A'lurejah: The Fae Princess

Chapter Seven

    When she opened the door, there stood Eramus, handsome, in a suit with a light green shirt underneath it, and a lilac pocket chief in his breast pocket. He smiled warmly at me and offered his arm. I stood and accepted his arm, grateful for the calm that washed over me when I did. 

    “You look stunning tonight, milady!” He exclaimed “Do you like your dress?” He asked quietly.     

    “I love it! Did you see that she did my hair in the same manner?” I asked.

    “Yes, that was a nice touch. You know what the willow tree stands for right?” He asked me.

    “I have an idea, but I am not quite sure.” I admitted.

    “There is a myth, if you will, that whenever the descendents of your father come in contact of a willow tree, they will find strength and refuge beneath its sweeping limbs.” He said.

    “Wow, that’s incredible.” I told him.

    “Do you know that my father and Idhrenniel are making plans for you to leave the castle for the next year?” He asked me, a pained look shot through his eyes.

    “For the whole year?!” I asked a little louder than I expected. The eyes of the guards and servants in the hallway turned to look at us. We smiled and nodded our heads and waited to resume our conversation until we were out of that hallway.

    “Yes, for the whole year.” He said, “Apparently Idhrenniel believes that you are strong enough to travel, she would like to take you down to her home and introduce you to her family. She has a friend down there that practices alternative medicine and she thinks he might be able to help you with your leg more than the traditional physicians can, she says that you are now beyond their ability to help you.” He told me, our pace slowing so that we could discuss this before entering the banquet.

    “What sort of ‘alternative medicine’ does this person practice?” I asked, incredulous.

    “I am assuming that it will have some majick involved, but she also said that he can help you heal inside too, the pain and the grief that you carry with you can be helped and that the sooner you get some help with that healing the better.  She said for father to think of him as a guide in the darkness, to help guide your path back to the light again.” He told me, “Idhrenniel is very concerned about this dark cloud that is lingering over you, and quite frankly so is everyone else.” He told me, face turning serious.

    “Well, I won’t go!” I stamped my foot stubbornly.

    “But, you must, Ary! You need the help, and if he can heal your wound and help you walk better, then it’s a risk you must take!” He pleaded with me, fear and sincerity shone in his eyes. “Ary, go with them and get better and return to us healthy and strong! Please? If not for Father, then for me?” He begged, tears started collecting in his eyes and spilling over.

    I reached out and wiped away his tears, “This is no time to be crying! It’s my birthday! And if it makes you feel better, I will agree to go with her.” I told him, the pain in his eyes eased at once, and he smiled again. 

    “Come one then, we have a banquet to crash!” He led me forward into the banquet hall.  

    Just inside the doors we stopped and waited, the announcer banged his large golden staff on the floor three times and the whole room went silent.

    “The Crown Prince Eramus and Her Royal Highness, Princess A’lurejah!” 

    Eramus led me forward slowly, A’lurejah could hear gasps and whispers break out amongst the people as they admired her beautiful dress or commented on her eyes.

    “But her eyes! They are exactly like her mothers!” The crowd speculated what that might mean.

    “Yes, but her dress is absolutely gorgeous!” others said.

    By the time we reached Uncle Albion, my face was scarlet, Uncle Albion nodded his head as I attempted a curtsey.  He smiled and beckoned me sit, this time I sat on his left, with Eramus on my right. 

    The night was splendid, many people asked to dance with me, which I refused, explaining that I could not dance with my leg the way it is. I smiled and graciously accepted their birthday wishes and gifts that they brought me.  The food was exquisite and the wine was the best in the land.  By midnight I was feeling very tipsy and very drowsy, I reached for a fifth goblet of wine but was intercepted by Eramus.

    “Father, I think I will escort milady back to her rooms, she needs her rest.” He said, face was red with wine himself.

    Uncle Albion stood up and announced that I would be going to bed now, as I still tired easily and needed to get some rest. Eramus then stood and offered me his arm again, I stood unsteadily and leaned heavily on Eramus.  The world spinned out of control and I swayed and nearly fell over, Uncle Albion still had his hand on my arm and steadied me without anyone else knowing what had happened.

