Chapter 22

Marie's grey eyes were wide and the little girl appeared shell-shocked by what had happened. The little girl only really began to cry, once Lexa had scooped her into her arms and was already trying to sooth the blonde child.

Lexa quickly carried the girl away from the enclosure, not paying anyone who was watching her any mind, cradling Marie's small body protectively within her arms, intending to have a healer take a look at her young charge immediately. She called back over her shoulder to Gustus who was briskly falling behind his leader to have Nyko send to the commander's tent at once. The burly guard gave a curt nod and vanished from sight.

Marie was sniffling under her breath and had her little fists clutched into the material of the commander's dark shirt.

Lexa slowly entangled the child's hands from her clothing, sitting down on the edge of her bed together with the girl. She gently tilted the girl's chin upwards, so that she could inspect the damage better. Some blood was still trickling down the girl's chin and Lexa very carefully let a finger run over the girl's pouty lips. During her fall, Marie must have split her upper lip, but it seemed that some of the blood was originated from inside her mouth as well.

Marie tried to back away from Lexa, when the woman felt along her mouth and she let out a slight high-pitched whine of protest.

Lexa let go of Marie's chin when the flap to her tent was whisked open again and Nyko entered the commander's tent. The healer seemed to be slightly out of breath, so Lexa assumed that Gustus must have hurried the other man.

The commander remained sitting behind Marie, keeping one hand steadily on the girl's back, hoping to comfort her a little with the gesture.

Marie only very reluctantly kept sitting still when Nyko demanded of her to open her mouth as well and the man inspected her mouth as well.

It appeared that Marie had knocked out two of her upper front teeth during her fall and she had indeed split her upper lip as well.

Lexa frowned slightly when the healer told her that the child was missing two teeth and not just one. She had seen one tooth in the child's bloody fingers, but the second one was apparently missing.

Marie's still slightly shocked expression at what happened, turned horrified once she had gathered for herself what the healer had told Lexa.

She had not lost any teeth before, but she remembered well that she had wrongly thought before that one of her teeth was loose. She had told her mother about it, afraid at the prospect of losing a tooth and the woman had told her about the tooth fairy, telling her that children put their lost teeth under their pillows at night and that the tooth fairy switched it for a little treat during the night. How should she put her first lost teeth under her pillow now if she had swallowed one of it?

The girl's expression turned a little sickly as she imagined the tooth wandering through her body. Could it harm her somehow? Surely a tooth was nothing to be eaten.

Nyko left a few herbs in the commander's tent, one could be used to prepare a slightly numbing and disinfecting brew and the other herb could be crushed into a sort of paste to be put onto the child's gums if she was experiencing stronger pain or if there seemed to be swelling setting in.

Even after the healer had left, Marie still appeared slightly shocked and the girl had not said a single word since Lexa had brought her into the commander's tent.

A handmaid had brought some warm water to the tent and Lexa wetted a washcloth, gently dabbing at the girl's chin and working her way upwards, cleaning away the traces of the blood from the girl's fair skin.

"What is bothering you, little one?" Lexa asked in a kind tone, halting in her movements for a moment as her green eyes inspected the little girl, looking out for any changes in the girl's expression.

"The tooth fai'y can't not find my teeth now" Marie exclaimed finally after another moment of silence, grey eyes looking up expectantly at the commander and her mouth was pulled into a pout.

Lexa frowned at the blonde child. She was fairly certain that she had understood the child's words, but she could not understand their meaning.

A handmaid had already prepared a mug of tea for Marie and Lexa collected it shortly from the table, blowing onto the surface carefully for a moment, before she handed it over to Marie, only letting go of the cup once she was sure that the girl had a strong grip on the cup.

Marie pulled a grimace at the bitter taste of the tea. She had seen that the handmaid had added some honey to it, but she had used much less than Alira did for her when the older woman prepared tea for her during breakfast and the tea had a weird bitter taste. In her thoughts, she was still mulling over what the loss of her tooth would mean for the tooth fairy.