by Sarah Reeves
“Who’s your Companion?” The doctor guided her to a chair next to a tray of equipment. He unwrapped a syringe, filled it with clear liquid from a bottle on the tray. “This is going to pinch a bit, it’s just going to numb the area. I have to remove the dead skin. It’s not severe enough to require surgery, but it’s going to hurt like a bitch.”
“Shouldn’t there be a painless way of doing things here? Like, with magic or something?” Alex swallowed against the bile rising in her throat.
“I mean, I could always just amputate your arm. No arm, no problem, right?” The doctor looked up and saw Alex’s face go white. “Never mind. And no, we don’t use ‘magic’ here. We harness the elements, but that isn’t really used on the medical side of things. Medicine here, it’s a lot like the medicine in the human realm. There are some bits that are infused with elements to boost it’s properties, but the processes and results are virtually the same. There’s no magic fix-all cure for things. There probably never will be.” He lifted the syringe, flicked it, and brought it to her skin, at the upper edge of the wound. “Little pinch.” Alex nearly shot off the chair when the needle pierced her skin.
“Little pinch!?” Alex yelped. “How was that supposed to be little?”
“I did tell you it was going to hurt. Besides, what happens next is going to make you call that a little pinch. Now, hold still.”
“You’re really not one for- Jesus Christ!- bedside manner, are you?” Alex’s other hand gripped the edge of the chair tightly as the needle was inserted again, and again.
“Nope. I prefer to be honest rather than beat around the bush about something. I was nicer this time than I would have been, though.” He finished with the needle, placed it on a separate tray apart from the other instruments. He picked up a scalpel, unwrapped it. “This is going to hurt you a lot more than it’s going to hurt me.”
“I thought that saying was the other way around.” Alex scooted her chair a little farther away from him. “And didn’t you numb it for the express purpose of the next part not hurting?”
“I numbed the skin around it, with the intent of numbing the rest of it. But the fact of the matter is, it’s going to suck. A lot. Your skin is going to be sliced off with a knife. No matter how much numbing medicine I use, it’s going to hurt.”
“And you can’t just knock me out?” Alex asked pleadingly. When the doctor shook his head, she groaned. “I hate this. I can’t just leave it alone?”
“No.” He lifted the scalpel.
“Okay, I just need to keep talking.” Alex closed her eyes as the doctor started to remove the skin. “I should at least know your name, if you’re going to be cutting pieces of my skin off.”
She heard a wry chuckle. “I’m Dr. Drake.”
“Ramoray?”
“What?”
“Never mind. Don’t listen to me.” She jerked away from a particularly nasty slice of the scalpel. “Ow! I’m just - shit!- rambling.”
“Hold still.” Dr. Drake’s voice was terse with concentration. “Just a few more pieces. Then we disinfect, wrap, and you’re done.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” There was a pause, then he spoke again. “Where are you from?” he asked. “You don’t talk like you’re from around here.”
Alex, focused on breathing deeply, didn’t answer right away. “That’s because I’m not,” she replied eventually. She wouldn’t look, but she guessed the wound was draining. Now the familiar scent of decay wafted up from her arm, and she turned her head away.
“You’re not going to elaborate?” Amusement tinged Doctor Drake’s voice.
“Is there a reason to? The fact that I’m not from here doesn’t change the fact that I’m here now, right?”
“Right,” he said slowly. “But I figure it’s a lot easier to make conversation when you’re asking about the other person. And talking distracts people from what’s going on, most of the time.”
Alex shrugged, then winced as the doctor continued to drain the burn. “My father was on the run from the Unseen, and ended up in the human realm. I was raised there, even after he was killed. I came here not long after my birthday. Been here ever since.” It began to occur to her that she’d told this story quite a few times since arriving in the Realm. How many times would she have to explain it? Maybe she should try to get a news story done. If these people even had the news. With the fiasco in the Courts days before, it wouldn’t have come as a shock if a lot of people knew that there was a newcomer in their midst. It would have preferably been kept quiet, though. Alex leaned toward Adrien’s philosophy in that sense, wanting to keep a low profile, but it was proving to be difficult.