    Uncle Albion leaned close and whispered to Eramus “Take her out the back way, don’t lead her through the people, no need to embarrass her like that.” He kissed my forehead and Eramus led me behind the table into the servants halls where my wheelchair was waiting for me. He sat me gently down in it, and arranged my dress so that it wouldn’t drag the floor or get caught up in the wheels, laid a heavy blanket over me and returned me to my rooms, where the rest of the night was a blur.

    The next morning I woke up late, breakfast was sitting on the table in the middle of the room underneath the big windows. I blinked and pain shot through my head, I groaned, rolled over and vomited on the floor by my bed, rolled back over and buried my head under the blankets.

    “Milady, it’s time to wake, it’s past lunchtime and the kind would like to see you, he’s requested that we wake you up and feed you and make you presentable and bring you to see him.” A young girls voice said, making my head pound with every word she said.

    “Tell him I’m sick.” I groaned.  She pulled the blanket off of my head, the light hit my eyes again and I rolled over and vomited again. The girl went running from my rooms, remarkably light on her feet. Several minutes later Idhrenniel came in, pulled back the curtains to keep the light out of my eyes and pulled the blankets back.  

    “Come one princess, it’s time to get up.” She said.

    I opened my eyes and a pain shot through me again, I rolled over and vomited a third time, but this time i just heaved up nothing. “I won’t get up. Leave me alone.” I said miserably. I felt a hand on my forehead and a disembodied voice saying, “She’s burning with fever!” 

    The next few days all went by in a haze of throwing up and passing out and writhing in pain. Idhrenniel was at a loss of what to do or what was wrong with me, and I was unable to tell them. In the end they loaded me up into a carriage and I was sent to see Idhrenniel’s friend who practiced alternative meicine. 

    One look at me and he said, “She’s got a bone infection.” he tisked and muttered and began feeding me medicine that made me gag. The next several weeks were a blur of being gagged by his bad medicine and terrible pain wracking my whole body. I would scream b****y murder when the pain hit, unable to bite my tongue.  Strong arms came and held me down and more nasty medicine was shoved in my mouth and forced down my throat.  When the pain fit would subside, I would pass out again for an unknown amount of time and not wake again until the pain began next.  Over time, the pain became less frequent and less intense until one day it was no more.

    I opened my eyes and blinked around, my head was fuzzy, my vision blurred. I tried to remember where I was, but I could not place the strange place. I looked around for something or someone familiar, but found no one. I closed my eyes again and drifted into a restless sleep.  I opened my eyes again and found a woman in white standing over me with her hand on my wrist and a chart in her hands. 

    “Hullo dearie!” she said cheerily, “Glad tuh see yuh awake! Yeh’ve been sleeping for nigh on two months now!” she said. I felt an uncomfortable stabbing in my right elbow crease, and I reached over to slap the bug that was biting me, but her hands stopped me, “Donna be messin’ wit dat miss, dat is dere to make a-sure dat you dinna die on us. It is what has been keeping you fed and hydrated.” She smiled kindly at me.

    “Yer accent. Where is that from?” I asked.

    “Jamaica, I’ll go get de doc. He’ll wanna know dat yer awake.” She smiled kindly at me and patted my arm, “Donna mess wit da needles while I’m gone.” She reminded me, turned and walked away. 

    “Hello, A’lurejah!” A cheery male voice made me jump, I looked around for the face that went with the voice and found an older man with a kind face walking up to me. He lifted me up gently and put pillows underneath me to help me sit up a bit.  The simple motion of that made me dizzy and my stomach lurch dangerously.  

    “I am Idhrenniel’s doctor friend who practices alternative medicines.” He said, “You may call me doc.” He introduced himself to me. “Miss A’lurejah, you had a pretty severe bone infection when you got here, that was what was making you so sick.” He said, “Do you understand what that means?” He asked.

    “Hey, Doc?” I said.

