Physician to the Dragon Prince

CHAPTER 7 – A painful night

CHAPTER 7 – A painful night

Emma’s POV

I went with the physician to his medical room. This is amazing! The room was huge, the racks were filled with many herbs and bottles. The room looked clean and tidy. Every rack was skillfully arranged.

“Emma, come and sit here.” The physician offered me a chair near his table.

“Master, I can’t sit with you, it’s impolite. I am a nurse and you are the royal physician,” I responded, bowing to him.

“You are speaking about being polite and respectful, if politeness is important to you, then why don’t you speak to His Grace respectfully,” the physician questioned and I looked down. How do I explain to him that physicians are like a god who saves the lives of others and the prince is a murderer? I won’t bow to a murderer!

“Physician, shall we focus on the duty?” I requested politely and he nodded.

He starts to clarify the herbs and potions he made for the prince. I carefully observed them and inserted them into my mind.

“Prince is a Red Dragon, Emma. His Grace is not an ordinary dragon. There are specific plants and herbs necessary to treat him,” the physician explained carefully.

“What is the difference between a Red Dragon and an ordinary dragon?” I was new to the subject and I had never treated any kind of a dragon.

“Red Dragons are special, a rare species. Only they can see and speak to the Dragon Goddess, Drakaina. They have the greatest healing power among dragons and their breath can kill thousands of people. They usually do not shift every time, only if it is necessary. Every royal family member is a Red Dragon. Their mates become very special and the mate bond they share is very strong.” The Royal Physician described each important point to me, but thousand unanswered questions were bubbling in my mind.

“Master…”

“Call me Patonim, Emma. Master doesn’t suit me well,” he replied with a smile.

“But how can I do such a thing?” I replied. How can I call him by his name directly?

“Emma, I also come from a humble family like you. We are both servants here, so please call me by my name,” he insisted.

“Patonim, so they do have a Goddess?” I asked, my brows furrowed. I had never heard if they had a goddess.

“Yes, Drakaina is their Goddess. Drakaina is a female dragon with human features. Drakaina is the female version of Drakon, the name ancient Greeks used for dragons. They have the head and torso of a woman. They say that she is as dangerous as she is beautiful. I’ve never seen her, but I think Prince saw her one time after his….” he trailed off before pausing his sentence completely.

“After his what?” I was curious to know what happened.

“Forget it, Emma. Anything else you wanted to know?” He didn’t continue the story and I didn’t want to know about it. What is the point of learning about him?

“What do you mean by a mate?” I had never heard that term before.

“Mate means his or her life partner, the love of their life, much like husbands or wives for humans. Red Dragon mates are special, in the first meeting they sense them, but after their meeting when they shift into their dragon form, then only the dragon informs them who their mate is. While they live in their human form they would never know it,” he clarified.

“So does the Prince have a mate?” I inquired, curious to know who the unlucky lady was.

“Shhh! Do not speak about it. Mind your tongue when you are speaking about the Royal Family, Emma. The walls have ears everywhere so you should be careful when you ask something,” Patonim said, his voice lowered.

“I apologize. I was just curious,” I said.

“All right, let’s concentrate on the herbs again. When the Prince gets wounded during any war, we used this herb for his wound. Usually, he has his own healing power, but with this, his immune system will be upgraded and it would help His Grace to heal faster.” He pointed to the purple color herbs that looked like a bush with an orange flower.

“Where do we find these herbs?” I inquired, closely observing his actions.

“Good question Emma. You’re truly a beauty with a brain. We can find them on the north side of the mountains. It’s a two days walk from here and altogether it takes four days to find these plants and bring them here. Usually, I go to the mountains when the Prince goes for war, but now I have planted them in the herbal garden, so you don’t have to walk for four days to get them,” he explained with a smile.

“I am not going to stay forever as his nurse, so I don’t care about that,” I blurted out, leaning against my chair.

“If you keep showing your ego to him Emma, I swear to God that he will keep you forever. I know for a fact that the Prince enjoys straightening the behaviors of others.” Patonim sounded serious and he was probably right. If I keep my feisty behavior with him, I won’t be able to escape from his wrath.

