Xander was walking fast through the familiar corridors. I understood he was taking me back to his floor. My breathing had increased as the pain in my hand became more and more intense. The adrenaline was most likely leaving my body, allowing entrance to the complete agony of my injury.
I examined my bent fingers. They were disgusting to look at.
Bile rose in my mouth, and I had to swallow it back down. I didn’t know how to fix this; however, I knew going to his room would not help. I needed this fixed now before the damage became irreparable.
“Go to the kitchens. I know someone who fixes injured workers.”
“The physician works in the kitchens?” Xander asked, surprised.
“No, but the butcher does.” I retorted.
He gritted his teeth at my answer, took a left to the stairs, and hurried into the kitchens.
After dinner, most of the cooks left, and the kitchen maids cleaned and prepped the area for the following morning.
I hoped Saul was still there. I knew he stayed a bit later most nights to sharpen the blades of his knives and cleavers.
When it came to rearranging bones and fixing an open wound, Saul was the guy who patched people up. He was better than a physician. Meat was meat, and bones were bones. The human anatomy was not so different from the animals.
I gestured Xander toward the butcher’s block, and he gently set me down while the maids eyed us suspiciously.
“Josette, is Saul still here?” I asked one maid I recognized. She mainly worked in the kitchens and would always sneak some biscuits or pieces of bread to the maids.
“Ida?” she asked tentatively.
I tried to smile at her, but my burning pain made it impossible. So, I simply nodded.
“Faiths! I didn’t recognize you; I’ve never seen you without a bonnet! We thought you had left us for another household! Let me check if he’s still around.”
Josette ushered the other maids out of the kitchen for privacy and quickly left, searching for Saul.
Xander was pacing near one of the wood stoves. I could tell he was getting impatient. He felt responsible for what had happened. It was plain to see.
A few minutes later, a big burly man came into the kitchens. Saul still had his bloody apron on, a small knife tucked in the string around his enormous belly, holding the cloth in place. His eyes lit up as he saw me. However, his expression changed when he noticed Xander brooding beside me. Lords never came into the kitchens.
“Ida! It’s good to see ya, lass. When Josette told me you were ‘ere, I thought she was pullin’ my leg! Ain’t seen you in weeks.” He said with smiling eyes.
I had always hit it off with Saul. He was a good man and helped me out with my lash wounds.
I unfolded my injured hand and showed it to him. The butcher’s face contorted in a grimace.
“I need you to fix me up, Saul.”
“Arg, what ‘appened!” He replied in his thick country accent. He had brought his hand to his mouth and examined my three broken fingers. He was about to take my hand when Xander growled at him in a warning. I snapped my head at him and glared. This was not the time to go all Alpha on the poor man.
“It’s a long story, but can you reset them?”
He scrutinized them and rubbed his thick finger under his nose.
“I can, but the healin’ will be ugly,” Saul said while feeling my finger bones.
I winced at his touch but tried to keep a collected face in front of Xander.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to flex yer fingers correctly once everythin’s mended. They’ll most likely be stiff and awkward because of ‘ow yer ligaments will set. Maybe even lose some sensitivity to touch in em three fingers. Yer metacarpals look good, at least. It’s really just em upper parts.” He finished sorrowfully.
“I can live with that. Just do what you can.” I simply answered.
“I’ll need to open em up to put em back. Lemme go get my things, and I’ll be right back.”
Xander paled considerably at the thought of me being butchered under his eyes. The anxiousness and fear seeping through our bond almost made me want to gag again.
“If you need to say something, say it. Otherwise, stop making me feel your tornado of emotions. It’s making me dizzy.” I told Xander dryly.
His face curled, and he quickly placed a knee to the ground, lowering himself to eye level with me.
“It’s just that, when I sensed you, your pain, your shock, I just… went wild. I couldn’t find you anywhere. Then I followed your fading scent to my father’s meeting room and my blood just curdled when I heard you scream. I broke the damn door and saw you there, lying on the floor. I–I couldn’t control myself anymore. Now, you’re asking me to see you suffer one more time. Can’t we call a surgeon or a bonesetter? Wouldn’t they be able to do a better job? Or better yet, can’t you use your powers to heal this up?”
I placed my good hand on his and sighed. Saul was great at doing this, and I just wanted someone I could trust, someone familiar. As for using my magic, I did not have the gift of healing, unfortunately. Some wielders did, but I didn’t. I had failed that aptitude test when Otis examined me.
I understood Xander’s uneasiness regarding this whole dreadful process, but I needed him to trust me on this too, and I needed him to support me.
