Chapter 10
Elah sat in an armchair staring at her sleeping mother. What was she doing here, she asked herself, was there something wrong? After a while she left and made some tea and sat back in the armchair with her warm cup. Her mother was still asleep when her grandmother came down, who stopped to look at them both curiously.
“What’s going on?” her grandmother asked.
“I was hoping you knew something” Elah replied, staring at her mother.
Elah offered her grandmother a tea and they both sat in the living room waiting for Ebele to wake up. The two even started to play cards while they waited.
After a couple games of cards, Ebele started to stir. She rolled around for a couple of minutes before opening her eyes.
“Is everything okay Ebele?” her mother-in-law asked softly.
“I have to take Elah, Ibolya. She is not safe anymore” Ebele told her mother-in-law.
“What do you mean?” Ibolya said surprised.
“Elah, go up and pack a bag” Ebele ordered.
“I don’t want to go, not again” Elah protested.
“Go” Ebele growled.
Elah looked at her mother with animosity in her eyes. She had made a friend and was not going to have to leave without saying goodbye. She wasn’t keen on staying at the cottage but she knew her mother was not going to take her somewhere she could make friends.
She reluctantly went up to her room and started packing a bag. She made sure to put her dagger in her boot and the flower on the necklace Lavi gave her but ensured it sat at the back of her neck, where her hair hid it. She left Talib’s letter under the mattress and placed the box River gave her and the books Talib gave her with the dress her grandmother gave her in the cupboard so they didn’t get ruined.
As she took her bag downstairs Elah took time to take a closer look at the pictures on the walls. She wanted to take as long as she could, she was angry with her mother and didn’t care what her reasons for moving her again were.
“Oh good your ready, we need to get moving” Ebele said, walking to the door.
Elah ran up to her grandmother and hugged her. “Please tell her I can stay” Elah pleaded with her grandmother.
“I don’t think that will work. Your always welcome here but I think you need to go with your mother” her grandmother replied, letting her go.
With a broken heart, Elah slowly followed her mother out of the cottage. She now knew that living with her grandparents wasn't as bad as she had made it out to be and regretted not appreciating it more.
As they rode away, Elah watched her grandmother disappear into the distance. Elah knew she would not see her again for quite some time, just like her father. She hadn’t seen him for close to a year, this made Elah more annoyed at her situation.
“What is going on?” Elah asked angrily.
“Did you give a boy a bag?” Ebele asked, watching the road.
Elah was surprised with the question but wanted to know more about it before she gave too much away. “What do you mean?” she growled.
“I found a bag in the possession of a boy and when I concentrated on it, I saw you sitting with your grandmother.”
“What is sitting with grandma got to do with a boy?”
“My gift, Elah, if I touch an object that belongs to someone or has been handled by someone else, I can see what they see. And when I held one of your necklaces from your room I saw the same image. Now tell me did you give a boy a bag?”
Elah felt betrayed that her mother would spy on her but knew her friendship had been found out. “Yes but...”
“What was this boys name?”
“Alon, his just my friend. He doesn’t know about my gift” Elah said, feeling defeated but wanted to defend her friend.
“Are you sure that is his name?” Ebele asked, feeling confused herself.
“Yes”
“What does he look like?”
Elah described him to her but when she was finished her mother remained silent. Ebele felt her heart drop and wondered how long she had known him for but knew she had to get Elah away from him, he was too dangerous.
“Well my father is going to love having you around” Ebele said, trying to change the subject.
Elah frowned at her mother. “He lives in the middle of nowhere. Take me back now” Elah demanded.
“Not a chance” Ebele replied.
Infuriated Elah sat on the horse in silence. What kind of life was her mother expecting her to live? She didn’t want to live her life hiding and as they rode for days Elah worked on her escape plan.
On the fifth day, they were cleaning up their campsite, when they heard loud cries in the distance. Ebele told Elah to stay and finish up cleaning but she ignored her and followed her to see what was going on.
When they got to the road, Elah stopped her mother from just walking out into the open. Telling her to keep down, Ebele watched as Elah used the trees as cover and quietly looked to see if it was safe.
Once Elah had a good view she signalled her mother to join, as she kneeled by a tree, a little closer to the noise. As Ebele got closer she hit a branch causing a loud crack that echoed through the forest. Elah ran to her mother and as she grabbed her hand to run away, a hand grabbed Ebele by her free arm. Ebele then turned to see a royal guard pulling her towards him.
