The Dream Keeper's Dragon

22. A Celebration

It had been two weeks since Leila's injury, and she wasn't improving. In fact, she seemed to be getting worse. Her wounds oozed with yellow goo, and the bruises that appeared around turned a deep green-blue. She had a high fever, could not get out of bed, and could barely stay awake for more than a few minutes.

Sasha had only allowed her to eat pure oranges and covered her with heated blankets. A fire was constantly burning in her room, and the herbs that had covered her skin were replaced with vinegar to keep down the fever.

It seemed to work, her fever had reduced, but she was still very ill. Her skin was pale and the sparks in her eyes were absent.

When Leila was awake, she rambled incoherently about the men in the woods which, naturally, had everyone at the inn give a tiny problem a huge shadow.

"You still with us?" Daerious leaned into the room.

Aurelie jumped. "Don't sneak up on me like that," she said, holding her hand over her heart.

"I did knock, twice, as a matter of fact," he said, puzzled. "You meditating or something? I thought only witches do that."

Aurelie smiled. "No, I'm not meditating," she said. "Did you want me for something?" Humour came naturally to Daerious, though right then the quip seemed unintended.

"I have orders to bring you downstairs." He straightened his pose, mimicking a guard.

"Orders?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Kirin is calling on you," he said, cocking his head uncomfortably. It looked like he was trying to find the answer to something in her expression. After a moment, he smiled.

She found the thought welcoming but didn't want to run out at the mention of his name. The last time she saw him, he was going back to the castle and that was a couple of days ago.

"I'm busy, Daerious. If Kirin wants me he can come up here and tell me what he needs." She pointed at the candles. "Dragon with raging fire here, practice is in progress."

"It was actually Sasha that wanted you. They're celebrating downstairs."

"What are they celebrating?" she asked. As far as she was concerned, they were still on the losing side. They had a dying tiger in the guest room, she didn't have any power, and there was no news from the castle. Maybe it was a 'no bad news is good news' kind of celebration. "And why did you not just mention Sasha?"

"I wanted to see whether you had the new girl syndrome." He laughed, his eyebrows jumping.

Aurelie exhaled, her lips vibrating. "You're an idiot." Her cheeks colored.

Sasha slipped into view behind Daerious, her hand resting on his shoulder. "Come on, you two, they are about to start," she said, winked, and hurried away.

"Start what?" she asked Daerious.

"They are putting on a show at the pond," he said, "Come on. If she comes back here again we will never hear the end of it. She goes mad over celebrations."

Purple, blue, and green levitating lights illuminated the field. A great feast was placed on a big round table. Something that looked like wine flowed down into a bowl like a fountain but from an invisible source.

The table was packed with every kind of pie, cake, and biscuits you could think of. There was chicken, stew, fresh bread, and things that she had never seen before, but was sure that you couldn't eat without turning yellow.

Orken was playing the banjo to a couple of wizards who were singing along to a song that seemed to be known by everyone but her.

Wizards and witches were sending bolts of multi-colored lights up to the skies.