Magical Lover

by Karilyn Bentley

  “I carried him for the past four hours. It wasn’t easy. The lad’s more trouble than he’s worth.” Enar shook his head, ignoring the steam wafting across his vision. Removing the sling, he lowered Jamie to the ground.

  Keara knelt by Jamie’s side, noting the pain lines etched in his pale face and the odd bend of his limbs. Tell me no.

  “What did you do?”

  “He fell out of a tree.” Lily knelt beside her. “Broke his arm, sprained an ankle and broke his leg. We didn’t know how to set it.”

  “Can you heal him?” Thoren asked.

  Keara swallowed. It was worse than she thought. The longer a broken arm and leg remained unset, the more difficult it was to reset them. Once she moved the broken ends into alignment, she could run her hands over the break and join the ends together. It took several tries, though. And that was only if she could pull the swollen limbs into place.

  The sooner she started the better chance of success.

  From her peripheral vision, she saw Aryana step closer, and the priestesses move out of her way.

  “Greetings, Enar,” Aryana said, peering over Keara’s shoulder. “Is this the male Halfling?”

  “Male trouble-maker is more like it,” Enar said. “Your Highness.”

  Keara glanced up in time to see Aryana place a hand on Enar’s arm, a look of sadness on her face. By the time Keara finished blinking, the moment had passed. Not that it was any of her business, but it sure seemed like Aryana had a liking for Enar.

  Definitely none of her business. She had more important things to think of.

  “His arm and leg are broken. I need to get him to the infirmary.”

  Aryana knelt at Jamie’s feet. “My apologies for not noticing earlier, young one. Hang on and I’ll send you to the infirmary where Keara and our priestesses will help you.”

  Jamie’s eyes bugged at the High Priestess, but the speechless performance didn’t last.

  “You’re the High Priestess? You don’t look old enough. My Daddy said you were old.”

  “Who has my herb bag?” Keara looked at the sacks hanging from Enar’s belt, spying her own, hoping Jamie hushed.

  “I’m older than I look. When you feel better you’ll have to tell me all about your father.” Aryana touched Jamie’s shoulder.

  The air around Jamie warped, shimmering like the reflection off water on a hot day. He started to disappear right when Enar spoke.

  “Catch.” Enar pulled her herb bag from around his waist, tossing it to Keara. Her hand grasped it a second before she felt every small particle in her body rip apart. Shimmering waves of air flooded her vision as she reappeared in the infirmary. Jamie lay on the bed, a smile evening out the pain lines etched on his face. Aryana had strong magic to transport Jamie into the healing room and land him on the bed.

  Good thing her eyes were already green.

  Before the jealousy grew roots, an ear-piercing shriek filled the room followed by Lily appearing in front of her. Keara clamped her hands over her ears as she hurried to her friend.

  “Lily! Stop that! You’ll wake the dead!” Keara elbowed Lily until she stopped screaming. Who knew her friend had a set of lungs like that?

  Jamie turned his head toward Keara. “That was fun! Can we do that again?”

  “Sweet Goddess, I hope not. What happened?” Lily’s hand fluttered at her chest.

  “It’s how the Draconi move about. Takes awhile to get used to it. But once you do it’s amazing.” Keara rummaged through her herb bag. Where was that datura? She needed it to put Jamie into a deep enough sleep to reset his limbs. “It’s fun to be able to pop around the Courtyard. Where is that packet?”

  Calm down, take a breath. Once she relaxed a bit, her fingers found the packet by touch. Unlike her grandmother, who had tied each packet in a different knot to differentiate between the herbs, Keara always knew what each packet held by touch alone. Yet another reason for her grandmother to fear her.

  She shook the memory from her head, focusing instead on Jamie’s injuries.

  His right arm had been broken above the elbow, the fractured lower half of the bone riding over the upper half, giving the arm a bulging appearance.

  “Did you dose yourself?” Keara glanced at his face as she set the packet of datura on the bedside table.

  He shook his head, grimacing. “I could only remember the willow bark. You never showed me the stronger herbs.”

