Dunei - A Murtagh Love Story - Eldest Fan Fiction

Chapter 12

Lorena sat cross legged in a plush armchair, her broken wrist cradled against her chest, watching the morning sunlight creep across the courtyard walls. Her body ached from the many old and few new injuries, every small shift causing her to groan.

Despite the injuries she did receive-such as a broken wrist as punishment for attempting to strike him-Lorena was quite surprised by how gentle Galbatorix had been in his latest torture. Instead of senseless beating and bodily harm he had worked more on psychological distress, little things that she didn't know were disturbing until she experienced them.

Her breath hitched when she felt him untie the lace of her dress. He pulled slowly on the precious material, drawing it from each loop with agonizing precision. Lorena squirmed slightly, and the arm pulled behind her back was pushed further upwards, causing Lorena to freeze. Her upper body lay forward on the bed, her feet barely touching the ground, while she waited to see what Galbatorix would do next. She jumped when the end of the green lace dropped on the bed in front of her face. The material fell slowly, folding on top of itself in a delicate flow. She had dared not close her eyes, so she watched the show the King was putting on for her. At last the other end of the lace fell and landed atop her nose, and she understood what he was doing. He had shown her she was powerless, that she did not even posses the authority to lift a piece of lace unless the King allowed it. And that terrified her.

She gasped and dug her fingers into the arm of the chair, attempting to calm her nerves. The thought of the night before-and the repeat that morning-caused her to tremble, and the taste of bile to rise in her throat. It's okay, she attempted to reassure herself, you're fine. Don't allow yourself to become upset, it's what he wants.

Despite knowing better Lorena was unable to fully calm herself, so she returned her attention to the sunlight. The room was not unpleasantly cold, a small amount of warmth exuded from the lanterns around the room, and all she needed was the coverage of a thin night dress she had found that morning to keep cool.

Lorena heard footsteps from the walkway before the bedchamber door was pushed open. She turned in her seat, expecting to see Galbatorix, but was surprised to see a middle aged man dressed in maroon robes. His head covered in close cropped brown hair, and his face was cleanly shaven. He shut the door behind him before looking at her with a disinterested glance. "I have been sent here to see to your wounds."

She studied him a moment before standing and holding out her broken wrist. He walked over to her, his robes swishing around him, then gently took hold of her arm to inspect it. He turned it over and clucked his tongue, then sandwiched her wrist between his palms and muttered in the ancient language. His palm did not glow as she had expected, but she did feel her bones slide back into placed and fuse together. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from crying out, and she concentrated so hard on trying not to wrench her hand free of his grip that she didn't notice her knees give until they hit the floor.

The magician cursed but managed to keep hold of her arm, when he did let go the pain was gone. Lorena struggled back to her feet and flexed her fingers, then rolled her wrist. It was healed.

"Thank you." she whispered.

"We're not done yet. I was informed you have burns too." He healed each burn on her arms before he indicated her dress. "I need you to remove that."

Lorena's lips pursed as she glared at him.

"I'm a healer," he snapped irritably, "I have a job to do. Now remove your clothing or I'll have to call for help to forcibly remove it. It's your choice."

Knowing that it would happen one way or the other Lorena slipped out of the night dress, letting it fall on the floor. Without hesitation the healer reached out and began healing the burns on her chest, stomach, then legs. To her surprise Lorena noticed him heal her multicoloured bruises, before he examined her back and healed a few injuries Lorena didn't know she had.