The Heart of a Healer

Chapter 10

Passionflower

Sedative and a tranquilizer. Can be used to relieve pain. Used to treat asthma, palpitations, high blood pressure, and muscle cramps.

Katherina

I was beginning to get impatient. "What do you mean taken away? Where?" I shouted at the clueless slave. Then Mika barged in yelling and slamming his stick. He walked over to me and said that the boy was taken by Mariana to be treated before he is moved to the underground cell. I stared at Mika blankly and then sprinted out of the slave quarter towards Mariana's kitchen.

When I entered the kitchen, I was shocked to see Ester tending to Vitaly's wounds. Vitaly lay on the table unconscious, while Ester worked on cleaning and treating the cuts using various concoctions she had organized along the kitchen counter. Mariana walked over to me and gave me a hug. "Everything will be alright Katya". Then Ester lifted her gaze to mine, "don't worry Katya he is only sleeping. Simple Valarian root trick I learned a while back". I walked over to Ester and began to help her. Vitaly's back had become worse. The whip marks stopped bleeding but his back had severe swelling and large bruises from where the whip did not cut the skin but burst all the blood vessels within.

Once we were finished, Ester looked up at me and told me that she has done all she can, now its the boys turn to heal himself. Ester began to gather her things and Mariana helped sneak her out of the kitchen.

Mika walked into the kitchen and commanded two other slaves to lift the boy up and bring him to the cell.

I pleaded with Mika, begging him to let Vitaly stay a little longer. He brushed my pleads aside and waved a hand for the slaves to proceed. Mariana walked back in and saw what was happening, she had to hold me back from running after the slaves who carried Vitaly's body away. I quietly thanked Ester, the root she used had a strong effect on Vitaly. If it wasn't for the sedative he would have been awake and screaming from the harshness the men were handling his body.

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Days went by, no one permitted me to see Vitaly. I had to distract myself, so I decided to spend my days learning all I could from Ester regarding sedatives and tranquilizers. I wanted to be prepared if anything like this ever happened again.

I was happy though that the incident was not revealed to my family. I would have been scolded and sent to an overseas school to learn how to be a proper lady. Ladies were not allowed to learn and practice medicine. Our duties in life would be to our husbands, and eventually children. But I had a fantasy of my own, to become a traveling doctor and treat patients with Ester's teachings. I did not dream of going to medicinal school because that would have been disappointing.

My family would still dine with the Aminov's from time to time, and in order to honor the promise I made to my sister, I made sure to push Roman away from me by disappointing him every chance I got. I would always try to focus his attention to my sister, but the more I pushed him away from me, the more he tried to get closer to me. He would send me gifts such as French dresses, beautiful jewels, exquisite hair broaches. And with every gift, my sister kept getting angrier and angrier. I decided to give the gifts to her and dress in a less fashionable style to the dinners.

Roman on the other hand did not get the message. Even after he saw my sister wearing the elegant silk dress he gifted to me, he kept trying to speak to me and invite me to balls.

During one of the dinners, I politely asked my father if Phillip, Roman's older brother, could escort me to the Bagdasarov family's ball. I heard Roman shift next to me and I saw Phillip push his chair forward. I looked at my sister, trying to get her to make her move. And then she turned to Roman and asked if he would be so kind to escort her to the ball. It was uncostum for a woman to ask a man to escort her when he asked my family if he could take me to the ball I simply rejected him and asked to be escorted by Phillip.

Phillip was only a couple years older than Roman. It was obvious that they were related. But while Roman had dark eyes, Phillip's were a gentle blue. Looking into those eyes, I began to think of Vitaly, the boy with the large grey eyes which held nothing but kindness in them. It has been five days since the incident and I wanted to know if he is ok. I could only imagine how lonely it must be in the cell. I was forbidden to see him, and Mariana lectured me for hours on why a lady of my stature should not befriend a slave.

Well I have already broken some rules in that category, so breaking one more will do me no harm. Now I just have to find a legitimate reason on why I can't go to this ball. And then it came to me, I had to pass out.

So sorry for not updating sooner, I just took my last medical school final. Will be updating more regularly now.