Pushed to the Corner

Two months later.

It was just another day and Alyssa was preparing a potion for a customer who had paid in advance. Smell of various herbs that hung with a clip on a line near the window along with dried bat wings wafted through the shop. Her apron was stained green and red. She turned to pick another herb from a bottle on the right shelf, pushed a strand of hair behind her ear with her gloved hand and continued to paste it. Only one thing ran through her mind—to make enough money today to put food on the table. She was so engrossed in making it that she didn’t hear the door of her shop open until a packet glided over the counter and came to a halt in front of her. 

“I can’t believe that this is what you gave me!” A woman was standing in front of her with her hands on her hips with protruding eyes and a red face. 

Alyssa frowned. “What is it?” She recognized the woman. She had given her a potion yesterday for her child. 

“My son’s fever hasn’t subsided and now he has developed a rash after I gave him your medicine!” She was furious. “You are such a quack! I should have come to you in the first place. My husband told me to go and seek Tova’s help, but I, like a fool, came to your shop. And see what happened? I am paying for my mistake!” 

“Did you give it in the same way as I mentioned?” asked Alyssa, a little nervous now. She was well versed with the science of herbology, but really lacked practical knowledge. 

“Of course, I did!” the woman almost yelled. “But my son’s fever hasn’t come down and his skin is red because he is scratching himself!” 

Alyssa had an empty feeling in her stomach. Her mouth became dry and her mind started processing irrational fears. Crossing and then uncrossing her hands across her chest, she licked her dry lips and said, “M— my potion is right. Y— you have given him the wrong dosage.” Her heart palpitated so hard against her ribcage that she felt nausea. This was the fifth consecutive case in which she had failed. The last time this happened, the customer demanded a return in full and threatened that he would report it to the king if she didn’t pay back double the amount. She was hardly able to put food for her dear ones and on top of it, such incidents were denting her savings. 

“Wrong dose!” the woman yelled. “Oh my god!” She was mad as hell. “You must be insane to tell me that. Are you hiding your flaws? Huh?” The woman narrowed her eyes. “I did hear rumors about you that you aren’t doing well and that your potions are as disgusting as you are!” 

“Shut up!” Alyssa hissed. 

“I won’t shut up. Instead I will go to the king’s court and demand compensation. I will demand him to throw you in the dungeons!” The woman growled. “Unless—”

“Unless what?” a voice from behind made her jump. 

“Benny, you don’t have to come in between,” Alyssa said. 

Benny frowned and narrowed his eyes. He ignored her and repeated to the woman, “Unless what?” 

The woman straightened herself and smirked, “Unless you pay me double the amount you took from me!” 

Benny looked hard at the woman. Then he looked at Alyssa who had blanched. He dug his pocket and took out four silver coins. Throwing them on the counter he said, “That’s it. Pick it up and get out. If I hear as much that you have spoken about this incident to anyone, I will tell them how you go about looting people like this, at the cost of your son’s life!” 

The woman pursed her lips with arrogance. She picked up the coins and barged out of the door saying, “I should have gone to Tova!” 

When the door closed, Alyssa leaned on the counter, feeling extremely anxious. “I am sorry…” she whispered as a lump formed in her throat. 

“Sorry?” Benny rasped. “This is the fifth such case Alyssa!” he said exasperatedly. “People around here have started talking about it. I am the one who bears the brunt because I am going around telling them about your ‘great’ healing skills!” He circled the counter and came to stand in front of her. “My reputation is going to get affected if this continues. People will stop trusting us, and Alyssa—” he stopped until she looked up at him. “In this profession, trust is the most important thing. Once you lose it, you are finished!” Saying that he left the shop leaving a jittery Alyssa alone. 

Her shoulders hunched and her chin trembled as she saw Benny leaving. Her self-confidence was at its low. She thought that she could help using her healing skills, but it was only turning into a disaster. Was there any way in which she could hone her skills? That day she winded up the shop in the most perfect way in order to balance her lack of ability as a healer. 

Few days later they were left with very little money. Benny’s reputation had nose-dived and she feared that the news didn’t reach the king. The one gold ring she had in her finger was sold long back. She had used half of that money for something very important in case of emergency and the other half was given to Coira. It was dwindling fast.

Today she had opened the shop with a heavy heart and had set to work to prepare potions for three customers. While she was preparing a potion, an elderly lady came in. 

“Mrs. Hilda, please wait. Your potion will be ready in a few minutes,” Alyssa greeted her with a smile. 