    “Mm Hmm?” He responded.

    “I may have been sick, but I’m not stupid.” I replied.

    “Great! You have just passed the first test on comprehension. Now, can you tell me your name?” He asked me.

    I frowned, “A’lurejah Jayd.” I replied.

    “Perfect. Can you tell me your age?”

    “Twelve, I just turned twelve.” 

    “Perfect, and now, tell me what the last thing is that you remember.” 

    “Well, I remember at some point, over several occasions being woken up by some serious pain and getting gagged by medicine that tasted like a donkey’s butt…” I responded, my sarcasm was not transferring well, Doc frowned at me.  “Sorry Doc, it’s my attempt a making a joke..” I said quickly. 

    “No, that’s not it, just surprised that you have memories of that.” He said, “Usually my patients do not remember anything between the time they got sick and the time they wake up, it’s extraordinary that you do!” He explained. 

    “Well, before that I remember being in my rooms at my Uncle’s the day after my birthday feast waking up and vomiting from the pain that was wracking my body. I remember they tried their best to make me get out of bed but I refused, every time I moved I was wracked with pain which caused me to throw up again.” I told him, “I think they thought it was the leftover from my drinking so much wine the night before.” Doc was studying me with intent fascination, “Did I say something wrong, Doc?” I asked.

    “No, not at all, but you have the most extraordinary memory, young lady!” He said, “ You speak with such clarity, it’s uncanny.” He remarked. “How are you feeling right now?” 

    “Well, my head is a bit off, kinda like being drunk again, and my stomach is rolling with hunger, and I do have a slight headache.” 

    “Yes, the drunk feeling will be gone within the next day, that’s just all the pain medicine wearing off right now, we had to give you an unusually high dosage to help counter the pain, otherwise you would convulse and writhe and scream in pain. I had to move you into a private ward so that my other patients could rest.” He explained to me.

    “I see, and when you say that it’s uncanny, will you tell me what you mean by that?” I asked.

    “It’s just that, the pain medicine I gave you sometimes, in most cases, causes a person to not remember anything, and if they do remember, it’s just blank, there is nothing there. But with you, it seems to have sharpened your mind and memories, that’s incredible.” He marveled, well, I have a few anxious guests who would like nothing more than to come and see you, shall I let them know that you are awake?” He asked me.

    “Who all is here?” 

    “The king, Idhrenniel, and the king’s son.” He told me.

    “I am not feeling well enough to visit, I just want to sleep for a while, will you tell them that I woke up, sat up for a minute and asked not to be bothered until my head stops swimming?” I asked him. He blanched at telling the king that, but nodded his head, helped me lay back down and left me alone again.

    The silence of the ward was comforting, soothing, the birds outside chirped happily in the early summer warmth, the sun that filtered in the windows gave me strength and made me feel sleepy. I slept on and off for another two days before I was ready to even try to eat anything.  It was three days before I could sit up without my head feeling like I had just gotten out of a dirt devil. When I was able to eat and keep my food down and sit up without feeling like I was going to throw up, I allowed visitors, one at a time.

Doc showed in Uncle Albion first.

    I smiled as he walked toward my bed, “Hey there, you look terrible!” I teased.

    “Yer one ta be talkin’, little one!” He teased back.  “You look as pale as a ghost right now!” He said, “All the color that you had on your birthday is gone now!” He said, sadly.

    “Some of that color, especially later in the night was the fever. I felt it come one after I got into the great hall for the evening banquet. I had hoped that if you thought I was just drunk you wouldn’t make a big scene. I thought that I had just over done it, and my body was exhausted. Guess I was wrong.” I told him.

    He frowned at me and shook his head, “We came close to losing you on the way here.” He told me, “I didn’t listen to Idhrenniel and move you the moment she told me to, I wanted her to make absolutely sure that there was nothing that she could do for you before we came here, and now I realize that in my waiting, I could have killed you.” Sadness rolled off of him.

