A Healer's Destiny

by Katherine J. Sinclair

  Chapter 7

  As the months went by Elah found herself spending a lot of time with her grandmother, who sewed clothes that she sold in town when her grandfather went. She learned to refine her sewing skills and was allowed to take walks in the forest to help injured animals or just animals that needed some minor muscle repair.

  Her father had visited her once for a couple of hours to drop off some more of her belongings but he didn't say much. The days had cooled with the onset of winter, so Elah found herself taking longer walks. Her grandmother didn’t seem to mind so long as she finished her day’s lessons and chores. She had worked out that if she did her chores first she could do her lessons and head straight out the door by mid morning.

  Elah would find herself walking a little further each day in the direction of her own home. She hoped that she might run into one of her brothers or Lavi but knew she had to be careful not to run into one of her parents. Unfortunately, Elah had not seen anyone since she had come to live with her grandparents, except her father.

  After healing a young parrot who broke its wing falling out of a tree. It had clearly been into the fermented nectar.Elah found herself resting under a large gum tree. She couldn't heal the drunken state the bird was in but she could ease the headache it was going to get later.

  As she got up to start her walk back to her grandparents, a loud crack rang out from above and Elah found herself face first in the dirt before she could investigate the noise. Stunned she rolled over to see a pair of deep turquoise eyes staring down at her. 

  The pair of eyes were deep and Elah found herself getting lost in them and had to force herself to look away. As she felt the weight of the stranger lift from her body, she pushed herself up and turned around. As she turned she found herself face to face with a young man. While he was young Elah could tell he was older than her, he looked to be about River’s age..

  Again she found herself captivated by his eyes. She had to force herself to look away and was able to take in the site of what she could only describe as a very handsome young man with a cheeky grin on his face.

  "What happened?" she managed to get out. 

  "Well you were nearly hit by that large branch" the boy said, pointing to a large fallen branch where Elah had been standing. 

  Elah slowly turned her head and gasped in surprise when she saw how large the branch was. "Oh, thank you" Elah said, realising the boy had saved her from being hit by the branch that could have at least broken a few bones.

  "No worries, you were lucky I was here" he said, feeling proud of himself. 

  "What are you doing here?" Elah asked, realising she hadn't seen anyone here before.

  "I could ask you the same question!" he stated, frowning at her.

  "I live here" she said defensively.

  "This is an unusual place to live" the boy said, trying to be smart.

  Elah didn‘t know what to say, did he think she was homeless. Although, she did feel like that some days. Would she ever return home?

  She looked at the boy who was now laughing at her. His skin had a healthy shine and the filtered light danced in his messy light brown hair. Everything about him demanded her attention and she had no idea why. She didn’t want to concede to this demand but she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

  Elah ummed and arred, which made him laugh harder, frustrating her. Sighing she made herself turn to walk but as she started to walk off, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “I didn’t mean to offend you” the boy said, now trying hard to stop laughing.

  Elah slowly turned to see his softened face looking down at her. The look on his face made her want to stay and she found herself staring at him again.

  Scolding herself for staring she looked down at her dirty hands. “It’s okay, I… I…” Elah studdered, lost for words.

  The boy tilted his head to one side and positioned his body to look Elah in the eyes. “I’m Alon” he said, with a sweet smile.

  Elah smiled back, “I’m Elah.”

  “So Elah, what is a young lady doing in the forest alone?”

  “I was taking a walk and what are you doing out here alone”

  “Thinking”

  “Sounds important”

  “Not really. Do you walk here often?" Alon asked, changing the subject. 

  "Not as often as I'd like" Elah said, trying not to let him know she walked in the forest everyday. Although she was not lying, she wished she could spend every waking moment wandering through the forest. "What about you, do you take walks here to think often?" Elah added. 

  "No it's a new thing for me"

  "Oh, well I hope your adventure helps you think clearly"

  "Thank you, unfortunately there is so much going on in this forest I don't believe thinking is on the table for me today"

  "I'm sorry to hear that"

  "Don't be, this forest has many interesting things in it to keep me entertained, besides I can think later" he said, throwing her a cheeky smile. 

