Hearts' Remedy
Chapter 19
A girl of about Serena's age, wandered out of the night. Her form resembled a ghost in her rain drenched rags. Only humane thing about her was the dried blood that stained the thin layer of clothes she had on. She was a stowaway, who emerged from a wagon brought in earlier in the afternoon. Nobody noticed her, especially, not in the night when everyone was asleep in their homes, safe from the rain, safe from wolves, safe from anything deleterious.
The banging of the orphanage door rattled the keeper awake.
"Who could it be at this hour?" Nora mumbled, rubbing sleep from her wrinkled eyes.
The door fell open and the ghostly girl fell over the threshold cold and stiff. Poor Nora let out a shriek that woke the children.
Gathering her wits, she touched the girl's cold hand. "Lord, let her live!" The candles were lit and the children stumbled out of their rooms. "Someone put some clothes on and go get a healer!"
"Nora, no need!" a shadow gasped from the doorway.
"Serena! Oh, dear lord!" Nora stepped forward, watching the glimmer of the girl's hair in the darkness. Serena was out of breath, having run all the way from her house to the orphanage. Serena was practically clinging to the door post as she took deep breaths.
"Serena, how did you…"
"No time, Nora, heat up the water and get a warm bed ready."
"You're soaked!"
"Nora!" Serena threw her head at the woman. "A mild cold is not as bad as death in this house!"
Nora jumped, eyes widening. For someone her age, she could move surely fast.
"Children, go help Nora get ready," Serena spoke quietly, checking the freezing girl's vital signs.
Somehow, Nora, the children, and Serena successfully got the girl into a warm bed set in a private room. Hours went by and nobody could sleep. When dawn came, the children's heads were nodding off to sleep. Nora had to "shoo" the younger ones to bed. The older ones refused sleep, eager to know how the dying girl was.
Finally Serena stepped out of the room. She smiled softly. "Someone will have sweet dreams for the rest of the day."
Nora released a breath that she held in for so long. Closing her eyes and thanking… "Achoo!" Serena sniffed.
Nora's eyes shot open. "I think I'll go to Gor's and get medicine for her," Serena said drowsily. A surprising hand on her collar yanked her back. "Eep!"
"Not until you change into something clean and dry, Young Lady!" Nora shouted, using her motherly tone. "Aw… Nora… That can wait."
"A mild cold can turn to something worse."
"I highly doubt it. All of this has left me beyond tired," Serena half laughed half sighed.
"Nah-uh! You're changing right this instant or I will report you to your mama!"
"Anybody, but mama!"
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Who remembered when Serena had slept? She only woke up to find the prince bustling about her house, on his toes.
"Serena!" Darien rushed up to her and held her by the shoulders. "You slept for two days straight!"
"What! How could that be? I was fixing the girl, then… How is the girl?"
"Still sleeping, too," Darien smiled sympathetically.
Serena ran her fingers through the tangle knots in her head that was supposed to be her hair. Serena groaned. "Mika!"
"Yes Serena?"
"Do you have a brush?"
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"Serena!" Nora embraced her.
"Nora, she's not awake, yet?"
"I would think that Darien would have told you," Nora said, giving Serena's company an exasperated look.
"He did, but I just had to ask you in person."
"No need to worry, Serena. Thanks to you, the girl is still breathing." Nora held Serena's hands and led her to the table. "For now, you must answer my questions."
"Indeed!" Darien interjected.
"How did you know the girl was at my place in the first place? You seemed like you knew beforehand, showing up at my doorstep."
Serena laughed nervously. "The nightmare I had, brought me here. It woke me up so suddenly. It was scary because this ominous feeling came over me, telling me something wasn't right."
"What was the nightmare?"
"A shadow… Nora, I saw a shadow, coming over to the orphanage in my dream. It looked like it wanted to take an orphan away."
Nora sat up straight. "That might be true. If the girl is an orphan as I sense she must be, the shadow might have taken her away if it weren't for you."
"You ran in the night all by yourself without an escort!"
Serena glared at Darien. "What was I supposed to do? Send a herald to you, telling you I had a nightmare and was going to run to the orphanage all by myself hoping to help someone in need of me? I would be waiting for you to go with me?"
"No, but you could have called Gor!"
"If I did that, Genius, she wouldn't have lived! Use your common sense!"
"Well, you could have wakened your brother or something," Darien argued.
"I was in a hurry!"
"In such a hurry, you couldn't think about your own well-being. Who's the one not using common sense, now?"
"Children!" Nora shouted.
Apparently in the argument, Serena and Darien had risen from there seats, shouting at each other angrily.
"You're bickering is not doing my head any good! Can't you two find some other way to show each other how much you care about one another without the use of hollering about?"
"I'm tending the sick," Serena grumbled, taking leave.
"I'm going home," Darien grunted.
