Disclaimer: T.B.T.M.L.N.M
Poor Kel –makes a sad face- all alone in the House of Healing, and Lan completely unconscious. Funny thing that, eh? -Herald looks innocent-
Yes, the story is surely wrapping up now. One more chapter and its all over. So sad, yet so exciting. My first ever completed story is going to be, well, complete. Happy, happy feeling. I hope all you lovely reviewers'll come and read my other story too, once I get it started –coughshamelessplugcough-. It took me around a month exactly to finish this one; maybe the next one'll be longer. Keep your eyes open for sequels to this story, too. They might appear at some point. Anyway, that's enough rambling. On to the reviews.
Jorgeiscool: Lol, thanks. I try to post as often as I can, I think I update pretty fast.
JoeyStar: Thanks. I always did wonder what happened next when I read BB, so I just had to write it. About Reminders, nope, it was a one shot, so no more. Just something angst-filled that came to me when I was in a depressed mood.
Fireblade: Yeah, I had one when I was nine. I roller-bladed down a steep hill into a brick wall. Not fun. And yes, I decided to bring her Gift into it. Partly, I agreed with you, and partly I needed to find a way to injure her without causing a huge plot twist to deal with.
Wizard: No worries, I'll fix them up soon. Happy endings, here we come.
Tenshi: Yeah, she should have, but them my plot would not have been moved along, which would be bad.
Lurks in Shadows: Working on it.
Gack, I finished this chapter the night after I posted the previous one, but I want to wait for reviews for the previous before I post this one. Make the story last longer. I'm getting frustrated, though, because reviews are coming in slowly and this chapter has been ready for days.
And, moving onwards again, let's go and see what's happening with Kel up in the House of Healing.
Chapter 12: Healings
Kel groaned and blinked, her internal clock telling her in no uncertain terms that it was long past the hour when she should have been up and about her daily chores and classes. She looked out the window and her guess was confirmed. The sun was well up in the sky, and it looked to be quite late, maybe even afternoon.
'What happened to me?' Kel thought to herself. The last thing she remembered was Gift practice. Wait, she had practice, had some other class. Oh yes, math. Then she went to Weaponswork to practice combat riding, and then what? She fell off of Lan? How can you fall off of a Companion?
'I didn't, did I? I can't have!' She thought to herself. 'No, I remember, I did. I fell off, and then I hit the ground and I don't remember anything else. I must have hit my head.'
Kel looked up at the ceiling. She was in a pale green octagonal room. She blinked. Hexagonal. She blinked again. There, quadrilateral.
There was only one place in the palace and surrounding area that used THOSE colors all over the place. Healers. Kel swore to herself. Thanks to Risa, she was quite fluent. She lifted her hands up hesitantly to touch her head.
As she had half suspected by the ache, less than yesterday but still noticeable, her head appeared to be swathed in white cotton bandages.
Slowly and carefully, as she had been taught, Kel eased herself up into a sitting position against the head of the bed. Her head started to swim almost instantly, and she patiently waited for it to stop.
Much to her great disappointment, she found that her Trainee Grays were gone. She was dressed in a pale green nightgown.
'I could really come to hate that color.' Kel thought to herself. 'I guess I'm stuck here until a Healer shows up.'
She was about to Speak Lan for some company when the door opened, and a Healer walked in. She was a middle-aged woman wearing full Greens.
She walked over to where Kel was sitting, and placed her hands over Kel's temples, obviously monitoring the Healing with her Gift.
"Well, youngling, you certainly had quite a knock. Concussion and a nasty bruise, as well as a tiny fracture in your skull. We fixed you all up last night, though, so you should be out of here by tomorrow. There are just a couple of things that I have to ask you." The Healer said, sitting on the end of Kel's bed and looking down at her expectantly.
"Uh, alright, then." Kel said, somehow feeling that the Healer was looking for her agreement.
"Firstly, I know you Heralds have a strong bond with your Companions, but I've never heard of anything like this. Do you have any idea why your Companion would have fainted when you were knocked unconscious?"
Kel nearly fell out of the bed in shock. "Lan's hurt? Is he ok?"
"Well, that's the funny thing. We sent our Healers over right away to have a look at him, but they could find nothing wrong. There was absolutely no physical reason why he should have done that that we can see."
"So he's alright? Thank Havens! I don't know why he would have reacted like that, though. We weren't any more deeply linked than usual at the time. We weren't even MindSpeaking."
The Healer was beginning to have a glimmering of an idea, but it would depend on Kel's answer to her next question.
