Unexpected Lessons

Amie was lying in bed, nursing her wounds as she feared her fate. As soon as they arrived home from their travels, King Javert lost his temper. He beat Amie relentlessly while yelling at her how much of a blight she was. Once the beating was over, she was ordered to stay in her room and was not allowed to leave under any circumstances for the next two weeks.

Amie was fighting back tears, wondering how close the prophecy was from coming true, when she heard a soft knock on the door.

Prince Jacques quietly opened the door and whispered, "Amie? Is it alright if I come in?"

Defeat echoing in her voice, she replied, "Jacques, you should be careful. King Javert is not thinking straight right now."

Jacques scoffed, "He's never thinking straight. I don't care what he'll do to me. What I'm concerned about right now is your well-being. Do you need me to get you a medic?"

Amie responded, "It wouldn't just be you in trouble." Amie winced, she looked down at her mangled hand.

Jacques caught sight of it as she tried to tend to it by herself, "Amie! That's broken! I'm getting a doctor this instant!"

Amie tried to protest, "But-"

Jacques ignored her and immediately closed the door. A few moments later, he reappeared with a doctor following behind him, "This is Dr. Sybil. She is the best doctor around, please let her treat your wounds."

Dr. Sybil spoke to Jacques, "Thank you, Your Highness. Could you please let us be for a moment so I can conduct an exam?"

Jacques nodded, "Of course." He stepped out of the room, leaving Amie alone with this mysterious doctor.

Dr. Sybil turned to Amie, "I need you to undress and lie down so I can begin the treatments."

Amie struggled with taking off her dress. Realizing her hand was broken, Dr. Sybil helped her get settled. With her clothes removed, Dr. Sybil could now easily assess the injuries.

She began, "You have two broken ribs, your right hand has been crushed and twisted, it appears you have a fracture on your left foot, your ankle is swollen and likely sprained, it appears there is some internal bleeding as well... It's a miracle you are alive right now! Bruising everywhere, another gash here..." Dr. Sybil continued listing all of the injuries Amie sustained from King Javert, "...severe organ damage to the liver, kidneys, lungs..."

Amie was beginning to lose consciousness while Dr. Sybil spoke. The only thing keeping her from slipping into a coma was her initial adrenaline rush. With that slowly dissipating, her body began to shut down.

Amie awoke the next morning to find Dr. Sybil was still there. Dr. Sybil'a hands were glowing as they hovered above Amie's broken hand. Amie's eyes grew wide as she watched her hand quickly repair itself, "wha-what are you?"

Dr. Sybil responded, "I didn't expect you to be awake so soon. Will I have to erase your memory, or will you voluntarily forget what you've just witnessed?"

Amie stayed silent for a moment before putting her left hand over her mouth and closing her eyes. She drifted back to sleep for a little longer while Dr. Sybil worked.

When she awoke again, she noticed her body felt better. There was bruising and superficial cuts still, but no more broken bones and no more ruptured organs as far as she could tell.

Dr. Sybil noticed Amie starting to move, "Good, you're awake! You're no longer in danger of succumbing to your wounds, but you still need rest. I've left some bruising for your body to take care of naturally, lest the King becomes suspicious that I was involved in any way with your recovery. I do not know what you did to anger him, but given the severity of your wounds, him telling you to stay here untreated for two weeks was a guaranteed death sentence. As a matter of fact, sending you to your room for the night with no treatment would have done the trick."

Amie replied, "Thank you."

Dr. Sybil cautioned, "Take care of yourself, Amie. I won't be able to help you once you leave here."

Amie was a little confused, "When I leave here?"

Dr. Sybil huffed, "Yes! When you leave here! How much clearer do I have to be? Anyways, I don't have much time to teach you proper healing magic, but let me teach you the most useful basic spell you could know."

Amie was sure she was hallucinating now, "Right. Forgive me doctor, but I believe I might have sustained a head injury? I think I heard you say healing magic and spell?"

