"Hurry up! Get more hot bricks Coram – we need to keep him sweating to get this fever out. Duke Baird? Is there any more syrup?"

Alanna was enveloping the Prince in thick blankets and covering him in hot bricks. She hoped to be able to use natural remedies to sweat the fever out in order that she wouldn't need to do much magic besides that needed to keep her patient asleep.

She moped his forehead constantly and occasionally poured some of her syrup down his throat and listened to his chest for any changes in his breathing. Despite all of their efforts, the Prince's temperature continued to rise, his breathing had still not cleared and Alanna soon began to feel the drains on her energy reserve.

"Come on, damn you! Why isn't this working? I've -"

Timon bursting into the room interrupted her exasperated cries. "Their Majesties!" he announced.

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to face the monarchs as stepped into the room.

The Queen looked rather taken aback by the heat and sank down into a chair. "It is extremely hot in here…" she gasped as her husband supported her and Duke Baird rushed up to examine her.

"Your Majesties." Alanna curtsied wearily. This was the first time that she had met the Royals despite it was them who had summoned her. "I think it's best to try the natural cures before anything else. The heat is part of it. Hopefully, the increased temperature will reduce the Prince's fever and his cough should go with the coughing syrup."

Queen Lianne nodded. "I understand that that syrup is the same that cured me of the cough a while ago?"

Alanna nodded, the Queen herself had been one of the patients that had used her syrup a few weeks ago. She noted that the Queen looked very pasty and rather drawn despite her getting over her own illness two weeks ago.

The Queen lifted her eyes and caught the healer girl's gaze. "You need to save Jonathon. You must. You see I… What I mean to say is…" The woman sighed and looked at her husband for reassurance, before closing her eyes and explaining, "Jonathon will be our only heir. I am unable to bear any more children… For the sake of the kingdom, you must cure him."

"Mother?" The Prince's voice was only a rasp. "Father?"

Everyone except the Royals and Duke Baird follow Alanna out of the room as they left the family alone.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Alanna gazed dazedly at the Prince's face. He was still sweating ferociously but finally, after jugs of syrup, his lungs had cleared letting him breathe more easily. She mopped his forehead as his face crumpled in a frown and his lips cracked making a drop of blood run down the side of his face. Although he was now calm, a few moments before, when Alanna was trying to change his blankets which he had soaked through, Sir Myles had to help restrain him as he fought both the knight and Alanna while screaming at his nightmares silently without a voice.

She was numb to the goings on around her as Coram, Timon, Duke Baird and Sir Myles fought to keep the fire up, the bricks around the boy hot and the Prince himself hydrated.

Sir Myles glanced at Alanna's frozen reverie before gently shaking her out of it. "Alanna, you have to do something."

She blinked at him blankly before turning her gaze onto the last packet of herbs. It was obvious she didn't like what she saw. She picked up the vervain and crushed it into dust between her fingers while she approached the fire. Carefully, she poured it into her palm and sprinkled it onto the burning embers.

Coram saw what she was doing and was desperately trying to decide whether to let her carry on or slap her back to her senses. After a short struggle he grabbed Timon and dragged him out of the room by the hem of his shirt with his forehead screwed up in a frown of apprehension while Alanna began reciting her last spell.

The fire turned purple as sweat poured down her face. Alanna bit her cheek to stop herself from screaming in pain as she reached into the fire. Images formed in the fiery depths that she couldn't quite make out except one: the stark image she had seen only once before in her life – the All Seeing Eye over a wizard's rod and scroll crossed, half covered by a tendril of ivy growing over it. The image was so consuming that for a moment, the pain was forgotten and she knew nothing except the symbol, then as she blinked, the image was lost and the pain returned with a vengeance.

Sir Myles watched in horror as the young healer burned violet as the fire caught hold of her. He started forward to help her but was stopped by Duke Baird gripping the shoulder and instead looked on with horror as the girl screamed with pain.

Alanna was struggling to stay conscious as she felt a voice ripping through her, "I am here. Call him back. He has gone far." The voice sounded female to the part of her that remained distant and removed and yet also of the distant cry of wolves and snow storms.

Alanna stumbled over to the prince and reached to hold his hand between her glowing ones. She could see that he was deep down near the bottom of what appeared to be a well and called out to him in a voice that was not yet her own, "Prince Jonathon, it isn't your time. Come back."

The prince looked up and seemed to consider her for a moment before nodding and retracing his steps. She wrenched her mind out of his and watched his eyes flicker open with a look of thanks.

Both Myles and Baird saw her collapse.

A/N: I am soooooooo sorry I haven't updated for soooooooooo long. I can't exactly explain but I will get more chapters up as soon as I can! Please review! xxx