  "You said you were new here, where are you from?" Elah asked. 

  "I didn't say that but you would be right" he said, sitting down on a log. "I grew up in Meridian City". 

  "I didn't mean to offend you". 

  "You didn't"

  "Oh" Elah said, not sure if she was ever going to figure out how to talk to Alon without screwing up. "What is Meridian City like?"

  “Have you never been there?”

  “No but I’d love to”

  “Well, it is certainly a lot more busy than here” he said laughing.

  “Oh” Elah responded thinking he didn’t want to talk about the city.

  “Well, I guess you can say there is a lot to do and it does have a beauty that really can’t be described” he continued. “I personally really enjoy the gardens, especially in late spring when all the flowers are out and the baby animals are starting to venture out.”

  “Wow, that sounds nice” Elah said, thinking about all the little babies.

  “Yeah but I’m sure you could tell me about all the amazing things that happen here throughout the year” he said, watching her start to relax.

  Elah had no idea Alon was enjoying watching her, he found himself distracted by her unusual eyes and the way her golden hair fell down to her waist and lightly framed her beautiful face. Although her dress covered most of her body it framed her well and the light blue complemented her striking features. Her uneasiness told him what his presence was doing to her and he smiled inwardly, he had, had this affect on other girls and found it quite amusing.

  Elah was so involved in trying to hide her own fascination that she did not notice how he was looking at her, even his voice caught her off guard. She found herself working so hard to appear indifferent that she was beginning to wear herself out.

  “Well perhaps I can tell you about what to expect in the coming spring next time. It’s time I should be getting back” Elah said, realising she just invited him to meet with her again. While she wanted to see him again, she didn’t want to have to work so hard.

  “Okay how about we meet here in three days” he said, standing up and offering her a hand up.

  Taking his hand, he pulled her up and found herself wishing she hadn't taken his hand. She was all too aware of how warm and soft his hand was and let go as soon as she was standing.

  “I’m not sure if I can” she said, not sure if her grandparents had any plans for her in three days or perhaps she was just looking for an excuse to run from the mixed feelings she was having about Alon.

  “Well I’ll wait and if you don’t show up, then so be it” he said, looking down at her.

  “Okay” she said, feeling bad about being vague.

  She smiled as she walked away and once she felt there was enough distance between them she stopped and leaned against a tree to regain her strength. She didn’t realise how worn out he made her feel and felt confused by this feeling. To make this worse she found herself staring at her hand, she co
uld still feel his touch and wanted more than anything to run as far from these feelings as she could, especially now that she had Lavi's attention.

  As she walked back to her grandparent’s cottage she noticed the parrot she had healed earlier resting in a young tree. It looked like it needed to take a long nap. Elah shock her head and smiled at the bird, she didn’t understand the attraction of alcohol but then again she had never had the opportunity to try it.

  Her grandmother was in the garden when she got back. Her grandfather had left for the city earlier that week and was not due back for a couple of weeks. So Elah went inside and started preparing dinner.

  After dinner Elah worked on her homework and helped her grandmother finish some sewing projects she was working on. Elah enjoyed embroidery and had embroidered a couple of her dresses. Her favourite was a dark blue dress she had embroidered with the design Lavi had craved into the dagger he gave her, on the bodice and around the trim. Although her grandmother had never seen the dagger, she loved the design and Elah felt bad about taking credit for the design.

  Over the next couple of days Elah didn't go for any walks. Instead she stayed with her grandmother thinking about Lavi and now Alon, which made her more confused than ever before. She wasn’t even sure if she should go and meet Alon but deep down she knew she wanted to.

  The next morning her grandmother asked her what was wrong and when she didn’t give an answer, her grandmother told her to stop moping and to go and get some fresh air. It was a push toward her meeting with Alon she wasn't expecting.

  Elah found herself walking towards the area she had meet Alon and decided that he would probably not show up anyway but curiosity got the better of her. How wrong she was, as the log they sat on when they first met, came into view she could see him sitting with one leg bent up on the log and a book in his hand resting on his knee. He was wearing black slacks and a light brown shirt that laced up at the front, however he had left the top laces undone, a sight to send any girls heart rate through the roof.

