“I saw that,” Carolena said, without turning around.
Carnage just grinned at Enthrall, but didn’t bother to put the candy back on the table.
“Who are you?” Lily asked. The little girl was observing Felicity thoughtfully.
“I’m Felicity.”
“Do I know you?” Lily pressed.
“No, not yet. But I know your mom. And I know your Uncle Enthrall very well. So he brought me to meet you.”
“Are you going to come back?”
“If I can. Would it be okay if I came back?” Felicity asked, completely charmed by the child's honesty.
Lily watched the pretty lady sitting at their table. She wasn’t sure if she liked her or not yet. “Maybe,” she finally answered.
“Lily!” Carolena scolded.
“What?” Lily immediately countered. “I not lying!”
“Be nice,” Carolena instructed.
Lily eyed the woman suspiciously again, then batted her eyes at her daddy. “Papa, I can have chocolate?”
Carnage rumbled a bit in his chest and scowled at her.
“Please?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
Carnage pursed his lips together, broke off a large piece of his chocolate bar and handed it to her.
Her face brightened, “Thank you!”
“Lily, I’d like it very much if you would be Felicity’s friend,” Enthrall said.
“Why? Hers going away soon,” Lily answered.
Chapter 15
“I’m not going away,” Felicity answered. “I promise. I’d like to be your friend.”
“Yes, you are,” Lily answered.
“No, I’m not. Really. I’ll be around for as long as Enthrall will allow.”
Lily shook her head, concentrating on licking the chocolate from her fingertips. “Nope.”
“Lily, that’s enough,” Carolena said, placing plates piled high with bacon, eggs, fresh sliced bread and peach preserves in front of everyone, except herself. She placed a cup of tea and a saucer with a slice of toast on it at her own place at the table.
Lily leaned forward and waited until Carolena looked at her. Her little eyebrows raised and a firm look on her face, she pointed her finger at the ceiling. “Hers going to da sky,” she said slowly, emphatically.
Felicity didn’t say anything, but her face went white. Enthrall reached out and took Felicity’s hand in his, squeezing it to let her know it was okay.
“No. I won’t let her go. I’m going to keep her with me,” Enthrall said.
“Why?” Lily asked.
“Felicity is to me, like your mom is to your dad. She’s very important to me. She is my happy place.”
“Are you gonna married her?” Lily asked.
“She hasn’t agreed to, yet. But we’ll see,” Enthrall said, bringing Felicity’s hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles.
“Don’t put this on me, you haven’t asked yet,” Felicity snapped back at him, pulling her hand free to spread some butter on the bread before slathering it with preserves.
Carolena grinned when Felicity snapped at Enthrall. “I like that. She stands up to you.”
“Thank you, Carolena,” Felicity said, while winking at Enthrall. Then she smiled hugely, the happiness in her voice genuine as she spoke to Carolena. “So, I hear congratulations are in order!”
“‘Es! Baybee!” Carnage said, pointing at Carolena, who was slowly eating her toast and sipping her tea.
“Yes!” Carolena agreed. “Though most mornings I can’t stomach much more than just this.” Carolena indicated the toast on her saucer.
“How exciting!” Felicity said. “You are very blessed.”
“More than you know,” Carolena answered.
Carnage watched the woman, Felicity, talk to Carolena about her pregnancy. And he wanted to know, so he asked. “Mate?” he said, pointing at Enthrall.
Felicity looked surprised. “Umm, I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
Carnage moved his question to Enthrall; he pointed at Felicity. “Mate?”
“Yes,” was all Enthrall said. No explanation further.
Carnage grinned, nodding. Then he pointed at Felicity again. “Baybeez?” he said, forcing the last part of the word out and enunciating the z’s with extra effort.
“Carnage! You don’t ask people if they want babies. At least not ones you don’t really know well,” Carolena said.
“My know,” he objected.
“You don’t know her, you just met her.”
“My know!” he insisted. Then he looked at Felicity again. “Baybeez?” he asked again.
“Carnage!” Carolena scolded again.
