Chapter 16
As the weeks went by Elah saw less and less of Alon and thought she had scared him away, until she heard a soft knock on the door one morning. She opened it to see Alon standing in the doorway. She let him in and sat down to finish her breakfast so she would appear indifferent.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around often, the king sent me away on business” he said, hoping she would understand.
“It's okay, you have your duties and I have mine” Elah said, taking a bite from an apple, trying to appear as if she didn't care.
“Please forgive me, I never intended to hurt you in any way” Alon pleaded, noticing how cold she was being toward him.
“Oh Alon, there is no forgiveness necessary. Please join me” she said, gesturing for him to sit with her.
He sat down and took a bright red apple from the plate. “I need to talk to you after your visit with the queen today.”
“Okay, I’m planning on leaving in a couple of minutes, if you want to meet after” Elah suggested. “Unless you have something else you need to do.”
“If it’s okay with you, I would like to accompany you” he said, ignoring her irritation.
“Of course, that would be nice” she agreed, with a weak smile.
Elah finished eating her apple and stood up. Alon copied her and they silently walked to the queens room, he could tell she was angry with him and questioned if it was the right time to tell her what he had been trying to tell her for so long.
Elah was happy that she didn’t have to check every corner and grateful for the company, even if she was still angry with him. Regardless of anything, Alon made her feel safe she wished he would have the time to accompany her everywhere.
The queens room was bright with the morning sun shining through the large windows. The queens life was returning to normal, as Elah came close to completing her healing. The queen laid down on her bed when Elah walked in and she began healing.
“I think two more days and we will be finished” Elah told the queen, as she took her hand off the Milkah’s chest.
Milkah smiled at Elah as she stood up. “Come and sit by your mother Leif” Milkah said, looking at Alon.
Elah looked at Milkah confused and figured she would need to make sure she had missed something next time. Milkah's mental health may have been compromised during her illness and Elah scalded herself for not checking on this.
“Oh no, that’s….” Elah stopped herself as she watched Alon walk over to Milkah.
He sat down on the bed next to Milkah and hugged her in the way one would hug their mother. Elah’s eyes widened as she noticed the similarities between the two and her mouth fell open as the truth hit her. Elah scalded herself again for not noticing, she then dropped her head before she turned and started walking toward the door.
“Elah, I’ll take you back in a few minutes” Leif said, stopping her in her tracks.
“It's okay, your majesty, I know the way” she said, in the politest voice she could muster and headed out the door before he could say anymore.
Gently closing the door behind herself, she began running through the halls and out into the gardens. She ran until she found herself standing in Alon’s favourite garden, well when he was Alon.
“How could I have been so stupid” Elah whispered to herself, pacing the garden.
As she turned to pace back a pair of hands grab her shoulders. She looked up to see Leif standing in front of her. Anger and sadness filled her soul as she stood before him.
“Let me go” she hissed, angrily.
“Elah, please hear me out” he pleaded, not letting go.
“With all due respect, your majesty, I don’t want to hear whatever you have to say” Elah said, fighting back her tears.
“Elah, please” he said, as she pulled herself from his grip.
“What type of sick game are you trying to play? Getting me to fall for you, then what, happily go about my life as if I had never met you, after you stomp all over my heart?”
“I’m not playing a game. I never intended to hurt you”
“But you have”
“Please forgive me”
Elah looked straight ahead and started walking toward the castle but as she walked by him, he grabbed her arm. Without looking at her he said “I will wait for you” and let her go.
His heart dropped as he listened to her walk away and realised his worse fear, losing her. He dropped to his knees and closed his eyes, he wanted her but knew she may never forgive him.
After aimlessly wondering the halls, Elah crashed face first onto her bed and cried for hours. When she stopped crying she stared out the window and wondered what her biggest mistake was, letting Leif in or letting go of her adventurous nature or maybe it was giving up hope of ever seeing Lavi again. No matter what she told herself, she couldn’t let go of her feelings for him and that's what hurt the most. Although, she knew her broken heart would heal with time, she wanted the pain to disappear now.
As the sunset and the room darkened, Nissa brought her dinner. Elah ignored her wanting more than anything to be alone, even though Nissa did not deserve to be ignored. Without saying anything Nissa left, leaving Elah to lay in the darkness.
The next morning came to quickly, as Elah dreaded the idea that Leif might be present while she healed the queen. She was far from ready to see him, even the thought of him brought pain to her heart.
Elah arrived in the queens room to find Milkah waiting for her alone. Elah barely looked at her because every time she did, she saw Leif in her and felt angry that she hadn't noticed earlier. Milkah bid her a good day as she left but all Elah could do was curtsy and thanked her. She couldn’t get out of the room fast enough.
Elah didn’t go back to her room, instead walked to the lake and started walking along the bank, not caring that her shirt got wet. The water on her feet was refreshing and a light breeze softly cooled her hot face.
About half way along the part of the bank she could walk, she stopped and threw her shoes on the bank. She then walked into the water and floated around. The water made her feel weightless, which closely matched her empty heart. She had lost so much, the part of her life where she gets to grow up with her family, like most children, her father and now Alon. She wondered what more her gift could take from her.
