As the man left the room Niranene had Alex drink this new concoction. Taking a mouthful was horrifying, after she put it in his hand. The flavor wasn’t as sour, but it did leave a bitter aftertaste. She saw his discouraged expression and gave a piece of information. “I know my items don’t have a pleasant flavor, but they are more than capable of treating a wide range of ailments. Last night’s mix was what I’ve had to give you twice a day since your initial injury. It helps calm the nerves so the pain is dulled, adds a supplement since you couldn’t eat, clears the mind and lastly it boosts your immune system so that you aren’t susceptible of getting an infection that would kill you in your weakened condition. You needed that the most because your wounds would have gotten infected otherwise.” She now pointed to the half empty green glass. “This mixture increases ones appetite and also slightly increased adrenaline production so you can stay more active, but it works slower and longer so you won’t need to drink it as often.”
“If that’s true can I sit up and move around?” Alex asked after finishing the glass and handing it back to her.
She handed the glass to a worried looking Marlin. She had a serious expression on her face once she looked down at the remarkable hero again. “That would be extremely unlikely. I’ve seen very few people survive the injuries that you have sustained. It truly is a miracle that you are even capable of functioning on an intellectual level with the amount of blood that was lost.” She held up a single finger. “But I will let you know how long you will be bedbound after I check your dressings.”
Niranene looked at everyone. “Could we have some privacy?”
“Not a problem!” Marlin said, smiling at his girl. “Lily, come outside with me. Let’s tell the queen Alex is lucid and can talk again.” She was reluctant to leave his weakened side, but conceded. Marlin tapped Shade’s flank and gestured for him to follow. He didn’t budge.
Alex’s voice tickled and it didn’t choke him up like the last time. “Shade,” his ears perked and everyone glanced at Alex with worried expressions. He waved them off with a hand. “go ahead. I promise that we will talk soon.”
His large head dropped and he made a sound similar to a deep sigh. Then his eyes lifted and connected again. “It is really good to hear you talking with me again. It takes forever to translate what they were doing to you. I hope it never happens again.” He glanced at Niranene. “I’ll be back shortly. I have certain needs that I’ve been neglecting for too long.”
He turned around and wacked Marlin in the shoulder with his tail. Shade chuckled at the payback. Marlin opened the door with his unharmed arm and left down the hall. Shade followed and Lily smiled at him one last time before shutting the door behind herself. Now it was only Niranene and Alex in the silent room.
She glided over to the ewer, brought it over, along with some new bandages, linens and a pair of small shears. There was a hidden bag next to the bed which Alex couldn’t see. He wondered what else could be in his room that he didn’t know about.
She stood to his right as she sat the items on the bed and the ewer on the floor as well. With the scissors in hand she began making a small cut from the hollow of his throat and cut the soiled bandages down to the lower abdominals. She slowly pulled the bandage back to reveal where he was wounded on the right shoulder. Red, dried blood caked his entire skin and it wasn’t a pleasant sight from anyone’s end. Niranene didn’t even flinch at the sight. Alex wondered what the worst condition she’s ever seen a person. Then again he’d rather not because he’d be on that short list.
She grabbed a linen cloth and dabbed a corner into the ewer. With the moist towel she began cleaning off the skin. As she cleaned with the gentlest of touches her brow drew together. That look sent a chill down his spine.
In a frightened tone he asked “What is it?” She spoke barely above a whisper, but she apparently didn’t hear him. “It cannot be…” She wiped quicker and touched the skin. All he felt was a slight amount of pain, but the touch was smooth and even under her prodding. “Impossible!”
She looked to his chest again and spread the soiled bandages off the torso. Her hand went to his left ribcage, an inch below the heart, and she quickly wiped with the linen. She touched with her other fingers and he felt the same sensations, but on the ribs. “How…” Her blue eyes widened and it was frightening him.
Without realizing what he was doing, Alex had easily managed to sit up and the movement startled Niranene to take several steps back. He felt where she had worked on his arm and felt a barely noticeable bump. Straining his neck, revealed a faint pink dot of new skin on the flesh. It was the same on his ribcage too. Alex was still in some pain, but it was easily controllable to still move, in a limited sense. It was nothing like last night. The two other punctured spots on his abdomen also had the same feeling. A smile crept across his face.
When his focus returned to Niranene she still looked shocked beyond words. “What is wrong? Why are you just standing there?”
It took her a few moments to recover. “Alex, you shouldn’t be this far along in the healing progress. You should still have scabbed wounds for the next five days at the earliest. Even with the queen’s compatibility with my items you shouldn’t be healed at this stage. Your arties and organs were perforated, but it cannot be…” She began to trail off in thought. She then began speaking in mental hypothesis. “Could that be it…nay…maybe it’s because of…nay that might not be it either…”
“Maybe it might be because of what I am, as a Furion?” He threw a logical conclusion at her. “It may be because of that, but I would also like to inform you that I’m far from completely healed. I still feel some pain and you know that means that my body is still in the process of repairing the damaged tissues.” Her eyes widened at his knowledge of anatomy. “As such I know that strenuous exercise is out of the question, but can I clean myself up with your help?”