We spend time discussing herbs and our experiences in medical service. I admired his experience on the battlefield, moreover, he was a humble man with a good heart.

Agatha entered the medical room, “Emma if you are done with the Royal Physician, it’s time to take the lunch tray to His Grace.”

“Oh Agatha, she is all yours now,” Patonim answered and I bowed my head before leaving the room.

Agatha showed me how to prepare lunch for the prince and I observed her intently before taking the tray into my hands.

“This is so heavy to carry, Agatha. Why does he need to eat this much food?” Carrying the tray and walking from one corner to another corner of the castle was a complicated thing for me since I was not strong as a dragon.   

“Emma, I won’t remind you again that you need to be careful when you speak about His Grace.” Agatha rolled her eyes at me. Why everyone is asking me to be careful? I am not afraid of any of them!

“His Grace has left for a meeting with the general. You can keep the lunch on the table and leave his chamber.” The soldier guarding his door informed us.

That was a relief to hear, since I detested seeing his face and how he made my blood boil. We went in and I kept the heavy lunch tray on his table before rubbing my reddened hands from carrying the tray.

“Let’s go, His Grace will come here and have his lunch,” Agatha said and turned towards the door. I noticed that his bed was messy and decided to prepare it neatly.

“Agatha, his bed looks messy. You can go first, I will prepare his bed and join you,” I informed her.

“Come quickly, I have some work to give you. We are busy with the feast preparations for tomorrow,” she replied.

“What’s the occasion?” I inquired, my eyebrows arched at her.

“To celebrate the victory over your kingdom,” she confessed softly before leaving the room.  

They were celebrating the victory they won over thousands of tears of innocent people and hundreds of dead bodies including my father. He was a ruthless prince, slaughterer, and cold-blooded murderer. My insides screamed to kill him soon and the memory of my father brought tears to my eyes like a waterfall.

Approaching his bed, I pulled off all his sheets towards the floor. Then I jumped on them with the soles of my dirty shoes until I was satisfied. Frankly, I didn’t care whether they would hang me for doing so. Soon, I was huffing, trying to catch my breath. I decided to leave the room before he came in.  

I quickened my footsteps towards the door. I was about to open it but suddenly the door flew open from the other side and I bumped into a hard chest, falling on the floor.

“What are you doing?” he demanded. I am dead now! He is here! Prince Radur had returned from his gathering. I gulped and stood up.

“Nothing. I just brought your lunch for you, Your Grace. I need to leave now.” I was about to leave but he blocked my path.

“I didn’t ask you to go,” he said and tugged my hand towards the center of the room.

At once he noticed his bedsheets and I immediately looked down, pretending to count my toes.

“Who did that?” he asked, turning to face me.

“Wh…what? I don’t know, Your Grace,” I answered, my voice trembling.

“Who did that?” he demanded again, this time with a roar. He pulled me flush against his chest, his hands squeezing my upper arms. His eyes were filled with rage and I was quivering under his grasp, while our faces were inches away.

“I…I..” The words refused to escape my mouth. Where has the hero inside of me gone?

“I what, Emma? You did this, right? Did you think that you can escape from me easily?” He tightened his grip on my arms, making them throb in pain as if my bones were almost cracking.  

“Please, it hurts!” Tears started to roll down from my eyes and seeing that he released his grip on me as his eyes softened.

“Why did you do this, Emma?” His tone was now calmer all of a sudden. How do people suddenly shift from blinding rage to a soft heart?

“I was angry with you! Agatha told me that you are going to celebrate your victory over my kingdom. You won over hundreds of dead bodies including my father. He was a simple humble man and he never wronged anyone in his lifetime. He helped many people, he taught us to live with your heads up but yet, you killed him!” I cursed him for his action. I couldn’t stop bawling out but he kept looking at me with an empty feeling.

“I didn’t prepare any feast, Emma. My father wanted to celebrate this victory and I didn’t kill you father. It’s… Forget it, why should I explain myself to someone who doesn’t understand me. Tell me why you were here?” he asked, his eyes narrowing at me.

