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Elaina awoke to the sound of water dripping outside her window. She peeked at the sun, looking forward to a bright, but soggy day, for soggy days meant they were closer to having a training field again. Water trickled from the roof, splattering in a slushy pile by the house. Elaina slipped her clothes on, brushed her hair then pulled it back tightly. As she opened the door, she could hear Tvuna and Master Kijani talking quietly. She marched into the kitchen for breakfast then stopped at the sight of Tvuna’s concerned face. Deep sorrow came from Tvuna, making Elaina want to slink back into her room.
Upon seeing Elaina, Tvuna asked, “Will you run an errand with Jessie after breakfast?”
“Okay.” Leaving the house to escape Tvuna’s strong emotions sounded like a relief!
Despite the late morning, Darian and Mehdi were not in sight. Elaina quickly ate her oatmeal and raisins. Breakfast was usually heartier. She wasn’t complaining, but something seemed off. Elaina eyed Tvuna, wondering what was wrong. “Are Darian and Mehdi up?”
“Not yet.” Tvuna was busily preparing two baskets, one full of food and another with fabric scraps. Elaina had no idea who the baskets were for, but Tvuna often delivered baskets of food.
Jessie somberly walked into the kitchen. “Are they ready, mom?”
“Yes. Thank you, Jessie. If Denna is there, let her know I will come over later today. I have some cross-stitch patterns for Sammy, but I need to find the thread.” Tvuna sniffed as she handed Elaina and Jessie each a basket.
Elaina stared at the basket. Tvuna usually delivered baskets, but Elaina did recall Jessie delivering a basket to Master Hagan’s house during the winter.
Jessie muttered, “Alright, Mom. I hope she’s okay.”
Elaina could feel Jessie was trying not to cry. Tvuna didn’t try as hard to hide her tears. “Doctor Noland says she’s not likely to recover completely. Poor girl.”
As Jessie and Elaina left the snug house it felt impossible to escape Jessie’s powerful sorrow. Elaina shuddered, wondering what she should do. “What happened Jessie?”
Jessie sighed. “On her way home from the dance last night, Sammy slipped on some ice. Her leg caught under Mayor’s carriage wheel, breaking her leg.”
“I don’t remember seeing a carriage.”
“Mayor Gradin brought it out last night for the first time since winter began. I think he was anxious for spring to be here. We all are. The carriage only went past a few houses. Valerie has always liked the carriage though. The carriage ride was for fun, not transportation, Valerie’s reward for competing in the tournament. I guess she needed some encouragement. Valerie feels terrible!”
Jessie knocked on the door to Master Lang’s house. Jailene answered Jessie’s knock. “Jessie, I’m glad you came. Sammy has been very down today. If anyone can cheer her up, you can. She’s been falling asleep randomly because of the medication. Doctor Noland said that’s normal.”
Jessie sniffed.
Elaina timidly followed them to Sammy’s bedroom. She lingered in the doorway while Jessie and Jailene talked. Sammy was groggy, and her eyes were puffy. Her leg was resting on the bed, still at an odd angle. Despite the bruising and swelling, it was easy to see multiple breaks. Sammy’s leg was oddly twisted, and long. It would be difficult to set the leg properly with the swelling and multiple breaks. How could a break like Sammy’s make a full recovery without a healer? No wonder the outlook for Sammy’s leg was grim!
Sammy’s leg was supported by two splints, but the splints wouldn’t suffice. Elaina knew that, and Tvuna’s summary of Doctor Noland’s conclusion verified Elaina’s analysis. As Elaina studied Sammy’s leg from the doorway, she was certain she could heal it. After all, she did heal Larissa’s leg. What harm could she possibly do to a shattered leg?
Jailene and Jessie’s laughs were hollow and forced, as they talked, “Did you see Cadence last night?”
“When she conveniently tripped . . .”
“Right into Khalom’s arms!”
