The Raven & The Wolf

Chapter Forty-Five

When I hear my name being called, my head snaps up from Gedric’s mouth. Gedric groans as he reaches for me, wanting more. “Let’s just pretend we don’t hear them.”

“You’re horrible,” I laugh, grabbing my pants and pulling them back on.

“Natasha!” Stanya yells. “I’m sorry we missed dinner. Please don’t be mad.”

“How long have we been out here?” Gedric asks, pulling his pants back on.

I look up at the sky, “Three hours.” I look back at him to see him grinning. “Don’t get so cocky mister.”

“I’d love to, but I’d like to know how that happened.” He grabs his shirt as I touch the ground, creating a floral path to lead Stanya to me.

I give a one armed shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine. We were playing and then…I just has this really strong desire to kiss you, then it progressed from there.” I pull my hair over my injured shoulder. “I guess we have a strong chemistry.”

“That’s putting it simply,” Gedric says, stepping closer to me. “I’ve never had that strong of an urge before.”

“Same.”

“So how about we go on our first date?”

“I’d like that,” I say, blushing a little.

Stanya comes into view, looking very confused. “Why are you two out here?”

“For something that you don’t need to know about,” I tell her, heading over to grab her arm. Once I link my arm with hers, I turn her around. “Let’s get something to eat.”

“You haven’t eaten…Oh!” Stanya squeals. “I know what you two were doing. Now why were you out here? The hotel beds are much more comfortable.”

I roll my eyes. I can never get anything past her. “Apparently I have commitment issues.”

“Silva?”

“Silva,” I say in agreement.

Stanya groans. “I knew you’d act like this when you found out. It’s not a lifetime commitment. Gedric knows that and he’s not going to pressure you into anything. It’s just a date.”

My head snaps in her direction right when my jaw drops. “How long have you known about this?”

She snorts. “How long have you not known? I saw it the day you arrived in Brighton. That man would not leave your side until we literally locked him up…Then forgot about him…” She looks back to him. “Sorry about that, again. We were all so concerned about Nat, that we forgot about you.”

“That’s why you forgot about him?” I demand, horrified. “And why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because he wasn’t ready, and you already have a lot on your plate.” She playfully pushes me. “Stop volunteering to help. You’re already have enough to do.”

I toss my head back as we enter the quieting city again. “You’re telling me. We’re going to the Sacred Stream tomorrow if it kills me.”

“Don’t say that,” Stanya hisses. “At this point, it might very well what might happen.”

“I told you that they won’t kill me until we actually fight Ari.” I tell her, more annoyed with this bickerment than anything. There is only so many times that I can tell her that.

“Let’s eat here,” Gedric tells us, pulling us into a place to eat, breaking up our bickering before it gets more heated.

“I’m going to get Halthin. I’ll be right back.” She kisses my cheek before running out the door.

I look around while Gedric grabs my hand and pulls me close to him. I notice that there are a few women and men are staring at me. They’re not exactly friendly looks either. Overall the restaurant is fairly crowded. There are strung oval lights wrapped around wooden beams, leading to beautiful sets of tables. Gedric catches my awed expression and smiles as he pulls me to an empty table.

The waitress comes and sees us almost immediately. She has a heavenly smile, highlighted by rose colored lips. She has her silver hair twisted up in a messy bun, but her eyes show she’s mentally drained. “What can I get for you?”

Gedric smiles at her, “Two sterry salads, and guzybey drinks. We’ll also have another couple joining us in a few minutes.”

She looks at me at the word couple and her eyes widen. She immediately drops her eyes and blushes deeply. “Yes, I’ll be back with those in a few.”

When she leaves I lean in towards Gedric. “Do I look like we’ve just had sex or something?”

He laughs and shakes his head. “No Nat. Not even close.”

“Then why did she look at me like that?” I ask, pulling my hair over my shoulder while he starts to laugh.

“Because she just looked at you for the first time and realized that you’re the Elder Sheik everyone is talking about.”

This only confuses me more. “So?”

“Nat, the only Sheiks we see are nomads, who aren’t even strong enough to heal themselves. We haven’t seen an Elder around here is decades.”

Those words hit hard. They really have been isolated from the world. “So most of these kids haven’t even seen magic?”

“Other than some fixtures like lights, no. Do you remember when we actually first met? I thought that you were some kind of evil creature. All these people know in the way of magic are learned from the Magicnite.”

I think that over. “So is that why the only person I’ve spoken to, outside of your parents, is Silva?”

He nods. “Pretty much. They’re a bit scared of you, but they trust me so they’re being friendly.”

I look over to them and they instantly look away. “Okay…” I say mostly to myself, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

“You’re fine Nat.” Gedric says, reaching over to touch my hand. “They don’t bite.”

“But they think I do.” I say, sulking a little.

“So?”

“There you two are,” a voice comes, interrupting our conversation. I look up to see his parents looking at us. “We thought we’d see you here earlier.”

