Scarred

Chapter 36

Cassie's POV
"So you're the healer that's been sent for us? You're just a kid though," Hunter says as a girl walks into Eva and Cas' room. In order to keep Cas company, we chose to wait for said healer here, it's so weird seeing Eva in such a deep sleep. The girl in the doorway sneers at Hunter as she tucks locks of light pink hair behind her ears.
"That isn't just any kid though," Cas replies with a sigh. "That's Eva's cousin, Princess Tessa. You really don't have any manners when it comes to royalty."
"Thanks for explaining," she smiles. "So... who first? Um, I'll start with you." She points at me before quickly walking over. "This is one big bruise, it must hurt."

"Why are you doing this? I mean, you're not just Pure, you're a princess. You probably don't like what we're trying to do, yet you're helping us regardless," I say as she goes to reach for my head.
"I... honestly, I don't know what's right anymore..." Tessa sighs, slouching down on the floor. "My whole world has been flipped on its head. The cousin I cared for so much and treated like a little sister... she's everything I was ever taught to hate: a half blood, a rebel. I want to help her, and... well I recently found out just how horrible the half blood prison is. Most of the people there are children, and seeing it makes me sick to my stomach. So using that logic, I guess I'm on your side. Plus... it's evident to anyone just how horrible my grandmother was."

Before anyone can say anymore, she places her fingertips on the bruise on my forehead, at first it hurts, yet after a moment a strange feeling of warmth rushes through me. She asks if there are any other areas she wants me to heal, and I roll up my sleeves to reveal a few more bruises. She moves onto Lucky next, though her injuries are minimal compared to the rest of us, just a few bruises and small cuts here or there, nothing like Flynn or Hunter's situations. When we were dragged to the half blood prison, without Hunter even trying to hesitate, one of the guards ripped an earring out of his lobe, and I guess that's when we started to fight back. "Ah-" he breathes as her fingers lightly brush it.
"Sorry... it'll be better in the end, I swear..."

Flynn's missing tooth can't really be replaced with healing magic, of course he could get a fake one but that's not something we're really concerned about right now.

"How do you know this stuff?" He asks. "Eva doesn't know a thing about healing magic. If she did, she wouldn't be covered in plasters all the time."
"Well, my mother's family excels in healing magic. And of course the royal family is good at curses and the sort - mainly magic to do with the soul," Tessa explains. "My father taught me all that whilst my mother taught the rest."
"I've got another question. The story they told for Eva never even being spoken about during the first few years of her life was because she was ill or something, right? Surely that seemed weird to you. Surely you would've known something was off."

"Well, I was only eight when she first showed up, so I didn't question it too much. But I did begin to think about it more later. Then again, there were rumours of Rose being pregnant a bit after the end of the war, so it kinda added up. But I didn't really speak to either Rose or Caleb much before Eva came along - I just assumed they kept her away from everyone so she wouldn't be overwhelmed."
"Fair enough. To think so many lies could be told about just one girl," Flynn replies. "Anyway, Cas, I see you've got a few bruises."
"Oh, right... here..."

He holds out his arms reluctantly, some of the scars on them looking much older than others. Could they have been from the time he lived with Edith Harris?

"Do you want to keep any of them? The scars I mean, not the bruises."
"Huh?"
"Lots of people think scars can serve as reminders of things they've survived, or sometimes it's just a scar that reminds them of a silly memory where they did something stupid. I was just wondering if any of them serve as something like that for you."
"Well... I... keep these ones," he says, gesturing to an area by his left wrist. "And... heal the rest, I guess."