Although she didn’t want to get out of the water, the sun dropping behind the horizon, taking the heat out of the day and leaving her wet and cold. As she made her way to her room, she noticed the strange looks she was getting from everyone she passed but she didn’t care. She was happy to feel cold, it was refreshing to feel anything other than the hurt she was feeling in her heart.
The next morning, Elah walked into the queens room to find the king sitting with his queen. He smiled at her as she walked in and walked over to sit by Milkah's feet. Elah gingerly walked over and sat next to the king and began healing his queen.
She was nearly finished when Leif walked in and sat in the corner. Elah could feel him watching her and wished she could finish healing Milkah more quickly.
While he longed to touch her, she wanted to run as far as she could from him. She wanted to stop wanting him but couldn’t stop thinking about him. She felt ashamed for being so blind to the truth and for letting him into her heart.
As the light went out in Elah's hands, the king took her hand in his. “Is she completely healed?” he asked, looking at Elah with hope in his eyes.
“Yes, I would like to check in with her in a week but the tumour is gone” Elah told him and looked down to see the king place his hand on her arm.
“Thank you Elah, now you have saved my wife and I. If it wasn’t for you my son would have no parents” the king said, pointing to Leif and letting go of her arm.
“You are very welcome, your majesty” Elah said, getting up and curtsying.
She glanced over at Leif and left the room. After closing the door, she let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding and c
lasped to the floor. She tried to gain her breath but couldn’t and knew something was wrong. She wanted to look strong, especially in Leif’s presence but the more she struggled the blacker her vision became, until her world become completely black.
Not long after Elah had left, Leif walked out of his mother’s room and almost fell over Elah’s body. He stared at her for a moment in shock before he scoped her up and took her back to her room, where he laid her on the bed. He then sat in a chair next to the bed while he waited.
Elah woke in a panic, she snapped her eyes open and jerked herself up into a sitting position. As she looked around the room, she noticed Leif sitting in a chair eating grapes.
“What happened?” Elah asked, wanting to know the answer more than she didn’t want to talk to Leif.
“My father gave you your wings” Leif said, putting another grape in his mouth.
“What do you mean?” she asked, still not able to process anything.
“Why don’t you go and have a look in the mirror” he suggested.
She frowned at him and got out of the bed from the furthest side of the bed from him. Closing the bathroom door behind her, she stood in front of the mirror and what she saw amazed her. A pair of wings sat in the centre of her back, they curled around like laced vines and sparkled as they appeared to look like raw energy floating on her back. She wondered if everyone’s wings were the same colour as their eyes as well.
As she reached back to touch them, her hand went through the eliminated energy. Shocked she pulled her hand back quickly and wondered how they would lift her off the ground. She looked at them hard in the mirror, they were beautiful but she knew so little about them.
As she thought about them moving, they began to flutter. She smiled with excitement and thought about flying and as she did her feet lifted off the ground.
“Wow, so that's how they work” she whispered to herself.
As she flew around the room, she looked up to see Leif standing at the door and froze as she had forgotten he was there. “Well looks like you have everything under control, I’ll see you later” he said and left her to investigate her new wings.
She had so many more questions for him but just watched him leave. She wished she could go after him and make things the way they were when he was Alon but she couldn't. Her heart hurt at the thought and she went and slumped in a chair.
“I hear the queen is better” River said, bursting into her room.
She nodded and watched him sit in the chair next to her. He took one look at her and his jaw hit the floor. “Wow, look at those” he said, taking a closer look at her wings.
“I know, they are so beautiful aren’t they” she said smiling.
“When did you get those?” he asked, taking in the details.
“The king gave them to me after I finished healing the queen” she answered, fluttering them for him.
Elah was more than happy to show her brother what she could do and even figured out how to hide her wings. River had so many questions and Elah didn’t have an answer for most but they tried to work out the answers together.
They were running around the room like little children, when a knock at the door stopped them. River answered the door and let Leif and a woman in. Elah froze as they walked to the seating area.
River noticed Elah frown at Leif and watched as she slowly navigated her way to the window and appeared uninterested. He also noticed the sadness in Leif’s eyes.
“Elah, this is Hagar” Leif said, trying to introduce her. “She will help you with your wings. It won’t take long.”
“Nice to meet you Hagar. Thank you for bring her Leif” Elah said, without emotion in her voice.
River suddenly started laughing, causing Elah to spin around and frowned at him, while Leif narrowed his eyes at him.
“Oh, this is gold. You have my permission” River laughed and patted Leif on the shoulder before leaving the room.
Leif excused himself and went after him. “River” Leif called, as he followed him outside.
River turned and looked at Leif amused. “What kind of sick joke are you trying to pull?” Leif growled.
“Oh, don’t put this on me, you’re the one who did this” River shot back. “Tell me what did she do when you told her?”
“That’s not your business” Leif growled.
“Perhaps. Well good luck with courting her” River said, walking away.
A Healer's Destiny Page 16