“No, it’s okay,” Felicity said, stopping Carolena from shushing Carnage again. “I’d love to have babies one day. I love children. I hope I can.”
“Gooood,” Carnage said, nodding to himself. Then he grinned at Carolena as he popped another piece of bacon in his mouth, followed by his last bit of chocolate, and crunched away happily.
After breakfast they sat around visiting and laughing. Just enjoying each other. Enthrall was thrilled that Felicity seemed to get along with Carolena as a friend and not just business associates and that she wasn't afraid of Carnage. He’d watched Lily eyeing Felicity from across the room from time-to-time as she came and went playing with her toys. He wasn’t sure why Lily was suspicious of Felicity, but Felicity seemed to take it in stride and continued to reach out to the child. Felicity coughed a small nuisance of a cough every once in a while. And each time she did, Lily would stop what she was doing and look at Felicity as though she was studying her.
Finally, Lily climbed into Enthrall’s lap. She sat there for a short while, listening to the adults talk. Felicity looked over and noticed Lily in Enthrall’s lap. “You’re a very special little girl. I think your Uncle Enthrall loves you very much,” Felicity said, smiling at the girl.
Lily smiled back and nodded.
When Felicity went back to talking to Carolena, Lily got on her knees and whispered in Enthrall’s ear. “I don’t want you to be sad.”
Enthrall hugged the girl, then he whispered in her ear, since she seemed to want to make their conversation a secret. “I don’t want to be sad anymore either. That’s why I want Felicity. She makes me happy.”
Then he pulled back, so he could see her. “Do you understand?”
Lily nodded, but there was a crease in her little brow as she thought hard about something. A little while later she slid down off Enthrall’s lap and went to stand in front of Felicity. “You wanna see my toys?”
Felicity, thrilled that the little girl was warming up to her, stood and reached out a hand to her. “Yes! I’d love to come see your toys. If it’s okay with your mom and dad.”
Felicity looked to Carnage and Carolena. Carnage was nodding his approval and Carolena readily agreed. “Of course, but yell when you’re ready to come back. She can go on and on and on about her toys.”
Felicity laughed, looking down at Lily. “We’ll be fine, right?”
“Yep.”
A while later Enthrall went to collect Felicity so they could go back to his home. He found her seated on the floor in Lily’s bedroom surrounded by Lily’s toys while Lily sat beside her on the floor, hugging her dolly to her chest.
“You ready to go? I thought we might rest a bit, then have a late lunch before the party this afternoon.”
“That sounds good. But, I really don’t feel like I need to rest. I’ve got so much energy.”
“You do?”
“I do. Can we maybe go for a walk and see more of the community?” Felicity asked.
“Of course. But I don’t want to overdo it. You let me know when you start to get tired.”
“I will.” Felicity stood with no assistance at all. She squatted back down and kissed Lily on the cheek when the little girl made no move to get up to see them off.
“Bye, Lily. I’ll see you later. Thank you for showing me your toys.”
> Lily smiled weakly. “Bye,” she said, on a cough.
Lily lay down on the floor, almost perfectly still. She was never still. Enthrall knelt down and gathered her in his arms. “You feel okay, Lily?”
Lily shook her head.
“Do you want me to put you in your bed?” Enthrall asked.
Lily nodded.
Enthrall pulled her covers down and laid the child in her bed, pulling only the sheet up over her as the day was getting warm already. When he tucked her in, she made no effort to move. But she did cough a little.
“Do you want me to call your mom? Maybe you are getting sick.”
“I want Unca Lore,” she whispered, then she coughed again before turning her back to them and snuggling down into her pillow.
That did it. Enthrall knew something was up. “Carolena!” he called as he rushed out of Lily’s bedroom.
Carolena came in a hurry. “What? Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know. Lily is just lying there. She said she wanted to go to bed. Then when I asked if she wanted you, she said she wanted Uncle Lore.”
“Well, she wants Lore often. They are close,” she explained as she hurried toward Lily’s room.
