The Lycan King's Healer
The Lycan King’s Healer – Chapter 9

Cathy

“Stay home, Theo. I will be back soon.”

I stepped out of the cottage and allowed for Aldrich’s guards to escort me to the palace, hoping my son would not protest.

“Okay, mommy,” he responded obediently behind me before I shut the door, shooting him one last meaningful look. I hoped it was strict enough to make him stay put.

As the guards led us from the forest to the castle, I contemplated why I had been sent for. It was not by Aldrich—it was by the Queen herself. I had never met my supposed-to-be mother-in-law. Perhaps she wanted my account of the assassins, or how I healed her son. Anxiety shot through me at that, knowing I’d have to concoct some elaborate lie to hide my bloodline. My mind wandered to the worst theory—that maybe she thought it was I who helped injure him, for he did lay wounded on the ground outside of my cottage. That image contributed to my former accusation of drugging her son would not make her a warm host.

I sucked in a breath, remaining calm despite thinking the worst. I’ve gone through the worst before.

***

“Your husband’s been away from home for years, but how come you’re getting even more beautiful in his absence?” the Queen exclaimed in greeting.

She did not say it menacingly, but I detected the thinly veiled sarcasm. Her tone was overly sweet, a tight smile hardening her features.

“Thank you, your highness,” I murmured.

I had been led by the royal entourage to the grand dining room. The Queen sat at the end of the table; a glass of wine perched before her. It was a dark, b***d red.

I already saw the doubt on the Queen’s face. She was looking at my newly beautiful face with suspicion, like she thought I improved my beauty for the likes of other men.

Her wine-stained l*p curled. “Are you not going to bow for the Queen?”

I took a breath before obliging her indirect command, kneeling to the floor so fast I banged my knee on the tile. “My apologies, your majesty.”

“An apology is not enough, my dear,” she responded dryly, and in that moment, she reminded me of not a wolf, but a reptile. She snarled at the servant next to me. “Strike her.”

My eyes widened as I looked up at her, still upon my knees. “Your highness, I do not think I’ve done anything to be slapped.”

Reptile queen or not, I was more important and powerful than ten of her combined. I would not feel pathetic in the hands of royalty again. I would not have to explain my swollen cheek to Theo, who would cry himself to sleep if he saw.

“How dare you offend me by questioning my motives,” the queen demanded, her voice sharp, long sharp nails closing around her wine glass.

“My Queen, I thought I have been called here to give you my account on the assassins—”

“Oh, shut it,” the queen snapped icily, “you think I care for your account? That is not why I summoned you here.”

She then turned to the servant who was ordered to slap me, and I braced myself for a punch. But instead, she said, “Bring the whip out for ten lashes.”

I gasped. Why did I willingly walk into this? I didn’t even trust Aldrich, nonetheless his mother. I was a fool to trust the royals again. Swiftly, I rose from my knees, already blueprinting a mental escape plan.

But it was too late. A nearby guard grabbed me, and I was not physically strong enough to escape his grasp. He bound my hands together in front of me.

I thought to maybe experiment my witchcraft. But dread overshadowed strategy, the fury at being punished by the royals again for doing nothing wrong making me see red. I snarled at them, wishing I could rip into the queen’s throat. What was this for? I didn’t do–

Pain slapped into my back and reverberated off my spine. I cried out and fell back to my knees as the whip cracked on my back, kissing my skin with fire. This happened several times, and I held my breath, refusing to let out another cry. I would not show weakness again. Closing my eyes, I pretended I was somewhere else, trying to ignore the wetness coating my spine.

Just as I heard a small voice echo through the grand room.

“You better stop hitting my mommy!” Theo yelled ferociously as he ran in. My heart dropped.

He positioned himself behind me in a defensive position, throwing his arms up against the man with the whip. I stifled a string of curse words that wanted to escape my lips. I should have known he would not obey. He had dirt smeared on his red cheeks and interwoven in his hair, and I saw he had dirt lodged in between his fingernails. He must have dug his way out of the cottage. I should have known he would do anything to protect me.

And now he put himself in mortal danger. Because the Queen looked down at him with a confused familiarity.

She knew he looked like Aldrich just as much as I did.

“Whose child is this?” she asked no one in particular, her reptilian eyes never leaving Theo.

Panic settling in, I had to replace a way to refuse to answer without getting more lashes. “I don’t know,” I said, crawling away from him, hoping he was not hurt by my distant tone.

“Why did he refer to you as mommy?” the queen raised an eyebrow, her gaze ripping from Theo to coldly land on me.

“I don’t know,” I repeated weakly. I looked at the Queen expecting the answer, and I was surprised to see nervousness on her face. As if she already knew the answer, an answer she did not wish to hear.

I closed my eyes and collapsed fully to the floor, my chest slapping against the tile, and pretended to be unconscious.

I heard Theo burst into tears, his little sobs like small instrument notes echoing in the dining room. I longed to comfort him, but this was the only way to protect his identity.

Through closed eyes, I heard the Queen’s sharp high heels against the tile and approached us. She stopped in front of Theo, and I heard her voice lower to a somewhat soothing tone. She was not stupid—she would know he was her grandson. That was the only reason she was showing mercy to him as I laid there, bloodied.

“Your majesty, there is an urgent matter you must tend to,” the guard suddenly announced. “The King calls for you.”

A ragged breath of relief escaped me. But the relief didn’t last long when the queen commanded, “Alright. Find out who the child is immediately.”

***

Aldrich

After consulting with my men, I had returned to the military ground. The banquet was a reprieve enough; I needed to get back on my feet now more than ever, with these unknown assassins lurking about.

A servant approached me just as I finished a training lesson with a couple young wolves. I sighed at the sight of him, knowing it was going to be bullshit from my mother to return.

“My lord,” he said, and I recognized him as one of the servants I brought to the cottage that day, “Pardon me if I am interrupting, but I have some news you may replace important. Cathy has been punished by the Queen.”

I stopped in my tracks. “What?”

“The queen summoned the girl to the palace and gave her ten lashes. The boy came to the palace as well.”

It felt like my heart exploded.

I turned to wolf form, intending to run back to the palace as fast as I could. Ten lashes. Why would my mother do this? Now that I did not fully know if she was the one who drugged me, dread was heavy in my stomach that she received even more undeserved punishment.

As I ran past the guards I was supposed to be training in a few minutes, Alan, my second hand man when it came to training, protested. “Aldrich, where are you going?”

“Cathy has been hurt,” I snarled, not slowing down. With our sharp hearing, I knew he heard my explanation as I flew past him.

He didn’t hesitate before ripping into his wolf form, running up then falling into step beside me. I glanced at him, panic and anxiety riddling my bloodstream.

“You’re worried,” he said, and it wasn’t a question, just a surprised observation.

Because I had not worried about anything besides my next battle move in over four years.