A Healer's Destiny

by Katherine J. Sinclair

  Chapter 22

  As the months went by Elah’s feelings for Leif intensified. He would often take her out to the island in the middle of the lake at night to gaze at the stars and to get away from their lives at the castle. They would also hide out in his garden and watch the birds fly through.

  It wasn’t long after Elah healed Kaylee, that the people of Meridian City started to demanding her services. The line outside the castle would grow everyday and Elah found herself not being able to keep up with the demand.

  It wasn’t until the king stepped in and ruled that if the illness could be healed with herbal medicines than they were not permitted to see Elah. This decreased the size of the line but they started to get aggressive, as the guards choosing the next visitor were thought to be using an unfair system.

  Elah never regretting healing Kaylee and tried her best to ignore the aggressive behaviour some displayed before seeing her. She could see the desperation in them and wondered what she would do if she was in their shoes. If something were to happen to one of her family members she would most likely do anything to help them and that’s why she knew these were good people but desperation did crazy things to them.

  It was a bright sunny day when Leif came to collect Elah, she told him she needed a break and wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up with the demand. She was feeling weak and run down from healing everyday. He looked at her and nodded at her request.

  “I’ll let them know you are going to take a break” Leif said, leaving Elah standing by the fence.

  Elah could hear cries of outrage as people were told the news but she breathed a sigh of relief when Leif came back and told her she wasn’t going to do any healing until further notice. He put his arm around her waist and walked her to the lakes beach, where they sat and watched the water lap against the sand.

  “So what would you like to do with your free time?” Leif asked, breaking the silence.

  “I don’t know, maybe go and sit on the island for a few days” she said, with a silly look on her face. Although it was now her favourite place, especially since no one ever disturbed them there.

  “That sounds tempting” Leif said, leaning back on his elbows. “So it will be your birthday in about a month, is there anything you want to do?”

  “Hide” she sighed, knowing she would be marrying age but was glad no one would dare ask her since she was with Leif.

  He laughed at her and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from all those potential suitors.”

  “I should hope so, there is a huge line up” she said sarcastically.

  He looked at her seriously and sat up, looking into her eyes. She reached over and took his face in both her hands and pulled him over. He smiled at her, as she brushed her lips across his and pulled back. Looking into his eyes she said “I don’t know if any of them could handle all this awesomeness.”

  He laughed, placing his hand behind her neck to pull her in for the kiss she had just denied him. “I couldn’t bare the thought of someone else kissing your lips” he whispered. “Now lets get something for dinner.”

  They took the back alleys through the city to a small restaurant. Leif knew the owners, who allowed them to sit quietly in the back. They ate in piece and left through the back door, trying to avoid anyone who wanted Elah’s help.

  As they walked back through the alleys arm in arm, one of the guards pulled Leif aside and quietly talked to him, while Elah waited a couple of meters away. She felt awkward standing in the dark alley and started pacing a small area as she watched Leif appear to be disagreeing with the guard but they were interrupted when a horse came through.

  The sound of the horses hooves echoed through the ally but that was the only noise they heard, everything else was quite. The rider was completely dressed in black with his face covered, his light green eyes the only thing they could see. Just his appearance was frightening on its own but the large black horse made Elah's heart start pounding.

  Leif and the guard moved to the side to let the horse pass and Elah copied, none of them wanted to get run over by the massive horse. As she looked up she could see the rider watching her through his face coverings. She wasn’t sure why anyone would need to cover their face on such a warm evening.

  Elah looked back over to Leif as the horse started to pass, he was frowning at the rider. She could see he was confused by what the rider was wearing but the way he looked at her told Elah that something was wrong. She hadn't noticed the horse redirect toward her and he wasn't going to be able to get to her before the rider did.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw the rider shift on the horse but was it was too late for her to react, instead she stared at Leif, frozen with fear as the rider leaned down and scooped her up.

  The rider easily lifted her up with one arm wrapped around her waist. He then kicked the horse into a gallop, as the rider flung her squirming body over his.

  Elah looked up to see Leif running after them and started screaming his name. The desperation on his face was like a punch to the gut, as she struggled to break free without success. She screamed until she couldn’t see him and then she started desperately thrashing about.