“I know. But something’s off,” Enthrall insisted.
“Lily, baby, what’s wrong?” Carolena asked, sitting on the side of Lily’s bed.
“I don’t feel good,” she answered.
Carolena felt her head. “She’s not got a fever.”
“She’s got a cough,” Enthrall said.
“Are you coughing?” Carolena asked.
Lily nodded. “It hurts,” she said, rubbing her hand over her chest.
“When did she start to seem off?” Carolena asked Felicity.
“Well, we played for a little while, then, she hugged me and insisted on placing her hand over my chest. She told me to close my eyes while she sang me a song. It wasn’t too much longer, and she lay down beside me. I thought maybe she was just tired.”
“Are you sick?” Carolena asked Felicity.
Felicity was taken aback. “I… I am. But, it’s not contagious. My chest hurts, and I have trouble breathing sometimes. But, since I got here - just this morning, the pain seems to be gone.”
Carolena’s face took on a terrified look, she whipped her head around to Lily. “Lily, what did you do, baby?” she fairly shrieked.
“I didn’t want Unca Trawl to be sad. So I made her okay again.”
“Lore!” Carolena shrieked at the ceiling, while tearing back the sheet and snatching Lily out of bed.
“What can I do?” Enthrall asked.
“Find Lore! Bring me Lore!” Carolena demanded.
“What happened?” Felicity asked. “What’s going on?”
Enthrall standing across the room now, his eyes closed as he silently summoned Lore, opened his eyes and looked at her. “Lily healed you, by taking your illness into herself.”
“She what?!” Felicity exclaimed. Then her eyes filled with tears. “No, no! Give it back! Please, baby,” she said, walking over to where Carolena held the obviously weak child in her arms rocking back and forth. “Give me back the sickness. You don’t need to do this.”
Lily smiled at Felicity and closed her eyes, falling asleep in her mother’s arms.
Carnage wandered into the bedroom to see where everyone was and realized immediately something was wrong. “Leenah?!” his gravelly voice snapped out, as he went to her side.
“We need Lore! She’s too little, she can’t do this! She healed Felicity!”
Carnage turned and ran from the bedroom and onto his porch. “Looorre!” he shouted, his deep voicing booming over and over again. Enthrall had gone from mentally calling for Lore, to pacing the ground beneath their house screaming Lore just as loudly as Carnage had.
Finally, pulled from his own wanderings, Lore’s mist began to swirl about the porch.
Carnage saw it and called for Enthrall. “Trawl!”
Enthrall was there in the blink of an eye, watching the swirling, purple fog gathering, until finally Lore stood before them.
“I am busy!” he snapped, irritation clear on his face. His hair a wild mass, his eyes a translucent purple.
“Lily is sick, very sick,” Enthrall said in a rush.
Lore didn’t say word; he turned and rushed into the house. “Carolena!” he called out.
“Back here!” she answered.
Lore entered Lily’s room and assessed the situation in less than a second. “May I have her?” he asked Carolena, holding his arms out for her to give him Lily.
Carolena handed her over without hesitation. “Can you help her?” she begged.
“Tell me what happened. Who did she heal?”
Felicity was standing across the room. Her hands brought up to her face, covering her mouth, tears streaming down her face. “Me,” Felicity said, her voice broken. “I didn’t know,” she whispered, her face filled with grief and regret. “I didn’t know.”
“Why?” Lore snarled, his question directed to Carolena.
Enthrall stood beside Felicity, holding her to him as she silently cried, watching the child suffer with an illness she never should have experienced. He answered instead of Carolena. “We didn’t even know she could heal, Lore. She did it without telling anyone she planned to. We’d have stopped her if we’d known.”
“She said she didn’t want Uncle Enthrall to be sad anymore,” Carolena added.
“Damn!” Lore cursed. “Come. We have much to do and little time left.”
“What’s happening?” Carolena asked.
“If she were an adult, it wouldn’t make her this ill. Just a little tired and her body would rid itself of the illness. But she’s not ready for this. She’s too small, and her powers are not fully developed. The disease is greater than she imagined.”
