The Lycan's Healer Mate

Chapter 15 Past and Future

Mia's POV

"Your Majesty," I repeat the saying subconsciously while gazing at Ryan in disbelief.

Holy Moon goddess. What have I done? I've just mocked the king, declaring that no one can threaten me and kissed him. How could it be possible? What kind of king will roam in the forest at midnight and capture trespassers by himself? I am too shocked to work out a convincing excuse.

What can I say, anyway? You didn't look like a king? This might be quite offensive. I didn't mean to kiss you? This will be a lie because I truly want to kiss him. I am totally speechless.

Ryan has a strong sense and my embarrassment to him might be what blood to a vampire. He smells it and intentionally asks in an innocent way, "You're unusually quiet. Cat got your tongue?"

I lower my gaze and drop a curtsey to Ryan, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I had pictured that the king would be a gentleman in his sixties or seventies and I didn't expect——"

"Are you saying that I am too young to be a king?" Ryan smiles at my answer yet his voice doesn't sound like him.

My body stiffens as I realize that I gave the wrong answer. I nervously glance at him from the corner of my eyes, only to find his eyes reddening in a weird way.

I blink at Ryan, yet the color of his eyes has returned sapphire. Was it a delusion or something? I am too stunned to react, totally forgetting to answer the question Ryan asked.

Luckily, I have Madam Agnes standing by my side. She clears her throat and says, "I assume you're really tired, Your Majesty. Tiresome might mess up people's mind and make them paranoid. I think Lady Hill has no intention to offend you and she was merely explaining why she failed to recognize you. You're not the center of the world and you cannot expect everyone to know you, not to mention you were wearing that black cloak——"

Ryan looks confused, like someone who has waken from a dream and cannot understand the situation. He frowns and says, "Sorry to interrupt you, auntie. But I can't tell what is going on here. I wasn't offended."

"Then why did you look at her in a condescending way?" Aurora adds, "and there was a wicked smile on your face."

"What are you talking about? Is this a prank or something?" Ryan is bemused.

"Holy Merlin," Aurora rolls her eyes, "You have no gut to admit what you've done. Shame on you, Uncle Ryan."

Ryan narrows his eyes, turns to me and asks carefully, "Did I do something making you uncomfortable?"

"Er…it is fine but I am not particularly fond of the way you looking at me." I tell him the truth and Aurora snorts with a triumphant smile as if she had won a debate.

"Alright," Ryan mutters and sends me an apologetic look, "I had no idea what was going on—"

Ryan suddenly pauses. His face becomes paler and he turns to Madam Agnes, whispering something to her.

The expression of Madam Agnes turns gloomy. She sends Ryan a concerned look and comes to me, "May I have a word with you?"

I don't know what is going on but nod, "Yes, of course."

"Follow me," Madam Agnes leads the way ahead of me, "Walls have ears, and we may go to a private place."

I look around and feel a bit nervous when I see guests cast curious eyes on us. I cannot help but lower my head. Madam Agnes, however, doesn't pay attention to them and maintains her elegant posture. The air of her is contagious, helping me calm down in the latter part of our journey.

Madam Agnes leads me through a corridor and halts when come to a dead end. There is a huge painting hung on the wall, depicting a scene where the flames of war rage across the land. On the left side, there is a bloody lake with numerous bodies floating on the surface and vultures hovering above. On the right site, a gloomy mountain hides behind the fogs and dragons are circling around the area. In the middle of the painting stands a castle on fire. Infantries are standing on the cobbled bridge over the moat, and some of their shields are already shattered. Several archers can be spotted on the staircases. They are targeting at the attackers, a group of nasty creatures whose faces cannot be seen as they stand with their back to us.

I don't understand why Madam Agnes would put such a painting on the wall. But it must have nothing to do with decoration use. That's for sure. It is full of violence and blood and visitors probably wouldn't be entertained by this picture.

I take a sharp inhale and ask, "What's this?"

Madam Agnes doesn't reply my question but asks me curiously, "What do you see?"

"War." I say and find another word to better summarize the scene, "Slaughter."

Madam Agnes gazes at me for a while and muses, "That's not what I see. What I see from the painting is Ryan sitting on his throne and leads the packs to prosper."

"What? I see none of those…" I blink at Madam Agnes and look at the painting again, trying to see what she describes. But the painting remained unchanged.