“Khalom almost dropped her when he realized it was Cadence.”
“Her tricks have never worked on Khalom. Yet she keeps trying.”
Sammy wouldn’t even crack a smile.
Elaina struggled to swallow, but her throat was too tight. Larissa couldn’t walk after her leg injury. Would Sammy be the same way if Elaina didn’t heal her? Would Sammy spend her days longingly looking out her window? Elaina’s healing abilities were her most closely guarded secret. Was she ready to reveal them? She watched Sammy’s tears and forlorn look, trying in vain to shake off a wretched, guilty knot in her stomach. Was hiding her healing abilities selfish?
Jessie pulled some fabric from the basket. “Do you think this will make a good rug or should we turn it into a quilt?”
Jailene took the fabric. “Maybe a rug. Sammy’s room can use a new one.”
Sammy covered her face and sobbed. A determined line formed around Elaina’s mouth. She removed her jacket then tossed it onto the table. Elaina glanced uncertainly at Jessie and Jailene. Could she ask them to leave while she healed Sammy? No. Healing a leg in such terrible shape would be noticed and Elaina didn’t have the nerve to ask them to leave.
Elaina breathed in shakily, her fingers trembling. She seemed to have lost her voice. Halting steps brought her to a chair, neatly tucked under Sammy’s table. She swung it around and placed it next to Sammy’s bed. Elaina tuned out everything in the room, including Jessie and Jailene. If she was going to expose her healing abilities, she couldn’t think of a better reason. Sammy needed a healer, and Elaina was the only healer at Bern Village. Elaina gently touched the skin around the break.
A perplexed expression almost took away the distraught look on Sammy’s face. “What are you doing?”
Elaina studied Sammy’s leg as she stuttered. “I . . . I’m going to try healing your leg. It will take a while to bring down the bruising and swelling before I can set and heal the bone properly. Relax and your leg should be normal again soon. Try not to move too much. I’ve only had a little practice with bones.”
Confusion radiated from Jessie and Jailene. Sammy was skeptical but hopeful. Elaina’s cheeks flushed with anxiety as she brushed her hand along Sammy’s calf between the splints. Elaina gently removed the splints then reduced the swelling and bruising evenly as her unicorn book suggested.
A gasp escaped Jessie’s mouth at the sight of Sammy’s bruises changing color. Jailene blinked. “Did she . . .”
Belinda arrived to check on Sammy but stopped in the doorway. She covered her mouth, unsuccessfully trying not to yell in surprise. “Elaina!”
Elaina covered her ears with her hands. “I need to concentrate. Umm . . . Do you have a human anatomy book? My bone structure is a little different. I need to be sure I put the bone in place correctly.”
Belinda gaped at Elaina as Sammy’s skin turned from red and blue to a healthy, bronze. “What do you mean, put it back in place?”
“I’m moving the bone back to where it should be then I’m bonding the bone together. I’m a healer . . . sort of. At least, I’ve been studying to be a healer, and I have lots of practice healing myself and Larissa.”
It took a few minutes of standing in the doorway before Belinda recovered enough to ask Jailene to fetch the human anatomy book.
Khalom and Louie poked their heads in the doorway. “What’s going on?”
Belinda remained near Sammy’s bed, gazing in disbelief. “Elaina is healing Sammy’s leg.”
Khalom paused, as though trying to make sense of what he saw and heard. “What! She’s telepath, elf, unicorn, and human?”
“I don’t know anymore. Sammy’s leg certainly looks better.”
Khalom remained by the door, silently watching. After the swelling had reduced, Elaina picked up the anatomy book then turned to the chapter on human leg bones. She placed the book on the bed next to Sammy’s leg and methodically studied the break, like picturing a puzzle coming together. She imagined the pieces moving around until they all fit into their spot. The next step was to physically move the pieces. Elaina took a deep breath and nudged the first chunk of bone with her thumb. She wriggled it around until it was in the right spot then she sealed the bone in place with her healing abilities.
