The Lycan King's Healer
The Lycan King’s Healer – Chapter 8

Aldrich

“It was Cathy who healed my wounds?”

When I woke up in my chambers, I was more surprised to learn this than the act of waking up somewhere completely different than I fainted. Alan, a staple of my entourage, nodded. He was my second hand man, and although as general I did not have time for friends, I would call him the closest thing I had to one.

“Yes, we found you outside her cottage. I have to say, her dressing skill is very professional,” he drawled, an amused look on his face. I could see the question in his eyes about why I was there. I didn’t care to entertain that yet.

“Alan, go replace out more information about the assassins. I also want to know what my wife has been doing for the past four years.” I waved him away.

He saluted me before following my orders, exiting the room with a chuckle.

I was left contemplating how Cathy managed it. Military medical staff come from the healer clan and generally needed to study in medical school from childhood. Only after a long period of practice can they become qualified healers. How did she do it? She couldn’t have taught herself alone in that cottage.

Even if she did teach herself to heal, the lack of fever and faint pain I usually felt from my former wounds told me she not only knew how to heal but was brilliant at it.

But she never learned this before our marriage—or at least, that was never revealed to me. If she became a professional in just four years, she had to be a genius. Unless she already had knowledge in the field and that was another thing she was hiding.

However, I recalled what I had seen last night before the pandemonium erupted. Cathy was a gentle, loving mother, and acted calmly enough in danger. She protected her son. She tended my wounds.

Would such a person really drug me on our wedding night?

This was the first time I ever contemplated her innocence. I remembered her begging on her bruised knees, a pathetic thing, nothing like the strong woman she was now. She demanded that she did not drug me, reddening in the face. I remembered the panic in her voice, how it was not guilty desperation, but almost the panic one gets when they’re misunderstood.

I may have misunderstood Cathy. Perhaps I was so blinded to anyone but Emily, I did not give the girl a chance. Maybe I acted out of anger toward being bossed around by a prophecy.

I sighed, deciding I’d have to figure her out more.

I awoke again to a slight rapping on the door. When did I fall asleep again? Squinting my eyes at the hallway light flooding into the room, I saw my mother standing in front of it, her silhouette instantly recognizable.

The Luna Queen.

“My son,” she announced, closing the door behind her before approaching my bed, “I heard you were injured and came right away.”

The Queen was wise and wicked, beautiful but terrifying to many. I was the only one she did not regard with superiority, her hard ice always melting for me. She also had a respect for me because of my success, in which I did not know how nice she would be if I did not accomplish those triumphs. But she most likely saw herself reflected in me; we did have the same facial features and hair. Her jaw and nose were strong, her stature naturally toned.

“I appreciate the company,” I teased, letting out a yawn, “your highness.”

She let out a small chuckle, standing over the bed and resting a cold hand on my arm. “How are you doing?”

I straightened to a sitting position, not liking to appear vulnerable. “I am already better.” I wasn’t quite sure if that was a lie or not.

“Who do you suspect was behind the attack?” she asked, wasting no time. That’s what I liked and disliked about my mother—she was always straight to the point and very direct. Even when it came to politics over comforting her son.

“I have not been awake long enough to theorize with my men.”

She turned her head to gaze out the window. “Your men suspect they were sent by the

other princes. And I agree.”

I thought about it for a moment and did not object to this theory. They were not truly my brothers—the eldest prince, Benjamin, and the second, Elias, were born of the deceased former Luna Queen. They had no loyalties to me, and preferred each other compared to me any day. I remembered always being left out of the play sword fights with them. They always fought each other, and to shut me up when I would ask to play, they would both “stab” me.

“There, we played with you. You’re dead!” then they would shoo me away.

My mother cleared her throat.“This is why you must be the future King,” she insisted, her voice tight as she looked back to me.

I sighed exasperatedly, turning to jump out of bed. “Don’t start, mother.”

“I will, my son, every day of your life until I fall. You are my only true son, and I will not allow those men to pass you. They know you would be the best ruler and that is why they want you dead.”

I stormed over to the door, shaking my head. “That’s a bit dramatic. Besides, you only want me to be the King because your bloodline would continue over Father’s.”

The Queen looked like she wanted to slap me, an icy expression over her ancient features. “I am your mother, Aldrich. Do you think that shallow of me?”

“If you’re truly my mother, you would accept that I only desire to lead our army and fight for our peace.”

“You will have more power to achieve that on the throne!” she demanded coldly.

“I don’t want the throne. Those mongrels could have it.”

“And you think they’d make good rulers?” she challenged sharply.

Ignoring her, I stormed out of my chambers. We had this argument every time I saw her—it is the only thing she cared for nowadays.

“I have to go consult with my men,” I muttered, making a beeline down the corridor.

***

The Luna Queen

The Queen glared after him, a sour look on her face. She needed somewhere to turn her rage to, someone to be punished that her son was hurt. Her dear son that did not believe she truly cared for him. She would prove that she loved him more than anyone else.

“Send my former daughter in law, Cathy, to the palace,” she snapped to the nearest servant, who nodded then fled the room.

She would teach the girl a lesson herself.