Switched ~ a Fractured Fairytale

Chapter Thirty ~ From the Ashes

My days gradually settled into a routine. In the mornings, I would work in the sanctuary, caring for whatever animal came through our gates. After lunch, I would tour the nearby towns and villages with Father and Theo, seeing to the wounded and helping rebuild lives and houses. In a gesture of goodwill and reconciliation, Blaise had arraigned for gold to be sent from his father's personal treasury to aid reparations. For many families, gold could not bring back a loved one, but it could ease the pain.

One morning, as I finished breakfast and prepared to ride over to the sanctuary, Marianne came quietly up to me.

'Elia,' she said. 'I was wondering... may I accompany you to your sanctuary this morning?'

I blinked at her in surprise. Since helping me tend the wounded soldiers on the battlefield, she had asked me the occasional question about my animals, but I had never expected her to want to visit them.

'Of course,' I said. 'We're always in need of an extra set of hands.'

Marianne smiled shyly at me as we walked down the back steps to the stables.

We rode through the town towards my sanctuary, which was a few miles from the palace, surrounded by woodland. The sanctuary was made up of a few low, wooden building around a central courtyard. The largest contained the surgery. The left-hand stables housed horses and other larger animals, whilst the right building was for smaller animals, mostly birds. Injured animals found in the wild were kept in a separate building. Behind the buildings were several large paddocks and a lake, where animals went to recuperate and exercise. People dressed in grey tunics were dashing to and fro, leading animals and carrying supplies

'Princess,' my assistant, Millie, came hurrying towards us as we dismounted and lead our horses towards the back paddock.

'Millie, this is my sister, Marianne,' I said. 'She's come to give us a hand today.'

'Thank goodness,' she said. 'We have a bird just in with a broken wing, a fox with a crushed paw and our dog is about to whelp in the back stables.'

'I think we'll see to the puppies,' I said. 'Could you send some gloves and aprons to us, please?'

'Of course,' she said. She turned back to the main building, calling out instructions as she went.

Marianne followed me towards the back stables, staring around at all the bustle. Inside was dark and warm and smelled of horses and straw. Against the back wall, a black and brown dog was panting, her large belly straining with contractions. A young man knelt beside her, gently stroking her ears.

'Princess,' he said softly as we approached. 'She is almost there.'

I knelt beside her, and she whimpered, licking my hand.

'Hey, girl,' I said.

'Is she alright?' Marianne asked, her eyes full of concern.

'She knows what to do,' I reassured her.

At last, a small puppy, covered in fluids, slid out onto the straw. Its mother began licking it and soon, three more joined it, nursing at their mother's side. Marianne's eyes were wide as she watched and I smiled, remembering my first litter of puppies. The fifth puppy was by far the smallest, a tiny white thing, covered in birth fluids. The mother was too preoccupied with the others to notice, so I scooped it up in a cloth and handed it to Marianne.

'Here,' I said as she carefully took the puppy. 'You need to stroke her like this so she can breathe.'

Carefully and gently, Marianne wiped the blood from the puppy and rubbed her chest to stimulate her lungs. After a few minutes, the puppy gave a little whimper and began to breathe properly.