“I brought your lunch. If you didn’t kill my father, then who did it?” I wanted to find out, but mom said that she saw the Prince pulling the sword out from my father’s chest.

“If you are done here, you can go now, Emma. I have work to do. Go and help Agatha.” He walked away towards his bath without answering me.

I left his chambers, confused and baffled. There were a lot of incomplete stories. Did mom tell me the truth? But why would she lie to me? Everyone was hiding something from me. If Radur claims he didn’t kill my father, then who did it? Does he know the person who killed my father?

I went to help Agatha and had my lunch with her. From time to time I visited Patonim and learned my favorite subject since I loved healing people. I took time to go see mom too, she was in the storeroom handling things. She said that they were getting healthy meals, clean clothes and the Prince was visiting them frequently to keep an eye on their work and health.

At night, I went to his chamber with dinner and the soldiers opened the doors for me. I noticed him lying on the bed and he didn’t even turn around to look at me. I saw that the lunch tray was still on the table untouched. I didn’t ask him anything and just kept the dinner tray on the table and taking the lunch tray with me before exiting the room. But, he still didn’t utter a word to me.

All of a sudden, I bumped into someone. I honestly didn’t see anyone on my way. I was so deep in my thoughts and accidentally spilled the food tray all over the person’s clothes.

She started to scream at me, “you lower-class servant! Are you deaf? Are you walking around with your eyes closed? Didn’t you see that I was coming?”

“Forgive me, I didn’t see you.” She looked like a royal and she wore soft, transparent clothes. Behind her, I saw another girl that seemed like her servant and she whispered something in her ear.

“So you are the newly appointed nurse for His Grace. I heard that you’ve got a feisty mouth. Don’t you know who I am?” she demanded, her voice laced with pride and ego.  

“Pardon me, My Lady, I don’t know,” I answered humbly.

“I am the Prince’s Mistress! You should speak to me with full respect and bow to me. I wonder why His Grace choose you as his nurse? Did you seduce him? Do you have any plans to become his mistress?” she squeezed my chin tightly.

“No, My Lady. What are you talking about?” I replied, my eyes were moistened with tears with the way she spoke to me.

“Don’t try to be smart with me. You better keep your status in mind. You are just a servant! If you try to seduce His Grace or try to sleep with him, the consequences will be not good for you!” She pushed me on the floor and I fell along with the tray. She left me there, but not before stepping on my wrist.

“Aaaaah!” I screamed out in pain.

No one was there to comfort me. I collected the food plates and ran to the kitchen, placing them there before running to the garden. The garden was silent and no one was no one around.

The garden was a neat field of grass surrounded by various hedges as borders of the garden. A pond was built near the left edge of the garden, home to many frogs, bugs, and other water creatures. The flowers were surrounded by larger ones, but had no difficulties claiming a spot of their own; they were rich in species. The hedges reached around 4ft in height but it looked like it would continue to grow until they either stopped growing or collapsed by their own weight. It seemed like the garden was well-maintained and the top of the hedges was neat. Various stones spread at the paths around the garden, beckoning people to explore the garden, and showing them the best sights. Grass and roots were sticking to their own domains for now, but there was no doubt they were craving to stretch those boundaries.

The pond was the pride and joy of the owner of this garden. The pond had a small bridge and there were huge rocks placed around unsystematically, perfect for people to sit comfortably. The flowers and greenery were a sight to behold, and the hedges definitely deserved to be commended, but everything was secondary in comparison to the pond.

I sat on a rock and started to cry. I cried to wash away all my sorrows but my tears were not enough to drown my pain. Hot tears were pouring from my eyes like a waterfall and my wrist was in so much pain. The castle was a place full of monsters. There were no humans around, everyone was heartless. Father, I miss you. Where are you, father? Take me into your embrace father! I cried out a lot.

Suddenly I heard a voice from behind me, “what are you doing here, Tigress?” I turned my head to see him.

It’s him! It was Prince Radur!