On the way to the townhouse, Sera tossed and whimpered, her body radiating heat to the point Fidelis worried for her health. He knew that their magic would work on a human since Liz had been healed once by their healers. It didn't stop him from worrying about Sera and how she had even ended up sick to start with. She was fine Friday night. No, whatever this was had occurred during the weekend.
He gently pushed her sweaty bangs away from her forehead and continued to murmur soothingly to her. "Dad, how much longer?"
"About ten minutes. I already alerted Lady Fallo. She'll be waiting for us in the guest bedroom."
Fidelis nodded, pleased that their chief healer was the one to help Sera. Only the best for his future queen. He also liked Lady Fallo's bedside manner. It was calm and refreshing to be around. He twitched when Sera's whimper turned into a moan of pain. He glanced down with a frown. Her eyes were still closed. His mark throbbed but not as bad as during the weekend.
He came out of his thoughts when the car turned down the gravel road leading to the house. His father brought the car to a stop and parked. Fidelis gently moved Sera so that he could get her out and carry her inside. His father opened the door just as Al pulled in next to their car. Ignoring him, Fidelis slid out and carefully got Sera out. He followed his father into the house and to the guest bedroom.
He could hear Al muttering behind them and smirked. Good, let him be angry. He didn't deserve any sympathy from Fidelis. Or respect. If he could, he would remove the boy from Sera's side. He wasn't a good friend to her. Those kinds of people needed to be cut out of a person's life as fast as possible.
His father opened the door to the guest bedroom and stepped aside so Fidelis could go in. Fidelis went to the bed and carefully laid her on it. He raised his head and saw Lady Fallo in the corner with her healing bag on the table. She bowed to him. He smiled.
"What are you doing?"
Fidelis moved to the door. His father was preventing an irate Al from entering.
"We are having our doctor take a look at her," his father calmly explained.
"You can't do that! You don't know her medical history! You're not her father. You can't do whatever you want!" Al snarled and took a threatening step toward Fidelis's father.
Fidelis hid his grin when his father straightened, and in a no-nonsense tone, ordered Al to follow him or leave. Al glared, contemplated his options, and threw his hands up in surrender.
His father smiled pleasantly at Al. "Come, Al. Let's go sit and give the doctor time to look Sera over."
"I'll go only if he comes, too. He shouldn't be in the room with Sera when the doctor examines her."
"Very well."
Fidelis stared at his father in shock. He wasn't going to leave Sera! He opened his mouth to object, but snapped it closed at his father's expression. Damnit! He followed them out of the room, unhappy with Al and Sera's situation. He wanted to be by her side. He would obey his father, however, because he respected his father's authority. He prayed to Autem that Sera would be okay.
~***~
Lady Hinyah Fallo waited until the King and Crown Prince left the room with the agitated young man. She shook her head. Young people were always so full of energy, both good and bad. She was glad he was gone because she didn't need the negative energy from him to contaminate the room and harm her patient. She closed the door and approached the bed.
She frowned at the amount of heat from the girl's body. It was unusually high. With humans that indicated serious infection or other problems. It wasn't hard to heal her, but she needed to know what was causing the problem. She wriggled her fingers, watching as a faint pink glow surrounded her right hand.
Slowly and methodically, she ran her hand down the girl's body from her head to her feet. She could sense the wounds on the girl's body. She also felt the infection filling the girl's wounds and body. She was going to have to undress the girl to get a good look at her injuries before healing her.
Hinyah went to her bag and took out a few containers of salve, fever reducer, and herbs to clean out any lingering infection. When she did heal, she used a combination of her healing power and natural remedies to strengthen her patients' immune systems.
Hinya returned to the bed and went to undress the girl. She managed to get the sweatshirt off her and froze at the sight of bandages wrapped around the girl's torso. Fearing what else she would find she removed the girl's pants. More bandages on her legs and butt were visible. This was bad. The girl's injuries were more than what she anticipated. She pulled the sheet up to cover the girl's body. Recalling her healing magic, she grabbed her cell and texted the king. He needed to come see the girl before she did any treatment.
Five minutes later the king and the crown prince returned. She gestured for them to close the door. She activated a silencing spell and ignored the questioning look from the king as she gathered her thoughts.
"Your Majesty, I don't know what is going on, but the girl is badly injured."
Fidelis cursed and his bloodlust rose. She gave the crown prince a measuring look. Who was this girl to him? She pushed the thought aside. It didn't matter at the moment. She had to do the right thing for her patient.
"How bad is she hurt?"
