Chapter 21 The Healer's Report
Rever
“There's no need to get all strung up my dear Lasmay,” I said as I got to my feet, and tilted my head left and right to view my face from every possible angle.
“Just trust me and trust that I know what I'm doing. Why, if you hadn't been responsible for the transformation yourself, you would probably be ready to swear that your old pall Rever and this dandy courtier Mikel were two different people, wouldn't you?” I asked cheerily trying to force a cheery atmosphere.
“ I would never fail to recognize you your grace,” he replied sounding so formal that I didn't dare give a flippant reply or try to force cheer. I chose to remain silent instead smoothing down the wig to make sure none of my actual hair was peeking out.
Finally satisfied, I turned back to Lasmay who stood watching me with his arms crossed across his chest.
“ Don't you think it's time you assigned a room to Mr Franson? After all the alpha would want his favorite courtier to have befitting quarters wouldn't he?”
With a sigh,he turned and headed for the door.
“ Come along Mr Franson,” he threw over his shoulde, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he left the room, letting the door slam behind him.
Smiling softly I trailed after him, swaggering along with my hands in my pocket.
An hour later, I or rather Mikel Franson was settled in the biggest guest suite in the palace. It was meant for the alpha's family members who were paying a visit to the palace. Since I had no family to speak of, no matter how distant I didn't think anyone would raise eyebrows at hosting a courtier there.
Lasmay while protesting heavily had returned to the alpha's quarters and brought me several change of clothes along with some toiletries. It was a good thing I had become something of a recluse in recent years, so few saw me often that no one would be able notice the fact that not only did the alpha and Mr Franson sound alike and walk alike, they also had apparently the same taste in clothes and shared the same tailor.
When I was finally satisfied with the way the suite looked, I made Lasmay ring the bell and sent the manservant that appeared to fetch Earl, the head healer at the infirmary. If anyone other than Sharon herself could tell me whar I wanted to know, then it was Earl. And tell me he did.
He had come in looking all squirrelly and nervous, not that I blamed him, being summoned before the pack's beta and one of the highest courtiers was more than enough to rattle anyone's nerves.
He was soon at ease though, almost as soon as he began to speak it became obvious that he was a man who loved what he did and was most at ease when giving his professional opinion.
“ She has a particularly strong immune system,” he was saying.
“ It's the reason why she's been able to survive the severe malnourishment and everything else.” He added, finally bringing his explanation to a stop, he had spent the better part of half an hour giving me a detailed of all of Sharon's various ailments. Of course I could have stopped him at any point, but for reasons I couldn't explain, I wanted to know everything about her, even if everything included a thirty minute lecture about maladies whose name I couldn't even say out loud.
“ Aside the aforementioned physical ailments, what else did you discover during your examination?” I asked almost as soon as he was done speaking.
“ She was quite jumpy and high-strung.” Was the instant reply.
She kept grabbing our hands and trying to leap off the bed, we had to restrain her in order to finish our examination.”
“Restrain?’ I demanded in an involuntary menacing tone while simultaneously telling myself to calm down. I couldn't lop Earl's head off his body for doing his job now could I.
“ Yes Mr Franson,” Earl replied, completely oblivious of the effort it was costing me to keep my tone civil.
“ All four limbs, it was the only way to make sure she didn't hurt either herself or me and my assistants while we examined her.
His concern for her safety (even though he lumped her with himself and others) turned out to be the calming draught my mind needed and I continued with my questions.
The next question wasn't easy, I had to take a deep breath and mentally still myself before I felt prepared to blurt it out.
“ I have reasons to suspect that she's a victim of abuse.” I started, hoping to all the gods that I didn't sound as frenzied as I felt.
“Did your examinations unearth any signs of that?” I asked.
“That might explain why she's so skittish, but unless she tells us herself we have no way of knowing.” Earl replied after a few seconds of careful consideration.
You wouldn't feel that way if you had heard her last night. I muttered to myself under my breath as my mind clouded with rage at the thought of how broken and fearful she had sounded last night.
Taking a couple of deep breaths I managed to tamp down my anger finally asked the question I had wanted to ask for days.
“What do you know about curses Earl?” I asked.
“ Curses Mr Franson?”
“ I believe that was the word I used.”
“ Forgive Mr Franson, I didn't mean to offend you, I was simply taken aback.” Earl hastily apologized, obviously noticing the snap in my voice.
“ I'm a healer of physical ailments Mr Franson, it's not often than I hear of their spiritual counterparts like curses.” He added.
“ But you do hear of them, no matter how infrequent it might be.” I prodded.
“Yes Mr Franson,” he replied.
“We're a large pack, and although it's less frequent these days, sooner or later someone is sure to leave their common sense behind and get themselves entangled with the witches, and lay themselves open to a curse, and then of course they come running to the healer.” He explained.
“So you know how curses work then?”
“ I try myself when consulted, but I wouldn't say I know how they work Mr Franson, if you really want to know more about a curse, you should talk to the shaman, he's much more versed in such matters than I'll ever be.” He advised.
“ The shaman,” I slowly repeated two of his words, more to myself than him, mentally giving myself a smack on the head as I wondered how I could have forgotten the shaman. He was a literal fount of the knowledge I wanted.
“ Thank you Earl, you may leave now,” I dismissed the healer at the same time I jabbed my thumb into the call bell.
“Take care of your patient and make sure she's as comfortable as possible,”’” I added as he bowed before taking his leave.
“ Get the shaman and make it quick,” I ordered the servant who had come running as soon as he opened the door.