Despite the pain killers making her loopy, Sammy cringed, tears pouring down her face. Fueled by hope that her leg could be healed, Sammy didn’t move.
“This is going to hurt.” Elaina glanced at a bottle labeled, Numbing Solution. The pain killers Sammy already took would have to suffice. “I can’t use a numbing solution because it will make my hands go numb. In order to heal, I need skin to skin contact. Let me know if you need me to stop.”
Elaina had to stop new bruising and swelling then return to healing bone. Absorbed in her task, Elaina didn’t notice the sun moving outside Sammy’s window, or the times Sammy passed out, either from the pain or the pain killers. As Elaina was about to put the last fragment in place, she felt Belinda’s hand on her shoulder. “It’s lunch time.”
Elaina hardly registered what Belinda said. She blinked several times. What did Belinda say? Something about . . . food. Yes. Food was a good idea. Elaina tried to control the dizziness overcoming her as she wobbled to the kitchen for lunch.
Belinda cleared her throat. “I didn’t know you had unicorn healing abilities”
Elaina’s voice was barely audible. “I learned how to heal bruises first. They are the easiest. Bone is more difficult, but I think Sammy’s leg will be fine. It will take some more time to heal it though.”
Master Lang arrived home and went straight into Sammy’s room. Belinda followed Master Lang into Sammy’s room. Her rapid voice melted away. Elaina ate the last few bites of her sandwich.
Voices were echoing in the room when Elaina returned to work on the break, but exhaustion was overcoming her. She dropped her hand and tried to make Sammy’s hazy face clear. It didn’t work. Elaina shook her head. “I need to rest before I can finish your leg. The bones are barely tacked together. I still need to make the break points stronger. Don’t move your leg around. I know it looks normal now, but if you move it, you can easily break it again. I must rest.”
Sammy tenderly brushed her leg with her hand. “Don’t move? How am I supposed to hold still when I feel like jumping around the room?”
Elaina stood up. “Um . . .” She immediately squeezed her head with her hands, trying to steady herself, too tired to respond to Sammy’s enthusiasm. Healing Sammy’s leg had drained Elaina far more than she realized. Elaina wasn’t even sure she could make it home.
Master Lang frowned at Elaina’s pale face. “You look ill. Use our guest room, Elaina.”
Elaina followed Belinda to a large guest room near Sammy’s. She collapsed on the bed and fell fast asleep.
The sun was shining when Elaina awoke, confused by her surroundings. She brought her hand to her head, trying to remember what happened. Where was she? Master Lang’s house. She was healing Sammy’s leg. Exhausted from healing Sammy, Elaina didn’t even look around the room before falling asleep. The bed was large and comfortable. She slept on the quilt, but a blanket had been carefully placed over her. A brown, oval rug covered the floor next to the bed. A pitcher of water with a glass waited on a small, white table. That was all she could see, for everything was still blurry.
Elaina couldn’t recall wearing herself that much from healing before. None of her scrapes or bruises were that bad when she traveled through the forest. Not even healing Larissa’s leg had made her vision blurry. Elaina stumbled to a chair then guzzled some water. She stumbled to the door, hoping food would help her recover. The doorknob blurred, but somehow Elaina opened it. She leaned against the doorframe, trying to decide which way she should go. Someone was in the hallway. She couldn’t see clearly enough to know who it was, but she was being led somewhere.
“We were worried about you!” Belinda’s voice echoed in Elaina’s mind. “Come eat something. Kijani told us to get him when you woke up. Jailene will go.”
Jailene was cooking on the stove when she heard her mother talking to Elaina. She took a spoon out of the frying pan then untied her apron and tossed it on a hook by the door.
Belinda led Elaina through the kitchen doorway then took over cooking. “Sit down, Elaina. Breakfast will be ready soon.”
