To Serve Him Truly

Althea walked through the outer edge of the wood in her silken clothes with her hair unrestrained to dance about the soft breeze. She walked towards the sound of water slowly savoring every gentle step. The leaves on the trees gently rippled in movement caressed by the tender embrace of calmly moving air. Even the sun through the canopy of trees was soft gold and not hot at all.

Althea approached the small stream and looked down with a smile. But the water within was moving too fast, unnaturally fast as if racing against nature itself. It was not the native nature of a normal water's flow, but it was demanding, insisting, and frightening. The breeze that had playfully swept her hair picked up urgency and became a wind. The water broke off pieces of its bank in its fervor and consumed it in the current until the earth it swept away disappeared from all sight and saving. Althea couldn't help but feel frightened and stepped slowly away.

She heard moaning-languishing and ceaseless moaning.

She stepped away and to find a low fog moving down the stream growing heavier and denser with its progression. Despite the growing power of the wind, the fog's movement was slow and calculated. And still the moaning persisted slowly growing louder and closer. The more the fog passed, the more she could see the earth beneath it move in grotesque undulations. And from the writhing of the earth a figure broke free and floated as if lighter than air itself, hooded and mysterious.

Still there was moaning.

Althea dared not move even if her fear-frozen body were able. She wanted to run, turn away from the Wood and run towards the safety of light behind her, but she was motionless despite every voice within her heart and spirit urging her to flee.

And still there was moaning.

Suddenly the hooded figure turned to face her with eyes of blinding light. She could see only grey skin contorting between forms of anguish to evil pleasure. It radiated with demanding and insatiable need with an aura of heated, red oppression. The force of its extruding destruction hit Althea with a force that sent her flying back as if powerfully struck a considerable distance away. She landed on her back; the air knocked out of her. She tried to gain her breath, but she could barely breathe. And instantly she felt white, hot pain.

The moaning became louder. It was almost a scream now.

Althea tried to get up, to run, to yell for help, anything! Nothing came to her throat but a slightly restrained whimper, and all attempts at motioned were restrained against a formless pressure bearing down on her like a ballast. All she managed to do after struggling was raise herself with her elbow to once again face the formless malice by the river.

The figure still faced her, looking at her with eyes she could not see through the light. Then it opened its mouth and set upon her with unnatural speed. The mouth grew larger, the aura felt hotter, and the moaning still came.

It overtook Althea, consumed her whole.

Healer!

….........

"Healer! My Lady Althea!"

Althea jolted awake drenched in sweat and full of a dull and aching pain at the sound of her name. She was in her bed at the palace safe wrapped in the satin sheets. There was no tempest, no fog, no stream, although she still saw the scene in her mind and heard the ceaseless moaning.

Wait, she did hear moaning, almost screaming.

"Lady Healer!"

Althea had forgotten there was another person in the room. She looked at a young lady she had seen often in the palace attending Baldrik. The girl was small and very young. She was usually the one to arrange the flowers in his room at the Queen's request. She looked so frightened. Another moan rang through the palace, and the young girl winced as if the pain were hers and a small tear squeezed out the corner of her eye and down her face.

Althea made a move to jump out of bed before she was hindered by stiffness. She fought against it and went to get a robe. "What is happening?" Althea asked as she wrapped the band around her waist and moved towards the door.

"It's Baldrik, My Lady. We don't know; he's just...I mean..." she was stopped by another wail of pain coming from Baldrik's room. Althea didn't wait for further explanation as she began to run towards the sounds of his suffering with the girl struggling to keep up with Althea's longer strides.

Althea threw open the door to see Baldrik as pale as the death and writhing his body in anguish. There were multiple attendants in the room dashing here and rushing there trying to do anything to help but mostly looking panicked. Strong guards tried to hold down Baldrik against his thrashing hoping to protect him from contorting off the bed or harming himself.

