The Worth of a Coin (BxB)

Chapter 38

-Quan Leung-

I ached, and my entire body felt like it was being attacked by miniature stings and bites. It was annoying, but it was nothing that I couldn't handle. What I couldn't handle was the boredom which I faced for the next few hours whilst Cappi healed. They were out of bed and jumping around before four in the afternoon, which was a fact that made me rather jealous.

"You know, there is a way that you guys could help with this," I told the others, who had joined us at around eleven in the morning. "Luka especially."

Luka bounced up from where he was sitting on the cream settee. "I've been waiting for you to ask for the past seven hours." He had a boyish grin on his face, but there was anxiety dancing in his eyes.

"I don't think that you should try," Ruarc said hesitantly. He was still sitting on the floor beside me, but he hadn't been there all the time. He had paced, done several patrols around the hotel, went for food, had a shower, did a few hours of exercise, and still managed to be right beside me.

"Why not?" Aubrey asked from where she was lying on the settee, her head in Sara's lap. "Let him try at least. We're all sitting ducks, and we've gotten no further forward in our plans."

That was true. We now had all the information we needed to know about what happened at the caves, and I was able to describe some of my father's abilities to them. Cappi had been helpful in assuring us that we had no chance against Modu, the fairy is much older than Cappi, and far more mischievous. We would need to rely on other fairies to help us do that. I wasn't sure how we would get into contact with any of those who work in the fairy jail, which still needs a new name, but I figured that would be an issue for when we were all fit and healthy.

"Then why can't he help you out?" Ruarc asked with a pointed look. "You're not exactly in top shape either." Aubrey whined each time she moved, complaining about her arms and legs, which had been quite badly injured, and were covered in dark bruises. They were nothing more than aches and pains now, but they looked far worse earlier.

I hadn't been using my powers at all today, other than that little snippet when Ruarc was redressing my wounds. The world was as clear as I could make it, which still looked as though there were several layers of cling film over my eyes.

"You can have a go," I told Luka. "But please focus on the stab wound, the rest is nothing if I can't actually move and do things." The stab wound was the main reason why I was forced to lie on the settee all day. I didn't have any kind of magic to help this, which is highly frustrating. I wasn't exactly sure why healing wasn't a default strand of magic people learned, no matter their speciality.

Luka looked immensely excited at the permission which I granted. "Thank you." The fact that he looked like a child who had just been told that he could go on a rollercoaster, despite being too short, wasn't reassuring at all. But he still looked happy, an expression I hadn't seen in my time of knowing him.

"Besides, if it doesn't work, I want to try something anyway." I sat up and untied the knot in my hair. I ran my fingers through it a few times with a displeased expression, it wasn't as clean as I was used to, which made me very uncomfortable.

I was faintly aware of Ruarc's stare. He had once told me that he really liked my hair, but he hadn't actually told me his thoughts when my hair was completely down. I knew from previous experiences that it could be shocking, past experiences benign Jade and William's expressions when they came to visit me in the hospital after I hurt my stomach. Apparently, it made me look a lot more delicate, yet regal at the same time.

I rested my head on the arm of the settee and watched Luka's light blue eyes fill with uncertainty as he leaned over me.

"Luka, you can't exactly hurt me," I told him lightly. I took his wrists gently and placed his fingers on my temples. "The only possibility is that I wear myself out."