"Don't push yourself too much, my dear. It is fine that we see things in different ways," Madam Agnes gives me a soothing smile and elaborates on the idea, "This painting is a gift from the witches. It is called Visio, meaning vision in Latin. It is more a mirror than a painting, I shall say, which reflects our predictions about the general picture of the future."

"Oh, that's a relief." I let out a sigh, "I had thought there was something wrong with my eyes. I am quite pessimistic and what I foresee must be wrong."

"It is too early to deny yourself when it comes to vision." Madam Agnes shakes her head, "What we see are merely possibilities lying ahead of us and we can never tell whose prediction is closer to the reality until that day truly arrives."

"Are you saying that what I see could really happen in the future?"

"Theoretically speaking, yes." Madam Agnes nods and gives me a stern look, "In fact, the head of the Great Council sees a similar thing, which is why my husband is assigned to capture trespassers at midnight and interrogate them. Zander assumes the appearance of spies is a sign of the war and we'd better prepare our people for that."

"Is His Majesty aware of this?" I ask quietly, "a war is coming?"

"Ryan is fully aware of the situation, but let's not jump to the conclusion, young lady." Madam Agnes argues, "Forgive me that I am a healer and the way I perceive the world could be quite different from others. Among healers, there is a saying goes: a good healer can heal your disease while an expert healer can prevent you from being ill. I happen to be an ambitious woman and my goal is to stop the war before it begins at all cost. As you may notice, Ryan sees vampires and dragons as our sworn enemies. Do you know why?"

"No." I shake my head and add tentatively," Is that a prejudice?"

"To a certain extent, yes. But when you put yourself in his shoes, you might think the opposite. Ryan's parents died in a fight with the vampires. Dating back to those days, dragons were our allies. They should have supported us, but they broke the promise, flee, and hide, leaving us to die. Although the dragon king sent a messenger years later to ask for forgiveness and even proposed to marry his daughter to Ryan as compensation, Ryan didn't accept the deal. He was too young and too proud to sacrifice his personal interest for the overall good, and dragons are no longer our allies." Madam Agnes sigh, "This is a huge loss to healers, for dragon scales are valuable ingredients and function well in stopping bleeding. It used to be abundant but was hard to obtain nowadays. You just can't make bricks without straw."

"Did you talk about this with Ryan?"

"I did." Madam Agnes nods, "I asked him to re-establish the connection with dragons and he agrees to consider it. I can't push him any further because forgiving your enemy is not easy. He needs some time to convince himself."

"I see. I am sorry that I asked those questions."

"One who does not know is not guilty. I won't blame you for your curiosity," replies Madam Agnes. She then places her hand on my shoulder and asks, "Have you made your decision? Would you like to be my apprentice and become a healer?"

I hesitate for a moment and nod, "Yes, I'd love to."

"Awesome!" there is a light flicking across Madam Agnes' eyes. She looks genuinely delightful and I can't help but smile.

"Your training will start tomorrow. Aurora and Daisy will be your fellows."

"Who is Daisy?" I ask curiously.

"A siren from the Emerald Sea. I won't tell you too much about her since you'll meet here tomorrow." Madam Agnes clears her throat and suddenly holds my wrist, "Mia, I feel that I need to tell you a secret but you have to vow to never tell anyone—"

"Yes?"

"It is about Ryan." Madam Agnes tightens her grip on my wrist and looks into my eyes, "He was bitten—"

Before she can finish the sentence, we hear noises from the outside. Amidst the noise, a high-pitched voice stands out the rest and I recognize the speaker the moment I hear it.

My heart sinks when the voice continues, "Sorry to disturb the party, but would you please stand aside? I am Mike Grey from the Black Moon Pack, a senior council member. I come here only to pick up a member of our pack. She has been out for a long while and her mate is restless because of her being away."

"Why didn't he come here to fetch her in person?" asks Patrick doubtfully.

"Very unfortunately, he is in coma, and I have to do this on his behalf," answers Old Mike in a sad voice and then he asks, "Can I enter now?"

"Let him in, Patrick." Ryan orders and gently asks, "May I know who you're looking for? I may help you find this lady."

"Yes, yes of course! It's so nice of you to offer help to a poor old man," Old Mike exclaims and says, "Mia Hill is the lady I am seeking. Do you happen to know where she is?"

In the following sinking silence, I forget how to breathe.