With an urgent, graceful glide Althea was at Baldrik's bedside pushing back everyone who looked after her with looks of silent pleading. "Baldrik,�� she whispered through the sounds of his moans. Baldrik's eyes, clenched tightly shut before, opened at the sound of her voice. His face broke Althea's heart. His eyes were desperate as each wave of pain swept over him. Althea laid her hand over the side of his face; he felt feverish.

Baldrik grabbed her hand and clenched it hard. "Help me!" he cried in anguish. His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe through the pain.

Althea didn't ask where the pain was or any questions at all. She had a pretty good feeling with what she was feeling in herself and from the site of his red swelling in his knees and elbows. She thought surely he was having a massive attack as he had described to her before feeling as though his bones were broken. Tears started to roll down his face as he breathed shallow, as if the pain were restricting ease of breath. She tried thinking of what salves to try and where they were in her room with enough clarity to send an attendant to run after it, but the more he saw him curling and twisting against his pain, the more she knew she had no time.

Althea didn't say a word; she merely mounted the bed next to him, put her both hands on the side of his face and touched her forehead to his. He started openly weeping. "It hurts," he weakly squeezed from his lips, "it hurts so much!" Althea didn't respond, but started a small, melodic hum.

She was going to try a Healer's song, the first one she had tried for him.

Slowly the melody became louder and words came forth. Baldrik couldn't make out what she was saying. No one in the room could. The words were Ancient and no longer commonly known. Baldrik suddenly started to feel a growing warmth on his face beside her hands. His eyes were closed, but those who looked on could see the glowing against her hands that mixed with gold and white. The glow danced against the air as she lifted her hands against their pressure to caress his head like a mother to a frightened child. Baldrik's breathing became deeper and steadier.

The song became stronger and the glow from her hands moved to her arms and even further as she continued to sing. Baldrik found the strength, still with his eyes closed, to bring his arms around her waist in a desperate embrace, almost as if the more he held her, the more he would be cured. And maybe he was right. The warmth in him spread to attack his pain filling his blood and body with the vigor to keep fighting. And he cried again, this time not from the pain, but from his relief and indescribable disbelief.

Althea had never felt a song affect her in the way this one was. The room shrank away, even Baldrik seemed far away. She was in a darkness pulling at invisible forces. No, the invisible forces were pulling her. She was in a place of exchange, and she was losing herself in the song that she had found within herself. She supposed that it was because she had never had to try so hard to pull someone back from such mysterious despair, or maybe it was because she had never wanted so much to do the impossible for someone as much as she wanted to save her friend. Whatever the case, she couldn't keep up this Magic for long.

As she felt Baldrik's grip on her loosen and his breathing regulate, she started to gently let go of the song. She even felt him sigh as if released from the holds of daemons, and she quieted more. The glow lowered and receded back first to her hands before dying away all together as the last trace of the song faded out as if carried away by wind.

Baldrik opened his eyes to see a room full of people he hadn't fully realized were there before. And now he could see his sister and Durai were in the room as well against the wall opposite his bed. Everyone looked at the scene with expressions ranging from relief to awe to wonder. In the light of the candles illuminating the scene, he could see the tear stained expression of hope in his sister.

Baldrik released Althea to an extent who fell back quite exhausted from her knees to sitting cross-legged on the bed resting her weight behind her on her outstretched arms. Baldrik looked at her not knowing what to feel. He couldn't believe the relief he felt and couldn't believe the song he had heard. He looked down at himself to see the redness gone and the swelling diminished.

But it wasn't gone.

He closed his eyes and felt the blackness (as he had come to know it) still there threatening to come again without warning. He wasn't completely cured, and he could feel it. His pain was all but gone, but not gone entirely. And suddenly his hope was broken. Ancient Magics were called and they could not drive the darkness completely away. It would return; he could feel it in him. It was only subdued for now, but how long would now last? And in the breaking of his hope, he turned into one possessed like a lashing tiger mortally wounded fighting against its fate.

