The Pink Dragon and His Princess (NaLu)

Chapter 3; The Princess, a Hurt Dragon, Ice, & Herbs

~The Princess,
a Hurt Dragon,
Ice,
& Herbs~

When she was little, Lucy Heartfilia's
beloved mother used to read her bedtime stories. Beautiful, erratic stories that left her breathless. Tales of Knights, Dragons, Princesses, Fairies, a hidden world, and Magic. Who would have thought that she would be sitting right next to a real life Fairy Tale? A Fairy Tale, that was bleeding and gasping and dying in her arms.

What a twisted Fairy Tale.

As soon as she had dragged the abnormal boy into the Greenhouse, she had gotten to work. Ripping into cloth, that she had found, into trips to help her bind the wounds closed. Lucy tied it tight to stop the flow of blood. Her hands moved at the speed of light. Flashing this way and that. Grabbing and snatching at things she thought would help. Her pale hands were sticky with the herbs she had used. The herbs that could either save his life or end it.

Depending on whether Lucy remembered what Droy-the gardener-had told her about each herb.

Lucy, however, was sure that she had remembered correctly. She was good at remembering things...even the things that she wished to forget. As she hurriedly crushed the herbs she needed, she whispered their uses.
"Borage Leaves; good for fevers..." Lucy crushed them and set them aside, the boy felt like lava, he would need them.
"Chervil Root; Keep away or treat infections." Lucy's eyes trailed to the many cuts and slashes that she had cleaned.
She went back to crushing.

"Celandine; To ease pain." He will need a lot of these roots.
"Comfrey; To help mend broken bone." The oddly bent wing flashed through her mind.
"Goosegrass; To stop the flow of blood." Her trips of cloth hadn't been enough. The greenhouse's floor and her pants were soaked and streaked with the crimson liquid.
"Nettle Leaves; Keep down swelling."
Lucy had to chews these to make a plump to slather onto the wounds.
"And Poppy Seeds; To numb pain."
He's going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up.

Soon Lucy had broken leaves and roots scattered around her. Waiting to be picked up and used. Sweat trickled down her face as she used the herbs to the best of her abilities. The sun had long since risen. Bringing with it the sound of birdsong. Sunlight streamed into the greenhouse, the heat flared up, making her skin boil.

She wiped the glistening droplets from her face, curling her lip at them in distaste. She then moved her long hair away from her sticky neck. Lucy sighed as she got temporary relief from the hot temperature. Her eyes fluttered open to look down at the softly breathing boy. Lucy needed to get the Dragon Boy out of the greenhouse. The heat was doing nothing to ease his fever.
It's only going to make you worse.

She needed to get him somewhere cool. Somewhere isolated. Safe...
Then it struck her like one of Captan Erza's swords.
Her room.
It was isolated, cut off from the castle, located on the far side. Nobody entered her room anymore, not even her maids, except on special occasions. Lucy had long since informed them that she could do things herself. That she didn't need them to do everything for her. For the most part, they left her to herself.

Only Levy came inside to visit.

The King never came anywhere near her part of the castle. He didn't visit. He rarely spoke to her. And he never really looked at her. He acted as if she were invisible. A ghost of the castle.
Nothing more.