“Of course,”
Swinging his legs off the bed was easy, and despite her short stature, Niranene helped stand him up. It took a minute to find his equilibrium and only then did she release her grasp. Alex used the linen she was using and she grabbed another. As he slowly washed his sore torso, she cleaned his back. She commented that the wounds on the back looked more healed than the one’s on the front. After his backside was cleaned, she had him sit down. She insisted that she shave his face and she did a better job than he ever had. Alex asked her for a moment of modesty and she turned around. He used the scissors to cut the remaining wrapping from his groin and legs. He was extremely lucky because a spike went through his right inner thigh and it didn’t harm the most vital male organ. After the blood, sweat and grime was finally removed from the body, Niranene found fresh clothes.
A new pair of blue pants and a gray tunic were strenuous to equip. With Niranene’s help, and her reluctance to go along with his next idea, she helped him stand again. They had rescued his staff from Gyro’s head and it was a huge aid in maintaining his balance. His choice for a weapon was ideal for a multitude of scenarios and it was invaluable at this moment. And wrapped around the knot was the gold medallion that Allahandra gave him. He then wrapped it around his neck and began walking to the door slowly, with Niranene holding his belt just incase his balance was ever thrown off. Alex opened the door and entered the hallway.
He walked down the mirror lit hallway and could hear many voices in the main room. Since meeting Shade Alex no longer liked to stay confined in a room for a long time. When they told him that his injuries kept him in bed for four days, his legs needed a stretch and his eyes needed a change of scenery. Leaving the luxurious room was the only option.
Walking down the hallway he relied heavily on the staff and Niranene still didn’t release her hold on his belt. She mumbled under her breath. “This isn’t a really good idea…”
“Your right,” His voice startled her as it felt like he was taking the smallest steps to the private meeting room. “I know I should stay in bed, but I’ll go mad if I remaine
d still for too long. And don’t worry, I know how hurt I still am and that is what’s keeping me from doing more.”
Before they made it to the door she finally spoke. “As long as you do not overexert yourself I’ll go along with this. But you will be restricted to this floor for another day. I cannot have you attempting the stairs as of yet.”
“That is a fair compromise.”
Niranene grabbed the door handle and pushed it open. The noise in the room was louder than anticipated, but it was bearable.
Sitting around the circular table were the top officials and everyone else. A quick scan revealed that only ten commanders were absent. The room was cleaned of blood and corpses, looking like nothing had ever happened, except for the holes perforated in the stone. One of the commanders were arguing with the others, but no one noticed their presence as of yet. There weren’t any new protective guards in the corners so the castle’s alert status has been relaxed to a degree. He then scanned the present gathering and stopped his search when someone shot from their chairs into a standing position. That person was Lily.
“ALEX!?” Just her one word silenced the room. Everyone present followed her line of sight and all settled on him. Most of everyone wore confused or shocked expressions. Before anyone made a movement she was already running.
Lily stopped about a pace away and held her arms to her sides awkwardly. “What are you doing out of bed!? I was just about to come back and check on you.”
He shifted his weight to the left leg because it hurt the least. “I’m healed enough to come out here and converse with everyone. And do not worry, I haven’t forgotten about last night’s conversation. Later on, you’ll hear what I have to say.” It was hard making his voice sound emotionless to her, but it was needed. For all she has did to him it was time she know how it felt to be spoken to like this. “If you need proof,” He grabbed the collar of his tunic and jerked it to the right.
Lily saw the faint mark and she tried touching it, but his expressionless features stopped her advance. She looked at him confused and worried as she withdrew her hand back to her side.
Then a booming voice broke the tension “Alex, you look tired. Come sit down.” It was General Rakkian. He walked up to Lily’s side with a pained expression. All could see how discouraged he was from knowing that his men were the cause of so much misery and betrayal. “Are you up to telling us what happened?”
“That is why I’m here, Rakkian.”
Lily moved over, in an uncomfortable way, as Niranene helped guide him to sit in his usual chair, two seats to the left of the throne. Allahandra was standing as he rounded her throne. She was confused and when she looked at Niranene who only shrugged. The queen was as astounded by the recovery just as Niranene is.
It was bliss sitting down in a comfortable chair again. Those few hundred steps wore him out. Alex leaned his staff against the table. Niranene told Allahandra that he needed several meals brought up to help replenish all the calories and fats he’s lost during the injury. His metabolic energy was severely depleted.
Then Lily sat uncomfortably by his side, but didn’t say anything else. Marlin just looked between them in a confused way.
“Alright since our new champion has just arrived I think everyone will agree that the meeting can be put on hold to hear what he has to say to us all.” Allahandra stated with a proud smile. Everyone remained looking at Alex, but he had expected as much. “Alright Alex, now the big question is, what really happened? How did you know what to do?”
The biggest difficulty facing him was how to align his thoughts in a linear way, but it didn’t take too long. With one quick sweep of the room he told them. “Back when Shade relayed his information about the military’s diversion and the smuggling, I began thinking of many things. Whatever they were after had to have a price that held more than just a simple monetary value. It had to be something that could crush a person’s will, or an entire nation’s. That is what the king does best. He crushes a person’s will so they could be controlled and manipulated.
