Healing
POV: Alexandra
Nystasia looked at me confused, “What do you mean people died because of you? What did my sister say?” I looked over at Lucy then back at Nystasia, “Loki had Lytir start the disease in the Glades to find out my capabilities.” I felt tiny hands wrap around my hand, “Alexandra? That is not your fault. It was the fault of those evil people.” Jess chimed in, “That’s right, they want to use you but that doesn’t mean you were the one who poisoned the people of the Glades.” Ny nodded, “I agree. You cannot bear the weight of the world on your shoulders.” I heard Syl speak again, “Exactly, Xan. It was likely some scheme the three of them cooked up but you are not responsible in any way. I just thought it would be best to tell you what is going on so you can pass the information on to Lucien and the Gods.” I winced, “You do realize that once I tell Lucien this, he might have grounds to declare war with Seely.” Syl sighed, “I kind of figured that to be the case when I read it in the information I was given.” I had to ask her a question that had been weighing on my mind since she contacted me, “Who do you think this mysterious spy is?” There was silence, “I don’t know but I feel like he could be related to me, Syl and Cal. I saw a most peculiar mark on his wrist.” I looked at Ny who had a mark on her wrist that fae get when they come of age or when they get betrothed to a royal. It was a four-pointed star, it was the symbol of royals. It symbolized the four cardinal directions. I spoke to her, “Four-pointed star?” She gasped, “Yes. How did you know?” I looked at Ny, “I am looking at your sister’s mark. If that man is related to you, I figured that he had the four cardinal directions.” Ny started to speak, “That’s right….”
The psychic line seemed to have went dead since the light that was shining in Azula’s necklace was gone. Lucy looked up at me, “Looks like she’s cut the communication.” I sighed, “Yeah and I don’t know if I should be worried or not.” Ny snapped her fingers, “You could contact Cal to have him check on her.” I nodded, “Probably best.” I got up from the settee and stepped up to the cage, “Azula, can you connect me to Prince Calypso.” Lucy stepped next to me, “She said she will try.” I could hear nothing but Nystasia anxiously tapping her foot. I knew she was scared that something had happened to her sister and she was fidgeting. Jess sat down next to her and held her hands, “I think Xan will get this straightened out for you right away.” Lucy looked up at me again, “He’s connecting.” I heard Cal speak, “Is something wrong, Alexandra?” This time the connection wasn’t in my head, “I was just speaking with Sylphia about something and she suddenly went away mid-sentence. I was hoping you knew what happened.” There was a short silence, “No but I intend to find out. Let me go investigate and I will contact you after. This might take some time so don’t feel obligated to wait around for me.” I shook my head, “I think we’re fine to wait. Ny is very nervous about your sister and she wants to find out what’s going on.” I replied, “I understand. Let me see if I can find out what happened quickly. I’ll contact you once I find out and I am in a place where we can speak.” The light died on Azula’s necklace again.
Lucy tugged on my sleeve, “Alexandra? Do you think the people of the Glades will be okay soon?” I crouched down to her level and hugged her because her tears were starting to brim over, “I can’t say for sure and I don’t want to lie to you. Doc said the potion was mostly effective but there are some that didn’t make it because it was too late to administer it. I have to make some for the Seely Realm now too since I think they might do the same thing to them over there as well.” Ny gasped, “That’s it! That’s their plan!” I looked over at her and she continued, “The prophets said that the disease would spread to Seely. What if they put the disease there? This would cause the lockdown protocol in Seely to happen and when that does, the military takes over rule. This renders the Queen’s rule ineffective and the heir or, in this case, Brinasha,would become the ruler since that falls on the heir to direct. This would also force a marriage to happen with my brother since you need to be an official royal. He’s trying to gain control without having to kill off my mother. He must have use for her.” I looked at the child in my arms and wondered how that scenario would play out for her. Would I be able to bring Lucy with me to Seely if I had to marry Cal? Would they accept her? I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach at the thought of being forced into a marriage and the fact that I would have to leave Lucy behind.
She tapped me again, “Alexandra, what is that pretty shiny envelope?” I felt my back pocket for the envelope that Apollo had handed me and smiled, “I have a special treat for you but we can talk about it later when we solve this mystery with Sylphia. Okay?” She nodded, “Can I ask another question?” I wiped a few tears from her face, “What’s that, my sweet child?” She hugged me again, “Can I spend the night with you? I want to have a sleepover in your room tonight.” I smiled at the thought, “I would love that. We can open your special treat when we get up there.” She stroked my hair, “He’s going to speak soon.” I placed the child back on her feet and straightened myself up and waited for him to speak, “Alexandra?” I nodded as if he could see me, “Cal? I’m here.” He sighed, “It was my father. He barged into her room demanding that she write you a letter to ask you to keep communications with me and him. She said she will contact you tomorrow or later to discuss her plan. What’s going on?” I looked over at Ny who looked relieved, “Lots but I think you should discuss it with Sylphia. She could probably explain in detail but the gist of it is that we found out your mother was indeed poisoned and so were some people here in Vellum by Lytir at the direction of Loki.” I heard him grunt, “Typical, they are up to something.” Ny nodded at me, “Tell him.” He spoke again, “Ny?” She jumped up, “Oh you can hear me?” He sighed, “Of course, you’d be able to hear me if she was in the room with the bird.” She looked confused, “But Ny contacted Xan through the mind when we have been with the bird for a while now.” He replied, “She chose to contact you psychically probably because she needed secrecy. We can choose the method. Now explain what to me?” Ny looked over at me, “You guys don’t have to stay here for this. I know you have a task to complete for my mother and you don’t have much sunlight left and you will need to contact Aphrodite.”
