It was a morning like any other. Well, like any other since I had lost the use of my legs. That was a hard thing to try to get over, though I was starting to settle into the idea that it might be permanent. It had only been a few days since the start of my paralysis, but there were no signs of a recovery and though the wise woman had tried to keep my spirits up that it could still improve, I could tell by her demeanor that she had already lost hope. The fact that I may never be able to walk under my own power again had hit me like a wall and rendered me full of grief for what I thought my life would be.

“What would you like for breakfast, Florin?”

Clara still said my name as a whisper, even when she was the only other person in the room with me. Even at the depths of my most sour mood it put a small smile on my face. Since we had met a few days prior she had been insistent on tending to me and sitting with me as company. It felt nice to have someone of my own age to socialize with even if we varied widely in social standing. I had always been shooed away from the idea of playing or interacting with any children in the castle and the nearest kingdoms were politically friendly, but not so much so that the royal families commonly met up to socialize. While it had all seemed normal to me before, sitting and listening to Clara talk about anything and everything had made me realize how lonely of an existence I had been living.

“I wonder if I might make my way to the dining room this morning,” I answered.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she clasped her hands excitedly in front of her. “Are you able to walk this morning?!”

My heart sank and I let out a dry laugh. “I suppose I should have been more clear about what I meant. No, I’m afraid I haven’t recovered yet. I just feel like I want to join everyone, I’m getting tired of doing nothing all day but staring at the walls of my room.”

Clara’s face fell, but she was quick to put on a smile to cover it up. “Oh silly me,” she laughed softly, “I will go find someone strong enough to help you to the dining room and I will have the cook know you are coming in person.”

I nodded and smiled, then began the process of carefully scooting myself to the edge of the bed so it would make it easier for someone to help me to my feet. I was so focused on the effort necessary to get moved over that I didn’t notice that she hadn’t left the room yet and instead was standing and watching me struggle. Embarrassment washed over my face when I caught her in my peripheral vision, this was not the image of a strong, capable monarch that I wanted to portray, especially not to her. Her face was full of pity, rosy lips turned into a worried frown. I would have welcomed the void back to pull me back down in that moment.

“Sorry!” she squeaked out before turning and scurrying out of the room.

Knowing she knew I was embarrassed somehow made it worse. It would have been much better for me to have donned a stoic expression and showed her soldiering on.

I had somewhat composed myself by the time someone arrived to help me to the dining room. A burly servant whose weathered hands gave away that he was no stranger to hard work easily lifted me from the bed and helped me to awkwardly stand and make an attempt at walking with his help. It was a fool’s errand, but I flat out refused to be carried, even if I had to be seen being dragged, I would not let my subjects see me being carried and vulnerable. I needed to start establishing that even though I may no longer walk that I still held dominion over my kingdom and would grow to become a formidable leader and I would by pushing through any adversity I was facing with my chin held high. The gasps heard as we passed open doors told me that it would not be long until the whole castle knew that I was up and about which is exactly what I hoped would happen, I wanted everyone to see that I would fight to hold onto my rightful place as eventual king.

“I see you are feeling better,” Maeve commented, she had apparently been awaiting my return.

I had finished up breakfast and dragged back to my bedroom, though this time at the desk, not my bed. I had quite enough laying down for quite a while. Now that my magical wounds were healing rapidly, my strength was returning and it was time to start figuring out my next moves, the knowledge that my aunts could return at any point gnawed at me. There was no way to know when exactly they would arrive and I had already wasted too much time that could have been spent on figuring out how to reaffirm my claim to the throne. Before the burly servant had left I had instructed him to send someone to notify the scribe I wished to see him immediately to discuss our unfinished business.

“Yes and no,” I answered.

“I just wanted to check on your progress this morning before I went on a bit of journey.”

“Well, as you can see there is no real progress.” I failed to keep the frustration and disappointment from my voice.

She gave a short nod of her head. “It is as I’ve feared, too much damage has been done.”

“I only used my power in that way once,” I grumbled, turning away to look at the surface of my desk instead of her in case I could not keep the frustrated tears at bay.

“That is sometimes all it takes,” she said with a soft sigh. “I hate to see anyone left with no hope, so if I tell you something that might help, do you promise not to act on it until I return from my trip?”

“There is hope?” She had my full attention now.

“I will say no more until you promise,” she insisted.

“Yes, yes, I promise,” I said with an impatient wave of my hand, “I have no desire to harm myself further. I have learned my lesson, believe me.”

“Good. I hope you understand that I just want to be clear that if you don’t listen to my warning about this that you could end up much worse than you are now, magic will show no mercy each time you take it for granted. If we are smart and work slowly at it though, it may be possible for you to harness magic in the same way you did before to restore function to your legs.”