  The rider pushed the horse harder as he tried to gain control of Elah. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold onto her and needed to get to his meeting point as soon as possible.

  She tried her hardest to stop the rider, until she found herself face first in the dirt. She looked up to see that she was somewhere in the forest and although she could feel the pain from her fall, she got up as quickly as she could and started running.

  She ran in the direction she thought Meridian city was in but figured it didn’t matter what direction she was going so long as she got away. She ran through the dark forest trying hard to weave through the trees and remain on her feet. She hadn’t been running long when her foot connected with something and she fell face first into the dirt, causing further injury.

  Groaning, she pushed herself up and looked behind her, all she saw was a dark figure standing next to her feet. She swallowed and pushed herself into a run but was grabbed by a strong arm and pulled back. As she was then dragged back to the horse, she tried everything she could to get away, again without success.

  Screaming the entire way back, Elah now knew she wasn't going to be able to fight him off on her own. She figured that if she screamed, someone might hear her.

  She looked at the horse and noticed the rider was still on the horse and she wondered who the dark figure was standing behind her, in fact it frightened her to think that she had no idea where she was and who she was with.

  She tried to turn around but a pair of strong hands held her in place and before she knew it, her world started going dark and she was no longer able to holder herself up. She desperately looked around for help as she started falling to her knees and by the time she lost her vision she was on the ground, gripping onto the familiarity of the lose dirt.

  The next thing to go was the sound of the forest and she hoped that she was still screaming but she couldn't be sure. Her whole body started going numb and she could no long feel the dirt in her hands. It wasn't long after that, that she completely lost consciousness and was at the mercy of who ever had taken her.

  Elah opened her eyes to see the sunlight filtering through a thin white curtain. She watched a light breeze gently move the material around, it was mesmerising. Slowly feeling more and more awake, Elah tried to pick up her head up but every time she tried her head became light and every part of her body felt heavy. She tried to talk but only moans came out and she felt frightened of no longer being able to control her own body.

  It wasn’t long before someone dressed in black stood in front of her. Elah's heart started pounding, as she started panicking. She had no idea where she was and what was going to happen.

  She attempted to look up but her body didn’t respond. Frustration and panic started to overwhelm her, all she cou
ld see beyond the dark figure was crisp white walls and the window she had been staring at with the beautiful light curtain.

  She could hear talking but couldn’t make out the words, she felt like she was stuck in a box. She felt so vulnerable, she couldn’t defend herself or even try to run. She wondered how long she was going to be a prisoner in her own body and how long she had been unconscious.

  As the minutes ticked by, she started to calm, nothing had happened yet and she figured if they were going to hurt her then they would have done it by now. As she started to get her breathing under control, she noticed her senses started to focus and was soon able to roll her head.

  As she rolled her head slowly around, she could see the rest of the white room. It was nicely decorated with fine materials, mixed with wood and stone. Overhead was a large canopy with light material draped over it and elegant lights hung from the ceiling that shone in the sunlight.

  She moved her head up toward the bed head, to see someone sitting in a chair next to the bedhead. She had to blink a couple of times to focus and still did not believe who she saw sitting in the chair.

  “Well, it's about time” she heard him say.

  “Lavi, what’s going on?” she asked, with a horse voice and tried to focus on his finer details.

  “I don’t think now’s the time to start filling your head with information” he said, watching her try and sit up.

  She sighed and looked away. She did feel safer with Lavi around but still wanted an answer to her question. She relaxed and closed her eyes before trying to lift herself up again but only managed to prop herself up on her elbows, which was better than laying down but she still hadn't achieved her goal of sitting up. She tried to push herself up further but found she had tried too early and ended up back on her elbows.

  “If you just relax you will gain control again faster” she heard Lavi say.

  She flopped back down on the bed and looked up and him again. She had to blink a few more times because something was different about him but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. He was wearing nice clothes that suited him well, he looked as handsome as ever but it wasn’t that, it was something else.

  “Where am I?” she asked him, not expecting an answer.

  “This is my home” he said casually.

  “Oh” she said, shifting her head back into a more comfortable position, she didn’t know he was from such a fine home.

