From a world where her kind is hunted down, she made her escape to a place out of time and space. To ensure her safety, Eleanor woke up with no memories of her past, covered in bruises, in a strange castle. As she struggles to put together the piece...
About a dozen men, armed to the teeth had been searching for us the whole night.
I could only begin to imagine the vastness of these woods, we had been lucky that they found us when they did. Colin was gently lifted on a cart. An elderly man with a long white beard, that reminded me of Dumbledore attended to him and wrapped him in warm blankets.
I was so relieved that this involuntarily adventure was finally over. I'm a little ashamed though, that I chose a rather cowardly way of avoiding my Uncles questions.
He stated that I was in no condition to ride on my own and lifted me onto his horse. Then he went over to the cart to check on Colin again. The old man and him exchanged a few words I couldn't hear, before he came back, wearing a worried frown on his face and swung up behind me, reaching his arms around me, grasping for the rains.
As happy as I initially was to see him, now I felt rather awkward in such close proximity. I huddled deeper into the warm cloak that had been wrapped around me and hid my face between its folds and pretended to be exhausted and fast asleep, by the moment we started moving.
Well, at least the part where I was exhausted was true enough.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds and some maids and footmen hurried down the stairs the moment we entered the gate. I was lifted from the horse and ushered up the stairs and Nancy prepared me a hot bath.
After I managed to get myself cleaned up from most of the mud and twigs in my hair, I hurried over to Colin's bedroom to check on him and see if he had finally waken up. Surely he had only caught a bad cold, nothing that couldn't be cured by some tee and medicine.
The old man, who introduced himself as Fylius had placed a wet cloth on Colin's forehead and prepared all sorts of odd tinctures on a side table while humming to himself.
I replaced the cloth for a new, cool one and sat down on the edge of the bed. Colin still seemed unnaturally pale. His messy, blond locks clung in tangled strands to his head.
His eyelashes fluttered over dark circles beneath his eyes. Low moans escaped his
cracked lips and he was flinching and twitching occasionally, as if in pain.
I was once again alarmed with worry as I took his clammy hand and asked the healer:
„Will he be alright?" The man stopped his ministrations of scaling dried herbs and powders for a moment and looked at me with kind, wrinkly eyes.
„Only time will tell, my child. He's already very far gone. This isn't a normal fever.
We call this kind of sickness febribus somnium It's vary rare these days.
„How can you get this illness? Is there no cure? Is there anything I can do to help him?"
„I'm afraid there isn't, my child" The way he called me ‚my child' made him somehow sound oddly familiar.
„The cure for this kind of illness demands an incredible amount of magic. I'm afraid I don't know anyone powerful enough to summon it" He says in a sad tone.
Hot tears gather in my eyes and run down my face, blurring my vision. The dim room is now swimming before my eyes.
My heart aches to see him like that.
I lightly press Colin's hand before I get up and kiss him on the forehead. I needed to do something. Anything, to make myself useful.
Colin was like the older Brother I never new I needed.
He was so full of life, full of energy and playful mischief. He had stormed into my life, tearing down all the dark walls of loneliness I had built around myself, chased away all my demons and laughed away my fears. With him, I finally felt like, ‚me' again.
I've lost too many members of my family already. Blood relation or not, even though I've only known him a short time, Colin became exactly that. Family.
„There must be a way", I whisper, full of anguish and despair.
I think of Keenan again. He must be powerful, I saw the things he could do with my own eyes. I needed to find him. Maybe he could help.
I'd do anything...
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A/N sorry this chapter is so short, I've been really busy at work. More will be coming soon.
