Healer

Chapter 30

     Talia stared at him for a second, looking him over for any harm. She didn't see any. "What's going on?" She tried to sound calm. She turned and reentered her tent and he followed.

"When I left the king, we heard from Helion's general that Hybern soldiers tried to enter Night Court from the south. There was a skirmish near the border."

She bent to lace her boots. "The others are there?"

He nodded. "They went before I knew what was going on."

"Okay. Let's go." She slung the dagger from Azriel over her shoulder. She didn't want to ask about him directly, Rhysand would tell her if something involving him had happened. She was sure of it.

They walked toward the center of camp, the two Illyrians he had flown in with following close behind. "The Hybern troops were eliminated but day court took a bad hit. We need to get them moved out quickly in case the king is sending more their way."

She nodded. She already had a bag prepared, but she assumed this would be a quick job. Her best tool would be her hands. He took her arm and they disappeared, letting the sun set behind them. They landed on a wooded hillside, cliffs to the west dropped off into the sea she had been camped beside. Talia wasn't sure what to expect, not really, but it was quieter than she had thought it would be. The fighting was over and she ignored the bodies scattered near where they stood. They were being picked up, but Rhysand had landed them on the fringes of day court's camp. Feyre walked to meet them. She was quiet, too.

"This way." She said, leading Talia toward the center of the camp, Rhysand staying behind to talk to a few males that approached him. Feyre led her to a large tent near the center of the camp and they entered. It was lined with beds, though many were empty. But there was one, near the center, that several fae stood around. One, she recognized. Helion. Talia stopped as did Feyre. She had only one question before her work began.

"Where are the others?"

Feyre nodded, she knew what the healer meant. "Back at the border, scouting." Talia nodded and Feyre kept walking, leading her to stand near day court's high lord. He looked muted somehow in his dark armor.

"I've brought the healer." Talia heard Feyre's voice, and she felt Helion turn to look at her, but her eyes were on the male in the bed. Daria. He looked completely battered and was obviously not healing.

Helion's voice caught her attention. "They were at the border when they hit. Twelve of my men, including my son." Son. This male was the high lord's heir. She swallowed. "The three others that lived carried him here." 

The thought that she had nearly been seduced by the heir to day court was loud in her mind, but she hushed it, saving it for later. It didn't change that he was nearly dead, she could tell even from where she was standing, and that she wasn't going to let that happen. Not because Rhysand needed the alliance or because she had, despite his rather forward attitude, not disliked Daria. But because she was a healer and it was her nature. She dropped the bag she had been carrying, guessing it would be of no use and pushed past the other fae standing around to the other healer's side. The thin sheet he laid on was soaked with his blood from several arrows that still protruded from his shoulder and side. Why had he been on the front lines? She laid her hands on his arm and immediately felt the faebane coursing through his blood. So then, she was much later than she needed to be. As she felt for anything else that she could heal from inside, she looked up. While many of the beds were empty there were still a number of soldiers, both day and night court, that might need her. She turned back to Helion who stood with his arms crossed, watching her. He was unreadable, rare for the usually open and energetic high lord. Feyre stood next to him.