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
Watching the two, part in that way caused Nora to slump lower into her chair. "Children have nothing better to do these days…"
Serena sat grumpily in her chair. She took the girl's hand and smiled weakly. For the first time in the light of the sun, Serena examined the girl's features. She had curly brown hair that curled naturally to her shoulders. All her facial features were small. Her mouth, nose, dimples were all generously small.
"Naru, what were you running from?"
"So, Naru is her name? What else do you know, Serena?"
Serena looked down, startled to see Luna and Artemis's spirited grey kitten near her feet.
"Diana! Keep it down, Nora might catch you talking. And why aren't you home with your parents?"
"They're all gone, Serena. How do you know Naru is her name?"
Serena sighed, "It's what happens when you are forced to connect with someone in a time of crisis, Diana. When I was healing her, I also found out about her."
"How does that work? Does she talk to you in her sleep?"
"No, but it kind of works like that. Only, I'm the one who talks to her."
"You talk in you sleep," Diana stated mildly. "Why do you fight with Darien? Papa say it's because you care about each other. I care about you, how come we don't yell at each other?"
Serena laughed. What a silly thing for a child to say! "It's not yelling, Diana."
"Mama said it is. She says when two people yell they actually…"
"That's enough, Diana," Luna said sternly. "You're father is leaving, would you like to stay with him tonight?"
"Why can't Papa stay tonight?"
"Because he needs to stay with Darien," Luna said her voice drugged with exasperation.
"Darien has his on papa, he doesn't need mine."
"Diana, we've been through this before. Stop making me repeat myself. Now, go… I need to speak with Serena."
Diana trudged miserably to Artemis, probably waiting outside for her.
"You're a little uptight with the Cute Cub. I think you need to lighten up."
"I'll lighten up when you quit acting like nothing's wrong." Luna turned her head swiftly to Serena.
Serena drew in a breath. "Luna, Naru came with all these inflicted scars on her back. What are they? Why are they there?"
"Inflicted? What do you mean?" Luna's frown hardened.
"They aren't scratches, Luna! They're really big!"
"I suppose you think things with hands did it, then."
"Certainly, no animal could do that."
"We are done," Luna dismissed the idea, angrily. "You live in a world, in which you have to be ignorant in."
Outraged, Serena stood up. "Luna! That is so mean and unfair!"
"It's for your own good. I won't have you know what's behind these safe walls." Angrily, Luna turned from the girl and hurried out.
As Luna leapt out of the orphanage, Artemis came up to her. "You can't protect her like this forever. She's going to find out eventually. If you don't tell her, it's only a matter of time before the girl wakes up and breaks the horrible news to her."
"No, Artemis. She does not need to know these things."
"What about war? She knows about that."
"Yes, that's because when diplomatic orders do not work out, bloodshed is the last resort."
"Random acts of torture is worse. Things like this should not be kept from the princess."
"What princess?" Darien asked, coming up from behind them on his horse.
"You, never mind, Darien. Go home and rest," Luna said grimly, scowling at Artemis. "And you don't understand how fragile some people are," she murmured. Artemis leapt forward and landed in front of Luna's path before she could go any further. "And you don't understand that fragile people grow stronger by growing wiser."
"Actually, Papa, understanding any truth doesn't always make everybody wiser. Darien told me that experience makes people wiser. That's why the king is wise. He has ruled for so many years," Diana said, popping up from under the cover Darien had placed over her. Diana was sitting on the horse's head, always enjoying the thrill of height.
This argument could have gone on forever if Darien had not intervened. It was getting late. He and the cats better get going, before the night shadows swallowed them up.
Darien, trotting slightly ahead of Artemis's slouched form, listened as the kitten spoke to him. "Did you know, Papa and Mama say that when two people argue, they really care about eachother? I think Mama and Papa really care about each other."
"That's a wise observation, Little One."
"You and Serena yell at eachother much, too."
"I suppose," Darien mumbled, wanting to forget about it.
"Then, I suppose you can make an observation of that, too. Right Darien?"
Darien suppressed his laughter. This kitten was going to be a good advisor someday, just because she relates everything she learns to life.
Everybody thx for reviewing!
Rosaleena: Sorry for the shortness and sorry for the confusion. I'll consider reloading that. : P
hope of stars: I can update at a good pace now. See?
hi: ... I'm so scared of college... I don't look forward to that at all. And your review just shed more light on how horrible it is...
angel313: Thankies! Glad you like. Not many people like my writing me for example.
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jokersgirl: Thanks! It's the motivation that I get from reviewers like you that makes me write, so because of you I can write. : D
allwitchesmustdie: No point in feeling sorry... I feel much better now cause I got atleast 8 reviews this time. I used to sleep at 1 or later, but then I started taking naps in the afternoons during classes. Ah... Grades suffered and so did I. BUT no need to feel sorry, i got 12 hours of sleep yesterday. : D
I could ramble on and on about blah blah blah, but thats what live journals and xangas are for, so space won't be wasted here. Have a nice Read!
Jaja
mistywing