“Did you see what happened by the castle?” Doctor Drake’s question broke her out of her reverie.
“Kind of. That’s how my arm got hurt. Me and my Companion were… we were coming back to the castle to find his parents when we saw the smoke. We went to investigate and that’s when we saw the destruction in the Courts. Something shot out of the castle, and attacked us. Kieran was fine, mostly. Probably a couple of bruises from being knocked down, but he wasn’t burned, We came here after that.”
“Kieran? As in, Prince Kieran?” The question struck Alex oddly, as used to saying his name without the title as she was.
“Yeah. We met in the Arena, and Discovered each other, or whatever it’s called. He made me think we were soulmates at first, but then somebody else cleared it up for me.” A small smile curved Alex’s lips. “I was so mad at him for that. I am definitely not here to find a soulmate.”
The doctor chuckled. Alex opened her eyes to the sound of metal against metal, and saw him place the scalpel in a tray. He reached for what looked like Alex to be Iodine, or some form of it. He soaked a gauze pad in the stuff and gently patted her arm with it, which was now free of dead skin and was bleeding slightly. It looked and felt a ton better than it had when she’d come in.
“What’s next?” she asked.
“What’s next is this gets wrapped, and you get antibiotics to make sure the infection stays away. I don’t want to see you back here for this again, so make sure you take all the pills. Otherwise it could come back, and worse. Got it?” Alex nodded at the instructions. “Good.” He finished wrapping her arm, and stood up. “Lets go get your medicine.”
Around the room, there were significantly less people than were there earlier. All of the covered bodies had been taken out, and the ones that had disappeared into the other room were back, and mostly resting. Alex stared around, slightly dazed. How long had she been getting her skin taken off? She winced. That sounded bad. It was true, but the thought made her want to shudder.
“There you are!” Kieran’s hand descended on Alex’s shoulder, pulling her into a side hug. “I was worried when I didn’t see you.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked, disengaging quickly and fixing him with a confused stare. “I’ve been here the whole time, you’re the one who disappeared.”
He gestured behind him, where the King and Queen were standing. “I went to find them, and they wanted to check on you.”
Alex met the Queen’s eyes, and got an uneasy feeling at the look she saw there that was gone as soon as it had come. “You did?”
The couple stepped forward. “Yes, of course,” answered King Titus. “You’re our son’s Companion, and as such, a part of this family. We care about you more than you realize.”
Alex shifted, uncomfortable and pleased in equal measure. “Well.” She said, “Thank you for checking on me. Doctor Drake has helped a lot, I barely feel my arm now.”
“That’s fantastic.” The king moved to shake Dr. Drake’s hand, waving away the bow the other man tried to take. “Don’t do that, I’m in your space,” he added, clapping the doctor on the shoulder with his other hand. “You’re in charge here, not me.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The doctor turned his attention to Alex. “Make sure you take that medicine, okay? I need to attend to my other patie
nts. Excuse me.” With a nod to the king and queen, he left. Alex swung her feet, feeling suddenly awkward.
“Kieran tells me you protected him when that creature attacked you.” Titus came forward and hugged Alex tightly, making her stiffen in surprise. “Thank you,” he continued when he released her. “He means the world to us.” Alex met Kieran’s eyes, saw amusement and something else she couldn’t quite place dancing in the gray.
“He means a lot to me, too.” Alex didn’t look away from her Companion as she spoke. Shock now made Kieran’s eyes widen, but he didn’t look away either. After a moment, Alex turned back to the king with a smile. “I’ll do my best to keep protecting him. Lord knows he needs it.”
The king roared with laughter and clapped Alex on the shoulder, nearly making her topple over. “You’re right on that. He’s always getting into trouble, this boy.” He fixed his son with a glare. “You keep an eye on her, too. She needs protection every bit as much as you do.”
