues and prove I’d thought it through. But I can be pretty convincing, you know. ”
I rolled my eyes.
“He said he likes that in your flyer.”
“He said that?” I refused to accept it. My father didn’t like anyone. Let alone flyers. He knew I’d been called to be a ryder, but I’d hardly had a chance to see him to hear his thoughts. I thought he wasn’t happy about me being a ryder. And I know the council will hate it. But it’s out of their control as much as it is mine.
“He said, unlike most flyers, I have a brain, not just meat in my head.”
I was lost for words. I wanted to thank him. But most of all, I wanted to go back to bed.
“You doing okay?” He looked concerned, clearly seeing on my face the wave of exhaustion that crashed over me all of a sudden.
I didn’t want to admit it to him because he would be insufferable, but I was spent already just from being upright and active for a few measly minutes and not actually achieving anything. I knew I wouldn’t last much longer and if I was my patient, I would have cautioned that at first, even the smallest effort would be draining and to go carefully. But the weight of my work had dragged me here and now, it seemed I could maybe afford to rest a bit longer after all, and it all hit me.
“I think you need to go back to bed,” he said without any reply from me.
“I’m good. I just—I have to check out all your hard work,” I insisted.
“I have Vanya overseeing it. She’s been monitoring the helpers and checking everything. You don’t need to be here right now when you look like your legs aren’t going to support you much longer.”
I moved to the doorway and looked out at the team of workers getting so much done and felt torn in two.
“I’ll make you a deal. Come back to your chambers and I’ll have Vanya bring you a full report and sit with you to talk over the plans. How does that sound?”
“Let me just see what they are doing first.” I walked ahead, not waiting for a response and approached the first bench, listening in on the instruction being given by the healer.
“Kiera,” he said into my mind. “You’re exhausted. It’s written all over you.”
I ignored him, moving along to the next bench, where there were two of the bigger flyers pounding ingredients in a pestle with a vigor I doubted this room had ever seen.
I swayed slightly and I put my hand out towards the bench to steady myself.
All of a sudden, I was in his arms. Jaxus said nothing as he scooped me up and strode from the workroom, right past all the flyers looking on. My cheeks flamed,
“Jaxus!” I hissed as soon as we were outside. “I can walk, put me down.”
We were already on our way back down the hall before I even finished getting the words out.
“Maybe you would have been able to walk if you’d stopped when your body begged you to a few minutes ago, but now I’m carrying you.” He said unapologetically.
“My body is fine. It told me so,” I muttered defiantly.
“Well, it lied to you.” His voice was almost sensual, and he spoke so close to my ear. It sent a deep shiver down my spine. He chuckled. “Good thing it doesn’t lie to me.”