Ebele let Elah go and yelled for her to run. Elah could see the fear in her eyes and started running for their horse. She ran hard, dodging tress and branches. Elah focused on getting to the horse and going for help, which helped to push herself to go faster.
Elah was about half way there when she was run down by another guard who grabbed her around the waist, stopping her in her tracks. He then put her over his shoulder as he walked back to the road. She didn’t make it easy for him as she thrashed about and when they reached the road he threw her down beside her mother, glad to have her off his hands.
"Are you okay?" Elah whispered to her mother.
"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought you out here" Ebele said, with tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Don't worry mum, you were only trying to what you thought was best" Elah whispered, watching the guards.
"What are you two up to?" a guard asked, with blood covering his hands.
Elah looked around and noticed most of the guards had grim looks on their faces. She also noticed there were a number guards standing near some horses but what they were doing, Elah could not tell.
"What's going on over there?" Elah asked, pointing to the group.
"I'm the only one asking questions here" the guard growled at her. "Now tell me, what are you doing here?"
"We're out for a walk” Elah answered, noticing her mother seemed to be in shock. "Why do you have blood on your hands?"
The guard sighed and muttered "I don't have time for this"
Another guard came running up to the guard asking them questions and amongst his questions said "I don't think he's going to make it"
"Who's not going to make it?" Elah asked, curiosity getting the best of her.
"Unless you can help, shut up" the guard yelled.
"Help with what?" Elah asked.
"Elah, just be quite" Ebele finally said.
The guard looked at Ebele curiously and walked closer to her so he towered over her. "Do you have any medical skills woman?" the guard asked bitterly.
"A little" she said, looking into the guards light blue eyes. He was a large man with dirty blonde hair, tanned skin and looked like he spent all his spare time working on increasing the size of his muscles.
He leaned down and roughly grabbed Ebele by the arm, pulling her to her feet. Not letting go he began to drag her towards the group but stopped and turned to another guard. “Bring the other one, she might come in handly" he ordered.
Elah was suddenly picked up and hauled over, where she was again thrown down beside her mother. Elah didn't think it was necessary, as she would have followed he
r mother.
As her mother looked over a well dressed man laying on the ground, Elah slipped her hand under his back. He had dark brown hair and a face that most likely had all the ladies look twice at him, he was very handsome. While he was not large like the guard, he did look quite fit and healthy.
Once Elah was happy with the position of her hidden hand she pushed her energy through the man, investigating his injuries. Elah looked grimly at her mother.
"His condition is pretty grim" Ebele said, to one of the guards.
"We know that, can you do anything?" he asked, frustrated at the lack of help.
"I don't think there is anything I can do for him" Ebele said sympathetically.
Elah looked at her mother in shock. She knew she could save the man but also knew her mother wouldn't allow it.
The guard watched the two exchange looks. "Maybe you can't but something tells me she can" the guard said, looking at Elah.
"No, she can't" Ebele said quickly.
"Well let's see" the guard said. "Can you help him?"
Elah's mouth fell open, she didn't know what to do. She looked at her mother who was shaking her head but the guard could see what was going on and grabbed Ebele. He took both of her hands in his and pushed her back into his body. As she squirmed he pulled out a bloodied dagger and held it to her throat.
“Help him" the guard yelled at Elah, causing her to jump. "Or I'll slit her throat."
Elah was shocked and looked at her mother with wide eyes and fear pumping through her veins. "Don't do it" Ebele yelled, hoping she could save her daughter.
The guard didn't have to say anything as he pushed the dagger against her neck causing blood to trickle down her neck. "It's okay" Elah said, putting her hands on the man’s chest.
Her hand lit up and the group gasped as she sent healing energy through the man’s body. She healed his internal injuries first and when the man’s cuts started to close leaving smooth skin, Elah heard whispers start within the growing group. It was at the point that Elah became aware of just how many people were watching her and her heart sank.
As Elah took her hand off the man, she stood and in her weakened state walked up the guard holding her mother and demanded he let her go. He smiled at her and let go pushing Ebele to the ground.
Elah immediately went to her mother and helped her up. Holding her mothers hand she walked up to the group and started pushing her way through. When they got about half way through the group a loud voice rang out from behind them. "Stop!" And with that order Elah felt hands wrap around her arms. She looked at her mother to see she was caught in the same position.
The guards brought the two forward and stood them in front of the guard who was unquestionably the highest-ranking guard. He walked up to Elah and grabbed her by the chin and looked down at her. Elah tried to break free but it only cause the guard to tighten his grip. She winced at the pain he was causing her but all he did was smile.
