Chapter 7

Creton was the first to get over his disbelief.

"Guardian sir?"

"Until we arrive in Stormwind, yes. Then we can seek out a proper trainer to take care of her until she completes her training."

Merrilynn spoke up and by doing so she confirmed Benjamin's beliefs that she was a little spoiled.

"I am 17 years old; I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Benjamin put his face within an inch of hers.

"Is that so miss… than tell me, how did you end up here then? Besides, as you said yourself, you are 17, and that makes you underage. That means in turn that you are in need of a guardian until you are 18. Do not make me send you to the orphanage for that last year. That woman doesn't have the capability of taking care of a turtle. But she's the only one who'll take the job. Trust me when I say that Creton is much more fit to take care of you for those few days."

She tried to defend herself…but she found no glitch in the man's reasoning. And besides, it was only for a few days right? She looked at her new guardian. His head was down and she couldn't see his face. It seemed he wasn't exactly happy with his new task either. But friend or not, Benjamin was still his commanding officer, so it was accept or the gallows for him.

When he asked her to stand she felt the pain running through her legs again. She was able to stand for about five seconds and then gave up, sitting down on the soft mattress again.

"What happened to me?"

If she had known him better, she would have seen the lie in his eyes. But lucky for Benjamin he was a perfect stranger to her. He thought it would be for the best if she was kept in the dark, at least for now.

"We don't know, when we arrived in Eastvale we found you, not far from an old horse. It must've fallen and thrown you off.

Inside her brain Merrilynn knew there was something amiss, but she couldn't point it out. She didn't remember anything. He continued about how she was transferred here and how her condition had been too critical to heal in the means of the paladin. They were very potential healers, but their magic was a little to strong for a weak body. Healing her in that condition could've meant her death. She nodded, but when he told her that he could heal her properly now and came to touch her in order to heal she jerked away. For some reason she didn't like to be touched. Not anymore. Annoyance appeared on the man's face.

"Look, it's necessary. We're already running late and unless you want to spend an extra week here I suggest you let yourself be healed now."

When she didn't make any move he roughly grabbed her ankle. A faint glow started to spread from his hand into her ankle and through her legs. Immediately the pain was numbing. A few minutes later he withdrew his hand and all she could feel was a light tingeing, like her legs were asleep.

"That should do it. Can you stand?"

As by demonstration she stood up and looked relieved.

"Good. There are some clothes in that closet, I expect you dressed and downstairs in a few minutes. Now Creton, I believe you wanted a word with me?"

And without another look at the girl the both of them vanished and she was finally alone.

#Merri POV#

Seeing their backs I feel the urge to do something nasty while their backs are turned. But I swallow it. I feel the anger boiling in my blood. That man had nerve. The least he could've done is say please. I'm not one of his puppets on a string. I stomp my foot in anger and immediately regret it as my bare foot hits the hard wood. With a light limp I make for the closet. What happened to my robe? It's not in here. After a few minutes I take out a red robe that looks at least a little nice.

Just as I'm about to take of that disgusting nightgown there's a cough behind my back. Why didn't I notice that person come in? My dad taught me everything I needed to know about sensing people. But now that I know the person is here I can pinpoint the aura. No wonder I couldn't feel it. It's all over the place; I can even feel it on my hands. Letting go of the hem of my nightgown I turn seeing an elderly woman smiling at me.

"The commander told me that you would be leaving soon, so I thought I would change your bandages before you left."

It wasn't a suggestion or even a question. From the look in her eyes I knew it was a command. So I just sat down on the bed as she took hold of my hands.

Wait a minute…. What is wrong with my hands, I only fell of a horse right?

I had noticed the bandages before, but only now I make the connection. And as I see her rolling of the cloth blood is revealed. Dried blood, scabs everywhere. I start to feel sick as I notice how bad the wound looks. That definitely did not come from falling of a horse. She lightly pokes the wound and I hiss as I feel the pain reaching my brain in less than a second.

She smiles with an unspoken apology in her eyes.

"It's healing quite fast, must be the elven blood in you, but it needs to be cleaned again."

I see her taking a piece of cloth out of a basin of water beside her. I frown; I didn't see that in this room before.

"I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to sting."

She wasn't. The cloth had barely touched my wrist or I had retracted my arm in pain. That water wasn't just warm, it was flaming hot. Plus I guess she put some potion in there to make the thing extra cleansing and extra painful.

"I told you; now just hang on alright, if I don't clean this it won't heal properly."

I hiss as she grabs my wrist and dabs the wound. Oh this was going to be hell. But as I look the dried blood and dirt disappear and the wound doesn't look as bad anymore. It was definitely not a normal wound. It looked like something was tied around my wrist. I nearly groan out loud in frustration. Why can't I remember anything? I hate this.

"You were the one that patched me up right?"

"How did you know?"

"My father taught me how to sense people."

"He must've been a great healer then. Because it usually takes us years to even pick up auras."

"Actually, he was a hunter."

Her mouth turns into an o shape. Guess she didn't see that one coming. She had a small blush on her cheeks as she takes out a salve and quickly busies herself smearing it on my wrist. When she wants to smear it on my hands too, I stop her.

"I've had those since I was a mere infant. There's nothing that can be done about those anymore."

Another o-shape on her mouth, but this time her expression seems a little more understanding. I'm probably not the first mage she sees with burns on her hands. Even my mother had light scars, though not as badly as mine. She starts the same treatment on my other wrist and I notice the exact same wound.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"I'm a healer my dear, my job is not to ask questions. They brought you in here and I took care of you. You probably know more than me."

I could hear her lie. Why was everyone lying to me? What could be so bad that they didn't even care to tell me, the victim, about it? I swear by Elune and every other god out there that I will figure this out.

When she's all finished with my wounds she finally leaves me alone to change. And not long after I descend the stairs. I see a lot of gloomy faces sitting on tables. Ah, so I'm at an inn. I must be in Goldshire then.

The two guards are waiting for me. The one who brutally healed me has an impatient but friendly look on his face. The other one… Creton I think his name was… has a look of utter disgust etched on his face. I hope it doesn't stay that way. Otherwise I'm going to be in more misery than I thought.

Man, if I had to choose between him looking at me like that or having my wounds cleaned again I'll take the wounds. I mean, a little more sour and he looked like a lemon.