Falling Shadows (The Ellocea chronicles) [#Wattys2016]

Twenty four

Unable to sleep after the ordeal with Nuala earlier, Zahni was walking through the upper corridor of the inner courtyard trying to relax in the cool night air, when he heard a small commotion outside the gates. His curiosity peaked he jogged through the moonlit arches and down the steps to the gate. Pushing the smaller wooden door open he strode through to see what had attracted such a crowd of the Palace workers. He noticed one of the guards from the outer gate holding a distressed horse in the middle of the ring of people and struggled to imagine what had brought him into the inner Palace. Snippets of conversation drifted to his ears as he approached the gaggle of people,

"It jus' ran straight 'froo'..."

"Wha' 'appened to 'er?"

Zahni cleared his throat and a hush fell over the crowd.

"What exactly is going on here?" he looked straight at the gate guard as he spoke, who seemed to turn a deep shade of beetroot under the dimly lit lamps as he tried to explain how a farming horse with a seemingly unconscious rider had managed to get through the guarded gates to the inner Palace.

"Well, uh my Lord, it was very persistent. It kept rearin' and nearly tossin' its rider, ya see. And she doesn't look as if she's in the best shape so...uh" Zahni peered around the man to inspect the rider and his heart stopped. Golden hair fanned out down her back seeming silver in the moonlight, it wasn't until she shifted slightly that he caught a glimpse at the riders face that he suddenly realised who it was.

He barely recognised her, with a green tinge to her skin and her pink swollen eyes. His heart leapt at the sight and he shoved past the babbling guard, causing a few eyebrows to raise and gasps as he cupped her hot clammy face in his hands and begged her to open her eyes. Her eyelids fluttered and just as he thought he's be able to see those beautiful eyes her weight moved and she started falling towards him off the horse. Catching her easily in his arms he asked desperately for someone to open the gates, fetch the doctor and take care of the horse. As swiftly as he could he carried her delicate body into the palace and laid her on the bed of the first room he came to, just as the doctor arrived, looking rumpled and dazed from being awoken at such an unsocial hour.

"What can I help you- oh my..." His eyes widened at the strange girl in the bed who was clearly not in a good state, Zahni didn't want to think about the questions that must be racing around his brain wondering how a seemingly random farm girl ended up in one of the palace beds in the private quarters of the palace and how she had ended up in this state. His face blanched slightly at the sight and Zahni was glad that he asked no more questions. Instead he started getting to work checking her heart rate and temperature, Zahni's heart dropped when his face seemed to show that the results weren't good. He then, to Zahni's surprise and confusion smelt her breath, his brows furrowing in result.

"What it is Jowan?" using the doctor's first name. "Whats wrong with her?" Fear laced his words and he almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"It looks as if she has been given a dangerously big dose of Daturaban, quite a tricky substance to come by, normally only used by trained doctors like myself to be used when a patient is needed to be unconscious for some procedures. Its a curious matter how she may have come into contact with it but her symptoms seem to fit the descriptions, the fever like sweating, the paleness to the skin and the lack of responsiveness, the real tell-tale however is the scent it leaves behind, like rusting metal and leaves. It's likely that with this big of a dose she'd be floating in and out of consciousness for a while and will be likely to hallucinate. Luckily her pulse seems to be returning to a relatively normal rate so she should recover within a day or two, all she needs is some rest to sleep it off and lots of water to try and rid it from her system." Zahni let out a small breath of relief when he heard that she'd recover. Jowan began to pack away his things after placing a cool wet towel on her forehead and a cup of water on the table beside the bed but paused when he turned back to face the prince.

"If you don't mind my asking Kalizahni, how exactly did she end up here?"

"I don't really know, but I'm glad she did," Zahni replied, not helping at all with the doctor's confusion but not really caring that much, "Thank you for helping her, I'm sorry for having you woken at such a time."

"Don't worry, it's my job sire, I've been doing it since long before you were born," Jowan replied with a slight sense of nostalgia to his words, his white beard trembling as he spoke, "And Kalizahni?"

"Yes," looking back at the elderly man as he made his way to the door.

"Maybe don't tell Kaiko that he had a strange woman sleeping in his bed whilst he was away," he said with a chuckle making his white beard tremble as he made his way out the door. Zahni hadn't even noticed which room he'd come to and a smile played on his lips as he imagined his younger brother's response to the fact a beautiful woman was lying in his bed.