The Prince And The Pagan

Chapter 6: The Opportunity

-Raven-

“Micha!”

Micha was standing by a bigger bonfire drinking with the other hunters and laughing. I knew he heard me the first time, and yet he made me call out to him again,

“Micha!”

He finally turned his eyes to me before turning away, downing his drink and getting up. His eyes were cold, as he met me halfway and then he stopped in front of me, crossed his arms, and looked like he couldn’t care less about what I had to say. His attitude annoyed me. I was not the one who had been acting like a jerk, and yet now he looked like he was waiting for an apology.

“Yes?” he asked coldly.

I looked shortly at the other hunters who were watching us silently. I looked back at Micha and then grabbed his arm, pulling him further away. I was not doing this in front of the others. It was ridiculous and childless. When I knew we were out of earshot, I stopped and turned to him.

“Why are you acting like this?” I asked.

“Like what?” he asked.

“Like this!” I said. “Like a child.”

“Me?”

“Yes! You ignore me … is it really because I said no in the forest?”

He just looked away and shook his head a little, as he lowered his arms, and I understood nothing. Why was he so angry? Or frustrated or maybe irritated. For the first time, he was actually difficult to read …

“Of course not,” he said and looked back at me.

“Then what is it?” I asked.

He seemed to have a difficult time getting the words out, and I couldn’t understand why.

“I just … don’t understand why you would say no, and then suddenly you come back saying you have found the prince half dead, shortly after we just talked about his family. A bit strange, don’t you think?” he asked.

“You think I hurt him?!” I asked.

“Well, I know no one else was out there,” he said. “I mean, do you even have any idea what kind of trouble this will bring?”

“Of course, I do!” I said. “I just don’t understand why you are treating me like this! What is going on?”

Micha was acting so strangely. It was impossible that it really had anything to do with what happened in the forest or with the fact I had found the prince half dead. Something else was going on.

“I am going back to the others,” he suddenly said. “Come find me when you want to make it clear you want to be with me.”

“Micha!”

He just turned away, not even looking at me. What was that? Why was he acting like I had hurt his feelings or not wanting to be his by saying no to having s*x up against a tree? It made no sense. I groaned, frustrated, just wanting to punch something. Instead, I settled for pulling on my hair before turning away. If Micha didn’t want to tell me what was going on, then I could not do anything. At least not at the moment. I walked back to where Helena was, but just as I was about to go over to her and help with the last few things for the dinner, I saw the healer leave his tent.

He was walking to the tent where my father and mother lived, and I felt my heart beat faster, but instead of following him, I turned my eyes to his. Was the prince dead? Why else would he finally be leaving his tent? I could not wait for my father to tell me what had happened. Since he was keeping secrets from me lately, I could not be certain if he would even tell me anything. So, when no one was looking, I sneaked over to the opening. I looked behind me to see if anyone was focused on me, but everyone was busy preparing dinner or relaxing in the late evening.

I quickly snuck inside the half dark tent that smelled a lot like herbs. It was divided into a lot of sections, and while I had never been in here, I heard a low coughing at the back of the tent, and knew the prince was there. While the coughing told me he was alive, it did not tell me in what kind of state he was in, and since I was already here … I slowly snuck forward, pushing away the many thin fabrics hanging from the ceiling of the tent and dividing it into many rooms.

I reached the last one and pushed it away and slowly revealed the prince. He looked … horrible. White as a sheet, his skin even a soft sickly green color mixed into the white, and he was covered in sweat. He would sometimes cough a little, and when he breathed in, it was like a small rattling sound. It made me almost feel bad because it sounded so painful.

I moved a little closer. He couldn’t really do anything to me in the state he was in. The blanket he was wearing covered his lower half, and the other half was covered in a big white bandage that had blood on where the wound was. There hung a dark energy over the prince … I feared he wouldn’t make it.

I looked at him for a little while, just … observing him. He was very big, rippled with muscles and with black hair. He did not look like what I imagined a prince would look like. I had seen a few lords traveling through these woods on the bigger roads not far from here. They were always covered in those fine clothes that had gold running around in the fabric. They weren’t big in the way the prince was, and they always carried themselves like they owned the very ground they stood on. I thought he might look like that as well. Instead, he looked like a fighter. A warrior.

