Chapter Five: Royal Physician

Baila

I felt quite uncomfortable as I walked alongside Aaron, the captain of the guard. He kept his distance from me like I was a kind of virus that had no cure, but his right hand was always on the hilt of his sword. I was scared to even sneeze. The slightest movement from me could cause Aaron to cut me down. I was sure the captain would not hesitate to kill me.

As we walked further and further away from Nolan's room, I wondered why Nolan had asked me about the spell. I had been dying. Surely, I couldn't have cast a spell. I couldn't rule out the possibility though. But my necklace had been around my neck the entire time I was drowning. Besides, I didn't know any spells to call out to a werewolf or any other creature.

Mother!

No. It couldn't be. My demon had been dormant but the other part of me wasn't. I had also been underwater. That was where the siren part of me thrived. Could that side of me have called out to Nolan?

I had never used my siren power before or even tried to tap into it. Then again, I hadn't practiced any spells but whenever I took off my necklace, I knew exactly what to do. One thing bothered me so much, it was starting to sour my mood. I decided to ask Aaron about it.

"Your King. Does he have a mate?"

Aaron paused to glare briefly at me before quickening his steps.

"It is not your concern," he snapped.

I shrugged, I hadn't expected much from him anyways. I hoped Nolan didn't have a mate, otherwise, I would feel awful about the kiss.

Three large portraits on the wall at my right hand drew my attention and I stopped walking so I could admire them. The height of each portrait was twice the length of a full-grown man.

The first portrait was a picture of the former queen. The jeweled crown on her head gave it away. She had long brown hair with golden eyes. The off-shoulder gown she wore gave me the perfect view of the birthmark that ran from beneath her jaw to the skin right above her breast.

Next to the queen's portrait was the lycan king's, Nolan's father. He stood tall in his blue and gold armor. He had a sword in front of him and his hands were tightly wrapped around the hilt of the sword. He had hair as black as the night and bright blue eyes like Nolan's.

The last portrait was that of the queen, the king, and little Nolan. I guessed that Nolan was around six years old when the portrait was painted. The king and Nolan had huge smiles on their faces but the queen had a smirk that only spelled mischief.

I sighed, accepting the fact that I couldn't keep ignoring the suffocating presence of Aaron behind me.

"They were happy before one of your kind sent them off to their deaths," Aaron said.

"You drove a dagger into our backs. We're still bleeding," I replied. The werewolves had betrayed the witches. The king and queen might not have been responsible but they did nothing about it either.

Aaron turned down a dark hallway and I followed after him. He yanked two dusty curtains open after we had taken a few steps. Where was he taking me? How far away did Aaron want me from Nolan?

Two huge painted glass windows gave way for light to penetrate them and illuminate our path. The first window had a painting of six howling wolves and the moon. The second window had a painting of three women with their hands lifted to the moon.

I knew both paintings. They illustrated the peace, unity, and bond between the werewolves and the witches. Creatures born from the same goddess. That bond was broken now, it had been broken for over a century.

The witches had once been healers for the werewolves. They taught the werewolves how to craft herbs and what plants got rid of rashes the quickest. The witches taught the werewolves how to dress wounds and how to love their mates. All that was gone.

One stupid mistake of a witch had cost them everything and I had gone and repeated the same mistake. I sighed, studying the hallway we were walking through. It was dusty and covered in cobwebs. I doubted if anyone came there.

Aaron unlocked the door and kicked it open. That wasn't a good sign.

The room was filthy and everything was covered in cobwebs. The broken bottles of elixirs and moldy spell books told me all I needed to know. The room had belonged to a witch.

"I'm sure you have guessed it by now. This room belonged to a witch. She was the royal healer a hundred years ago. It is yours for three nights," Aaron said, yanking open the tattered curtains facing the bed.

Sunlight spewed into the room, landing directly on the bed. It would look even more beautiful when the moon shone through the window.

"Thank you," I smiled sincerely.

Aaron merely nodded and walked out.

I looked around the room. I did not know where to start. I decided to start with the bed sheets.

