The Lycan King's Healer
The Lycan King’s Healer – Chapter 53

Under the moonlight, Clement and I left the estate in disguise to roam into the villages.

It was admittedly dangerous; that’s why I snuck out that night. Aldrich would never let me go, and I also did not know if he’d approve of me returning to my former life. He was so protective and territorial, he would also never permit me to prowl the night with another man, despite the fact Clement would never see me that way. I was still certain he viewed me as a mere child.

In the first village we visited, there were several people tucked into straw blankets for warmth along the streets. Women, men, and even some children. They rejoiced when they saw us, forcing me to try to remember why I ever stopped doing this in the first place.

We eventually came across a single mother with her children bundled in her arms. They were shivering in the crisp autumn night. Her dark hair matched the bags under her eyes. I walked right up to her, kneeling onto the pavement.

“You are healers,” she said as a statement and not a question.

“Yes,” I said, examining her. Both her and her children had painful looking scabs on their skin, and it seemed like some sort of rash, even littering their faces.

“I don’t care for myself,” she said, looking up at me with critical seriousness, “just my children.”

“I care for you,” I insisted, taking her hand within my gloved one. As Clement tended to a person across the street, I reached inside my pockets and wrapped my hand around a salve. I released her and opened the lid, and her children watched through exhausted eyes. They did not even emote.

“This salve will treat any topical blemishes,” I told her, handing the entire jar to her. I had countless amounts of the simple medication; it was easy to make. She hesitantly took it, shaking her head.

“I can’t take this from you,” she said with concern, slight panic in her eyes.

“I expect nothing back,” I promised. I then plucked out a shot and multiple needles. “I must inject you with these to resolve the actual sickness, however.”

She nodded, and her children were so drained, they did not even protest as I stuck the needles in their upper arms. I then took a third needle and injected the mother, who winced.

“It’s medicine laced with some b***d,” I informed her, “so it will work faster and more efficiently.”

“I will not forget this,” she said, clenching her jaw. I could tell it wasn’t easy for her to accept the help, but she knew she had to.

I returned home minutes before dawn. I knew Aldrich would be returning from his meeting to sleep through the morning due to consultations that night. It must have been the werewolf trait within all of them, but the men worked better and thought more strategically at night.

I slipped in through Theo’s room. I merely tiptoed past him and then entered through our conjoined rooms, just in case Alrich had already returned to bed and I’d excuse my absence with checking on him.

Aldrich was not there. I hurried over to the bed, swiftly shedding the layers of clothes filled to the brim with medicine in the pockets. I kicked them under the bed so that the maids wouldn’t take them.

I rolled onto my stomach, exhausted from not sleeping all night. Aldrich would most likely replace me sleeping. My body was fatigued, however, I couldn’t stifle the rush of adrenaline from helping those people. I finally felt of use again, like I deserved to be in this estate with Aldrich, maybe even deserved it more than him.

Before we parted, Clement told me he wanted me to join him again, for we only scraped the top of the barrel of poor people experiencing the current epidemic. I vehemently agreed to meet him at the same time the next night; I would just sleep through the morning with Aldrich.

Eventually, he came in as I was drifting to sleep. I heard the shuffle of him removing his clothes before he slipped in next to me, quietly.

“Shit,” he hissed through his teeth as he laid on his side, his voice cloaked with pain.

I startled at that, my eyes fluttering open. He indeed was wincing, chest heaving once or twice at the apparent pain.

“Aldrich,” I said with suspicion, frowning, “what is wrong?”

He looked down at me with surprise, the pain immediately dissolving from his face. “I’m sorry, my Cathy, did I wake you?”

“Why are you hurting?” I ignored his question, my concern growing.

He looked away, lying down on his back. “I stubbed my toe against the bed frame.”

“You hissed out when you were already in the bed,” I pointed out accusingly.

He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut exasperatedly. “Cathy, I’ve had a long night. Can we drop it? I’ll let you thoroughly interrogate me tomorrow.”

My frown escalated to a glare. “You’re hiding something from me.”

“How does it feel?” he suddenly snapped, shooting his eyes open.

I shrank back from him. “What is the matter with you?”

“I’m saying maybe it’s my turn to withhold information from you,” he muttered, looking away. “It’s nothing you need to know.”

Guess I was sleeping with Theo. I slipped out of bed immediately, walking over to my armoire for proper apparel.

“Cathy,” Aldrich protested, sighing. “Please just come back to bed.”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on,” I snapped as I pulled on a long sleeved white nightgown.

He sat up, the covers falling off his bare chest. “Will you get back here if I tell you?”

I pulled my hair out of the hem of the gown before turning to him, crossing my arms. “Yes.”

“Promise?”

“No.”

Reluctantly, he pulled the duvet back to reveal more of his abdomen. “I will show you regardless, if it makes you that upset.”

I hesitated before walking back over to the bed, following his gaze. He pulled back some sort of gauze on his lower abdomen to reveal one of the worst wounds I had ever seen.

His poison arrow gash.

It was oozing more than ever, so much so that there was no more scabbing, like it was a fresh wound. The puss was green, and the skin bordering the wound was a purple hue. It seemed like the wound had gotten bigger, like something ripped it open recently. I had no idea how I did not notice it in the lake; it must have been completely concealed by the dark water.

He looked to be in pain that night. And he told me he was fine.

I stormed away from the bed, replaceing my slippers. He immediately protested and stood up from the bed.

“Cathy,” he pleaded, “I was going to tell you.”

“When?” I turned on him abruptly. “As a ghost when you’re dead?”

He flinched at my outburst of anger and the degree of the accusation. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Oh don’t use my own excuses against me,” I said with a glare.

“I knew you’d work day and night to try to replace the solution to it,” he said, “I wanted to spend time together these past couple days without any worries.”

“That was your plan?” I demanded, glaring as my nostrils flared, “have a great time together before you drop dead?”

“I wasn’t going to let it get that far—”

“Clearly, you were. Because it already is far. It’s long far gone healable,” I hissed, staring at the purple spreading through his abdomen.

“I didn’t want to put the burden on you, Cathy.”

I stuffed my feet into my slippers before walking toward the door. “Your death will.”