“I can’t. I do not have that ability—it’s quite rare. I just need you to stay with me and hold me. Everything will be alright after. Before Saul returns, do you mind opening that cabinet door and bringing me one of the bottles?” I tried to say a little more cheerfully.
Xander retrieved the bottle I had asked for and opened it for me. He smelled its content and crinkled his nose. “Faiths, what’s that?”
I chuckled. It was one of the cooks’ homemade and hand-bottled whisky. It was potent stuff, but it tasted lovely once all the alcohol evaporated in the food.
I brought it to my lips and took a few big gulps. My face contorted when the liquid burned my throat. I’d need a lot in my system if I was to get through this surgery.
“I’ll need your belt as well.” I pointed to his midsection.
Saul came back with a set of small, delicate knives. He had also brought some alcohol, clean water, bandages, and a sewing kit.
I took two more swigs of whisky and tried to mentally prepare myself for what was about to come.
Saul looked me up and took a deep breath. “You ready, darlin’? Better take a couple more shots before I start.”
I happily obliged, and once I had a pleasant buzz going, I placed Xander’s belt between my teeth and gave my broken hand to Saul.
He cleaned the small blades with alcohol, then made vertical incisions the length of each finger to reset the bones and tissues. After, he tried to stitch back the ligaments and tendons which had ripped from the force of the break.
At one point, the pain was so sharp, and the powerful odour of blood and alcohol made me lose the content of my stomach in a basin that Xander had given to me just in time.
I must have passed out because Saul was bandaging my hand and fingers with makeshift splinters when I half-opened my eyes. I was leaning against Xander’s warm chest. His hands were holding me delicately in place.
Xander whispered to Saul, but I couldn’t understand what they said. When Xander felt me waking up, he kissed my forehead softly and thanked the butcher for his services.
“I’ll ask Dee to come see ya in the morn. She’s good with healin’ and herbs and such. Just try and get some rest, lass.”
Xander took me in his arms and made his way to his quarters. I didn’t know if they were also now mine. Later, I would have to remember to ask if I should start calling them “our” quarters. The thought of having a private apartment again seemed so foreign to me.
Xander gently placed me on the bed and tried to help me remove my dress. My hair was sticking to my neck from the sweat of the day. He pulled the pins out of my hair, and they tumbled down.
Once I was under the covers, he closed the drapes in front of the window and climbed into bed.
Xander placed his chest to my back, holding me softly, and inhaled the scent of my skin after he put his head near my shoulder where the scar of his mark rested.
His presence and warmth were all I needed after the miserable day I had endured. I finally felt safe.
My mind was still sluggish from the whisky I had consumed, so with Xander’s steady heartbeat, I quickly fell asleep, dreaming of butchers, bones, and blood.
Xander POV I woke up early next to a shivering and sweating Ida. She was still sleeping, but the sheets around her were plastered to her wet skin. Ida smelled strange, so I gently touched her red cheeks. She was feverish. This was not good. My Lycan was howling inside. Saul, the butcher, had mentioned he’d send someone in the morning. I just hoped she’d get here in time before anything else happened. Ida’s bandaged hand was resting near the edge of the bed. Her three fingers stuck out, held by splinters and dressings. She’d have to keep it for at least three to four weeks, with regular bandage changes, until which time someone would re-examine and adapt the splint to how her healing was advancing. With last night’s events, I needed to get her out of here. I knew what my father was capable of, and I certainly knew the extent of what he was willing to do to get whatever information he could. He was loyal to a fault to King Osprey. He was one of the few nobles under him who had succ
The road to Xander’s country house was exhausting. He refused to stop during the nights and pressed the coachmen to change shifts so they each had time to sleep whenever they were not driving. There were two carriages, one for Xander, Leo and me and the other for the staff who accompanied us. Their carriage was bigger than ours to better accommodate comfort and the rotation between coachmen. We occasionally stopped for the head maid—Diana, to change my bandages and inspect my injured hand. It had surprised me to see her in Xander’s room tending to my wounds when I woke up the day after my fingers were broken. I didn’t think she particularly liked me when I was a maid. Diana always seemed distant, severe and meticulous with her work. She was probably stricter than the housekeeper—whom she reported. Lucia had also been by my side, reading a book beside the bed and taking turns with Diana to change the cold press they had placed on my head to lower the fever. She stayed with me until h