“What does that mean?” Enthrall asked.
“The disease is winning. It’s killing her,” Lore said simply. He rushed past them and into the living room, just as Murder was arriving.
“You called for me?” Murder asked Lore, having answered the silent call Lore put out to him upon realizing Lily’s condition.
“I did. I need to strip the illness from her. But I’m going to have to have help.”
“Anything. Tell me what to do.”
“I’m not a healer. I can do a lot of things, but taking an illness away at will isn't one of my gifts. It is one of Lily’s. It always has been. It’s also a gift Carrik had.”
Murder nodded, understanding. “We will take her to Carrik?”
“Yes. He will not want to give up any of the strength he’s gained since he’s begun to wake. It will delay his return. He’ll likely give trouble until he realizes that it’s his Lily we ask him to heal.”
“Will he help her anyway?” Carolena finally asked.
“He will. His life is tied to hers. Without her, he has no chance of survival. Let us go,” Lore said.
Murder stepped into the already swirling mist and they, along with Lily, disappeared.
“Wait!” Carolena called out.
“Come, Carolena,” Enthrall said, stepping away from Felicity and holding his arms out to her.
Both Carolena and Carnage stepped into his embrace.
“I’ll be back. Stay here and you are safe,” Enthrall said to Felicity. “Wait here! Do not leave this home!”
She nodded, and Enthrall, along with Carolena, and Carnage, ghosted away.
Felicity looked around herself, her grief palpable. She’d not wish her illness on anyone at all. Least of all the little child that had taken it upon herself to heal her. There was no happiness in her sudden health, no relief at all. Only desolate sadness. “Oh, Lily. Why, honey? Why?” she asked the empty room as she paced back and forth waiting for someone, anyone to come back and tell her that Lily would be alright.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Lore, with Lily in hand and Murder standing guard, took shape only feet from the Dragon Tree.
&
nbsp; “Lily, can you hear me? Wake up for me, love. Can you hear me?”
Lily didn’t stir.
Lore changed tactics. “Carrik, I’ve come to beg a favor.”
There was a rustling of the leaves and branches of the Dragon Tree, a sound almost like a faint moan on the wind.
“I know you wish to strike me down. But our battles must be set aside for now. We have a common focus, a soul we both love. She needs you, Carrik. I can’t heal her. It is not a talent I was gifted with. But it is one of yours. Will you heal her, Carrik?”
Lore walked forward, and the tree let out a groan, causing Lore to hesitate. He had no way of knowing the sanity of the Dragon inside the tree. Lily said she spoke to Carrik, but Lore had not. He was depending on the fact that Carrik was still drawn to Lily’s spirit and hoping that alone would have him recognize the little child. But he didn’t know the Dragon’s state of mind. The fury and hate the Dragon obviously still harbored for Lore may prevent him from seeing the sick child as the female that was at one moment many lifetimes ago, his life mate.
“This child, Lily she is called now, was yours once upon a time. Will you heal her now. Sacrificing even more than you already have, that she might live?” Lore laid Lily on the thick bend of the trunk of the Dragon, the piece that was shaped as the Dragon’s neck sloped gracefully down to rest its ‘head’ on the ground. This is where he laid her. Immediately a wail went up, filling the swamp around them.
Carolena, Carnage and Enthrall ghosted into place only a few feet away and watched with their hearts near breaking, to see if the Dragon Tree would heal Lily.
Carolena reached out toward Lily and made to move toward her, but Murder stepped in front of her, shaking his head. “Give it a chance,” he said in a hushed tone. “This is the best hope we have. He won’t hurt her — we just hope he will heal her.”
Carolena nodded, and Carnage stepped forward to wrap his arms around his wife to offer her what little comfort he could.
The wailing seemed to swirl around them, taking on a pained undertone. The tree began to tremble and groan. Gradually, the outer tips of the branches began to take on a grey shadow. The grey moved at a snail’s pace up the limbs, toward the heart of the tree, and Lily began to stir.
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