Dun dun dun! Next chapter, things are gonna start looking up soon. Hey in this chapter we get a little more into Ilene :D Enjoy and review please.

Ilene entered the king's chamber. The room was bustling with healers trying to aid the king. The king himself was on a bed, the life seemed to have drained out of his face. His skin was ghostly white, he was breathing hard, and his eye lids were fluttering.

Ilene knew she had to act quickly in order to save his life. However, to her the healers seemed to have no experience at all. They removed and were attempting to put on ointments which again started the bleeding, again.

"Stop!" she yelled and ran to the kings side "I need hot water, rags, wine, and I need to see what herbs you have."

"Wut?!" shouted a maid "Who gave you the right to…"

"Do as she says." Interrupted the Queen

Ilene looked over and saw the Queen holding the kings' hand. She was gently stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.

The servants ran in all directions gathering supplies. Ilene took multiple hot rags and began to apply pressure to the wound. The next few hours became a blur. Mixing herbs, making the king drink wine to fight the pain, wrapping the wound with herbs and bandages. Finally, the bleeding had stopped, the leg was wrapped, and Elinor asked for everyone to leave accept for Ilene.

For a while they said nothing. Elinor starred at her husband's face, while Ilene brewed tea, and mixed more herbs. Illene poured the tea into a cup and brought it to the queen.

"Here," she said "It will help you relax."

Elinor took the tea with a nod, and then looked down at Ilene's hands. "Your hands are burnt." She said.

Ilene raised her hands to look at them. They were red, blistering and pealing; she noticed some pain earlier but ignored it. She was good at ignoring pain.

"This must have happened when I grabbed the burning log." She said as she quickly turned around to grab wet rags.

"Burning log?"

"Uh, it's a long story my lady." She said and walked to the opposite side of Fergus to place a cold wet rag on his forehead. There was a moments of pause.

"Is, he going to live?" the Queen asked desperately

"Not sure. His wound is severe, and he's lost a lot of blood. I've done what I can and I will keep doing what I can. What we need now, is a miracle."
Elinor looked down at her husband, bewildered, and frightened.

"I've dealt with the sick and wounded my entire life. If there is one thing I've learned, it's never lie to a wounded man."

Ilene kept, working while the queen stared for a few moments.

"Yer, not from this country, are you?"

Ilene froze for a moment then replied "No, no I'm not. Was it that obvious?"

"Where are ye from?"

"My lady, it is a very long story." She said grabbing a tray and heading toward the kettle on the fire.

"We have time." She said with a pause "Ye have done all ye can at this moment. All there is now is to wait." Tears seemed for form in her eyes.

Ilene turned around to face her. She put the tray down and removed the kettle from the fire. The queen looked at her for a moment.

"How old are ye?"

"I am twelve my lady." She replied.

The queen seemed shocked "You seem to have great knowledge for a young girl. How did you learn all of this?"

Ilene paused for a second "My mother" she paused again "My mother was the best healer known to man. Well, at least I believed that." She walked toward the fire and put the kettle back onto the flames.

"Was?"

Ilene turned around to face the queen "She died of illness when I was nine. It's interesting, she could heal others, but when it came to herself, she couldn't."

"Please sit." Said the Queen and motioned to a chair next to her.

Ilene walked over and sat down.

"Please, tell me about yerself."

Ilene could tell the queen was worried, and needed something to occupy her mind. She decided to help.

"When you say I'm not from this country it is true. However, my mum was born here, in Scotland. I dare say that my lady remembers when invaders came from the sea?"

"Aye, that was a tragic time." The Queen said sadly

"Aye," she pauses for a moment "During that time, quite a few women and children were captured by rouge soldiers. My mother was one of them. She was taken to Ireland, and then I was born. "She paused for a second "My mum was wonderful, she taught me so much about herbs and healing, she would always help others before herself, in the end that became her greatest weakness."

"I am sorry." Said the queen and took Ilene's hands in her own. Pain shot through Ilene's hands but she didn't show it. To show pain was to show weakness, however with Elinor's motherly intuition she grabbed some bandages and began to wrap her hands.

"My lady queen, this can…"

Elinor interrupted her "Why?" not taking her eyes off of Ilene's scorched hands.

"My lady?"

"Why did you help my husband? I am forever grateful, but a young lady like yerself should not have to find herself in that position."

She paused then smirked and said "Well, I'm not much of a lady." The queen looked up confused "My mum always told me that one life is not less important that another, I did not even know I was aiding the king of DumBroch, but I can assure you my Lady queen that even if he was a farm hand I would do the same."

The queen smiled as she finished wrapping Ilene's hands.

"Maudie, come here please." Elinor called out. Maudie rushed in

"Take this young girl to the healing quarters, and have her settle in for the night."

"Yes, my lady" said Maudie. "Come child."

Ilene wanted again to protest, but she had to remind herself that these people meant the best. The queen knew what she was doing. Ilene stood up and attempted the worst curtsy known to man, and turned to follow the maid. Elinor faintly smiled.

As soon as Ilene left put her hand on her husband's hand, and she finally felt a twinge of hope that her husband would survive.

Suddenly a maid ran into the room. "My lady!"

"Wut? Wut is it?" she asked

"The princess, I went to bring her a nighttime drink to help her sleep, and she's not in her room. She's gone!"

….

Maudie led Ilene down stairs past the kitchen to a door. Ilene opened the door and stepped in.

"This is where ye will be staying, if you need any more herbs don't hesitate to ask."

The door shut, and Ilene looked around. There was a table, a small straw bed next to the wall, and the smell of herbs made her smile again. She walked past the table and ran her hand over it. She decided to stay until the king was better, but then she had to keep moving.