I took this to mean she had more than her father’s dastardly plan to discuss with her brother. I nodded at her and took Lucy’s hand, “Let’s go into the forest and talk to Whisperia. Would you like to go for a walk?” She smiled and nodded at me, “That sounds like fun!” Jess cleared her throat, “I think there might be a slight hiccup in your plans to make the potion today.” I looked at her as we stepped out of the study and closed the door, “What’s that?” She sighed, “You think she’s back from the Glades?” I looked up and closed my eyes in frustration, “I didn’t even think about that. Ugh!” I drew in a deep breath and opened my eyes, “I think I can confirm if she’s still there or not.” Jess shrugged, “I mean if you think you can. I will try.” I closed my eyes to concentrate, “Mordred?” There was silence for a short while before he spoke, “My favorite niece? What can I do for you?” I smiled at the thought of still being capable of contacting him without assistance, “Are you all still at the Glades? Specifically Whisperia?” He chuckled, “I see how it is. Contact me to play messenger for you. Do you not love me enough?” I sighed with exasperation, “You know that I would contact you if I wanted to talk. I have a little emergency that I need Whisperia’s help with and time is of the essence.” He spoke again, “I will have her portal to you then but promise me something.” I snorted a little air out of my nose in frustration, “Always give and take with you. What is it?” He laughed, “You know me well, niece. I want you to attend a dinner with me in a few days. We are wrapping up here since the disease is all but gone.” I smirked, “Is that all? Of course. Will it be at your home then?” He replied, “Yes but this one is special. I will send your invitation in a few days. You’ll see Whisperia in three, two…”
A portal opened in my foyer and out stepped Whisperia smiling at me. She ran up to me and Jess and threw her arms around us. She whispered in my ear, “You have an emergency?” I nodded, “I need to make some potion for the Seely Realm. We have reason to believe the disease will go there at some point.” She pulled away and pointed at the front of the house to the meadow just beyond the woods. I nodded at her knowing that this was a great spot for us to do the ritual. Jess tapped me on the shoulder, “Before you go out there. Can we do that thing we have been putting off?” I nodded at her, “Let me go take care of Jess real quick and seek out Derek to help keep me guarded, and then we can go do the ritual.” Whisperia nodded and quietly said, “I will go set up then. See you out there.” She walked over to the front door and left. I turned to Nystasia, “Can you keep an eye on Lucy for now?” She smiled down at the child, “We can go play a few games. What do you think, Lucy?” The child nodded at her enthusiastically, “Yeah, I think I need to play.” Nystasia took her hand and they walked off toward her room. I turned back to Jess, “Alright, my sweet friend. Let us go up to your room.” We climbed the stairs and the very man I thought I would have to look for appeared at the top of the stairs. He smiled at us, “My two favorite women in all of Vellum are finally home.” I smiled at him, “Just the guy I was going to look for later. I’m giving her the potion now. I need you to guard me in a bit so I can make some potion.” He looked at Jess with worry then nodded, “Okay but does she need anyone to keep an eye on her?” I sighed, “You’re right.” Jess finally got to the top of the stairs and turned towards the other wing, “I’m going to see if Teddy can keep an eye on me then.” She disappeared into my grandfather’s room and a little while later she emerged from the room with Teddy.
We all went to her bedroom and Teddy brought the potion from the safekeeping spot we had set aside. She laid down in her bed and I handed her the potion. She took it and laid there for a while before she fell asleep. I looked at Teddy, “Are you going to do a test to see if it worked then?” He nodded, “I think I will do it now to see how quickly it worked. With any luck, the damage sustained from her ordeal will show signs of being healed right away. We didn’t get her consent though. Perhaps we should wait until she wakes up? I could get permission from Derek.” I looked at Derek, “Well what do you think?” He nodded, “I know Jess, she’d want to know right away. This way we can tell her it worked when she woke up.” Teddy nodded and stepped out of the room to go gather his supplies. He came back and set them up at her bedside table and cast the spell. The water went through her nose and I grimaced remembering how that felt when I was fully conscious. Luckily Teddy had mastered this spell without drowning anyone. After a short while the water came out and gave the diagnosis. He nodded and scribbled on his paper. Derek, who had grown a little impatient, said, “Well?” He looked up and smiled, “Well she’s not fully healed but it does look like it is working. She went from seventy-five percent damage to forty-five percent. She’s on the mend, it’s just a matter of time before she’s fully healed and awake. We just have to continue to keep an eye on her.”
