Healing magic

The maids were chatting and giggling while setting the table for lunch. Iris approached them wanting to know what they were talking about.

"And he said to her 'No, there was something wrong with the lord.' but she wasn't listening at all and went her way leaving the poor man there," Daisy was narrating while trying to imitate a deep voice of a man and they both laughed.

"But she wasn't entirely fair either," Mary started.

"Who wasn't?" Iris interrupted the maid.

When they heard the lady, both stopped, and their cheeks became as red as the cheeks of the children from the day before.

"Don't stop," she continued playfully. "Who wasn't fair?"

"A woman named Camille, Your Grace," Mary replied.

"What did she do?"

The maid hesitated, but Daisy took over.

"There is this girl named Camille, Your Grace, and she married a man who worked at the castle before, in the kitchen. The reason for the marriage was that he promised her a job here as well. But when her husband was kicked out by our lord for stealing, her dreams shattered. And that happened just a week or two after the wedding. Just the other day they had a fight in town, for everyone to hear," she said everything in a breath.

"Poor girl, she should have known she married a thief. But why do you think it's unfair?"

"Well, because they didn't marry for love, she only married him for a position at the castle. She used him," Mary explained.

"Do you know him?"

"No, but Gilda does and said he isn't a nice man. Our lord did well to get rid of such scum," Daisy said. "He was on his way out even before stealing, many servants were dismissed then. With or without good reason. But that man was indeed repulsive, to blame the hand that fed him for so long."

"But it was our lord's father whom he worked for a long time."

"Even so, our lord had good reason to remove him, especially seeing how he turned his back on him."

Iris listened to the girls arguing, taking Daisy's side. It was indeed better to dispose of such people from your company, not knowing when they might turn on you. Her lord husband did the right thing.

After her meal, she hurried to the mage's tower, scolding herself that she did not think to call for him instead. She promised her to not forget next time. Once she arrived at his door, she was out of breath and took a second to recover before knocking on the door. Ray was surprised to see her.

"I wasn't expecting Your Grace to come so soon. Did the new potions already come?"

"Not yet. I'm sure they are on their way," answered Iris, wondering if she ordered them or not. "The reason for my visit is of an entirely different matter. If we could discuss inside."

The mage realised that he was keeping the lady standing at his door, and quickly opened it to receive her in.

"Welcome in, my lady," he said awkwardly. "Would you like some tea?"

The question surprised her as she knew there were no maids attending to him, so he would have to make the tea himself.

"Tea? Do you make it yourself?"

"Of course. We learn at the academy to use different kinds of herbs to brew tea and use them in potions. Not many know how to make good tea, but I make one of the best teas."

"I would gladly have a cup then," she smiled, curious to see how good it actually was.

Ray started right away, describing his every step.

"Depending on what kind of effect you want the drink to have, many ingredients can be added. But as the cold season started recently, I would recommend ginger tea."

"Ginger?"

"Yes, my lady. Would you like to try?"

"If you recommend it, why not."

The answer put him in a good disposition and continued with his explanations.

"It's a very simple method, you see, all you have to do is cut some ginger, boil it with water for a few minutes and pour it through a fine sieve. After that, just add honey and it's ready…" he paused to look at Iris, almost as he just realised who he was speaking with. "I'm sorry, my lady, for blabbering. You said, of course, that you have matters to discuss with me and I was talking about tea."

"It's quite alright, I see you have a passion for your work, and I appreciate that," she smiled warmly at the young man to try to make him relax a little. She was the lady of the castle and should be respected, but she wanted a good relationship with the people there. "The thing I wanted to ask you is if you can heal an injury from a tatzelwurm?"

Iris tasted the tea and found it pleasant, warming her body just as the mage promised. She made a mental note to teach the recipe to Mary or Daisy also.

"A tatzelwurm? They are poisonous monsters that have a dangerous bite. It is indeed quite difficult to heal it without magic."

"And with magic?"