He would be hard to win against in a fight, but I knew that wouldn’t be necessary. No, once I was told he was awake, I would come back. I nodded determinedly at the sick prince in front of me, and turned to leave, but just as I did, there was a groaning sound, and then something grabbed my wrist.

I let out a shocked gasp before turning around, seeing the prince had grabbed my wrist very softly, in his sleep. My heart had jumped at the contact, and I was watching him intensely, fearing he might do more, but he just groaned a little and mumbled in his sleep.

“Don’t … go …”

I slowly lifted my own hand and pushed his down, but just as I had gotten free, and was about to leave again, I came face to face with Dimar.

“Healer!” I said, shocked.

Sh!t … I knew I was in trouble now, and his light green eyes looked almost amused at the sight of me.

“Could not wait any longer, Raven?”

“I … I …”

“You … what?” he asked and then walked past me.

“I was just … checking on him,” I said.

It was partly true, yet my intentions weren’t what people thought they were, or maybe they did. It seemed like many just waited for me to plunge a knife deep into his heart, and that was my plan, but not until he could see me doing it.

“Really?” he asked. “Is there an inspiring healer in you?”

“Well …”

“If that is the case, I would like for you to hand me that jar over there.”

He pointed to the left, and I turned a little, seeing the small table just at the other end of the little room. There were a lot of jars and herbs and bandages lying around, and I quickly picked up the jar he was pointing at. I walked over to him and handed it to him. He was slowly unwrapping the many bandages from around the prince’s body.

“If there is nothing else, Healer, I will leave,” I said, hoping to make a quick escape.

“Actually, could you hand me those bandages?” he asked.

I was so close, but sadly, had to turn around and grab the bandages. He was applying the ointment from the jar on the prince’s wound that had been stitched together but was red and seeping with some kind of … liquid. I felt sick from the sight but was able to hand him the bandages.

“Here you go,” I said and turned away.

“Place this back please,” Dimar said without looking.

I tried my best not to sigh too loudly and turned to take the jar and put it back.

“Now take the cup and pour a little water into it,” he said.

I clenched my hands into small tight fists. He was doing this on purpose. He was even having a hard time hiding his smile. He was punishing me, most likely in his own little funny way, so I grabbed the cup and poured the water into it before handing it to Dimar.

“Here you go, healer,” I said.

“Thank you, now pour some water into the bowl and take the cloth with you.”

I rolled my eyes but did as I was told. Unless I wanted to admit openly why I had truly been in here, I knew I would be his slave for the rest of the day. So, I poured the water into the small bowl, took the cloth and placed it in it before handing him both.

“Now take the cup.”

I took the cup and placed it back before turning to Dimar and the prince. He was wiping away a lot of the sweat and the strange liquid. His old eyes were watching the prince intensely and, for any signs of recovery, it was almost fascinating, but I would rather get out of here.

“Do you need anything else?” I asked politely.

“Come a little closer, Raven,” he said, and waved me closer.

I sighed but did as I was told and placed myself at his side. He was sitting on a small chair by the prince, but then he turned his eyes to me.

“What do you see?” he asked.

Was this a trick question, I wondered.

“A … dying person,” I said.

“Is that all?”

“A … dying prince?” I said.

“As a healer you need to look beyond the sick body. You need to see the light and the hope for survival. You must see him as someone who can be saved,” he told me.

“Someone who can be saved?” I asked, confused.

He nodded before turning to the prince, wiping away some sweat from his forehead.

“He is very young. He has a long life ahead of him if he survives this. That is why, as a healer, you must always put the wounded ones first. Even the ones that seem unworthy of being saved.”

“Why?” I asked. “If they are unworthy. Why use your time?”

“Because we dedicate our lives to life. Not death, and therefore, we save everyone because we believe that people can be saved. We believe in the hope that life can bring. The new beginnings and the new chances. It is very important you remember this now.”

“Why now?” I asked.

“Because I will ask your father for you to become my apprentice,” he said.

“Your what!?”

“Is that not why you are here? To check on the prince because you wanted to make sure he was going to recover. Or was there a different reason?” he asked with almost a cruel smile.

“But I …

“Yes?”

“I … I … will gladly help,” I said, defeated.

“Wonderful. Now give me a hand and let's get the new bandages on.”

I wanted to hit myself for getting myself into this situation, because now there was no escaping this. Yet, as we wrapped the prince in new bandages, I also started to see what an opportunity this was. Could it get any better?