Lina: Twisted Fairy Tales Book Two

23: Softer Persuasion

The crutches were, of course, too short.

I mumbled under my breath about it as I made my way towards the curtained off area that the assistant pointed me to.

“They are child-sized, yes? You are shorter than the average human! Had to dig up a pair for children in their..how do you count it.. Over ten summers, what’s the puberty age called here?” The Healer shouted back, a horse scream underlying the words. I glared over my shoulder at him.

“Child-size.. Puberty. I think you mean a youth.” I muttered.

“Youth, colt, filly, sixteen summers or less, what ever you want to call it. All the same. Small.” The Healer groused. I tossed another look over my shoulder at him, and promptly ran into the curtain. Spluttering, I fumbled with it for a moment until I could find my way to the edge. Trying to act as though I hadn’t just embarrassed myself, I slipped through.

The sight before me had tears trying to well up in my eyes. The Fae King laid on a human sized cot, his arm folded and bound to his chest. His wings were extended and salve of some kind had been spread across them. His face and neck were half-obscured by bandages. His naked chest, or what skin was visible between bandages, had deep purple bruising along with deep violet lines, like someone had laid roots of a plant under his skin and they had lodged within him, branching within his delicate flesh. His legs were covered by a light blanket but I imagined they harbored just as much damage.

The heavy thunk of the crutches seemed loud in the sudden quiet as I made my way towards him. He breathed shallowly, a hitch at the end of each inhale and exhale. By the looks of things, I imagined breathing must be quite painful for him.

“Is this what happened to you when I left?” I murmured, my fingers hovering over the skin of his chest. “Is this because you tried to save me?” As my fingertips brushed his skin, little sparks of lightning jumped from me to him and ran along the route of the violet lines underneath his skin. I watched them fade, then suddenly felt utterly exhausted. Letting myself slide to the floor, I rested my forehead on my arm on the edge of his cot, feeling myself beginning to drowse. I hardly noticed when his free hand gripped mine, thinking it was but a dream as I sighed and a soft current began streaming between us that ran throughout the night.

“You must move, Little Fox.” The Healer’s voice jolted me out of a strange dream about taming lizards. A chuckle above me caught my attention as I forced myself backwards, and I looked up to see the Fae King gazing down at me with amusement.

“What was that you were mumbling about just now, Laoina?” He asked jovially. “Something about your lizard being too small to bite?” I blushed furiously and pulled myself up to a standing position using the wall.

“Crutches!” Scolded the Healer, despite the fact that I had not gone anywhere. I gave him a dirty look I knew he couldn’t see.

“If we’re discussing small lizards, perhaps we should discuss yours.” I scoffed, turning my attention back to the Fae King, who raised a brow with a smirk on his face. I frowned as a chuckle went through the room, and I realized what I had said could be taken the wrong way. The Fae King’s expression became more cocky as I hesitated. “I meant.. Of course,in the dream..” The King’s smirk widened into a taunting grin and I realized I was digging a bigger hole for myself than I knew how to talk myself out of.

“I assure you, his ‘lizard’ is not small.” The Healer inserted over my stammering. Abashed, I covered my face as the Fae King laughed and tilted his head in the Healer’s direction.

“I shall let my physician speak for me.” He chuckled, and I tugged the skin of my face down as I rubbed my hands down my face.

“I meant the dream lizard, ok? His dream lizard!” I moaned. The laughter increased, and I shut my eyes, mortified when I realized I’d just made it worse again, only to have my eyes spring back open at the clatter of a plate of food on the table next to the Fae King’s bed. The young boy who had fetched me the night before stared with wide eyes and a blush that rivaled my own.

“I’ll just..” The boy skittered out, making the men chuckle again. I groaned and snatched a hunk of bread off the Fae King’s plate, biting into it angrily.

“Please, help yourself.” He offered bemusedly. I tore another bite from it aggressively in his direction.

Meanwhile, the Healer was changing bandages, salves and what have you on the Fae King. When he began to unwrap the Fae King’s chest, I froze. I found my fingers brushing over his chest before I knew what I was doing, before I had even realized I had moved.

“What did this?” I choked out. The bruising was more extensive than I expected. His fragile skin felt too warm, too firm underneath my hand, like it might split at any second. The very sight and feel of it made my own chest hurt. The Fae King captured my hand, rubbing his thumb across the back of my knuckles.

“It’s a creature you may not have heard of. It was called an elephant. Luckily, not a mature one, or I’d likely be dead. But I hear that is also in large part thanks to you.” He looked up at me from under his lashes. “I understand you helped save my life.” His fingers ran over mine, twining and twisting with them, and I looked at where we were connected briefly before snatching my hand back.

“It looks so painful.” I turned away, not willing to let him see how uncomfortable I suddenly was. I rubbed my tingling hand on my hip.

“Not nearly as painful as it was before.” The Fae King murmured.

“Oh? Is the bruising better?” The Healer broke in, cutting through the tension between us like a knife.

“Less purple, I’d say.” The Fae King joked weakly. I could feel his eyes on me as I ducked out of the curtain, still disturbed by my own behavior and reactions, and the strange feeling in my skin.

“Good morning again, Miss!” The chipper voice of the boy interrupted my thoughts.

“Oh, good morning.” I said distractedly, watching him sweep the floor near the entrance for a few moments.

“Would you like me to go fetch you some breakfast Miss?” He questioned after the silence between us, filled only by the murmured voices of the Healer and the Fae King, dragged on. I dragged my eyes back up to his.

“Hmm? Oh no, thank you.” I replied, and he executed a short, polite bow before resuming his sweeping.

“I gotta tell ya, I’m not used to being able to come and go when I please, or eat whenever I like. Or even as much as I like!” He laughed a little. “I’ll always be thankful to the Healer for taking me on, if for nuthin’ else, for that.” He prattled on, finishing with his sweeping and moving on to stoking a fire over which he placed a kettle of water to boil. Mid-way through, I clued in that he was talking to me, and not simply jabbering on to himself.

“What.. why? Did you grow up in an orphanage?” I asked him, bewildered at his commentary. He turned sheepish eyes to me.

“No Miss. My Pa.. he wasn’t the best at raisin’ children Miss. Think he saw me as more of a pet really. Or maybe a servant. Someone to do the extra chores around the house, extra pair of hands to work, rather than his son, if you catch my meaning. I mean, I know that’s normal some places, but it wasn’t like that before Ma..” He looked away, swallowing and taking a breath before meeting my gaze again. “I’m treated better here with the Healer.” He gestured towards the curtain with a stick and a nod. “Truth is, I never thought about being a Healer. But I don’t wanna starve no more, neither. The Healer offered to let me Apprentice. My Pa thinks all my stipends go to him. He’s wrong though. The Healer gives me pay. So even if I choose to do something else, I’ll have some money put aside when or if I choose it. And even in that he’s generous. Most apprentices don’t get the luxury of wages!” I looked over my shoulder towards the curtain and the big, scary Healer I’d always been just a little afraid of as the boy broke the stick he’d been gesturing with and tossed it in the fire. Seemed he had a soft spot for young ones, or the abused ones then. And somehow that led my thoughts back to the Fae King. Could the same be said about him? Some of the things I’d seen from him suggested it might be so.

“He’s a very kind man, Miss.” The boy mused quietly, resuming his duties, and I smiled.

“Yes, I suppose he is.” I agreed softly, but I wasn’t entirely sure I was talking about the Healer anymore.