"See for yourself," Hinyah replied and pulled down the sheet.
King Mikel moved to the bed and looked down at the girl. "Did you unwrap the bandages and look?"
"Not yet, Your Majesty. I checked her over with my ability and felt the presence of wounds. I could tell they were infected, but I didn't realize the extent of the problem until I took off her clothes to look."
"We need to see how bad it is. You have my permission to remove the bandages."
She nodded and gently rolled the girl onto her stomach. She paused when she spotted the blood that had seeped into the bandages.
"Your Majesty, I'm going to remove them now."
Hinyah reached out to untie the top bandage when the girl suddenly reared back with a scream, the girl's arm flinging outward and hitting Hinyah in the jaw. She stumbled back and rubbed her jaw. Well, that was unexpected.
"Sera!" Fidelis yelled and moved toward the bed.
"Your Highness, wait," Hinyah ordered, her eyes on the confused girl's trembling body.
The girl's feverish gaze was slightly unfocused. Hinyah wondered if the extreme reaction was due to something else. She slowly approached the bed. "Hello, Sera," she said after recalling the crown prince's name for the girl.
"My name is Hinyah Fallo and I'm a doctor. I'm here to help you."
"No! No! No! Please, don't! Father said no. No healer! It's not allowed. I don't want to be punished!" wailed Sera as she rocked violently, her arms wrapped protectively around her body.
"It's alright. No one will punish you for getting healed." Hinyah stretched out her hand, intent on healing the girl.
She didn't reach the girl. Sera shrieked in fear at her approach, throwing herself backward and against the wall with a hard thud. Sera yelped, her trembling increasing as did her rocking.
Hinyah glanced over her shoulder at her king and the crown prince. They both appeared angry. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she needed to put the girl to sleep and heal her.
"Your Majesty, you must restrain her so we can do the healing."
"No," interrupted Fidelis. "Not like this. I don't want her traumatized. Also, I need to know why her father doesn't want her to be healed."
"I agree, my son. She used the word "healer." That's not something humans say. They will say "doctor" or "medical personnel." She used our word for it."
"Wait. What are you saying, Father?"
"Maybe there are other otherworldly species in this realm like us."
"How can that be? We did magical sweeps when we first arrived and sensed nothing."
"Perhaps their magic operates differently than ours. She could belong to one of them. It would also explain her family's extreme reactions to her behavior. To us she is well-behaved. Maybe they view it differently."
"That doesn't give them the right to hurt her," snarled Fidelis.
"I know but all cultures have different values and norms. We can't impose ours on them."
Hinyah listened to their conversation while keeping an eye on the girl. After a few minutes, the girl fainted from her fever. She turned to the king and crown prince. "What would you like me to do?"
"Remove the bandages and use natural herbs to help her. You can rebandage her. Let's take pictures of her injuries so we have evidence for court," King Mikel ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
It took her fifteen minutes to get the bandages off. She was as horrified as the royal family at the girl's wounds.
"That bastard!" snarled Fidelis.
Hinyah agreed, she counted sixteen lash marks. Some of them were infected. People could be so cruel. The girl's fever was still high. It was a blessing really. She took pictures with her phone and sent them to the king. She began draining the infected back wounds and slathering salve into them. She put salve on the girl's other wounds. Finally, she rebandaged her.
"Done." She gathered her things and handed the crown prince a packet. "Mix this in a glass of water and give it to her. It will reduce her fever. Her healing will be slow and she's going to have scars."
"I understand." Fidelis took the packet.
Hinyah bowed to them and left the room.
~***~
Fidelis had never felt so much hate toward a person as he did for Sera's father. The man was scum and so was his other daughter. How Sera could be born into such a family but yet be so wildly different from them was a mystery to him.
Irritated by the situation he ran his fingers through his hair. He sighed, went to the bedside table, and poured the packet into the cup of water. He felt his father's gaze on him, but it didn't stop him. He poured the medicated water into his mouth, bent down, and kissed Sera. He felt the water go into her mouth and she unconsciously swallowed it.
He stepped back and turned to his father. "I think we should talk to Al. He owes us an explanation for Sera's condition, and he needs to tell us more about Sera's father and how he treats her at home."
"I agree. I have a feeling that the young man isn't going to be very cooperative," his father said with a shake of his head.
"I don't care. I'll use force or magic. Or maybe both. I want answers," Fidelis snapped.
His father chuckled and opened the door. "Shall we?"
Fidelis nodded and went out the door first, determined to get some answers.