A Familiar's Guide to Magic

a healing touch

I woke up in a haze, blinking against the soft light in the room. The last thing I remembered was catching Laurel's spell–then it was lights out.

My head throbbed at the subtle turn of my neck. A soft hiss filled the room as I winced at the pain radiating up my neck and pounding through my skull. My vision went blurry for a moment under the pressure fixed behind my eyes. Blinking a few times brought everything back into focus.

This room was familiar to me. If I remembered correctly this was their nurses office. But It wasn't as hectic as my first visit. In fact, it was quiet—though there was a gentle tune echoing from outside the room, a stringed instrument that I didn't know the name of.

I pushed myself up with a groan, a deep ache in my muscles. Laurel had done a number on me. I couldn't stop the flood of irritation at the thought that I had lost to her. I mean, technically, I never called mercy, which one could say meant it was a draw but I didn't think anyone else was going to look at it that way.

I twisted on the bed, throwing my legs over the edge. The room pitched and I gripped onto the edges of the bed to keep from falling. My vision swam for a moment then corrected itself—my eyes fixing on the sword I'd used for my duel.

It was propped up against the wall near the door. For some reason the obnoxious jewel encrusted handle appeared less—sparkly. The jewels were dull and lifeless. They had to be fake. I don't know why I even considered the possibility that they might be real.

A rush of cold air hit my body as I scooted off the edge of the bed. I glanced down, noting I was no longer in my clothes. Instead, I was wearing a gown similar to those I'd worn in my visits to the doctor. Someone had undressed me. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I began to search the room for my clothes. There was no way that I was walking out of this room dressed the way that I was.

The door to the room opened and I turned with wide eyes, clutching at my gown to keep it covering my body.

Tobias appeared surprised to find me out of bed, but recovered from his surprise quickly. He flashed me an apologetic smile. And I wanted to dig myself a hole and bury myself alive.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just coming to check up on you."

I pulled the flimsy gown tighter to my body, my cheeks burning.

"You? Where's Agnes?"

And where the hell was Willow? The last time I had seen her she was downed by Laurel's spell. He reached up and rubbed a hand at the back of his neck, shifting from one foot to the other. 

"She's around. I'm doing my apprenticeship under her. So, it's kind of my job to look after the familiar's that come in here..."

He met my gaze.

I leaned back against the bed, my body still in a weakened state. I wasn't a fan of the awkwardness lying between us. He was the first person that treated me like a normal person. A long sigh passed through my lips before I offered a tiny grin.

"So, my secret is out..."

Tobias's posture relaxed and he returned my grin.

"Yeah, you don't really do the mysterious thing all that well, Charlie."

My cheeks warmed at his friendly response. I liked that he called me Charlie, that he remembered from our first interaction. It would be best for me not to get too involved with anyone, but there couldn't be anything wrong with being on good terms while I was stuck in Lore.

"The whole academy is talking about your duel with Laurel."

My smile faltered at the mention of Laurel and the duel.