Hilda sat down with a smug face and just to strike a conversation said, “My uncle’s niece was having a problem no one could solve. Her skin had become pale. They took her to Tova and the Lykae healed her in two days. That healer is expensive, but he is brilliant.” The lady flicked her black hair over her shoulders as if trying to tell that Alyssa is nothing. Then she sighed. “He is one of the most eligible bachelors of the Lore, but the man wouldn’t marry.” Then she looked at Alyssa and said, “I am hearing that your medicines aren’t working well.”

Alyssa didn’t answer. She gritted her teeth and vehemently pounded the bat’s wing along with catnip in her mortar with the pestle. The woman babbled on for a long time about Tova. 

Irritated as hell, Alyssa passed her the packed medicine and cut her in. “Eat it after dinner,” she said curtly. “That would be five silver coins,” she added with a stiff smile. She charged an extra coin for annoying her.

The woman gave her the coins and collected the potion. She looked at Alyssa with sympathy and said politely, “I heard that Tova is looking for assistants. If you want to be a better healer, you should apply for the position.” 

Alyssa stared at her, disbelieving at what she just said. The woman shrugged and left the shop. 

Her fists closed into tight balls, she shouted, “I am better than him!” But the door closed. Out of frustration she threw a r****h on the door and poked her tongue out.

“You are not,” said Benny as he entered with a bag of bearberry from the workshop at the back. “Frankly, I would have tried it, if I were you. I am sure that with your primary skills, you will be selected.” 

“Benny?” Alyssa frowned. “What do you mean?” 

Benny placed the bag on the floor. He sat on a high stool and leaned over the counter. “You should consider it Alyssa. I agree that you have studied herbology and that is your strong point, but you don’t have practical knowledge. Have you ever applied your knowledge to anyone in the castle? Do you know the right amount of dose to be given to a child or a pregnant woman or a man?”

“I used to go to the healers often,” she replied. She rubbed her neck because she didn’t say that the healers hardly paid attention to her. No one was interested in teaching her. 

“Then why aren’t you skillful enough?” he asked with bewildered looks. 

She looked away biting her lip. 

“Look Alyssa. We are losing credibility rapidly. If you become Tova’s apprentice, we will gain it again and earn a lot better. You will learn so much more. That man is brilliant. What have you got to lose? Take that chance.” He said in an encouraging voice. When she didn’t reply, he shook his head exasperatedly. “Alyssa, we really don’t have enough money left. With you hiding here, everyday is a risk. And add that to the fact that your healing skills are a mess. If this reaches the king, it would take them a heartbeat to come and kill us.” His body shook with fear. He exhaled heavily and got up. “It’s for you to decide which is the best path. Honestly, I give up!” He walked out of the shop to soothe his tension. 

As for Alyssa, she fought tears in her eyes. 

After battling for a few days, Alyssa applied for the position. When she reached the town where the interviews were being carried, she realized that there were at least a hundred more competitors. She was eliminated in the first round itself. There was no one to back her and she had no recommendations. And she had spent the last of her savings in reaching the town and staying in an inn for two days. Later she came to know that a young Lykae, Fenris, was selected. 

Over the next one month, Alyssa tried to find out about her mother, but the news was that she hadn’t returned. She didn’t have any money on her and she was living off her paltry money she made from the shop. It was getting tough. 

On top of that, her brother, Izahl, had been making secret threats every now and then and through various sources she came to know that he would eliminate her as soon as he found her. And she knew who was the woman behind the threats—his muse, his lover, Auria. 

Auria was a dark woman with a dubious background. She had followed Haley to the Infinity Coven for dark powers. Alyssa didn’t know how Haley was killed, but all she knew was that Auria had pleaded with the queen to take her back to the kingdom. It was Izahl who had supported her.  

It had been a week since the last incident in her shop. Customers had dwindled. One or two came per day. That day the last customer arrived very late and said that he had gone to see Tova. Tova’s group of men was passing through Vonhurst forest.

When Alyssa heard that, she was surprised and a plan started formulating in her head. It was dangerous, but if it worked, it would help her immensely.

“Are you mad?” Benny shouted when he heard her plan. “I won’t be a party to it! You are going to get us murdered, lass!” The twenty year old was shocked to the core.

She came up with the plan to abduct Fenris and force him to spill some of his secrets. And then she would disappear with Benny and Coira. 

“You have to help me!” she forced him. She had browbeaten him to at least get the information about Fenris.

“We need to get out of here as soon as possible!” Benny said.

“Why?”

“Izhal is coming near… Its just a matter of few days…”

Alyssa was pushed to the corner. What she was currently doing was out of desperation. “In that case, let’s just do it and then we will leave once and for all!”