Cielle's dreams were haunted by his screams and that one silk-cladded threat. Get out before I burn you down to ashes.
She doesn't know why he hates her already. She has done everything in her power to make him comfortable and has lended him a better place to stay yet he is so bitter toward her.
Maybe it was because he was in so much pain, maybe that's what triggered his anger. Or maybe… she is just so easy to hate.
Cielle sucks in a lungful of cool air, calming her aching heart. She had been tossing and turning all night and when she finally got a wink of sleep, the nightmares came in.
She sits up from the bed with a sigh, eyes flickering to the window of her chamber and watching the sky adorned with the moon and the stars fascinatedly. But her mind runs back to him all over again… what would be he doing now?
Would he be still in pain? Is he just as wide awake as Cielle now, unable to chase the sleep and drift into the dreamland?
Curiosity pipes inside her. Maybe it's because of her young age, she loves taking risks. No matter if the punishment that comes after the troubles she makes might be traumatizing.
Cielle throws the blanket away from her body, climbing out of the warmth of her bed. There is a yearning in her heart that she can't ignore. She wants to see him now. To make sure he is alright. And if he is not, she has to heal his wounds.
Adrenaline rushes inside her at the mere thought of healing someone again. As a Fae, healing is the only power she has since she was never trained to use magic. But she is forbidden to heal anyone.
She was only thirteen years old when she first healed someone and it was her friend— the only friend she ever had. They were both playing by the pound when the boy slipped and fell. His knee was bleeding and Cielle did what her instinct screamed her to do. She had pressed her palm against his wound, chanting the mantra of healing under her breath.
The wound had closed over from under her palm, his skin sprouting over until there was no trace of blood, until he was as fresh as a new bloom.
Everything was good until the boy said something strange. He said that he felt energy coursing through his veins, and then his magic became quick and clean. The High Lord got to know about it and forbade her from healing anyone saying that she was sharing her magic with them through a bond— That she is sharing the magic of High Lords to low lives which is highly punishable and forbidden.
She never saw that boy after that. And that is how she lost the only friend she has ever had.
Cielle wants to feel that magic swirling from inside her and sprinting out through her pores and healing another soul. The feeling was so intoxicating, so tempting. She wants to feel it all over again.
The dragon will not be stupid enough to tell anyone that she healed him even though he does not know she is forbidden from healing anyone. Especially since he hates everyone, he would not be engaging in small talk with anyone. That much Cielle knows.
She cautiously tip-toes through her chamber till she is standing right in front of the door, ears sharpened to catch any movement from outside the door.
She takes in a long breath and holds it for a few beats. When no movement was caught from outside her chamber, she curls her fingers around the doorknob and twists.
The door opens up to a dimly lit hallway. Even if it was cloaked with darkness, she would walk through it without a crisis. She knows these trails and pillars all too well.
Her footsteps make no sound as they swiftly move through the darkness, aiming for that one chamber where the dragon would be resting.
The closer she gets to the chamber the harder her heart starts to drum against her ribcage, the adrenaline rush almost blinding her vision.
She halts right in front of his chamber, a million scenarios about his reaction playing in her head like a drama. Would he be mad?
Would he be angry at her if he found her sneaking into his room at midnight? But she is only doing it to help him.
Suddenly her uncle's words flashes into her mind;"You know little about that creature, Cielle. He is not a Fae, he is a fucking dragon. He will be as new as a new bloom when you come to visit him tomorrow. That's how fast he heals."
But she cannot just believe everything he says since she knows how good he is at overlaying the truth with glittery lies. She might be naive, but she is not a fool.
With a final mutter of a prayer underneath her breath to not be killed by that feral dragon, she twists the doorknob. Darkness is what welcomes her the moment she steps inside. She cannot see a single thing. Maybe it is because he has drawn the curtains?
She stumbles through the chamber, eyes widening to their limits to find a glimmer of light. And good gods, she finds it. A fleck of moonlight slithers through the cracks of the curtains, compelling her to come closer.
And that is what she did, moving to the curtains with quick strides and drawing them back, letting the moonlight slither inside without a barrier and light up the room in a silver glow.
Her eyes instantly fall onto the dragon sleeping on the bed. He is laying on his back, one of his arms placed over his head as the other rusted on his bare abdomen. He is clearly a sight for sore eyes.
Cielle shakes the dreaminess away from her gaze and reminds her about the task to be achieved. Her gaze drifts to the angry red cuts on his skin that are nowhere near mended.
She is going to heal him.