  “Well, when you are ready, you can clean up and have something to eat” he said standing up. “I’ll be back later, make yourself comfortable” he added before leaving.

  Elah relaxed in the soft white bedding and started concentrating on trying to gain her strength back, she felt completely frustrated by the fact her ability to do whatever she wanted was taken from her and she hated feeling so vulnerable.

  As her strength started coming back, she noticed pain in her upper body, knees and face. She figured it was from when she face planted it in the forest but wasn't entirely sure.

  Once she was able to sit up, she looked herself over. She was still dirty with some dried blood from the cuts covering various parts of her body and again wondered how long she had been out, since she noticed the bruises were well developed.

  When she was finally able to stand, she supported herself with the bed frame and worked her way around the bed to where she noticed a door near the windows. She tested her balance before pushing herself toward the door. She barely made it to the door and had to lean against it to regain her strength before heading into a stone, white bathroom.

  She looked around and noticed it was much bigger then the one back home at the light fae castle, it had double sinks, a large shower with smaller shower heads going from half way up the wall to the top and a large stone bath tub. It was impressive but she still wanted to go home and find Leif, she wanted to know he was okay and to tell him she was okay. She knew that first she had to find out where she was.

  Elah sat on the side of the bathtub while she filled it with warm water, her hands trembling as she hadn’t gained enough strength. Once filled she slid in and breathed a loud sigh of relief as the water soothed her aching body.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to recall everything that had happened the night she was taken but all she could focus on was the look of fear on Leif's face as she was taken further from him. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought about how worried Leif must be and how much she missed him.

  She laid in the tub until it started to cool too much and her body was feeling more like her own again before she wrapped a white fluffy towel around herself before heading into the bedroom.

  She stood in the doorway looking around the room, what was she going to wear and was she going to need to fight her way out soon? As she walked toward a large set of draws, she made sure she was not far from something solid to hold onto, she didn’t trust her legs yet. She looked in the draws and found a white dress and everything else she was going to need and wondered why everything was white.

  Once she dressed she slowly walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains. She could see a forest reach up into tall mountains that stretched as far as she could see in both directions. She had never seen mountains like these and marvelled at their beauty but she needed to go home, even though she wanted more answers from Lavi.

  Elah pushed the window open and looked down. She was along way up, so she opened up her wings and pulled herself onto the windowsill. As she pushed herself off, she barely went anywhere before a pair of hands grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back inside..

  “I wouldn’t do that if I was you” she heard Lavi’s voice say from behind her.

  She turned to look at him in the eye and it hit her, his eyes were not green anymore, they were a stunning golden colour. “Your eyes” she said confused.

  "I was wondering how long it would take you to notice" he said, brushing a lose piece of hair on her face, behind her ear. 

  His touch reminded her how it felt to kiss him, except she didn't want to remember, she wanted to run away from here and find Leif. She felt guilty for even having the thought of kissing Lavi. She looked away and sighed.

  "Lavi, why are your eyes a different colour?" she asked, looking at the wall. 

  "You must be hungry" he said, directing her toward the door and ignoring her question. 

  As they left the room, Elah noticed they were in a long hall with doors on either side and wondered how big Lavi's home was. As he led her through the halls, Elah noticed every time they walked passed someone, they bowed or dropped their heads, this made her feel uncomfortable. It wasn't until they entered a large dinning room that someone even looked at her. 

  Lavi sat at the head of the table and gestured for Elah to sit to his left. She did as he wished, not sure what the customs were in his home and figured she was already in enough trouble. She also wondered what Lavi's roll in her situation was. 

  Once the food was placed and everyone left, Elah popped a plump juicy grape in her mouth and asked, "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

  "Eat, you need to regain your strength" he ordered, causing her to fold her arms and stare at him definitely. 

  Even though she knew he could, Leif never gave her orders. Ever since the queen made Leif put the anklet on her, she had done everything she could not to follow an order. Lavi's order made her mad and to make it worse he started laughing at her. 

  "What's so funny" she snapped. 

  "Oh, come on Elah, lighten up" he said, still laughing. 

