Healing Waters (41)

Coruscare had returned to his chambers, blissfully cleaned and fed, his head had just touched his pillow when a knock came at the bedroom door.

"My lord?", someone squeaked from the other side.

He rolled to his back and stared at the ceiling as he replied dryly.

"Yes?"

"My lord, lady Syll asked for your presence in the archive.", the voice squeaked again.

"I see. I will be out to meet her in just a moment.", he said drowsily.

His eyes shut for what felt like seconds before a louder bang on the door echoed through his room.

He stood lazily and trudged to the door, swinging it open.

"Ahhh lady Syll, we meet again, and so soon. I beg your pardon but I thought we had discussed meeting in the morning.", he said sardonically, knowing she knew that they had.

"Yes, although I did not specify. I meant quite early, and as it is already 5 o clock in the morning, you are late.", she said, too cheerfully.

She knew. The moment she had sent him to "rest" her plan had been to interrupt before he got any resting truly done.

She wanted something, perhaps to make him miserable and pay for his mistake of gambling his life away whilst using the Catcher.

"Syll, please just a couple of hours of rest. I beg of you.", he said exhaustedly.

"If you insist on putting yourself in dangerous situations, I will make it a personal goal to exhaust you past the point of being able to do so. Should I have your word that you will listen to rationale moving forward, we could possibly start after lunch time.", she said, still too cheerfully.

He regarded her with a furrowed brow and planted his fists on his hips.

And so her purpose was revealed.

He stared her down to no avail.

With a defeated sigh he dropped his arms and slumped his shoulders.

"Yes Syll, I swear it on my heart and soul. I will avoid danger if evident.", he said placing a hand over his heart dropping his head and closing his eyes in defeat.

She looked at him closely, squinting one eye to look closer.

After a bit she gave a satisfied nod.

"Just after lunch then. Enjoy your rest my lord, you shall need it.", she said walking away briskly, immediately turning to the grove members and delegating tasks. Apparently she intended to start right away.

Coruscare drug himself to his bed and landed face down in the mattress.

He felt guilt over not beginning right away but he could not deny his need for rest. Although the Catcher affected the soul of a person, he felt as though he had been through days of constant battle, his muscles tense and sore as though he had been physically active. Not to mention the buzzing in his head.

And since the moment he had left the girls bedside, he could only see flashes of her face, expressions of pain, of serenity, of deep slumber.

It was the last thing he thought of before falling asleep.

——————————————————————————

It had been two days, two days of searching and nothing of interest found.

Coruscare thought his head would spin right off of his shoulders.

"I am taking a break Syll. Do you need anything?", he asked as he walked by.

Without looking up from the book she was thumbing through, she waved him on and shook her head.

He smirked in her direction before passing through the large double doors.

Syll had always been a determined person, once she put herself to a task, she would ensure that it was finished. He was unsurprised by her work ethic.

He had figured in the archive that he might take a flight, stretch his wings, get some fresh air, but instead he found himself walking to the infirmary.

As he entered he watched the grove members dressing Caeli in white linens that could easily be changed for new ones, her wound continued to seep dark tarry blood and had already stained the ones she had came in. Her more valuable items had been gathered at a table beside the bed, anything past salvation was thrown away.

He spotted the cloak that hid the Seeing Stone, evergreen like the one Ventus used to wear at the beginning of her service with Ausia as an at arms guard, before she had become a grand master sorceress.

The grove members began shuffling her onto a stretcher, she reacted painful.

"Stop! Stop. It is hurting her.", he commanded without thinking.

"My lord she must be moved. In order to prevent infection and keep her skin healthy she will need a bath and to be dried and dressed properly. It must be done every few days and we use a linen dress to ensure her modesty, but I assure you it must be done despite her pain.", a grove member said bowing deeply as the other stood still as statues, having halted mid-task.

He watched as Caeli writhed under the hands of the grove members. It took a couple of them to move her causing jostling along the way.

"Can I assist? I could carry her and manipulate her weight easily on my own and perhaps do it more gently.", he added the last part kindly. He knew they were doing the best they could, but the grove-lings were slightly smaller than the average Folk and one could not do it on their own.

The members stared wide-eyed at each other.

"Well, of course master, you are the king. You are always welcome to do as you please.", the small wooden like man replied with surprise and no small amount of confusion.

Coruscare did not notice, he was already wondering why he had said anything at all. As he had moved closer, he truly noticed how small she was compared to him. How would he lift her gently? Where would he put his hands?

All at once his body was hot and he was at a loss for where to start.

His starting somewhere was better than not doing anything at all having already interrupted the grove and asking to do it himself.

He gently scooped beneath Caeli's neck and another under legs, attempting to keep her torso steady as to avoid disturbing her ghastly wound.

He was able to almost cradle Caeli like an infant due to their relative size difference, it made it even easier than he had thought it would be.

They moved briskly through a tunnel that eventually opened up to a cavernous stone courtyard. He looked around slightly amazed at the sight.

The walls of the cylindrical opening were made of glittering white stone that shone brightly in the setting sun. A small pool of water sat in the center of the courtyard, a slim watefall filling it from up above.

There were two other openings that allowed the sunshine to catch the droplets of misting water that accumulated through the air as the water fell form a great height.

"The stone here has healing properties my lord, those that are very sick are brought here to benefit from the effects of the stone that makes this room.", one of the wooden women said softly as they moved to the edge of the pool. She could tell the lord was interested in the room, it was obvious he had never been there before.

She had heard the Druid say many a time that the master ought to take a soak on the occasions he refused all other treatment for variously acquired wounds.

"We will lower her with the stretcher in order to submerge her body, if you'd please my lord.", a wooden man said graciously, bowing to the large creature.

Coruscare nodded warily and carefully placed the girl on the stretcher.

He watched as the members lowered her into the water with ropes that were tied around the handles, the ends of the rope wrapped around curved poles to allow the members more leverage as they lowered the contraption.

A few members walked to a wooden shelf that had been attached to the stone wall with clay, the sun having baked the malleable mud like substance into strong and firm material. They retrieved linens and a few wooden bowls containing a milky substance.

"Nut water my lord, it helps keep her skin from drying out after we clean her wound. And a little hollay root for healing.", the wooden woman said, further explaining the process, feeling that the master seemed interested and was happy to explain as they went.

She worked quietly for a moment before looking back to see if the king had heard what she had said, his silence causing her to wonder.

She looked up to her lords face, a picture of tenderness. The look on his face betrayed his drake appearance. The soft look in his eyes and the corners of his mouth ever so slightly upturned contrasting greatly with the sharp and beastly edges of his features.

The wooden woman saw a younger version of the master she knew. A wraith of a tender beast, capable of so much kindness, stood in his place.

The image so vivid in her mind, she felt the world go unsteady when her masters gaze flicked from watching the girl to making contact with her own. The wraith having dissipated in thin air with the movement of his eyes.

The king blinked rapidly a few times before giving the woman a nod and turning on his heel to leave the healing ponds' room.

The woman sat speechless for a moment, but only just, she quickly refocused on the task at hand.