Healers' Call

Nobody Messes With Pandath

The first thing Valda woke to was the sound of distant arguing. The voices muffled, but just loud enough that she could still hear every other word.

"Out... way. The girl...explain."

"If you think... get by... protectors."

Valda was almost sure that the second voice was Arlie's but the other voice was a mystery. As to their disagreement, Valda was sure she was the cause, but there were too many confusing words for her to make sense of what they meant. What were protectors?

The voices continued to argue, but Valda lost interest. Her sole focus was getting her eyelids to open and to find out where she was.

The last thing she remembered was healing Niamh, and then her memory drew a blank. The space in between was making her edgy, and she pushed herself up.

Her eyes fluttered open, and her arms shook where they tried to support her. A weight across her legs kept the lower part of her body from moving.

Looking down, three little dragon heads rose to look at her. Pandath was the first to move and crawled into her lap.

"Are you feeling better, Valda?" His mind spoke into hers.

Pommyt and the other dragon, that Valda didn't know, moved so she could rest her back against the wall.

After even that slight movement, her face was flushed, and her breathing laboured. "Exhausted."

Pandath bobbed his dragon head. "You were really cold. We had to stay with you and keep you warm." He pressed against her as he spoke.

The unknown dragon gave a snort. "And to stop the other Fae from bothering you."

All three dragons growled faintly, showing off their sharp teeth. Suddenly the word protectors made sense to Valda. She shook her head, wondering how much trouble her three little guardians had gotten into.

The door crashed open before Valda could ask anything, and the growls that greeted the newcomer were nothing short of terrifying.

Pandath and his companions tracked the man as he stepped back away from them, but perhaps encouraged by their lack of immediate attack, he steeled himself and bustled into the room.

Valda wrapped her arms around Pandath before he could launch into an attack.

"Lord Eljin, what are you doing?" Arlie's voice called out angrily before she stomped into the room, taking in Valda's awake state and the upset dragons surrounding her bed.

She rushed forward, her eyes roaming over Valda. "You're awake? Mauve thought it would be another day before you recovered enough. How do you feel?"

Arlie sat on the edge of the bed, the dragons completely ignoring her to Valda's surprise. Pommyt went as far as to crawl into Arlie's lap, the better to stare down the errant Lord who had invaded the room.

Lord Eljin interrupted before Valda could reply. "Now that she is awake, she must answer our questions," he demanded.

The dragons hissed at his tone, and he visibly flinched away from them but stood his ground.

Valda looked between everyone waiting for someone to explain when her cousins and Tevin entered the room, all wearing equally cross expressions.

"Lord Eljin, you should not be in here. Princess Valda requires rest. You and the other Lords can wait until she is feeling well before your interrogations," Mauve spat, making the Lord bluster.

Valda felt weird hearing Mauve say her title. She guessed she would have to get used to it now that her cover was well and truly blown.

She sighed, being recognised was something she wanted, but seeing Lord Eljin in front of her was a nasty reminder of what awaited her. Already she could see his disbelief and condemnation.