Fate of The Blue Phoenix

Chapter Three: The Royal Healers

Elmira and Elrohir took three days for the high elves to arrive at the tower to help Alex get cured by a magician's curse. By the time they arrived, his situation had gotten worse. It wasn't just a mist that's covering him anymore as a blue diamond was slowly crystallizing around his body which made him breathe harder.

The elves were scarless, they glow brightly but not too much, and they have more visible pointed ears than his son. They also look very young and were different from humans as they were more lean but muscular. Even the woman who has golden and wavy hair was someone he knew he cannot insult due to their intimidating prowess. They wear white tunics and gold headbands with the symbol of the Elven Realm etched on them. The headbands were engraved with gold phoenix wings. They also have colorless swords made by the strongest earth metal strung on their belts and the sheaths were designed with the Elven Alphabet which was written in cursive.

The elves inclined their heads at them to show respect before they stepped closer to the young half-elf who was continuously suffering beneath the growing crystal. At the time they saw that the mist was crystallizing, panic came over them. They talked in their language to discuss what they had observed. The elves held out their hands to speak spells from their language and it seemed, they began to talk to him in the Elven Language. It was then that Normandy realized that they were convincing him to stop the spell he did to preserve himself and hide against those who wanted to hurt him. For half an hour, he prayed that they will be able to get him to come out from shielding himself so they can help him cure the pain that was inflicted on him.

The potioneers gave them space to do what they had to do. The crystal and the blue mist covering him broke in half like an egg and then, it disappeared. It woke Alex from his self-inflicted deep slumber but the pain that surged through him made him instinctively carry out the mist to come out of his hands again but he stopped when he saw his father in front of him.

"Son," Normandy cried. "You're safe."

Alex slowly opened his eyes more. When he had glanced towards the two elves who woke him, bitter tears cascaded through his cheeks again while his father was keeping him feel safe and warm. It hurt him more to know that his secret was now known. His mother's magical concealment to what he truly looked like broke when the magicians came to murder him for a reason he didn't know. He was attacked when he was unaware and after his mother's magic was destroyed, a dark curse entered his chest. It hurt so much that he instinctively created the blue mist to at least save him from weak spells but it drove the magicians to think of stronger spells making the torture last for hours and without end. He was then tortured with very strong spells when the spell concealing that he's a half-elf vanished.

"You're safe, Alex," Normandy repeated as he kept his son warm in his arms. "Don't hide under the mist again."

"Dad," Alex cried out. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to say sorry about," Normandy told him. "We'll help you recover."

Alex croaked in tears as he once again tried to create mist but his father kept his hands closed. "My body is broken! I can't be helped!"

Elmira smiled at her. "We can help you, Your Highness. I know that the curse done to you was too much to bear but entombing yourself would kill you. I know that you want to stop the pain but still, you can be helped."

He looked at his father and grandfather who were both surprised by what she uttered. It was more of a shock to them when Alex wasn't surprised by the gesture given to him since it had informed them that he had expected the elves to call him in high regard.

"Your Highness?" Normandy asked her. "My son... Why call my son—"

"The late princess didn't tell you that she's a princess of the Elven Realm and that she's the daughter of Queen Victoria?" Elrohir asked him. "You didn't know that her real name is Princess Igraine?"

Normandy and Geralt were dumbfounded by the fact that Alex's a half-elf but it was as if lightning struck them when they learned from them that they were taking care of a kid bearing Elvish Royal Blood.

"My wife's a princess?" Normandy's blue eyes went wide open. "She told me that she's an orphan when we met!"

"Elrohir...," Alex cried out as a blood spurt out of his mouth. "Don't tell what my mom told me when he finally learns what I truly am. I have the right to it."

Elrohir obeyed and bowed his head. He reached for his sleeves to get a small vial filled with silvery liquid. "We will take you to our realm where you can rest better but potions can help with the pain."

"I don't want to go to grandma but I know I have no choice," he replied to him. "My magic was just so depleted right now."

Elrohir bowed and knelt on one knee before him. "The Kingdom of Silvia's expecting that you would return as soon as possible. We're here to keep you safe, too."

"The prince has to rest," Elmira added, then he ordered the potioneers who were with them, "Brew some potions that can calm his mind and also, a dreamless sleep potion that tasted like almonds can help him from getting nightmares. What's most important thing was for him to keep drinking the silver potion we brewed before coming here. It is only safe for elves and those who have elf blood. Be careful when you give it to him."

"What was the potion for?" Geralt asked her. "I should know since we will be the one helping him here."

Elmira did her best to keep her anger after she saw what the magicians of the Edo Empire did to Alex but she also knew that her sadness was still very visible. "It won't cure the curse on his chest but it would keep it from depleting his magical powers."

"Who could have done this to my son?" Normandy asked them. His son went back to sleep again and now that the blue mist wasn't covering him anymore, he saw his son's very pale skin, blood-red lips, and the dark hole on his chest seemed to be drilling deep inside his son.

"A master magician cursed your son to have a slow death but as long as you give him the potion we gave you, he'll be strong enough to travel back to our realm where he could recover more," Elrohir replied to him. "The magician summoned dark energy and it struck your son's chest. The magician knew he's facing someone who's not a normal human after all."

"He'll be cured, right?" Normandy stood closer to his son who moaned in pain, again. "My son can be saved from this curse?"

"The queen will do her best to save him," vowed Elmira. "We have always been Alex's royal healers."

"I didn't know that my grandson's been in contact with you," Lord Geralt commented. "Why didn't we ever discover that he's an elf?"

Elrohir and Elmira stayed silent. They didn't want to reveal the prince's dealings with them out in the open without his permission, even if they're his human relatives. They were thankful when it was Alex who replied to them. "Grandfather, don't ask too much. You woke me up just now. I still feel weak. I vow to you that I will explain everything when we are in the Kingdom of Silvia."

"Sorry to interrupt but can we brew potions that can ease his physical pain?" Jane asked the two elves. "We can also give him potions that could at least give him back some strength. He's human and an elf, after all."

Elmira agreed that they should, then he stared at Normandy and Geralt. "Could you let the prince's healers discuss the treatment together in private? The prince isn't in his stable mind right now and we know what he wants."

Geralt patted his son's shoulders. He knew that Normandy doesn't want to leave his son but he knew they had to leave. "Let's go. They're right, son."

It surprised Normandy that while they leave the room, his son sat on his bed and sighed sorrowfully. He also heard his son speak in elvish fluently. It also surprised him when he saw his son's eyes were more bluish now and even he's weak, it gave a sense of command towards the two elves who bowed before him.

Why didn't you tell me?