    “Donna fash yerself, Uncle. Things happened the way they did for a reason, donna fash yerself over it.” I told him, “I am alive and that is all that matters, Uncle.” I reached out and squeezed his hand, “Will ya send in the other two please? I wanna see them before I take a nap, and I’m ready to take a nap.” I laughed lightly.

    “Sure, honey, I’ll send them right in. Get some rest, and feel better soon!” He said as he stood and left the ward.  A few minutes later Idhrenniel and Eramus came in and sat down beside me.

    “Does he know?” I asked Idhrenniel darkly.

    Confused, she asked, “Explain.” 

    “Doc, does he know who I am?” I asked again.

    “I diddna tell him, and I am the only one who would have told him.” she said.

    I nodded my head, “Keep him in the dark about who I am, it could be very dangerous for me if he were to know who I am.” I told her.

    “What do you mean by that?” She asked me.

    I explained to her my conversation with Doc and then said, “There was a look in his eyes that said that he would love nothing more than to get inside my mind and figure out how it works.” I told them.

    “I see, well, I would say that I trust him wholly, but I really don’t. I only brought you here because you were dying and I didn’t know what to do for yeh.” Idhrenniel said.

    “So, this wasn’t the plan all along then?” I asked darkly.

    “What do yeh mean by that child?”

    “I mean, was this yer doin’ to get me to come to your home?” I asked plainly.

    “No! Admittedly, Doc was a cover at that time, I had no intention of bringing you to him, I had another friend in mind to take yeh to.” she told me. 

    “Okay, well now that I am here, might as well send Uncle home and tell him that I must stay for awhile until I recover and that while I am here, I may as well do the other things to get better.” I told her warily.  “You, will need to go back with him, let me stay and recover and get better, I’ll stay through my next birthday and then come home.” I turned to Earmus. “Donna fash about me, I’ll be alright.” I told him. “I’ll be back before yeh know it!” I tried to encourage him. 

    He smiled half heartedly, “I can’t lose ya, Ary.” He said earnestly. “I need yeh. You’ve brought life back into my heart again, light into my darkness, and I am scared to be without ya.” He confided in me.

    “You are goin’ ta be just fine! You’re stronger than you realize! And you donna need me there to keep yeh that way. Write to me every day! I’ll write to you also! We’ll be okay! You’ll see! I need to do this, you told me yerself!” I spoke to him earnestly, trying not to cry. 

    “Yes, but I foolishly thought that I’d get to come with you.” He admitted.

    “You canna, Albion needs yah right now! What would he do without us both? He’ll go back to closin’ off the borders and keeping Nah-Alba off grid again! You canna let that happen! Be there for me in my stead, I trust you to do what  is best for our kingdom! I trust you to do what my Mum would have wanted.” I said just the right words to instill in him confidence and to give him a reason and something to look forward to.  

    “Alright, I can do that, I will do that. And I will keep you updated on things as we go!” He said, now excited to go back.

    “Send me an owl and I’ll get back with you quick as rain!” I smiled encouragingly. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get some rest now?” I asked them both.  They left and fell fast asleep almost as soon as they left.

    I woke up to someone kissing my forehead lightly. I blinked and looked around, Idhrenniel, Eramus and Uncle Albion were all in my ward. 

    “I am sorry to wake you, little one, but Eramus and I are leaving now, we will come back to get you when you are ready to come home, you take your time and get better, really get better okay?” Uncle Albion wiped tears away from his eyes and he spoke.

    I nodded tearfully and hugged him tightly and bid them safe travels.  Doc, who had been standing behind Uncle Albion, came up to me and Idhrenniel as they left the ward.

    “Well, Idhrenniel, despite my attempts, I can find nothing unusual about her, she is now in perfect health and you are free to take her home when she is feeling up to leaving.” He said, there was a definite disappointment about him when he turned and walked out.

    “My house is a five minute ride from here, I will send word and have Jhonna meet us here first thing in the morning with a buggy. The sooner we remove you from this ward, the better, I think.” She said, an understanding in her eyes.

    I nodded in agreement, “Yes, I think yer right.. There is something not quite right with him.” I said.