𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄// 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨 𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐔

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟖𝟎// 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬

By evening, Will made it back to his kingdom. He had already been a little tired before setting out, so by the time he made it to the palace gates, he could barely get out of the saddle. His knees buckled, and he promptly hit the dirt, nearly striking his head on the fence. The poor guards ignored his protests that he was fine, and rushed him to the healers.

"Can you blame them?" Magnus joked while he helped the prince into a private room. "You almost gave yourself a concussion."

"Can I leave now? You know I'm fine. I bet I–" He paused upon seeing the golden retriever at Magnus's side, face lighting up. "Dog!" He spotted the DO NOT DISTRACT on the dog's harness and stopped. "Sorry,"

Magnus smiled. "It's fine. He's Jack. He tells me when I'm going to have a seizure." The dog perked up upon hearing the name, his wagging tail thumping against the wall. Chase motioned to the door and said, "Hey, so Healer Fletcher asked me earlier to help him assess your condition. Something about you having CFS?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I tend to be better at sensing certain diseases, like how he's better at healing physical stuff. Do you think you could do the consultation now, since you're already here? If not, it's completely okay."

"I can do it. I told you I'm fine."

Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Like I said earlier, you almost gave yourself a concussion, but if you feel you can do it, then I won't stop you."

Lee appeared a few minutes later. "What's all this I'm hearing about you collapsing at the palace gate?"

Will huffed. "The guards are talking about it?"

Lee gave a smile. "You're the prince, remember? People are going to talk."

Will sat down on the exam table. Lee passed a file to Magnus, who quickly looked it over. "So your symptoms are chronic fatigue and joint pain?" Will nodded. Magnus extended his hand. "Can I have a look?" Will took it, feeling his power course through him. His expression was carefully neutral when he pulled back. "You have chronic dry mouth and eyes. What about swelling when you have joint pain?"

Will blinked, surprised. "No swelling. I think the aching joints are just fatigue."

"He's also said that physical activity makes the fatigue worse," Lee pointed out, rifling through a file. "And sleep doesn't help much."

Magnus looked deep in thought. "Dryness, fatigue, but your lymph nodes aren't swollen..."

Fletcher frowned, taking a step closer. "Are you checking for what I think you are?"

Magnus turned to Lee. "You said that his depression is the lowest it's been in months?"

"Yes, but he's still experiencing fatigue, so I doubt it's that."

"Mind telling me what you think I got?" Will asked, a bit irritated.

"I don't blame Lee for thinking you might have..." Magnus scowled. "What's the term again?"

"Myalgic encephalomyelitis," Lee said without missing a beat.

Magnus gave him a playful glare. "Just say ME or CFS like a normal person." Will laughed. Magnus continued, "But I don't think it's that, or your depression. When I read your file, I first thought it was fibromyalgia, but my powers are telling me otherwise. I'm pretty sure you have sjogren's."

Will scowled. "Show-grens? What is that?"

"It's an autoimmune disorder."

Will was running out of patience. "Which is...?"

"Your immune system is attacking healthy parts of your body–in this case, your saliva and tear glands."

Will's eyes widened. "I...oh."

"Your notes say that you're already taking a potion for energy. You should stay on that." Magnus pointed to his face. "If you want, I can get you some drops for your eyes, if it's that bothersome." Will didn't know what to say, still reeling from the revelation. Magnus continued. "Do you remember getting sick before your symptoms started? That's usually a way people develop sjogren's–"

"Stop, just–" Will held up his hands in irritation. "Can this be cured? Am I going to get better?"

The healers exchanged looks, and Lee answered. "We can ease your symptoms, but it can't be cured."

Will's chest ached. "I...Oh."

Magnus's professional mask slipped, compassion peeking through. "Listen...I know hearing that you won't get better sucks. You're used to us being able to use our magic and cure you immediately." He tapped his fingers against the table. "Unfortunately, the brain is a complex organ. Fletcher here can unclog a heart valve or stop an eye from being inflamed, but trying to rewire a brain is something vastly different."

"Didn't the healers try to cure brains a few years ago?" Will asked, a random and vague memory coming back to him.

"More than a few years–a decade if I'm correct." Magnus's expression went dark. "I don't remember everything, but patients died, and healers were put in prison." He blinked. "Sorry, I'm going off-topic. What I'm trying to say is–our magic has limits, but you can still live a good life despite your disease." He shrugged. "Hell, every year we're discovering new ways to harness our magic. Maybe one day we'll learn how to do miracles."

"More miracles than you already do," Will said, his mouth twitching.

Magnus smiled at that, before turning serious again. "Do you have any questions?"

"You said it was an...autoimmune disorder, right? How does that happen?"

"Well, you're born with certain genetics that make you more vulnerable to developing the disease. Usually, you get sick and it triggers the illness, though sometimes it just develops on its own." Magnus looked at the file again. "You're quite young for it to develop, actually. For most, it doesn't start until they're twice your age."

"Lucky me," Will deadpanned.

Fletcher laughed. "Anything else?"

"You said it was from genetics. Does that mean it's hereditary? Do my parents have it?"

Lee see-sawed his hand. "It's likely, but not guaranteed. They could have the genetics for it, but that doesn't immediately mean they'll develop it."

Will nodded. "That's good to know."

Magnus set the file on the table. "By the way, you're more likely to develop cancers like lymphoma."

Lee glared at him. "Magnus."

Chase glared back. "What? He has a right to know." He turned back to Will. The second you show any symptoms, we'll treat them."

Will nodded, not knowing the right way to respond. "Okay." He paused. "Thank you."

"It's nothing. It's just our job." Lee motioned to the door. "Anyway, if you have any more questions later, feel free to ask us. Until then, you can go and sleep. You look dead on your feet."

Will stood up on aching legs and grabbed his cane, feeling a burst of affection at the exchanged smiles with Lee and walked off.

It felt good to be back home.