  She picked up a grape and threw it at him. "You lighten up" she said, figuring she would get more flies with honey. 

  He grinned at her and popped the grape in his mouth. "Isn't it your birthday soon?" he asked. 

  "When are you going to answer my question?" she asked, finishing off a banana. 

  "Remind me, what was your question?" he said, trying to annoy her. 

  She growled at him and sighed. "What is going on? How
did I get here? Where is here?" she said, thinking of more questions as she went. 

  “Now, now, that’s more than one question”

  “Are you going to answer at least one?”

  “I don’t know, let me think about it”

  “What’s going on, Lavi” she snarled.

  “Settle down Elah. You will get answers in good time”

  “Fine” she yelled, throwing down the food in her hands and getting up.

  “And where do you think your going?” he asked casually.

  “What’s it to you?” she growled, as she stormed toward the door.

  She grabbed the door handle and threw it open, only to be greeted by two guards. When she tried to walk passed, one of the guards put his hands on her upper chest to stop her. She looked at him and furiously flung his hand away.

  Turning around, she narrowed her eyes at Lavi and stormed over to the table. Leaning on the table, she looked him square in the eyes and growled, “Tell me what’s going on or….”

  “Or you will what?” Lavi roared, standing up so he towered over her. “Leave? I think we both know that’s not going to happen.”

  “You can’t keep me here” she snarled, straightening herself up.

  She looked at the table and picked up a plate and threw it at him. He ducked and it flew by barely missing him, he shot his head up to look at her with a tense look. He then grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the table, he wasn't going to risk being hit by a flying object.

  He stood in front of her and narrowed his eyes. “Your in Izarra. Now, you need to start behaving yourself” he roared, making Elah feel smaller then she already did.

  He let her arm go and watched as she took a couple of steps back, rubbing her arm. She looked at the floor and waited for him to leave, instead she watched his feet close the distance between them to stand in front of her.

  “Just leave me alone, Lavi” she whispered, wishing she could just be left alone. It was a lot to take in, why was she in Izarra and most importantly, why did Lavi live in Izarra?

  She heard him sigh and felt his hand cradle her chin as he lifted it to make her look at him. She tried to avert her eyes but he moved his head to come into her view.

  “My name is not Lavi, it's Asriel” he said softly. “This is my fathers home, the king of the dark fae.”

  Elah slapped his hand away and stood back, looking at him confused. “I can’t believe you lied. Was everything a lie?” Elah asked, not sure if she really wanted to hear his answer. “What’s real?”

  “Elah” he said, reaching out to touch her arm.

  She stood back hitting the back of a chair. “Don’t touch me” she yelled.

  “If I would have told you who I was, I would have been sent to my death” he said bitterly.

  “Maybe I would have kept your secret, you never even gave me a chance” she hissed looking into his beautiful but deadly eyes.

  “And look at how well your secret was kept. How has that turned out for you?” he asked, knowing the answer.

  "Maybe it turned out just the way I wanted it too"

  "So you planed on leaving your family and being forced to help someone who doesn’t care about you. Did you plan on coming here as well? What's next?"

  "I don't know, you tell me"

  “That’s pathetic”

  “Why would you care anyway?”

  He laughed at her before grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out if the room. She tried to pull back as he walked down a bright airy hall but Elah’s lack of strength had no effect on him.

  “What do you want from me?” she screamed at him.

  He ignored her and pulled her through a door into a garden. The garden was beautiful with brightly coloured flowers scattered throughout the garden but that was not what caught her attention. As she stood on the green manicured grass, she could hear a noise she had never heard before, it sounded like water but she had never heard it like this. She looked around to see what was making the sound but could see nothing but trees in that direction.

  “Just tell me what you want so I can go home” Elah whispered, trying to hide her fear.

  “Do you really want to go back to your fake life?” he asked bitterly.

  “I can’t believe I adored you” Elah said resentfully, walking toward the tree line.

  He caught up to her and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her around to look at him. “Don’t you dare speak to me like that again” he roared at her. “You need to learn some respect.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” Elah spat back.

  “You can come out here whenever you like but don’t go passed the tree line” Asriel said, walking back inside.