"With magic is much easier," he said, smiling large at her and that gladdened her. "Who is hurt, Your Grace? I hope not the lord…"

"No, of course not. He just left yesterday in very good health. It's a knight, Sir Marco, that should be coming soon. I met him after my husband's departure playing with the servant's children in the garden. Hir right leg seemed to be the problem."

"I understand, then…" he couldn't continue because of a knock on the door and when he opened it, there was Sir Marco looking like a bear beside the mage. "I suppose you are the injured knight?" He asked, turning to the lady to confirm it. She nodded.

"Good day, Your Grace," the knight greeted her. "Good day to you, mage. I am Sir Marco."

"Welcome in. I can look at your wound at once. Just sit here." Ray pointed to a chair in front of his desk.

The knight limped there and sat down, looking embarrassed at the two.

"Let me see your wound, sir."

But Marco looked incredulously at him and sustained his eyes for a long time, before looking at Iris and back at Ray.

"But the lady… I do not want to offend your ladyship in any way. I could not show such a terrible injury…"

"Don't worry, sir, there is no offence in treating a patient. And I of course want to see whether our mage is as good as he claims to be."

Ray turned to her, one eyebrow up and a confident smile on his face.

"You shouldn't make the lady wait, sir."

Seeing there were two against him, two much smaller, but higher in rank than him, the knight could not refuse. He lifted the thick material of his pants over his knee and took away the cloth covering the wound, turning his leg for them to better see. His calf was swollen and red, in the middle of it there was indeed a bite, still fresh even after so much time. It looked indeed clean, but when Ray gently touched the area around it, the knight flinched.

"I see the healer did a good job stopping the venom to reach the rest of your body, but that was probably all he could do. Try to relax, Sir, this will only take a few minutes."

As Ray started to heal him, a gentle light covered the area and Iris felt warm from it, although she was far away. She looked intently at the act, careful to not miss a thing. Slowly, the redness was fading away and the bite disappeared. The knight relaxed his body which was so stiff since he sat on that chair.

"That's it, try to take a few steps."

The result was already visible, but when the knight stood up and walked around the room, all three of them were only smiles.

"It doesn't hurt anymore…at all," Marco seemed amazed at the result. Then, gleaming, he took the other man's hand into his and shook powerfully, making the mage's body shake as well. "I am forever grateful to you and your magic, you did wonders. I feel as good as new!"

"I'm happy to be of help, but it's her ladyship you should thank."

"Thank you so much, Your Grace. My hopes of continuing to serve as a knight were dying away, but thanks to your generosity, my life has a new chance for fulfilment," he came in front of Iris and bowed deeply to show his gratitude.

"You may rise, Sir Marco. Your good health delights me. I hope you make good use of your leg."

"I will, My Lady, I will."

After bowing some more and thanking them again and again, the knight was on its way and Iris, as well, was heading to the door, when a thought came to mind. Something that was bothering her since they talked about 'barren' families, and she couldn't find the answer herself. Ray notices her standing in front of the door, with her hand half raised but not moving at all.

"Is there something the matter, my lady?" he approached to face her, concern written on his face.

Iris hesitated a moment, but it was the perfect moment to satisfy her curiosity, so she gave in.

"Could you test me?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Test you how?"

"Test me to see if I'm a mage."

"There is no need, my lady," he answered with relief that there wasn't something serious but that made Iris more determined.

"There is a need. I need to know."

"But your family does not possess the old kings' blood. No mage was born outside the…"

"I do have their blood," she interrupted and approached him so that they were face to face. "My mother had it, she told me herself, and I do not know why our family is not in that book, but I know I have their blood. You must test me," she pleaded.

Ray studied her face, pounding what to do. They looked at each other for a long time, Iris begging with her eyes and holding her breath. In the end, something made the mage sighed.

"Alright, we can try," he finally agreed. "But don't be too disappointed if the result is negative."

"No, I won't," she promised, but her heart threatened to jump from her chest and her hands began to sweat.