  “Well, Jamie. I hope you’ve learned your lesson about climbing trees.” As if that was possible. Boys attracted trouble like bees to nectar. She ran her fingers over his lower leg feeling the break in the bones.

  “That part stuck straight out when I landed. Pale as Lily. Enar pulled on my leg until it went back in, but it don’t feel right. It’s hot to the touch too. All red-like. That’s not good, is it?”

  Keara didn’t answer, losing herself in her work. The ends of the bones in his leg didn’t line up correctly and would have to be reset. Lily would need to help her realign the bone once she relaxed the lad.

  Using her knife, Keara cut Jamie’s pants leg off. Blood oozed from the skin where the bone had broken through, the surrounding area fiery red.

  She needed to relax the muscles to reset the bone, then clean the wound, and hope infection didn’t set in.

  “Lily? Would you mind setting the pot of water to boil?”

  “Of course not. Where’s the pot?”

  Keara gestured to the stack of pots against the wall and left Lily to draw the water from a pump in the corner of the room.

  Her poor apprentice. Who wasn’t an apprentice in Draconia, was he? She was the apprentice to Annaliese. Jamie...would he be allowed to live here at the Temple with her? Her heart kicked a solid thump against her chest at the thought of not having him around. Where did orphans live in Draconia?

  All questions for another time. She needed to focus on the work at hand and pray she managed to set the bones correctly.

  Jamie touched her hand. “Are you all right? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  “Who? Thoren?” Keara brushed the hair off his forehead.

  “If he hurt you, I’ll get him back.”

  Keara tried to wipe the smile off her face and failed. It was nice to be looked after. Even if it was by a ten-year-old boy. “He didn’t hurt me. Not at all. He helped me a lot by bringing me here. Everything is good.” Except I don’t know if Thoren is my mate or what I’ll do if he’s not. That unhappy fact would not be mentioned to Jamie. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

  His face fell, gray eyes sorrowful. “That bad, eh?”

  “I doubt you’ll die from it. But it will hurt when I reset the bones. What were you thinking to fall out of a tree?”

  “I didn’t mean to fall. I wanted to see the bird’s nest. It was this giant bird, I mean ginormous. Fafnir said I should be able to fly one day so he’d let me climb and then I’d jump and he’d catch me. He’d just appear out of nowhere. So I thought I could jump and he’d catch me and how was I supposed to know he had already left camp?”

  “You’re lucky you only broke an arm and leg and not your head. And what was Fafnir doing encouraging you to jump out of trees? Doesn’t he know that’s dangerous?”

  “But it’s fun!”

  “Sure it is. See all the fun you’re having?”

  “But I did get to be transported here.”

  Boys. She couldn’t stay angry at him, though.

  Lily sat on the edge of Jamie’s bed, patting his good leg.

  Might as well continue the lessons. Teaching took her mind off the twisting hops her heart passed as beats when she thought about Jamie’s suffering. “Once the water boils, I’ll make a tea with datura. Do you remember what that does?”

  Lily and Jamie both shook their heads.

  “It will relax your muscles, allowing me to reset the bone. The potion has to be made just right or else it could put you into a sleep you won’t wake from. A potion made from the root would allow you to see into the f
uture, but at a cost. Too much can be dangerous.”

  “Try not to kill me.”

  Lily patted his good arm. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Keara knows what she’s doing. She’s done this before, you know,” Lily assured him.

  Keara let Lily comfort Jamie while she devoted herself to preparing the datura potion. Dangerous stuff. Too much and she could kill him. Only a practiced apothecary knew how to use datura. Good thing she was accomplished.

  Once made, she held the bitter brew to Jamie’s lips. “Bottom’s up.”

  He made a face, but drank the cup dry. Soon his eyes closed and he drifted to sleep.

  “What do you need me to do?” Lily sat on the opposite side of the narrow bed from Keara, face pale under the sunburn.

  “Stabilize his arm. I’ll pull and adjust the bones, but I need you to hold it like so,” she demonstrated for Lily, “and not let go. Can you do that?”