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By nighttime, my bones were aching and groaning. A woman had come by with a broom, rags, a mop, a bucket of water, and fresh sheets and clothes. I had done my best to clean up the room with the supplies I was given. I had dusted and swept and mopped the floors. I had gotten rid of all the pungent bottles of elixirs and the sheets and old clothes I found. I had killed eight rats and nine cockroaches and was still on the lookout for a mouse. Perhaps, I would keep the mouse.

I let out a long heavy breath, falling back into the clean sheets of the bed. The room was sparkling clean now. Behind my bed, there was a locked door. I tried to open it several times but was too exhausted to put any strength into kicking down the door.

I decided to ask Nolan for the key or Aaron if I ever saw any of them again.

A knock on the door sent goosebumps up my hands. I was uncomfortable with the room but I didn't have much of a choice.

"Come in," I called out, taking off my boots and settling properly in the middle of the bed.

The woman who had brought the broom and cleaning supplies earlier on walked in. Her red hair was braided and tied with a ribbon. She wore a long white dress and carried a bag with her.

"I came to inspect your wounds," she said. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Sara."

"It's fine," I brushed it off and sat up in bed.

The cut on my stomach was bleeding again and it hurt like the twelve hells.

Sara smiled, sitting behind me on the bed. "I've heard a lot about you from Nolan," she said, cleaning the wounds on my back with alcohol.

I hissed but sat still so I would not make Sara's work difficult.

"I'm surprised you didn't hear anything about me from Aaron," I replied sarcastically.

Sara laughed, applying a cool salve on my wounds. She moved to sit in front of me and started working on the cut on my stomach.

"My father was the royal physician. My uncle became the royal physician after my father's death and then when it was my cousin's turn, she ran off with a man she met at the blood moon festival. It's been two years and she hasn't sent a letter or anything to let me know she's fine. So, I have to fill in her role as both royal physician and councilwoman. Forgive me for sharing too much. I'm nervous but I want to make you comfortable. I swear I'm usually not like this." Sara smiled sadly, applying the salve on the raw skin on my stomach.

I smiled at her. No one had wanted to make me feel comfortable in a long time. Not even my mother. I pushed away thoughts of the witches and my mother and focused on Sara instead. I felt bad for her. Sara didn't seem too happy about taking over both positions.

"What would you have liked to be?" I asked.

I met Sara's green eyes and I saw a spark of excitement as the royal physician spoke.

"I wanted to be a dancer. I wanted to travel with one of those groups of dancers that go around the realm entertaining people."

I laughed, "You don't seem like the type who could dance."

Sara chuckled.

When we quieted down, I noticed how close she and I sat. We were just as close as I and Nolan had been a few hours ago when he kissed me. I blinked, stepping out of bed to put some distance between us.

"I'll leave you to rest. You'll need it," Sara cleared her throat. I watched her pack up her bag and head for the door.

I didn't know what came over me but the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Stay. Please. It is a new place so far away from home and this room scares me. Could you spend the night here? I know we don't know each other and I'm a witch and___" I rambled.

"I'll be back. I need to change out of these clothes," Sara sighed, cutting in before I could make a fool of myself.

Once Sara left, I changed into the thin black silky nightgown Sara had added to the clothes she brought for me. Somehow, I was able to sense Sara's presence and open the door before she could knock.

Sara's face flushed when she saw me and I blamed the nightgown. It had a low cut that revealed my breasts and it was transparent enough that anyone could see my skin beneath the material.

"I'm sorry about the clothes," Sara apologized.

"It's fine," I assured her. I wasn't into oversized nightgowns that made me hot in the middle of the night. "Have you ever worn it before?" I asked Sara, pointing to the black nightgown she was wearing.

"Goddess. No," Sara laughed, settling beneath the sheets. "It belonged to my cousin."

"She had great taste," I hummed, blowing out the candles and laying beside Sara.

"Could you tell me about the former king and queen?" I asked after a few moments of silence passed. I did not think I would be able to fall asleep tonight.

I was all smiles as Sara's soft voice filled the room with tales of Nolan's parents. Yet, the strange sense of foreboding would not go away.