Elaina recalled eating lunch while healing Sammy. Did Belinda mean dinner? “Breakfast?”
“You slept all evening and through the night.”
Khalom guided Elaina to a wooden chair by the table. He sat next to her and held her up. When breakfast was ready, Master Kijani, Tvuna, Master Hagan, and Denna were in the living room. Master Kijani poked his head into the kitchen. He saw Elaina waiting for her breakfast and gave her a half smile. “We’re having a meeting in the other room. The door will be open for you to listen. You can come in if you want.”
Elaina listened in a daze. She must have swayed because Louie sat on her other side and put his hand on her back to prevent her from falling over, and Khalom held her shoulders more firmly. Elaina didn’t know the toll exerted by her healing abilities and clearly didn’t know when to stop and rest. She also felt like she hadn’t eaten for weeks. Aside from the severity of Sammy’s break, Elaina had tried to heal Sammy’s leg in one day, whereas she spent a week healing Larissa’s. After realizing how ill healing made her, Elaina realized she was being rash. She should have rested more.
Jailene must have brought some bread to the table because a thick slice sat on Elaina’s plate. It was strange that she didn’t fully realize what was happening around her. Could she be that delirious?
“You look tired,” Jailene said.
Elaina mumbled. “It’s not easy to heal such a severe injury. It took more out of me than I thought it would.” Elaina’s eyes began to focus on a plate piled with sausage and potatoes.
Khalom cleared his throat. “If you are human, elf, and telepath, where did you learn to heal?”
“I first learned by healing Larissa. He beat her more often than he hit me.” A tear rolled down Elaina’s cheek.
Elaina felt a flash of anger from Khalom. “King Reth must be an awful man.”
“He is worse than he sounds.”
The food must have been good for her because Elaina was starting to feel better. She gulped some milk from a large cup before continuing. “I don’t know why I can heal. My mother is an elf.”
The soft munching of Elaina finishing her crusty bread seemed loud at the silent table. They could hear the group in the other room talking, “We can’t keep Sammy’s leg a secret. Too many people saw what happened. It is probably safe for people to know more about Elaina now, but we would like to keep her identity a secret, in case things do not work out as planned. Eventually people will discover Elaina is not entirely human. That much information alone may convince someone to sell information to one of the northern cities.”
“What will happen if people think she is half unicorn?”
“A female warrior who recently moved to Bern Village, has a dragon, and healing abilities is going to interest all royalty in the northern cities.”
“What do we tell the villagers?”
“I don’t want to lie, but I don’t think we have too. People will assume she is half unicorn when they hear about Sammy. We don’t have to tell them she is Ani Louise.”
“Then we let people arrive at conclusions on their own?”
“I think that is the best way. Elaina is stronger than a human. An elf her size can’t equal Elaina’s strength. Unicorn’s, on the other hand, have more strength than humans if they are trained. I think it makes more sense that Elaina is part unicorn, and I have a letter from Uncle Crevan informing me she’s half elf.”
“Not to mention assurance from Elaina that her mother is an elf.”
“We need to keep watching for spies.”
“We always watch for spies.”
Near the kitchen Belinda and Tvuna were talking, “She can stay here until Sammy is healed, but it’s obvious Elaina doesn’t know when to stop healing to take care of herself.”
“I’ll keep a close eye on her for you, Tvuna. I won’t let Elaina wear herself out like that again.”
“Thank you. Let me know if she needs anything and don’t let her heal again until she’s well-rested. I would bring her home, but Elaina looks like she’s going to collapse.”
“Elaina will go back to bed when she’s done eating.”
Jailene took Elaina’s plate then asked, “Do you want more? I’ll get it for you.”
“Yeah. Thanks.” The dizziness was almost gone, but Elaina still found it difficult to concentrate. Master Kijani eventually left after the masters decided to let people conclude on their own who Elaina was. After eating another plateful, Belinda sent Elaina back to the guest room for more sleep.
