They were in the corridor outside his room, the four healers and Alexis were talking about what to do. Mostly. Alexis wasn't paying attention.
She could hardly imagine the horror he would have felt when he saw what he though was her body, ravaged by some animal. She could imagine though, and imagined how it would feel if it were the other way around. To see his face without life, torn and bleeding, with the knowledge she would never have spoken to him again. No wonder he looked as thug he had died. He felt as though he had.
"who shall try to heal him first?" one said and the others shrugged. None of them knew what they could do. None of them except Alexis.
"I will." she said. He voice was still something like growl or a crush but they must have understood her because they nodded, and walked back down the stairs to get a room from the queen. Alexis opened the door again and walked in, careful to keep her face hidden in the shadow of her hood. He was looking out the window, and Alexis moved to stand next to him. She mustn't talk, he would know if she did. So she stood in silence. Finally Chase looked at her.
"you come to heal me?" he said and she nodded
"you think you can do something that no one else has." he asked and she nodded again.
His voice was softer when he spoke again.
"can you talk?" Alexis hesitated, then shook her head. He looked at her for a moment longer and then stood up, getting paper and a pen for her. He say down and handed them to her, then stared out the window again. Alexis bent over the paper, and began to write, making sure it didn't look like her normal writing did.
I want to help you.
She handed him the paper and he read it, then gave it back.
"no. you can't. She's gone and that's all that's wrong with me. You can't bring her back." he said then looked at her again. "why do you wear white?" he asked. And she began writing again.
White is the color of purity.
"are you pure?" he asked and she shook her head. The flicker of a smile played in his eyes and she felt her heart lift
"you're a woman." he said after a while and Alexis nodded. He stared at her for a while, and she kept her face hidden.
"I've never heard of a women healer."
Not a healer.
"then why are you here?"
Want to help.
He returned his gaze to the window. She needed to make him happy. Alexis was sure that would work. That's how she stayed happy in the forest. She's thought about him. About Chase.
Tell me about the girl.
"I did."
you told her death. Tell her life.
Chase stared at the paper for a long time, but when he looked back to the window, his eyes weren't blank.
"I met her about five years ago. She was from the lower village and I was from the upper village. Venelumbia used to be split, you know. My father and sister had left me and my mother, and my mother remarried the king, you also know. But by the time she chose to marry him, I was dating her. If I was a prince I wouldn't be allowed to stay with her, but my mother let me. She liked Alexis. That was her name, Alexis. And she was...
"So my mother let me stay with her, and I did, I loved her. We had to keep ourselves secret, though. The lower section she was from was always starving, and a lot of the upper section felt sorry, they gave her piles of food and she would have it out among her village. So one time I got lots of food from the castle kitchen and I asked her to take me. And she did. It was horrible. But it was also amazing. People were starving, and their houses were crumbled and messily rebuilt, and they were selling things trying to get money. But they were all happy. I bought lots from them all, she thought it was so funny, Alexis did. That tapestry on the wall is from the lower section. It's all I could take back from what I bought. Anyway, we never let most people know we were together, partly because of my step sister. Alexis said she liked me, but I didn't really care, I liked Alexis. I wouldn't be with Brazillia. She snuck in to the castle sometimes, when brazillia wasn't there. Sometimes when she was. There was a bar that we share went to, because we both knew that my step father and brazillia would never go there. I would do anything for her. I still would. So my first act being the king was to knock down the wall. A couple of months before that we had broken up. It was horrible. She had gotten caught by brazillia while sure and her friends were getting food from the kitchens, and they got away with it, but i think brazillia told her dad. I had to go because he ruins me to meet him. And he told me that I would become king. I went to tell her, but she wasn't in the lower section, so I asked the guards if they had seen her, they said they hadn't, but brazillia heard me. Her exact words were, 'that filthy theif is where she belongs.' and so I knew she had ratted. So I went down to the dungeons, but the guards stopped me. I asked why, and they said, they said." chase was beginning to look troubled. Alexis remembered. Perfectly.
"they said I couldn't see 'the prisoner' until execution. I freaked out, they were going kill her, and so i tried to go to see her, but the guards stopped me. My mother let me, so I went and I saw her, and then, then brazillia saw us. That's exactly what we wanted to avoid, so brazillia hit her, and I did up for Alexis, but she left. She broke up with me." Chase said and the scene replayed for what was probably the hundredth time in Alexis' head, the last time he has held her, the last time she had kissed him and what chase thought was the last time she would in life.