“We knew there was a breach seven years ago and you found a spy that was still living in the city after all this time. Then we knew if he was in here then surely there were others deep in hiding. We knew that the covert spy knew the city inside and out and would have had a fool proof escape plan. It wasn’t a stretch to know someone was on the inside.”
He then took a deep breath and looked at General Rakkian. “I didn’t have all of the information until you spoke to us a few hours before the battle ensued.” The general’s pained expression changed into a confused one. “You told me stories about my uncle and how you worked under him, and then you began speaking about Maiot and Gyro.” Now the room became entirely quiet and no one could look away. “You said that you saved Maiot as a boy, but you met Gyro six and a half years ago. It wasn’t until after you jumped off the wall to create an earthquake did the pieces start falling into place.
“You said Gyro was injured during the breach seven years ago, but that was the key to knowing the hidden plan. General, why do you think Gyro tripped my suspicions? Take your time and try to understand why it was six and a half years before you first met him.”
His dark face expression turned down as he began contemplating. Everyone waited silently for about two minutes. His head snapped up and he figured it out. “It was his injury, wasn’t it?”
“Exactly... Everyone knows that he cannot be harmed because of his mainly defensive item. No one has ever broken through his defense before, so why did it happen then? I just didn’t know about those spikes.” Alex’s left hand began rubbing his right shoulder, remembering the piercing.
“None of us did.” Allahandra stated. “He never revealed that his item held that capability. The biggest concern is how you were able to pierce his item when no one in this entire city couldn’t do so much as scratch his sphere.”
“I’ll get to that later.” The queen accepted the promise. “Then there was the issue with Maiot. General Rakkian said that he and Gyro spent the most time together and fought together like no other under him. It takes a lot of time to make one of the weapons class change sides or just one act of serious betrayal.” Everyone knew of this. The weapons class is the most straightforward and unbending of any of the four classes. “I don’t know what it was, but Gyro found a way to convert Maiot to the wrong side.
“Gyro was the best person for the job and would have succeeded in his mission if not for the information Rakkian supplied just before the siege. Gyro could capture and roll off with Allahandra and no one would ever be able to stop him. I was just lucky to figure it out in time… I just wish that I did so sooner because of the thirty nine men who lost their lives…
“And the biggest break we had was when Shade and I arrived back from scouting the enemy numbers, and gathering the information, that neither of them were here for the briefing nor were they privy to the actual contexts of the report. They were here when everyone explained about the battles from the past ten years. Maiot stayed, but Gyro had to go do something. If either of them were here for Shade’s briefing, they would have changed their tactics, but they didn’t know the full detail of our conference and they were stopped.” After that was over Alex began explaining what he did to save the queen. Not one detail was spared; even getting pierced and run over. Everyone cringed at the images his words gave them.
“Alex!” his head shifted to the double doors just as Shade finally returned. He sprinted around the table. Shade stopped by his side and sniffed his raven hair with his enormous snout. “It is you. What are you doing out of bed? Are you fully recovered already?”
Alex rubbed the side of his head and his voice changed. “Not quite, but I was able to come in here to tell them what happened. I’ll tell you soon too.”
Before he could react in time an enormous tongue passed through the front teeth and licked the entire side of his face. People began to laugh and it was impossible for anyone not to. It took a minute for everyone to quit t
heir laughter.
Mistress Marge came in soon. Allahandra allowed Alex to leave the table and eat in his room privately. Niranene and Shade helped him back to their room and once inside he ate for the next three hours. Niranene’s medicine definitely increased his appetite beyond the normal. During the meal Niranene had to leave as did the head mistress. Shade kept telling him how glad he was to see him alive.
Then for the rest of the day no one disturbed them as they spoke to one another. It was a relaxing time and Shade was glad to talk with his brother at length. He also asked if Lily told him her feelings and Alex told him she did. He wanted details and was told he’d receive them at a later date.
He wasn’t pleased to be left in the dark about something so important.
Just as the sunlight in their room began to dim Alex knew nightfall was imminent. Shade was laying on his belly as they spoke to each other. He saw the glance to the window. “It’s getting dark.” Shade announced obviously.
“Speaking of, I need you to do something for me.” his ears perked. “I need you to go and find Lily. Make her understand that we need to have a private conversation.” He grinned wickedly. “Be normal and then make yourself scarce for the night. Lily and I need to have a long discussion.”
“I’ll track her down. Good night then.”
“Good night, Shade.”
Shade used his nose to push the door open and his back leg to kick it shut. Soon Alex sat all alone and all of the oil lamps needed to be lit before she arrived. Once they were, his room was next to be straightened. Once everything was in order he sat at the foot of the bed and waited.
Twenty minutes later there came a weak rasp on the door, followed by a louder one a few seconds later. Lily was being hesitant about what she was doing. In response to the second knock he announced “Come in!”
The door opened slowly and Lily casually stepped in his line of sight, wearing was she had on earlier. Her tone was calm, even and sure. “Shade came and found me. He wrote that you needed to talk to me.”
Untamed Gift (Book One of the Items Trilogy) Page 55