  Lily nodded as she stood. Keara grabbed Jamie’s arm, one hand at the wrist, the other at his elbow and tugged, applying steady pressure. Lily held on until the bones slipped into place, the bulge in Jamie’s arm straightening out, then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she crumpled to the ground.

  Oh no. “Lily!”

  Her friend didn’t move. Not good at all. Nothing to do about Lily, Jamie’s injuries took priority. Keara sandwiched Jamie’s arm between two flat pieces of wood, wrapping the pieces tightly with strips of cloth. Thank the Goddess the room was well stocked with bandages and wood for splints.

  Once Jamie’s arm was bound, Keara knelt beside Lily, feeling the rapid pulse in her neck. Her friend moaned at Keara’s touch. At least she hadn’t hit her head when she crumpled neatly to the floor.

  But her fainting spell left Keara without a helper and she needed one and soon, before the drug she gave Jamie wore off. Maybe one of the priestesses would help.

  Keara poked her head out the door, looking up and down the empty hall. Obviously, they had decided staring at Enar made a better pastime. She sighed, closing the door.

  Keara stood still, opening her mind to the thoughts of others. Other’s thoughts, like butterflies’ wings beating against her mind, whispered to her as she filtered through them until she found the pattern distinct to Thoren. Then she called for him.

  Chapter 16

  Thoren stared at the spot where Keara knelt moments earlier. “Where are they?”

  “In one of the healing rooms,” Aryana said. “If Keara needs help Annaliese is nearby.”

  “With Zeke and Conr?”

  “Zeke’s sick?” A wrinkle folded between Enar’s brows.

  “His son.”

  Enar blinked. “Son? He’s mated?”

  “His son, Conr, is a Halfling,” Ari said.

  Wait for it. Enar reacted as expected, brows slamming down over his eyes. Thoren slapped his friend on the back, warding off whatever Enar might have said.

  “So, how was your journey?”

  “Besides you leaving me with a hellion?”

  “You shouldn’t speak of Fafnir that way.”

  Enar shook his head. “It wasn’t too bad. We made it here in mostly one piece.”

  “Would you like food or drink?” Aryana waved a hand toward the Temple.

  Wasn’t it time for his aunt to make a disappearing act? Why was she so interested in hanging around Enar? Only acolytes and young females fantasized about Watchers. And yet...it didn’t bear thinking on.

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Enar picked up a bag and strode with the urgency of a starving male to the Temple door.

  Thoren followed, catching up with his friend. “We need to talk.”

  “How about you talk and I’ll fill my stomach?”

  “Are you even allowed in the Temple?”

  Enar raised an eyebrow. “It hasn’t fallen down, has it?” He strode through the door like he owned the place, heading for the dining room.

  How did he know the location of the dining room? Thoren glanced behind them at Aryana hurrying to keep up. Surely not. Priestesses did not have fantasies or liaisons with Watchers. Adult Draconi knew how dangerous Watchers were and shied away from them.

  Unless they were females around Enar. But still. His aunt?

  “Enar, please help yourself to the food. I am needed at Fafnir’s purification ritual. It’s nice to see you again.” Aryana flashed an upward turn of her lips before disappearing.

  “So how bad was it?” Thoren dropped into the chair next to Enar’s, holding back a headshake as the serving acolytes nearly tripped over their hems trying to wait on Enar. What was it with his friend and females? Was it the forbidden aspect that made him so appealing?

  Enar swallowed a mouthful of apple. “Jamie is more trouble than he’s worth. Climbing trees, disappearing, reappearing in places he’s not supposed to be, falling out of trees.” He took another bite of the apple. “Surely we weren’t that much trouble as boys.”

  A vivid image of his mother scolding them after they disappeared to go exploring flashed across his mind. He grinned. “Of course not. We never got in trouble.”

  “That’s what I thought. But I did learn how he came to be in River’s Run.”

  “You did? How?”

  “Well, it was really Lily that learned it from Fafnir, who Jamie confided in...”

  “Listening to gossip, now?”

  Enar snorted. “As I was saying, his parents were killed in front of him.”

  “That’s horrible!”

