The Forest King

Chapter Three

T H R E E

     Bodhin leads Grace with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his well-fitted pants through the small village like area. He kept a slow and relaxed pace and Grace is silently grateful for this. His words are clear as he explains himself and Alaynah, "We are known as the 'Keepers' for we are filled with extensive and complex knowledge of the Gardens, which we inhabit, as well as all of those who occupy these lands. It is both on a spiritual and physical plane."

     Grace bobs her head along with him; him not really paying much attention to her own attentiveness, but rather focused on the path ahead of them. "So, you already know who I am," she stated matter-of-fact.

     "Only those who live here," Bodhin corrects, "if you decide that this is your own, then you become connected in ways that may seem impossible. With your connection comes our knowledge."

     "Does it become too much? Having to remember and keep all of those secrets?"

     Bodhin clears his throat as they begin to approach another tree house, his voice as soft as if he were speaking to Alaynah, "it's no burden, Grace. Knowledge is power in the right hands, which is why it is in the hands of the Prince and Princess. Now, this is the House of Healers and it belongs to Althea and Helem who study the practice thoroughly." 

     He opens the door without warning, revealing two bodies hunched over a pile of unmarked herbs. An immediate aroma of aloe and thyme hit her senses and tickled her nose. Their argument is only momentarily halted as they each give a slight nonchalant bow, the woman the same one who swiped across Grace's shoulders at meal. She looked more alive, her BLANK hair pulled into an uncontrolled bun atop her head.

     "What do you think, Bodhin? Helem decided to tell me these weren't from the shady town south of the West border, yet they are unmarked and reek of fish." A disgusted look crossed her beautiful, pixie like features as she regarded the questionable herb with a jab of her hand.

     He simply chuckles, offering no defense for either side before hand Grace over with a gentle nudge. Helem barks a short laugh before swiping the herb off the wooden table and into a glass dish, Bodhin making a quick beeline for the door without a word. Althea sighs, her stubby hands wiping down her face before raising thin brows to Grace.

     "Suppose you're here to learn about what we do," she spoke with no malice, yet her tone was sharp. Grace very quickly felt unwelcomed, racking her mind to say something but Althea continued, "good thing one of us loves to talk about ourselves."

     Helem whipped around so quickly that Grace thought he might sprang an ankle, "self-love is a simple matter, Althea, dearest. Our craftmanship, on the other hand, is not. We are the Healers of the Gardens. I work solely on quick mends of the flesh in order to ensure completion of tasks. Hunting, for example: if one was to be mauled, I make it certain that they return to which they are handed over to Althea."

     "I work with the art of milking a wound, allowing it to heal more naturally and deeply which causes a higher survival rate. We are not one without the other, or only death would follow," Althea is quick to follow his explanation. Her calmness oozes into ever word, as she reaches for a small glass beaker. She continues to speak of medicine and how difficult it is to study such an extensive topic when all they have to go off of is experience alone.

     As they speak one after another Grace decides that, however intelligent they may be, Althea and Helem were not the right people to interrogate about information on getting home. They seem so invested and solely focused on medicine. Going back and forth in a controlled conversation about herbs and falling back onto the topic of the aforementioned pile of unmarked herbs sitting before them. Althea threw a hand up in dismissal as she takes a deep breath. Helem raised his brows as she walked slowly out of the room with a hand to her forehead.

     Grace watched between the two of them and as soon as Althea was out of earshot, Helem scooted his chair closer to her. He spoke lowly, his hand swiping away at the herbs, "Say you give a helping hand and fetch some water? Need some for a surprise concoction I'm brewing up."

     "I don't see why not." Grace was thankful to be able to have a moment to herself. He swiveled off his stool and snatched up an old pale for water. When he extended the pale to her, Grace took it slowly before he turned back to creating paste.  

     She shrugs her shoulders and leaves out the door with the pale clutched to her chest. The fresh, herbless air was rejuvenating but it quickly dawned on Grace that she didn't, in fact, know where the water was kept. Was there some sort of well system here or a freshwater pond nearby? Walking forward seemed like a good start, moving anywhere would be more beneficial than standing still and show up waterless.

     It was a few good minutes of wandering aimlessly before she rounded an unfamiliar building. Her body was shoved up against the wood, a wave of red and silver suddenly in her view as she dropped the pale and was enclosed in a cell of two strong arms. Up close, AC was undoubtedly beautiful and frightening all at once. The sheer strength and nearing unhinged violence that seeped from his aurora made Grace hold her breath. Sharp jaw set with clenched teeth and hair messy like that of fire. His eyes searched for answers to unspoken questions and when he couldn't find the answers on his own his deep, husky voice reverberated through his chest in a primal manner.

     "Who are you." The question more of a demand, his eyes narrowing, "How did you get to the woods alone and under the moon?"

      Her head was swimming, as if she was back under the currents of the ruthless sea. What was she supposed to say? "I fell - fell from the cliff near BLANK Beach, and woke up at a waterfall. I'm just trying to get home, but obviously I'm not getting very far."

     AC slammed his hands against the building beside her head in quick anger, "Liar. No one comes from the Crystal Falls; no one dares to go near those waters."

     "Why?" Grace couldn't help herself, her judgment clouded by the prospect of being harmed by the very man who saved her in the first place. "What's so bad there?"

     His eyes burn into hers, something indescribable there behind all the cold and piercing silver as he inched ever so slightly closer. AC turned his quick focus to the abandoned pale now upon the grass at their feet. "The well is behind the Healer's House," and with that he rips away from her.

     Grace curses herself, chest heaving with her caught breath. A moment of collecting herself, Grace grabs the pale from the ground and makes way back to the Healer House for the water.