“I have tried that already,” I admitted, shoulders slumping in defeat, “it was one of the first things I tried once that creature was removed from me. I am unable to do anything like I did before.”

“It would have to be done a different way, the magical channels you have before have been burned away and are either scarred shut or simply do not exist anymore. I will say no more on how exactly we could go about getting around that problem for now, while I’m away I don’t want you to try to experiment without me.”

“So there really is a way? Please don’t get my hopes up if it will take decades or have some ridiculous issue to overcome.”

“Decades? No, depending on how quickly we can get you to get a good hold on your magical strength it will not take that long, though I can’t guarantee that it will be as instantaneous as you’re hoping. As for other issues, they will arise and I cannot predict what all they will be, but I do not think there is going to be anything insurmountable.”

“Then hurry back for your trip,” I instructed with a hopeful smile. This was the first ray of hope I had felt in regards to a recovery and I wanted to be able to start pursuing it as soon as possible. “Where are you going anyway?”

She let out a light laugh and shook her head, creating the sounds of a wind chime thanks to her dangling bone earrings. “You have forgotten already that your healer still possesses the foul creature that was living within you? It is to be expected, most people try very hard to forget such a thing ever dwelled within them, it is a very unsettling thing to remember. Regardless, I must travel for proper equipment to contain the creature and try as I might I simply cannot find exactly what I need within the castle or the surrounding area.”

“We can send for whatever it is you lack,” I offered. I selfishly wanted her to stay so we could start whatever training she had in mind.

“I’m afraid that it will be much quicker if I go myself, what I need would be hard to explain in a way many would understand. I should not be long, a few days at most, but it is imperative that we perform the ritual to banish the creature from Jon before it gains enough strength to move on its own and infect some other poor soul.”

“So be it then,” I acquiesced.

She rose from her seat on the bed and before leaving the room paused to place a gentle hand on my shoulder. “We will get this all sorted my young lord, trust me I look forward to seeing what a son of Yser is capable of.”

It was very fortunate for me that pretty much as soon as she had left my chambers the scribe arrived. Despite her warnings against doing so, my gut reaction to her leaving had been to try to figure out how exactly to go about using my magic to heal or power my legs. I didn’t know if it was my frustration at my inability to move or if it was my magic itching to be used after I had not for a few days, but either way the urge was powerful and it was difficult to talk myself down from not trying just a little to see if I could figure anything out on my own.

Thankfully, the scribe was all too eager to tell me everything he had found out about the document we had been studying when the whole fiasco started. It seemed that my father had made a very bad deal, essentially trading my position as heir to the Church for their help in securing a new wife. The document seemed rushed and incomplete, almost as if my father had not taken proper care in considering what exactly he was doing. That made sense considering what I knew of him and the fact that he had made this deal without the scribe present. Obviously this was something he had not wanted anyone to know about, but given his limitations, it had not been a smart idea to sign anything without someone with his kingdom’s best interests in mind.

“While it is a very shoddy document, it is still legal enough for the Church to argue it is valid,” the scribe said. “It reeks of them just writing down what you father was verbally agreeing to and just having him sign it though. I feel that whomever he spoke with to set up the agreement knew of his illiteracy and used it to their advantage, they knew he would be unwilling to challenge it later and give away his secret.”

I let a sound of disgust puff out of my lips. “So it was potential blackmail of a king.”

“Something like that,” he agreed.

“It figures, just look at the people sent to wield its power over me. Is there no way around it?”

“Every contract has to have a loophole, I have never seen one where if you didn’t stare at it long enough you would find one. It’s just a matter of figuring out what the loophole is. I have sent for some information on who might have made this deal with your father in hopes that it might shed some light on a way forward.”

“Thank you,” I sighed. It seemed like everything was going to be a hurry up and wait situation despite the fact that I felt like I didn’t have time to waste on waiting.

Before the scribe and I could finish up our conversation there was an urgent rap on my door and it swung open to reveal a castle guard who bowed deeply.

“My young lord, I apologize for interrupting, but there is a young lady demanding to see you.”

“A young lady?” I question, furrowing my brow as I tried to think of who it could be.

“Yes, she refuses to explain to anyone who exactly she is, but is insistent that you will want to speak with her immediately. It is only the lady and her two traveling companions, we have them heavily guarded while you decide what to do in regards to them.”

It seemed offensive to my power that someone was making demands to see me, however if it was only three people I could not see how much harm they could do if I saw them. In fact, if they were nasty people I could use this as a display of power and have them sent off to the dungeon or worse. Doing so might make me look powerful and put me in an even better position in the eyes of the kingdom.

“I will see them. Send for someone to help me to the throne room.”