Page 2

ILLNESS

C as had no idea what to expect. His mother had been in to see him that day, telling him that she’d called in a healer to see to him.

Another one, over and above the palace healers and the holy sisters that had poked and prodded him to within an inch of his life, only for them to tell his mother there was nothing that could be done for him.

So what was one more healer going to do? But he didn’t want to reject the healer out of hand, that would distress his mother and him being sick was doing that quite well enough.

At this point, and he’d had this from his palace spies, his mother’s council was pressuring her to wed again so that when Cas died,she would have another heir in the wings.

Not that his mother would listen to them. Even though she likely should listen to them. If none of the healers could do anything for him, it was likely that he was going to die.

Cas jumped as his door opened, revealing, well, she was dressed like a healer, but didn’t look at him like a healer should look at their prince. There was no deference in those eyes, no recognition, and why was there white fire curling around her hands?

He could have called his guards, except they were already there. Standing at the back of the healer. In their wake, was his mother, looking at him with hope and no little bit of desperation in her eyes.

“Mother?” Cas struggled to rise as the healer marched to his bedside and looked at him. Cas looked back, meeting the healer’s eyes and wincing. There was bright flame spilling from her eyes, spiraling around her and concentrating itself in her hands.

”Look into my eyes.,” she said in a low voice. “Let me see you.”

Cas felt himself blush. There was a note in the healer’s voice that said she was used to being listened to. So he listened. It’s not as though this healer would be able to do anything different than the healers in the past had done.

She reached out, gripping his chin and stared him directly in the eyes. The feeling was strange in the extreme.Most healing felt like spiders crawling around on your insides. This was far different and no little bit frightening.

The flame that surrounded her was inside him, but rather than char him to ash, it was more like one of his hunting dogs spiraling around inside him, seeking something that he didn’t know the shape of.

But this healer seemed to know precisely what she was looking for. The flames dragged a part of his mind along, and he was treated to a scan of what his insides looked like. He was pretty certain that they shouldn’t look like that.

And then they didn’t. The damage vanishing as he watched. It mended under the fire, as though it was being removed, restored, and changed under the flame.

And then the fire released him and he reached out just in time to catch the healer as she dropped bonelessly toward the floor. Cas cradled her, trying to figure out how he was feeling.

“My son?” His mother walked further into the room.

Cas nodded. “She did something, Mother,” he replied, still holding the healer. “I cannot tell you what, only that she restored me.”

”I should have sent for her sooner.” His mother looked down at the healer. “I honored her with my own hands for saving the city three years gone. She is the first one I should have had to look at you.”

The healer stirred, opening her eyes and looking up at Cas. It felt like his entire universe lurched to one side as she stared into his eyes. Something fluttered at the back of his mind, like feathers, like the wisps that you feel when you walk through a spiders web in the garden.

The healer rose, leaving Cas no choice but to let her go, even though the flutter at the back of his mind demanded otherwise.

“Majesty?” The healer had turned away from him and was bowing to his mother. She was unsteady, Cas could see her shaking and trying to hide it.

“Your thoughts, healer?” His mother asked.

”I have undone the illness, Majesty,” the healer said thoughtfully. “I would ask to examine him further, if he consents, as there was something odd about the way it was acting. As though it was trying to hide from me.”

“I’m right here,” Cas protested.

The healer turned to look at him and paled even further if that was possible. “Highness,” she stammered.

“I hardly think we’re standing on ceremony now, Healer.” He tried to smile, but exhaustion hit him like a hammer, and he watched her shift back into healing mode.

“Rest,” she walked over and helped him lie down, tucking the blankets back around him. “I will return tomorrow and do more.”

“I don’t understand,” Cas held in the yawn. “What’s happening?”

“Healing draws from the one being healed.” The healer looked down and away from him, but before she managed to avert her eyes, he saw the guilt there. “It makes you tired.”

”You-“ he couldn’t contain this yawn, and it threatened to split his face in two. “You’re tired too.”

She nodded. “Guiding a full body restoration is tiring.”

”Then you should rest too.” The dark was gathering, a massive wave threatening to drown everything that he was.

“I will return to the temple.” She turned away from him as the darkness claimed his vision. “Call for me if anything changes.”

When Cas woke again, it wasn’t the city healer that was looking at him. It wasn’t the woman he wanted to see. Rather it was the head of Rodilla’s healers that was looking down at him with puzzlement.

“You need to eat, Highness.” The healer looked down at him. “Your body is wasted and needs the calories.”

”Where-“

The healer smiled. “Healer Emryn is back in the city temple.”

”Emryn?”

“My finest healer,” the head said. “The only one that could have restored you, if the reports I have received are correct.”

“Give her my thanks?” Cas wasn’t certain why he was suddenly desperate to see her again. “I owe her much.”

“She is a healer,” the head said flatly.“Her Majesty has already attempted to elevate her. Emryn has made a vow to the moon and to the temples. That vow is for life.”

“I would not ask her to break her vow,” Cas said. “Only that you give her my thanks.”

“I will speak to her,” the head healer said quietly. “Give her your words. She has said she will return to see you again.”

That was a relief, but he couldn’t say why.