"Now, the other question. You were knocked out and suffered a head injury. When I deep probed to Heal you, I could feel that you were Lifebonded to someone. I need to know who it is, because the bond I saw is one of the strongest Lifebonds I have ever seen, almost a double bond. If you can tell us who it is, we need to monitor them as well, to make sure they haven't suffered any ill effects from your injury."
Kel hesitated, shocked. Her mouth flew open, but no sound came out. Lifebonded? The only Herald Trainee she knew who had never even had a love affair was Lifebonded? "I, um."
"This information will not go any further than me, if that is what you are worried about."
"No, that's not it. Its just, I don't know why you would be sensing a Lifebond. To the best of my knowledge, I am not Lifebonded."
"The bond is too strong for you not to know of it. It could not get that strong without nearly constant contact." The Healer said, being deliberately obtuse. "My dear, I understand that you would be reluctant to tell me if it is someone your family disapproves of, but I promise you, no harm will come to either of you from this and nobody other than me will know. I swear it on my Healers Oath."
Kel sighed to herself at the woman's stubborn refusal to believe her. "I swear to YOU, upon the Havens themselves, may the gods strike me down if I lie, I had no idea before right now that I was Lifebonded to anyone."
"Oh." The Healer said faintly, making a good impression of feeling like an idiot, but inside, she felt elated that her guess was being confirmed. Somehow, the girl was Lifebonded to her Companion. She opened her mouth to enlighten the girl.
Laran had been listening to this conversation most carefully ever since he had awakened to find a group of confused Healers bending over him. Lan knew that Healers weren't stupid, and given his reaction to Kel's injury and what they read from Kel herself, they would likely put two and two together and get four back.
Lan would also bet that they would probably tell his Chosen, and he could not allow that. Much as he would have loved to allow Kel to find out, Rolan had been quite clear. She had to figure it out for herself.
With a strictly internal sigh and a silent apology to Rolan, he reluctantly broke the Silence, and Spoke the Healer.
:Healer. I know you cannot respond, but you must not tell Kel about the Lifebond. Trust me. It is I, her Companion. Look out the window, I'm right here.:
The Healer was shocked. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that a Companion had Chosen to Speak someone other than his or her Chosen.
As unobtrusively as she could, she craned her neck and looked out the window. Sure enough, there was a Companion standing just outside the House of Healing. He nodded at her and walked away.
'Well, that was certainly interesting.' The Healer thought to herself wryly. Having been stationed at the Collegium for over a decade she had thought herself immune to shocks of this type, but she felt as though the Companion had kicked her, not Spoken her.
'So much for that plan.' She thought to herself. 'The poor child, and poor Companion, too. Herald bond as well as Lifebond. And she doesn't even know.'
The Healer suddenly noticed that Kel was looking at her oddly. She made herself blush. "Well, I'm very sorry, dear. You must be Lifebonded to someone, though. I would advise that you find them, for both of your mental states. Lifebonds can be painful when unacknowledged. For now, however, I have brought you a draught to make you sleep so that your body can finish the Healing I started. By the time you wake up, you'll be all ready to go back to your classes and your Collegium."
Kel looked at her suspiciously. "Does it taste bad?"
The Healer laughed. "Not too bad at all, I don't think." She handed Kel a cup filled with a bright purple liquid.
Kel knocked it down. It tasted worse than the Healer had promised, but better than Kel had feared. Before long, she was yawning, and she sank back under the covers, her head leaning on the pillow.
The Healer quickly monitored her to ensure that she was really asleep, then left.
Out in Companion's field, Lan was regretting his decision already.
:How stupid can I get?: He moaned to Fara, who was still hanging around waiting for Nera to be reassigned after finishing the short class on first aid. :She could KNOW right now, and all Rolan would think was that I was still too dazed after yesterday to stop it.:
:You know Rolan wouldn't think that, dear. He would know. That's why he is the GroveBorn. He ALWAYS knows.: Fara said soothingly.
:But it would be worth it! Rolan said she would find out on her own, but it's been nearly a year and she hasn't even had a hint!:
:Yes, but Lan, now she knows that she is Lifebonded to someone, she has to figure it out soon. I mean, how many people does she feel emotionally attached to? Not that many. And how many showed a reaction to what happened to her yesterday? Only you. She isn't stupid, Lan. She'll get it.:
:That's what Rolan said. A LONG TIME AGO.: Lan groaned.
:Well, Rolan was right, then.: Fara said firmly. :Now go get some sleep. You may not be a foal anymore, but I still know what's best for you.:
:-puke-: Lan Sent mischievously, but he went back to his stall anyway. He WAS tired. Hopefully the Healers would stop fussing at him. They couldn't get him to speak to them, but that certainly didn't seem to hamper their ability to annoy the heck out of him, all well meaning.