Lina: Twisted Fairy Tales Book Two

22: Interminable Wait

After a barely touched dinner, I begged exhaustion and escaped to my room. Truthfully, all the activity had irritated my injuries, and I rubbed my leg around the splint on my thigh before throwing myself backwards on my bed with my legs still dangling off. I thought the Healer would never let me hear the end of it after he’d found out I’d Shifted before the wounds fully healed. I wasn’t entirely sure why they were taking so long to heal myself, really. But I wondered if my time in Faery had anything to do with it.

I lay there, almost dozing, with my mind full and fretting about everything that had happened since the Fae King waltzed into my life. With the additional weight of what my mother had shared, I wasn’t certain what to do with the storm of anxiety plaguing me. It just seemed as though my entire life had been upended, and I felt adrift. For the first time, not even my troublesome half could come up with a plan.

When the knock came at my door, I nearly jumped from the bed in fright because I had not expected it.

“My Lady?” A voice called, and after calming my heart, I hobbled to the door to peek out. A youngish boy stood nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot. When I peeked through the crack, he blushed before he bowed, as if he forgot he was intended to do so, which made me open the door wider with a small chuckle and pull him upright.

“Now then, no use bowing to me, Gentle Sir.. How may I help you?” I questioned him softly and he blushed again.

“They said.. That is the Healer. Um the Centaur Healer, Miss.. I’m one of the boys apprenticed to him you see..” He babbled, still blushing furiously. “He said you wanted to see the Fae. When his injuries were set and he was out of danger..” The little boy’s voice had gone quiet at the mention of the Fae King, a whisper of awe and a shining look of wonder on his face. I nearly bolted right up from my crouched position in front of him, which startled him into stumbling backwards.

“Is he still at the Healers?” I asked, and the boy bobbed his head quickly. I almost ran past him before pausing to turn and look back over my shoulder at the young boy. “Don’t be fooled by their pretty faces, hey child? Underneath, they are tricky, scary things that steal people away from their families and homes.” His eyes widened, but then I had turned again and began to race my way down the hall. I didn’t give any heed to the footsteps following me, until the boy caught up with me.

“Miss, uh.. Princess..” He panted. “If the Fae are so dangerous.. Why are you running to meet with this one?” The boy’s confusion warred with the trepidation in his voice. I glanced at him and he flinched slightly, as if he was afraid he would be punished for his curiosity. I wondered how he was being treated to act in such a way.

“I owe him a debt. Or I did. Well, I may still. But I’m also concerned about what happened to him, that he arrived as he did.” I responded gently before looking away from the boy as I slammed my way down the stairs. “He was their King, you see..” I muttered breathlessly at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing my thigh. Not certain if the boy heard, nor really caring to explain myself, I took off with a stumbling run towards the Healer’s hut, hardly paying attention to whether the boy followed or not.

By the time I made it to the Healers Hut, it felt as though someone had replaced my thigh muscles with fire. I hobbled inside, limping pretty heavily, and hardly made it past the door before I was ambushed.

“Little Fox? That had better not be you limping into my home after I expressly forbid you from overtaxing that leg!” The Healer snarled, the sound of a stomping hoof disturbingly loud in the otherwise silent wooden house. The sound pounded closer, and I winced. This was not going to be pleasant. I watched as the Healer came into view, his nostrils flaring as he lowered his head towards me. “I can smell you little Fox. And what’s more, do I smell blood?” His sightless eyes roamed over me, and I attempted to back up. It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you, Centaurs can be intimidating. Especially huge, scarred, blind ones with snarls on their faces.

“Perhaps from earlier..” I tried to lie, but a second set of hands gripped me and hoisted me off the ground.

“She lies. Fox is hurt again.” Grumbled the Healer’s assistant, who was also a Centaur, which left me dangling several feet off the ground.

“Hush up.” I hissed, but he grinned at me, tossed his head and whinnied a sound that was almost a laugh. This particular Centaur had spent most of my life learning our language, but his mother-tongue always came out around my family, especially those of us with Shifter blood. I don’t know if he felt more comfortable around us, or if he just felt a certain kinship with the half-animal, half-human hybrids. Either way, his dark roan coat matched his hair in a strange mix that always fascinated me.

I was carried to and plopped onto a bed, rather unceremoniously,, a fact that I grumbled about under my breath, and was immediately swarmed by the two huge horse-men whinnying and carting supplies to and fro as my wounds were re-examined, rebandaged and in the case of my leg, reset with new splints and much complaining. None too gently either, I might add. After I was properly probed and palpated until I wanted to scream, the Healer finally heaved a sigh.

“You’ve torn nothing new except for my stitches, Little Fox. Keep this up and I will tie you to this bed.” If you’ve never had a half-horse, half-human hybrid angrily snort in your face, be grateful. Add in the gnashing of sharp teeth from the Healer’s scarred visage, and I was prepared to sacrifice my leg to the Gods if it meant I didn’t have to cross paths with him again.

“May I um.. See the Fae King now?” I questioned weakly. I received another snort as an answer from the Healer.

“Only if you intend to use these.” The Healer thrust a pair of crudely made wooden crutches at me. I took them meekly, then looked down towards the floor.

“I may need some help down..” I volunteered. The Healer’s tables had always made me feel small. Even more so as an adult, looking down at what might be considered waist-high for a centaur, I had to be at least five feet off the ground. I wasn’t even that. It was easier when I was a child and thought I’d one day be taller. Now, not so much.

“Yes, yes.” The Healer grumped and waved at his assistant as he walked away. His assistant offered me his usual cheeky grin before picking me up to lower me to the ground, much to my chagrin. He thought I was ‘cute’. As in ‘small’ cute, and teased me about it often growing up. I stuck my tongue out at him and turned away myself, but only made it two steps before the Healer was snapping “Crutches!” at me. I jerked slightly and arranged them under my arms as the assistant snickered a whinny behind me. I glared at him over my shoulder.

“Yes, sir.” I grumbled at the Healer, to an even broader grin from the assistant. Let me tell you: those sharp teeth are something else.