“Are you looking for us?” Gedric asks, looking uncomfortable.

“I was looking for Natasha actually.” Drew looks over to me. “I have a patient who broke her arm, leg, and I’m afraid her spine, in a horrific fall. I’m worried she’s going to be paralyzed if we don’t do anything soon. Are you able to heal her?”

My stomach drops as I frown. “I can’t. Healing requires magic to go through me as a guideline to what another body should look like.”

His face folds. “Can you teach Gedric?”

I shake my head. “Healing has to be done with physical magic. It’s the main reason no one can heal me.” I smile when I see Stanya walking in. “I know someone who can though.”

I stand up while Gedric raises his eyebrow. By this time Stanya has reached us. I grab her hand. “How do you feel about healing someone?”

She grimaces as she looks at me. “The last one hurt.”

“Just cut the spell before it attaches, and you’ll be okay.”

“What happened to you?” Drew asks, bending down and looking at my leg.

I look down and realize I have dried blood on my leg. “Uh…look, pretty flowers.” I say quickly, touching a wooden beam. A mystical array of flowers spread from my hand, going up the pole while the flowers illuminate the room and spread to another beam, creating a beautiful arch. The people stop and stare at it in amazement while I pull Stanya out of the building.

“Why did you do that?” Stanya asks me while I pull her to the infirmary.

“I panicked,” I say, blushing hard. “Would you like to explain to the father of the guy you just slept with, that you hurt your leg while running, because you found out his son’s true feelings?”

“I think you need to calm down, and take a step back from that anxiety trip you’re about to go on,” Stanya tells me, trying her best not to laugh. “Just tell him you tripped when Gedric took you for a walk in the woods.”

“How do you come up with lies so fast?” I demand from her.

“Because I was the one that always tricked Brin into releasing you from your lessons early, when they got too intense. I had to think on my feet because that man was smart.”

We step reach the building, and she gently helps me up the stairs. “Thanks again for that.”

“Brin really didn’t want to leave with you a chance of being unprepared for Ari or the Fates.” Stanya says, looking me over. “But it did leave you very unprepared for life events. Like when you find out a boy likes you.”

“He more than likes me,” I tell her. “I’m, apparently, his chosen one.”

“What!” She shrieks. “I didn’t know that much.”

“You said you did,” I argue back, entering the room filled with nurses.

“I thought you meant he was in love with you, not this. No wonder you panicked,” she says quickly before replacing her face with a smile.

I push past what appears to be more than just nurses. Several people are surrounding this young girl. There is a woman with teal hair holding the hand of a little girl. Since her hair matches the little girl’s, I assume she’s her mother. The girl is covered in bandages, blood, and mud. She looks to be around six years old.

I kneel down next to the mother to look at her. “Can you tell me what happened?”

The mother looks at me with fear in her eyes, but it’s not from me. “My daughter was climbing a tree when this panther like thing attacked her. It scratched at her and made her fall. She landed on a broken trunk and several rocks. I don’t know what happened. Nothing was there before we started playing. I tried talking to it, but it just ignored me. Like it didn’t understand me or something.”

I keep my face neutral while my stomach tightens. Panthers do not live this far south. If it didn’t understand her, it wasn’t of this earth. I look at the little girl while taking a steadying breath. This was a message. I wasn’t supposed to live past six. That’s what the Fate told me. I angered the Fates with my deal. I know this. What I don’t know is, why are they harming this little girl.

She grabs my shoulder. “Please, tell me you aren’t here for my little girl, Guardian of Death.”

That makes my head reel. I’ve never been called that before. She’s not technically wrong though. “No, I’m here to help and see if my magic is strong enough to heal her.” I stand up. “Please step back. It’s important no one is touching her.”

They all nod and take a step back. Stanya steps closer to me, allowing me to touch her. Stanya’s hand glows with my magic while she draws from me. She touches the little girl’s hand, using my magic to study her. It isn’t long before her brow furrows.

Stanya drops her hand and steps back. “Nat, I can’t heal her.” She whispers, just low enough for me to hear her. “There is a strong magic blocking her injuries. I don’t know how to move it.”

“What?” I hiss.

“I mean what I said.” She gives me desperate eyes. “I can’t heal her.” The words come out loud enough for the family to hear, making the room erupt in tears and anguished screams.

My cheeks flush, and for the first time today, it’s not from embarrassment. “Bring her outside.”

“Nat no,” Stanya nearly yells. “You’ll kill yourself.”

“Good, I’m angry enough to kill those Fates and Servants without astral projection.” I say, then look at the family. “Bring her outside.” I order, stalking out of the room with my fists clenched. The moment I get outside I strip off my shoes and draw a large circle into the ground, just big enough for me and the girl.

“Set her down,” I say, kneeling onto the ground and removing my sling.

“I’m getting Gedric,” Stanya says before running through the crowd.

“Bring a bucket,” I yell back, aware my overload that I’m a bout to trigger is going to kill me.