Kieran’s grin shot across his face at that. “I can try, but she seems pretty accident prone to me.” His smile stretched wider as he caught Alex’s indignant look. “She won’t admit it, though.”
“We also came here to talk to you,” interjected Queen Caia. The easy mood was wiped away nearly instantly. “About the explosion in the Courts. I’m sure you know by now that an explosion like that is only caused when someone other than a Court representative opens a Portal.” Alex only looked back at the queen, unsure of what she was getting at. “There is speculation of a connection to your mother’s sentencing.” Alex’s heart gave a slow turn in her chest. “You haven’t had any kind of contact with her since she was banished, have you?”
Alex shook her head. “No. There isn’t even a way to do that, is there?”
“Not that we know of. But, given your… extra abilities, it stands to reason that there may be many things that you can do that we can’t. We had to ask, dear. I know it’s stressful, given what you’ve been through.”
“No, it’s fine. Everyone has a job to do.” But Alex’s hands clenched around the edge of her seat. She understood now the extent of Adrien’s worry about what may happen if word of Alex’s abilities got out. “Do they know what got out of the Realm? Whatever it was, it wasn’t human- I mean, it wasn’t normal,” she corrected hastily. “It was more of a shape than anything recognizable.” She didn’t say anything about the moment of familiarity she’d experienced before being attacked. “Do the Courts keep a record of who they send to that Realm?”
“They do, but it’s a large number, given that there are Undari from all six other Realms there. There’s not a way to figure out who isn’t there. Not one that won’t take more time than we have, anyway.” The queen sighed. “I have no way to determine if they’re going to attack the Realms, or go into hiding. We have to wait.”
“That’s not going to go over well with everyone else,” said Kieran. “Waiting is going to cause a lot of tension. There’s no way to keep the breakout quiet, there’s too many people involved, and it’s unethical besides.”
“Which is why we need to address the public. It’s the only way to stave off any more panic.” The king ruffled his son’s hair. “We need to go and get ready to meet with everyone. I trust you all can avoid trouble for a while?” Alex and Kieran nodded, and the king and his wife left.
Alex relaxed slightly when they left, the adrenaline of the day seeping out until she was exhausted. Kieran, noticing her change in demeanor, helped her to her feet. “You need to get some sleep. We’ve both had a long day. I’ll speak to Soren, tell him what happened today. He’ll let us have a day off to recuperate.” Alex nodded as they walked together out of the infirmary. The chaos around them had died down, and it was eerily quiet. The few people that were still in the hallways gave the duo curious glances as they passed. Alex ducked her head, focusing on the floor and Kieran’s steadying hand on her shoulder. It made her feel strange, the obvious divide between how Alex interacted with her Companion versus how the general public treated him. It also struck her as odd that she had come to trust him as much as she did in the short time that she’d been in the Fire Realm. Part of her warned herself that she needed to take a step back, because she didn’t really know him as well as she felt she should, but the other part argued that knowing someone completely took a while, and you could learn to trust them in the meantime.
The cool night air brushed up against her face as she left the castle with Kieran, making her sigh in relief. The open air was a welcome respite to the crowded and tense atmosphere in the castle. She found that all she wanted to do was sleep, possibly for a week. They walked through a path in the woods for a bit, not Shifting to fly back yet, but instead enjoying the quiet. The moon filtered down between the trees, casting long, shifting shadows on them as they went. Alex glanced up at Kieran, watching the light play with his eyes until he felt her gaze and looked back at her.
“What?” he asked. “Something on my face?”
“No, nothing like that,” said Alex, feeling her face heat up.
“What then?”
“I was just thinking about how weird it is that I trust you so much already.” Alex didn’t know why she was telling him that, but it was too late to take it back. “I haven’t been here long, but you’re probably the one person that I trust most.”
“Well, that’s a mistake,” he said, making Alex laugh. “I seem to recall you hating me when we first met.”