  “It was a surprise attack. Soldiers came, killed his mother first when she went outside for water. His father helped him escape and told him to hide in the woods, but he still witnessed their deaths. He said it seemed like his father had no magic, that he’d try to fight but nothing would happen.”

  “What? How could that be?”

  Enar looked at him. Titanium.

  Unbidden, he saw Fafnir in a titanium cell. Titanium, the bane of Draconi. How did humans discover their poison?

  “I don’t know, but it seems odd that Fafnir was in a titanium cell. Especially when combined with Jamie’s father being killed by titanium-wielding soldiers.”

  “Why did the soldiers come to his house?”

  “He heard them say something about ‘the boy’, who he assumed to be himself. It seems like the soldiers were after Jamie. If the rogue Draconi was working with the lord in River’s Run, then maybe they tried to get Jamie first and settled on Keara when Jamie escaped.”

  “We need to report this to the Council.”

  Pain slammed through his head as he heard Keara silently yelling for him. He obviously needed to repeat his lesson on yelling while mind-speaking. So much for reporting on a security threat.

  He rubbed his ear—hoping that would stop her screaming. What’s wrong?

  Lily passed out and I need help setting Jamie’s leg.

  Where’s Annaliese?

  I thought maybe you could help me?

  The Council report could wait. If Keara wanted him, he wasn’t going to complain.

  “I need to go. Keara needs me. I’ll come back and find you.” He barely registered the look of surprise on Enar’s face before he disappeared in a cloud of dust, arriving in the healing room.

  Keara stood in the middle of the room, facing the door, her lips turning in a grin as he appeared. Jamie lay on the bed, one arm in a splint, one leg lying at a strange angle. Thoren winced. Fortunately, he wasn’t squeamish.

  “Thank the Goddess you’re here. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “I’m happy to help, but Annaliese would be better at it.”

  “I know, but she’s busy and I wanted you.”

  “In that case, I’m all yours.”

  “Would you mind picking up Lily and putting her on the other bed?” Keara pointed to the floor, where Lily sprawled, moaning.

  How had he missed a moaning woman lying on the floor? Talk about embarrassing.

  After he placed Lily on the bed, he walked back to Keara. “You need help s
etting the leg?”

  “Yes, thank you. You stabilize by putting your hands here,” she pointed and Thoren wrapped his hands around Jamie’s leg, “and hold on.”

  By the time the bones slid into place, a sheen of sweat covered Keara’s face. Not that he looked much better. He wiped the sweat from his eyes on the back of his sleeve as Keara placed a splint on Jamie’s leg.

  Thoren watched her work, her deft fingers tying the splint together. His mate. He still needed to tell her that fact.

  “What?” Keara mimicked his motion, swiping her face against the back of her sleeve.

  No time like the present. Thoren opened his mouth, but the words dried up faster than a stream in a desert. Closed mouth. Tried again. Got nowhere.

  One eyebrow cocked as she watched his mouth move. But her focus didn’t last long. Her gaze fled from his lips, wandering to where Lily lay behind him.

  “Ah! So you decided to join the land of the waking. How do you feel?” Keara hurried to Lily’s bed.

  And his perfect moment dissipated like steam in the sunlight.

  “Not too good.” A small grin turned the corners of Lily’s lips. “Guess I’m not meant to be a healer, huh?”

  “You were out for awhile. I was worried about you.” Keara’s hands fluttered over her friend, touching her skin, the pulse in her neck.

  One minute he watched Keara with Lily and the next pain split his skull in half. Thoren clamped both hands to his ears—not that doing so would help quiet the mind-speaking—and doubled over. By the Goddess, could the Council not find a better way to call its spies? Why did they insist on calling in such a way that made Keara’s earlier shout a whisper?

  His pride stung as Keara darted to his side, asking him questions he couldn’t hear over the roar in his head. What kind of a male acts like a pained sissy in front of his female?

  The kind that gets a call from the Council.

  But still. He tried to straighten and made it an inch. How long did the bloody deafening call have to continue? The thought had no sooner flashed through his mind when the Council’s call vanished as quickly as it came, leaving him panting for breath.

  Yet another pride stinger. Keara’s frantic voice penetrated his aching brain.