I was dreaming of a cardinal bird flying in the sky. Its plumage was a majestic red, and each feather gleamed in the sun. It had perched itself on top of an old tree and surveyed the forest below, almost as a protector. Lightning flashed in the atmosphere, and the old tree caught fire. The flames consumed it within seconds, burning the cardinal with it. However, the bird flapped its wings instead of falling to the ground. As the fire scorched its feathers, they grew back, more robust and brighter than before. Once the cardinal had finished its transformation, the fire disappeared almost as quickly as it started. The cardinal took to the sky, and a swarm of birds cawing and screeching blackened my vision.As I flinched in my dream, I also flinched in bed. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I placed my hand over my chest to calm my fluttering heart. I had not been gifted with the “sight,” or at least Otis, my magic teacher, said so. The training he had made me do had been
Gideon threw himself on his knees and grabbed the front of my dress. His eyes were all misty as he looked deep within my own. “Princess Cressida!” The colour in my face drained fully. I swatted the man’s hands and tried to brush him off as I moved back. The two other men stared at him, then at me, and eventually bent one knee and bowed their heads. Xander had taken some steps back as well. I sensed through our mate bond that he was as shocked as the man kneeling in front of me. I hyperventilated, and Diana quickly grabbed my arm and dragged me back inside the house. She sat me on the loveseat of the main room and removed the layers of winter clothes I had on. She then put a kettle over the fire to boil some water. I tried to unbutton my dress, but my left hand was not complying with the action I ordered. My fingers were shaking and felt numb. “Damn hand, why can’t you just do what I want!” I half screamed at it. Tears were spilling down my face. I heard shouting. The men seemed
“I’m a magic wielder,” I said with certainty. “I’m me.” Xander scratched his head. I couldn’t be anything else. You could only be one of three things in this world: a shifter, a wielder, or a human. There wasn’t anything else. I was a wielder, plain and simple. “We’ll have to look more into this. I’ve never heard of something like this happening.” Xander returned to the bathroom to look at the bite mark once more. “Was your mother a wielder as well?” He shouted from the room. “My father didn’t have any marks on his body, meaning that she couldn’t have been a shifter, and she showed no magical abilities, so I always assumed she was human.” “Hmm. Let’s keep this to ourselves until we understand what it all means.” I smiled weakly at him. He was right to keep this between us. None of it made sense. Xander had taken out a fresh shirt and was putting it on. I had forgotten that he had to go to the salt mines for inspection. And by the pained look on his face, he didn’t want to leav
Diana sat on her stool beside me and made me repeat the movements she had instructed me to do. They were repetitive, but I could feel the difference in the days after we started exercising my hand. She helped flex my fingers when needed and massaged the scarring. She was very patient with me and encouraged me to keep bending, even though it sometimes hurt. Diana had removed the splints, but I needed to keep my three fingers bandaged for another couple of days to ensure they healed right. It had been a relief since the splints made me itch something terrible. I was lucky that Xander's healing ability helped speed up the process. The last few days had been quiet. We were alone in the house while Xander and Gideon planned our trip to Perch. One of Gideon’s men had sent word to their headquarters that we would make way for them. I had no notion if they had mentioned me. I figured the risk was too significant to write that in a letter if someone other than leaders in the rebellion inter
We had been on the road for Maple for three days when suddenly, the road was no longer practical. A big snowstorm pounded the path for nearly a day. We would need to find shelter soon or be stuck in the carriage, snowed in. “I know a place where we can go until the storm lessens. It’s a small inn, maybe a half-hour ride from here. It will suit our party, and I think we can make it!” Shouted Gideon from outside the carriage. “Are the horses too deep in snow?” Xander asked. “Not yet, but if we continue waiting for the storm to pass, they might be, and we won’t be able to get there.” Xander nodded and closed the carriage door. Leo had his arms around Diana, keeping her warm, while Xander returned to my side and pressed me further into him. It was freezing. The storm came out of nowhere and took us by surprise. Hopefully, with Gideon’s encouragement, we would reach the inn shortly. I could hear the horses snort and the carriage being jerked forward. These were difficult and dangerou
We had resumed the road two days behind schedule. The snowstorm had not let out the following morning, and I had used that time to change the colour of my hair. Gideon had done a double-take when he had seen me coming down for supper that day. I grinned and winked at him. “You said so yourself. My hair was a dead giveaway, remember? I’ve found a better way of hiding it without cutting everything off.” From recalling that event, Gideon’s face had become beet red, and Xander had looked at us questioningly. I recounted what happened, and everyone laughed at Gideon’s rash action, which ultimately saved my life. Gideon had been right, though. I would have been found within a few days, maybe a week if he hadn’t cut all my fiery red hair. The inn we had stayed in was called the “Wayward Dog.” I learned from Gideon that it was a place many shifters stopped while on the road. I also discovered that all three men were shifters, which explained why they hadn’t seemed bothered by the cold sto