“I didn’t hate you,” protested Alex. At Kieran’s look, she laughed again and punched him lightly on the arm. “I didn’t! I didn’t like you much, but I didn’t hate you. I just had the wrong opinion about you, that’s all.”
“That I’m an arrogant, self-centered douchebag?”
“Exactly!” Alex stumbled sideways when Kieran shoved her. “Hey!”
“Don’t ‘hey’ me,” Kieran was grinning. “I’m just being a douchebag.”
“Okay, fine, I get your point. I was wrong. I already knew that, though.” The laughter died when Alex saw something move to their right. “Wait,” she ordered, throwing a hand out and catching Kieran in the chest. “Did you see that?”
“See what?”
“Something moved over there.” Alex didn’t go towards it. They both stood and stared in that direction, but nothing happened. “I really hope it’s another rabbit.”
“Another what?”
“Nothing, never mind.”
“I feel like there’s a story there-”
“Shhh! C’mon.” She started forward, ready to defend her Companion if need be. There, in the bushes off to the right of the path, was a pair of glowing eyes. “What is that?” she asked in a hushed voice.
“It’s probably just an animal, Alex. We need to go home, okay? Let’s go.” Kieran took her arm and tugged slightly.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” she replied slowly. Turning away, Alex gave her Companion a rueful smile. “Sorry. I’m just a little on edge, is all.”
Kieran slung his arm around her shoulders as they continued down the path. “We all are. We just need to get some sleep, and enjoy our day off tomorrow. What do you want to do?”
“What is there even to do around here? What do Undari do for fun?”
“We could go to the markets, there’s a fair in town, we could just walk around downtown. It’s really up to you. I wanted to ask you something, though.” He stopped, making her pause too.
“What is it?”
Kieran moved until they were facing each other, and rocked back on his heels. “You remember when we first Discovered each other, and you said that you would never be with me that way?” Alex nodded. “Why not?”
“Why not what?” Alex hedged.
“You know what I’m asking, Alex. Why not be with me? In that way?”
Alex stuffed her hands in her pockets. Her heart thudded quietly against her chest. “Because I’m not here to be in a relationship. I’m here to master my abilities, and to get rid of the Unseen once and f
or all. I can’t afford any kind of distractions.”
“Distractions.” Kieran’s voice was flat. “Did it ever occur to you that forming a relationship with me like that wouldn’t change a thing about what you’re trying to accomplish? We would still train together, we would still fight together, and I would still be supporting you in every way possible. Nothing would change.”
“Everything would change,” Alex countered. “I would be more focused on you, I would start wanting to be with you instead of working to free my family from having to be on the run. And even if none of that were true, if I started being with you and it fell apart, what’s to say that we wouldn’t end up not training together, fighting together? How do I know that I won’t lose you, too? And what if you get captured by the Unseen? Then I would have to choose between saving you and saving my family. I can’t do that.” Alex took a deep breath. “Besides, I don’t feel that way about you.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Kieran’s eyes were like a gathering storm in the moonlight. “You felt something, that time in your room. You feel something for me that goes beyond friendship. Everything else is a good argument, and I can respect that. But don’t you lie to me to get me to drop this.” Alex shook her head helplessly. He saw, and reached out, wrapping his arms around her and hauling her to her toes. His face was angry, but his words were soft. “You can deny it all you want, Alexandra,” he murmured. “But I can prove it to you. Watch.” And he kissed her.
Heat, slow and delicious, spread through her veins as his lips possessed hers. He kissed her firmly, angrily, a hand pressing her waist close and the other holding her head still. The scent of him, the familiarity, washed through her, and she reacted without thinking. Her hands, which had been down by her sides, smoothed up Kieran’s abdomen to his chest, lingering before raising higher to clasp behind his neck. A helpless whimper escaped her throat, and the kiss went from angry to heated in an instant in the cool moonlight. His hands travelled to her hips, pulling her close until she thought they could fuse. The heat between them grew, and manifested until the area around them glowed a soft orange of flames. Alex didn’t notice.