“Keep this one and leave the other” he said, letting her face go and turned to inspect the guards helping the injured man onto a horse.
“No” Elah screamed. “I did what you asked, now let me go.”
Ebele started screaming for them to let her go as they dragged her off and out of Elah’s sight. The guard turned to face Elah, “Oh, so is that how you think this is going to work” he stated, with a laugh.
Elah looked him in the eyes and spat at his feet. His face hardened before slapping her hard across her face, causing her loose her balance but was held up by the two men holding her. Even though she was in pain see looked up at him and smiled which infuriated the guard.
“Ready her, we leave in five minutes” he growled, walking away.
“You’re a power hungry wanker” Elah yelled, as he walked away. She smiled to herself as she heard a growling noise come from him but he didn’t turn around.
“You would bite your tongue, if you knew what was good for you” another guard said, tying her hands behind her back.
Elah shot him a nasty look and spat in his face. He wiped it away with his shirt and pulled out a piece of cloth from his pocket and tied it around her mouth to prevent her from spitting or talking. Elah growled at him but he laughed at her causing her anger to build.
"Maybe you will think twice about spitting next time” he growled, looking pleased with himself.
As a couple of guards lifted Elah up to another guard waiting on a horse, she kicked the horse causing the guards to drop her as they stumbled back. While it caused her more pain she wasn’t going to make it easy for them but they eventually got her up on the horse.
As the rider rode past Ebele, Elah looked at her mother with sadness in her eyes and they held each other’s gaze as long as they could before the rider pushed the horse into a gallop. Elah could hear her mothers screams as they got further away but there was nothing Elah could do.
It was nearly sunset by the time Elah could see buildings start to pop up from the horizon. She wondered if it was Meridian City. The buildings were spectacular with fluid lines that made them look like they were large trees. The largest was at on the other side of the city and appeared to be surrounded by large gardens that backed onto the forest, with a large lake to its side.
As they got closer to the large building, Elah noticed a large tree with pink flowers in the front courtyard that was framed by gardens filled with different coloured flowers. She watched the bees going about their afternoon business as they rode through the gates and into the courtyard where the guards stopped and helped the man she had healed into the building.
Elah was watching a bee pop in and out of some flowers when she felt a pair of strong hands wrap around her waist and pull her from the horse. She watched the rider, ride off as she was carried through small door to the left of the one the other man had been helped through.
She was put down on a bed in a small cream coloured room. The guard stood silently in front of her and untied the cloth from her mouth. She stared up at him, fear flooding her body to the point she could barely breath. His face remained neutral as he grabbed her hands and untied them. He then pushed her down and before Elah knew what was going on, she heard him locking the door behind him.
Elah let out the breath she didn’t realise she was holding and sat up. She looked around the room, frightened that something might jump and attack her. There was a small table on either side of the bed, one with a glass of water and some fruit on it and the other was bare. There was a warm coloured rug covering the stone floor and a white blanket covering the single sized bed.
At the far end of the room as small entrance, which lead into a small white bathroom containing only a shower, toilet and small sink. Elah was relieved to know that she could at least clean herself up.
As she inspected herself, she noticed her dress and arms were covered in blood and dirt, she had nothing else to wear so she just cleaned up what she could. There was no mirror to see her face but she knew it would soon show a bruise due to the pain it caused her when she touched her cheek.
As Elah tried to clean herself up, she heard the door open and froze. What did they want now, she thought to herself. As she watched the entrance, a young girl popped her head around the corner smiling and quickly ducked out of the way as Elah charged at her. As Elah raced through the bathroom door, a hand grabbed her by the arm, pulling her off balance and held her inches from the floor.
Elah looked up to see the guard who had slapped her standing over her smiling. Roughly pulling her to her feet he stood her in front of the young girl who measured her and quietly left.
“You should get some rest, your fate will be decided tomorrow” he snarled at her and pushed her to the floor before leaving.
Elah waited for the door to close before she started weeping. She didn’t want him to see her in a weak state but felt defeated. Was this what her parents were trying to protect her from, she asked herself.
Shaking, she used the bed to pull herself up to
see some light brown nightclothes sitting on the bed. She took the clothes into the bathroom and started the shower. The warm water felt nice on her sore body but she knew her body would ache more in the morning.
As she rested her head on the wall, to let the water fall on her aching back, her necklace fell forward. Tears started falling down her cheeks as she watched the flower dangle. What was Alon going to think when she didn’t show up and was she ever going to see Lavi again?
A Healer's Destiny Page 10
