“She’s dying,” I said aghast. It was as I expected. Damien had made the wrong antidote.
Even the old professor looked worried when I glanced over at him, but he offered no words of help.
Damien looked confused. “But it was such a simple remedy,” he said to himself. “Maybe you were right about the purple dragon flower seeds.” He started to look panicked. “What do we do now? You’re supposed to be such a good healer, heal the girl! What are you waiting for?”
That made me lose all concentration, and I could feel the fear rushing in. What if I were wrong? What if I made the wrong remedy and the girl died?
I had to take a chance; time was running out. I mixed the herbs together as I had been taught. Everything I needed was there in the little kit that had been provided in the tent. Damien stood there, doing nothing to help.
“If you are wrong, she could die,” said Damien. “Not that it really matters. She is a peasant girl and of no consequence.”
I faltered for a moment before I pulled myself together. I wasn’t going to let him get to me. And I wasn’t going to let the girl die either, peasant or not. A life was a life, and everyone deserved to be treated the same. I knew what I had made was right. I poured some of the liquid down the girl’s throat and waited. Her breathing was still hardly visible, but soon her eyelids fluttered slightly.
The professor came and checked the patient. He smelled the contents of the liquid cure that I had made and then took the girl’s pulse, but she was still not waking up.
“This is correct for the first poison,” said the professor, “but I am afraid your partner here administered another poison into her blood. We must call in Professor Plumpleberry to heal her, or she will surely die.” The professor looked extremely worried and left the tent.
Did that mean we had failed the test? Damien smirked at me, but his eyes looked worried. What if Penelope did not get here in time? I hadn’t seen her in the arena. What if the girl died before she could be healed? I thought about it, and if Professor Plumpleberry could heal the girl, then it could be done. I had to try something; her life was in my hands.
I placed one of my palms on the girl’s head and one over her heart. I closed my eyes and concentrated, just how Penelope had taught me.
“What are you doing?” hissed Damien. “Do you really think you can heal her with just your powers? Only the professors know how to do that. You will wear yourself out before you can even begin.”
I shut out Damien’s voice and concentrated. I could feel the faint heartbeat of the girl, and I concentrated on my own power source. I pushed some of that power into the girl through my palms and went about searching for the poison. It was easier than I had imagined at first, but soon my power started to fade. I could feel the amulet working, making me ordinary. My mage powers were not enough. I needed more to heal this girl.
I searched around me. I could feel magic in the air and under my feet buried deep in the earth. In fact, now that I was looking for it, I felt magic all around me, not just within me. I pulled some of it into myself and pushed it through my hands and into the girl.
I knew instinctively that I was using fae powers instead of mage, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered right now was that the girl lived. I pushed more power into the girl, and the blue-white light spread through her body like a forest fire, expelling and destroying the poison and cleaning her blood.
It was done.
I opened my eyes, and so did the girl.
Damien stared at me incredulously. “How did you do that?”
I was shocked at myself. What had I done? I had used fae magic. I was sure of it. Had I revealed myself? Did Damien know?
The tent flapped open, and in strode the old professor and Professor Plumpleberry. Penelope immediately went to the girl and checked her thoroughly. When she was finished, she turned and smiled at me, but her eyes narrowed. “It seems I am not needed after all.”
The professor who was overseeing the tent furrowed his brow in confusion. “But, but I was sure she was dying. There are no herbs that could have saved her.”
Penelope laughed and tried to sound flippant. “Maybe you didn’t check thoroughly, Sebastian,” she said, trying to ease the tension.
But then Damien piped up. “I saw what she did.” He pointed at me. “She healed that girl with her powers alone.”
The old professor scoffed at Damien. “Impossible—no one has so much power at so young an age, and even if she did, a healing like that would have sapped all of her powers. Only the fae can heal like this. You must be mistaken, my boy. I think the potion Rory made expelled both the poisons. Good, good, I must make a note of that for the guild.”
“But I saw her,” said Damien lamely. “I saw her. She healed the girl. She put her hands on her head, and she healed her.”
The old professor eyed him sternly. “I do not like liars, my boy.” He turned away from Damien and walked out of the tent, gesturing for us to follow him. Penelope stayed behind to check the patient.
I snuck a peek at Penelope, and she was looking at me very suspiciously. I think she knew. The question was, what would she do about it? Would she support me? Uncle Gabriel said most people were afraid of fae-mages. Would Penelope turn me over out of fear? Or would she keep my secret?
It was done now; at least the professor didn’t believe Damien. I knew Damien would not