Dr. Sybil replied, "You do not have a head injury, I already checked, and you did hear right. I can understand it to be a shock for those who have never witnessed magic before, but I assure you it exists. Be careful who sees you though. The wrong person and you'll be headed to the stake."

Amie responded, "You must really trust me, then."

Sybil replied back, "I've seen your fate."

Amie shuttered, "There seems to be a lot of people in this world who know my fate."

Sybil nodded in agreement, "Indeed." She switched the subject back to spellcasting, "My time is running out, so quickly, pay attention:

Lesson 1: Do not ever let anyone see you use magic.

Lesson 2: Do not heal yourself completely if you have to be around the same people. They will start questioning why you heal so quickly.

Lesson 3: In order to cast any type of spell, you must be able to feel a certain type of energy around you. This energy is called stellar mist and you need to devlope a type of sixth sense that detects the presence of it.

Lesson 4: You need to learn to change the flow of stellar mist to turn it into a spell. Once you can do that, you are ready for this." Sybil took out a small, pocket-sized booklet.

Amie took the little booklet and opened it to try to read it. She couldn't understand anything written on it.

Sybil saw the look of confusion on her face and continued, "You won't be able to read it until you can direct enough of the right kind of mist for it. The different types of magic have different colored mists. Healing magic is white, so that is what you need to focus on in order to unlock this spell." Sybil was getting ready to leave when she remembered, "One more thing, in order to help you visualize redirecting stellar mist, think of it as a fog on a river." She opened the door to leave.

Amie tried to stop her, "Wait! What do you mean by that? How is that supposed to help me?"

Dr. Sybil only responded with two words, "You'll know." With that, she was gone.

A short while after Dr. Sybil's departure, Jacques entered the room, "How are you feeling? Dr. Sybil said you're still in rough shape."

Amie looked up at him from her bed, "Thank you, Jacques. If you didn't send her, I would be dead. By the way, how exactly do you know her?"

Jacques replied, "She was my personal doctor growing up. I was very ill throughout my childhood up until I turned 16."

Amie was sympathetic, "Oh! I didn't know that. I'm glad you're better now."

Jacques scoffed, "Yeah. You're the only one who's glad to see me healthy. If I didn't know any better, I would say my illnesses were probably attempts of my brother trying to kill me and my parents wouldn't have had a care in the world if he succeeded."

Amie's expression changed at his accusations, "I know your family could be aweful to others, but I always thought they were good to their own."

Jacques became bitter, "They only care if you're strong. Since I was always sick, they were always comparing me to Felix, asking me why I couldn't be strong like him. One time, Felix intentionally scared a horse I was riding on. I fell and broke my arm. Mother just yelled at me for being so weak. Said she wished the fall had killed me so she wouldn't have to suffer through so much embarrassment anymore. Father was just always relieved that I was the second child so he wouldn't have to worry about me inheriting the thrown."

Amie couldn't fathom such heartlessness, "That's just cruel, how could they be that way to their own family?"

Jacques smiled, "Yeah, you really were raised in this tower weren't you? I'm surprised nobody told you any stories about them." He began to laugh.

Amie's nose scrunched at his teasing, "Yes, well, it's not like anyone liked me either. Edith always told me to be careful. Whenever we saw gossiping maids, it would only be a matter of hours before they were ratted out and dragged off to the dungeons."

Jacques replied, "Well, I guess we got to see both sides of the same coin. Either way you look at it, this palace is filled with rats and snakes."

Amie sighed, "I supposed you're right. Jacques, I hope you don't mind cutting the conversation short, but Dr. Sybil told me I still needed to rest."

Jacques was acting unusually caring, "I understand. Please get well soon, I hate seeing you in pain."

They bid each other goodnight and Amie drifted off to sleep. Right before falling asleep a thought ran through her mind. Perhaps Prince Jacques isn't actually the obnoxious and rude type, maybe the kind and caring Jacques is his true self.