Raising a Hero

Chapter 62

I don't know how long I sat there, herding excess calcium towards the kidneys, when I realized the calcium starting to clump in the high-pressure nodules of the kidney. They didn't respond to my magic, rather they became dark dots where my magic couldn't see into. Nevertheless, I couldn't leave them there, so I threw coil after coil of magic tendril about it until I couldn't see the darkness, then shoved energy through till I felt the space vanish. When I pulled back, the budding kidney stone had vanished, and more calcium had started to come down from the head of the body. Gus had figured it out.

Eons passed. The world about us disappeared and became the many textures and carpets of the little girl's body. When not sweeping calcium, I was strengthening organs and muscles as best I could, though she simply hadn't the resources in her body, so I borrowed some from mine. Occasionally my magic would brush against the zig zags of Gus's and I'd get a flash of his mind, tight with concentration.

When we finally pulled back, I found the front of my dress damp with blood and Gus's as well. We looked quite the sight, blinking in the gentle light of the small candle lit chandelier like moles in the sunlight and our faces a clash of pale skin and bright blood from our noses down our chins. Even as we looked at each other, we both swayed. My arms holding on to the girl had gone limp, and it was a wonder that she hadn't fallen out at all.

Or, perhaps, not a wonder at all, as she was looking at me with steady brown eyes bright with awareness.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a little, beautiful voice.

I wiped a sleeve over my face before trying to smile at her.

"I should be asking you that. How are you feeling?"

After blinking a bit, she reflected my smile.

Gus and I were saved the trial of figuring out how to get our legs-turned-rubber working when Priest Miurian cracked open the door. Behind him, the sky had turned dark. Countless hours had passed. On seeing our bloodied appearances, he rushed in.

"Oh my–dear god, there's blood–you shouldn't have pushed yourself so–even your young apprentice! Boy, are you alright?"

Gus waved him away weakly.

"Miur," I said, stopping him before he could flutter any worse. "She's healed. Can you get her dad?"

I had never seen such a transformation overcome someone who had been so worn and so haggard as I did when that man came into the room and saw his little girl sitting up and smiling.

When she gave a bright chirp of "Daddy!" he burst into loud tears and collapsed beside me, never minding the fact that he had nearly bashed his side against the altar to do so.

I looked over at Gus and exchanged a look with him. He didn't seem able to process what was going on, his expression slack with something more overwhelming than wonder.

For the first time, I actually felt like I had done something worth calling raising for this kid. I finally felt like I had contributed to his character, not just his physical well-being.

Priest Miurian had to help both of us into the carriage, to our chagrin. Yet despite his exhaustion, Gus couldn't stop talking about his experience. It had been his first time healing, rather than the usual manipulation that it took to read minds, convey thoughts and images, dreams, and learning about what parts of the mind controlled what.

"And then her face..." he paused to remember. "It was like she was just little more than a corpse, and then she just–bam–lit up. Came back to life."

I nodded and gave limited grunts and responses, really just wanting to go to sleep. But this was a success for me to, so I should at least do the appropriate thing and be excited too.

Even so, Hal took one look at my pale face as I more like melted from the carriage and ordered me and Gus to bed. Gus tried following me and was barked away by Milly, so I when I collapsed onto my bed, I had it all to myself.

Sadly, since it technically took, on average, six days for the body to replenish lost blood cells (if I was remembering correctly), Gus and I weren't much use to Hal for the last three days before the carriage from the duchy arrived.

And what a carriage it was. Before we had only ridden in nondescript black or brown carriages used most often in the city for hire or when people didn't want to garner attention. But this time our ride gleamed and was at least twice the size then it should be. It was like our entire bedroom on wheels–big, glossy wheels, with pretty little embellishes between the spokes.

"Is that real gold?" Gus whispered, looking at a signet of a flower in front of a mountain stamped into the doors.

"Could be Earth magic dye," I said.

"It's more exciting if it's gold."

A familiar square jawed knight hopped down from the front with the driver to greet us.

"I can take that, my lady," he said, reaching for the burlap, drawstring bag that Milly had helped Gus and I throw together at the last second. One for each of us.

Once he had gathered Gus and mine's meager baggage, he opened the door for us. Gus and I both looked in with an expectation of the grand wonders.

The first thing I noted was that everything was bigger. The seats could have made passable beds, and made me dream about napping just by looking at them. Said seats were also a light beige, which would have never survived in a taxi carriage, and weren't permanently bowed in from the press of countless butts. There were dark blue curtains tied to the sides of the windows to block out the light even, along with small glass light fixtures on the side that could held fat, unlit candles. There was even a fluffy rug on the floor and soft fabric stitched into the ceiling.

And sitting inside, looking quite dapper in a dark blue coat over a white shirt and maroon waist coat, was our new employer, Romanian.

"I had the fancy to come pick you up myself," he said, even as he leaned over to offer his hand to me.

I blinked as I was once more assaulted by his amazingly handsome face. Meanwhile, I knew Gus besides me scowled.

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Now Paul is a real estate novelist, who never had time for a wife. And he's talking to Davy, who's still in the Navy, and probably will be for liiiiiiiiiife.