  Taking in a deep breath Elah walked closer. “What are you reading?” she asked, causing him to look up at her.

  “You came” he said, grinning at her.

  “So did you” she replied, trying to keep her face neutral.

  “Very true but it would be rude of me not to make my own arranged meeting”

  “I guess that would be true”

  “Come, sit” he said, gesturing for her to sit next to him on the log.

  She walked over and sat next to his outstretched foot, thinking some distance would make her feel more confident. However, the only thing the distance did was give him an opportunity to give her an amused look, her heart started to race and her mind went blank just looking at him. He had clearly played these types of games before.

  “So, you said you would tell me about the coming spring” he said, watching her play with the skirt of her purple dress.

  “Well I guess if you like flowers you will love it here, they bloom in all different colours and the area becomes overwhelmed with perfume. The animals go crazy over the nectar and fresh fruits. There can be some really great storms but not as good as the ones that come around in summer” Elah explained quickly, hoping getting straight to the point would help her nerves.

  “That sounds nice”, he said, looking into her eyes. “What is your favourite flower?”

  “Orchids, what about you?” she asked.

  “I love Orchids too. What about fruit, do you have a favourite?” he asked, putting his leg down and placing the book on the log out of Elah’s view.

  “Um, I really enjoy mangoes, what about you?”

  “Passion fruit, right off the vine when it’s at its sweetest”

  Elah felt her heart speed up even more and tried to tell herself it was just fruit he was talking about and all fruit tasted best straight from the plant but for som reason she now wanted some passion fruit. She looked at him sitting comfortably on the log and knew he was playing with her but she didn’t know what to do about it.

  So she tried to change the subject. “Do you have a favourite weapon?” she asked, noticing his strength and knowing he must have had some training.

  “I guess I enjoy archery best but fencing is a close second. What about you?”

  “I love archery and with the right bow there is nothing like it” she said, happy to have changed the subject into one she actually enjoyed. She then took a couple of breaths and realised she was not suppose to handle weapons so added, “That is I love watching, especially when they use those pretty engraved bows.”

  Alon frowned at her but didn't say anything. Instead he just nodded at her and watched as she shifted uncomfortably on the log.

  They sat and talked about archery for some time and Elah found herself becoming more comfortable with time. Their conversation changed several times and she discovered that as they got to know each other, everything seemed to get easier and more fluid. It wasn’t until Elah noticed the sun falling in the sky that she knew she had to leave or she was going to find herself walking in the dark and in trouble with her grandmother.

  “Can’t you stay a little longer” he pleaded with her.

  “No, if I stay longer I’d have to walk in the dark” she replied, wishing she could stay.

  “Then meet me here again” he said, with a charming smile.

  “I don’t know if that is a good idea”

  “Are you saying you don’t enjoy my company?”

  “Oh, no, I really enjoyed your company, it’s just...”

  “Then meet me again, here, in seven days” he said, interrupting her.

  “Okay but I really must go now” Elah said, getting up and running off.

  Two months passed and Elah met with Alon in the forest each week. Being able to spend time with someone close to her age made living with her grandparents easier. She looked forward to their meetings and as they got closer they started walking around the area.

  As Elah returned to her grandparents cottage after meeting with Alon, she found her grandmother cooking in the kitchen. Whatever she was cooking smelled amazing and she found her stomach start to grumble. “What are you cooking?” Elah asked, licking her lips.

  “Something special. I need you to stay here tomorrow” her grandmother said.

  “Okay, why?”

  “We are expecting some visitors tomorrow”

  “Oh, how exciting. May I ask who?” Elah asked, happy to hear that someone else would be around.

  “Now that is something you are just going to have to wait to find out”

  Elah pouted at her grandmother before she headed to her room to finish her homework. Once she finished she took the dagger from her boot and stared at the pattern hoping tomorrows visitors were going to be Lavi and her brothers. She missed them and although her meetings with Alon made life easier, it didn’t make up for the company of her family.