Baldrik let out a primal cry of despair and lashed out at Althea and stuck her down to the floor from the bed.

Durai was enraged and started to move toward Baldrik before the Queen threw herself against him to stop him, ordering him to wait. Mireya looked over her shoulder to the scene she couldn't quite believe she was beholding. She had never seen Baldrik strike anyone, not even as a child.

"It's still there! Don't you think I can't feel it? I feel in my blood and deep in my bones that it's there, and it will come again!" He yelled with anger and much despair. Then his anger broke to sobs of self-pity and hopelessness. "Healer, what good are your songs? Leave me now. It is clear that this cannot be defeated, and it will be the end of me soon. I feel my death in this!"

The entire room seemed to hold its breath as Althea still lay on the floor having barely moved since being struck down. No one knew what to do. The servants thought surely this night would last forever. How could dawn ever break on such a scene? How could dawn come again if this could happen? Mireya dropped her head against Durai's chest as though she had given up too. Durai only looked towards Althea and her form barely moving against her breathing.

"You listen to me, Baldrik."

The whole room collectively raised their heads to see the Healer rise slowly to her feet. What would happen next? What could follow what they had just seen? Even Baldrik raised his lowered head to Althea in terrible shame of what he said and even more at what he did.

"I have a job to do." Baldrik looked at her in disbelief, and Mireya looked at her inspired. "I will sing a song tonight; I will sing a song tomorrow if I have to. Did you think I would try once and give up?" Althea's voice became stronger and more determined like a rallying decree before war. "I have news for you. I'm not giving up. If it takes everything I know and then some, I have made a promise to you to be your Healer. I never said I could cure completely, but I will be damned if I'm going to give up. And neither should you!"

Baldrik laid down on his bed completely vexed at his situation and more by his actions. He could find no words through, and just closed his eyes. In truth, he was grateful and exhausted.

Mireya came forward then and put herself between her brother's bed and the room full of onlookers. She dismissed them simply with a forceful, "Goodnight." The room left barely believing all they had seen. Mireya turned to look at Althea for a long time. Mireya felt suddenly unworthy to be in her presence and looked at her in utter respect. They only thing she could think to do was embrace her, and she threw her arms around Althea who flinched under the pressure. "Thank you. Thank God for you," Mireya whispered into Althea's hair as she held her close. Althea couldn't bring her arms to embrace her back, but smiled appreciatively at her queen.

Mireya turned then to be with her brother as Althea left the room with Durai following her to escort her back to her room. It had been two days since their meal together, and though they had been far from avoiding each other, they were maintaining a safe distance away from temptation.

Althea put all she had into walking away proudly and confidently despite how truly drained she was. She had given part of herself to Baldrik in that bargaining darkness within the song, whether she consciously knew it or not. She and Durai walked down the halls towards their rooms in silence for a short while before Durai finally broke the silence. "Althea..."

Suddenly Althea's knees gave out having given all the support they could, and she slowly began to fall. Having sensed her weakness with every step, Duari calmly and gracefully, with motions quick as a flash of lightning, caught her before she fell to the ground. He swept under her knees and cradled her to his chest. "I've got you," he whispered down to her unconscious face. He was not at all surprised; the Magic he could feel emanating from her in her song was unlike any intensity he had known.

He laid her gently into bed once he carried her to her room. He removed her robe to let her sleep unrestrained from the waistband. His thoughts remained innocent as he lovingly covered her up to her chin. He stood there in the gentle light of the moon through the windows for a long time watching her breathe. The rise and fall of her chest and abdomen seemed steady and strong. He was impressed and filled with admiration as well as concerned and angry at the same time. What could Baldrik have been thinking striking her down?

He turned his thoughts from his anger and confusion of Baldrik's actions and focused slowly on her. She was truly beautiful, and he was so proud. He bent down to kiss her forhead before he turned to leave her to her own healing sleep.

"That's my girl."