I take a deep breath and steady my hand. I can't afford to hurt her by screwing it up! I place the small blade against her slim wrist and quickly slice it open. Only applying enough pressure to cause a deep cut but not to actually hurt anything.
I feel Lady Xue flinch but to her credit, she never cries out. I lower her hand over the bowl and watch blood as dark as tar slowly seep out of her wrist. The blood wasn't only dark, it was also thicker than it should be... I didn't even need to be a doctor to know that isn't right.
The maid becomes faint as she says "Her Grace is bleeding..." I ignore the maid and look up to see Lady Xue looking at me with bright eyes while chewing the firetail. She nods her head and winks at me causing me to relax a little.
I look down to see the black blood still oozing out of her but it was starting to move a little faster. I look up with a smile to see that Lady Xue's face was now beet red. Beads of sweat were starting to form along her hairline so I quickly grab a napkin and lightly tap the beads of sweat.
"The heat is from the firetail. It's pushing out the poison, so even though you're getting hot, it won't hurt you." I say in a calm reassuring voice. Lady Xue relaxes a little and nods her head as I go back to looking at her blood.
It was still pitch black but it was definitely moving faster. It was thinning out... I look down at the bowl with a frown. It was a lot of blood... I quickly turn to the maid and say "I need Dew Grass! Quickly!" The maids face crumbles as she says "Dew Grass? That's out of season! We don't have any of that!"
I rack my brain and turn to her while saying "Bloodbark, tears of blood, or blood lilies. Any of them will do but I need you to hurry!" The maid looks to the full bowl of blood with a look of horror before running out of the room without looking back. I should have thought of this beforehand...
But to be honest, I didn't think the poison would be so bad... Suddenly, numerous footsteps were heard before the door to the room was pushed open with a bang! Bai Lei stood in the front in all his glory as several guards came to his sides.
Bai Lei's dark eyes find us and a moment of shock and confusion flash across his face before he yells "Halt! All of you, stand back!" Biyu comes running in the room and says "See! I told you someone was hurting Mother! Stop her before she kills her!"
The guards look conflicted but Bai Lei ignores her as he slowly walks forward with a look of fear and uncertainty on his face. "Nova... what are you doing?" I look to the pale Lady Xue before turning to glare at Biyu.
"I'm trying to cure her, she's been poisoned," I say looking back to Lady Xue. Her head falls to the side so I quickly reach out and catch it before she hits the table. I gently lower her head down and go back to looking at her arm.
It was still black but it was now the right consistency. "Nova, if this is about what happened earlier, I promise you that it's all being fixed." Bai Lei says nervously as he steps a little closer. Seeing his Mother passed out like this... he wanted to think about this clearly but he couldn't help panicking.
I scrunch up my face in confusion... What happened earlier? Does he mean the fight? What does that have to do with Lady Xue?? I cut him a cold look and say "It has nothing to do with earlier, I'm only trying to help Lady Xue."
"Moooove!! Move out of my way this instant!!" Suddenly the older maid is back and pushing her way through the guards. "Let her through, quickly!" I say looking to Bai Lei. Bai Lei goes to tell his men to move but Biyu grabs the herbs from the maid's hands and instantly burns them!
"Enough of this charade! You're going to kill her Grace! Guards, seize her!" Biyu yells causing the guards to slowly move. Bai Lei wants to release his power but he doesn't want to hurt Nova and his Mother so he quickly yells "Move and I'll kill you!"
The guards freeze in fear as the maid snaps. "What have you done!!! That herb was for her Grace!!" Biyu looks at the maid with a frown and says "Have you been infected by her lies as well!? Do you actually believe she can heal her Grace? She even admitted to not being a doctor!"
Bai Lei's anger grows as he snaps "Enough! Biyu! Get out!" Biyu looks to Bai Lei with shock as she says "Are you serious? I'm trying to help Mother!" The maid pushes past Biyu and reaches into her large belt. She pulls out several large clumps of herbs and shoves them at me with trembling hands.
"I didn't know which was best so I grabbed several of them... you also didn't tell me how much you needed!" The maid was still panting and sweating but I suddenly wanted to kiss this woman. "You did well," I say and quickly begin smooshing the Blood lilies into a small plate.
Everyone in the room watches with confusion and even though Bai Lei wants to save his Mother, he holds back, wanting to trust Nova. After I smoosh the Blood Lilies, I carefully tilt the plate and pour all the liquid onto the spoon.
It wasn't much, but it was enough. I quickly and carefully pour the bright red liquid into Lady Xue's mouth and encourage her to swallow. Another few moments pass before the color in her face starts to come back.
I look back down to her wrist to see the blood nearly red. The bowl was now flowing over and all over the floor but I ignore it as I feel her pulse on her other hand. It was no longer uneven or fluttering... When I look back over and see bright red blood coming out of the cut, I quickly wrap her wrist with a cloth and raise her hand.
I turn to Bai Lei and say "She needs to lay down and rest now. She should be good as new in a couple of days. Just make sure she gets lots of rest and plenty of fluids." Bai Lei stares at Nova in shock before carefully scooping his Mother up.
As he races her to the bed, he can't help but wonder. Did Nova really just cure his Mother? "Quickly, call for the physician." The guards following him and nod as one quickly leaves. The rest silently follow behind him with sweaty backs.