We hurried through the hallways to the medical bay where Nana and Lord Dimitri were getting treated. It was on the opposite side of the palace from where my chambers were located so it was quite a journey. The guard lead us through a series of turns and stairs until we came to a halt in front of a door painted white with a small red cross at the very middle of it.
The room was surprisingly quite spacious. It was blindingly white starting from the walls to the curtains that covered each of the many beds that lined both sides on the room in two neat rows. I was almost self-conscious of getting something dirty in there and made sure to not touch anything unnecessarily.
A nurse holding a tray layered with medical supplies almost ran into us as we entered the room. His long Fae ears twitched in surprise when he saw who it was.
"Your Highness. Chief Hawthorne." He greeted, bowing as much as he could without spilling the contents in his hands. "Right this way. Please follow me."
The nurse guided us to the farthest end of the room. Along the way, I caught glimpses of soldiers being tended to their wounds and assumed that they are the ones who must have been on the expedition. Most of them were unconscious or sedated and conscious ones were in too much pain to say anything.
My heart pounded as I saw the familiar face of Lord Dimitri, albeit a bit dishevelled, and a young woman probably in her thirties, in the next bed. I glanced around to see which bed Nana was in, but the only people were the wounded soldiers. Panic arose within me. I tugged Jase's sleeve.
"Where's Nana?" I whispered. "I don't see her..."
"What do you mean you can't see her? She is literally right there." He whispered back, giving me a funny look.
"What do you mean right there? I can see Lord Dimitri and a...oh."
'Guardians are very good at glamouring their looks.' Hailey's voice echoed in my head.
I stared at the woman who is supposedly my adoptive grandmother. She smiled at me tiredly. One of the nurses dabbed an ointment on the cuts and gashes covering her hands and face.
"Nan-um.." I trailed away not knowing if I should call her that still.
"Come here." She beckoned. She gently brushed her fingers on my head. "Were you being good?"
I hugged her tightly, burying my face in her neck. Hot tears welled up in my eyes. She murmured soothingly and kissed my hair. My heart wrenched at the thought that they had to go through all this because of me.
"It's okay, I'm here now. I'm okay. I know what you're thinking. And it's got nothing to do with you, alright? It is not your fault. You understand? It is not your fault." She said sternly.
I nodded quietly and moved aside to let the nurse do her job. Nana winced as the nurse fixed a sling for her broken hand.
"Why aren't you healing?" Hailey asked, voicing my thoughts. Both Lord Dimitri and Nana's faces darkened.
"We'll explain it all once we're done here. Is it possible to get something to eat first?" Lord Dimitri asked.
"I'll inform the cooks and arrange for something right away." Melissa answered. I mouthed her a 'thank you' quickly as she left the room. Nana watched her leave seeming lost in thought.
"Julian can you tell Alfred to get two rooms ready at once. Your soldiers can rest here at the palace and leave to the barracks once they're completely healed. No need to rush. Ask him to get meals arranged for them too, please." I told him.
"Yes, Your Highness." He said bowing lightly.
"I'll go along to help." Jason offered and followed Julian.
"Did Prince Aiden leave for Avrael?" Lord Dimitri asked. "What about his wedding?"
My face darkened at the thought of Isabella. I cleared my throat and feigned a composed look.
"It turned out that his bride to-be was one of my uncle's lackeys. There was a turn of events when we found out and long story short, she's dead." I said.
"Prince Aiden is her bonded." Hailey added, nonchalant. She smirked when Lord Dimitri broke into a sputtering cough.
"I-I see. Congratulations, my dear." He managed finally.
"Took you both long enough." Nana said. My eyes widened.
"How did you-"
"Darling, I may look younger than my age but I am still a guardian. Also, did you forget I already met him all those years ago on the day we left this place. Us, guardians have a thing for sniffing out bonds years before they appear. Speaking of each, did the rest of the guardians pay you a visit?"
She must have seen it on my face.
"We can talk about it later. Don't worry your pretty head about whatever it is that they told you. I'll take care of it. We have more pressing things to talk about."
The nurses finished their job just on time for Julian and Jase. Together we escorted nana and Lord Dimitri to their rooms. He wanted to get some shut eye for a while and excused himself. Hailey, Jase, Julian and I lingered behind in nana's room. Melissa arrived a few minutes later with maids in tow, carrying platters of food. I nibbled on a cut up piece of peach as nana began her tale. It was weird seeing her in her original form but I was slowly getting used to it. It still felt like her.
"The moment I realized the building was on fire, I rushed to get all of you to safety. But on the way, I was attacked from behind and injected with a liquid. It made me fall unconscious at once. The next thing I knew, I was locked up in a cell and my glamour removed, revealing me in my original form." Nana started. She gestured at her body.
"I kept my glamour even after we got here to avoid recognition. The place was some sort of a lab that had all these different potions being brewed. Only then did I know that Lord Dimitri had also been captured along with me. It seems that he saw me getting attacked at his house and rushed in to help me and was injected as well. Nothing really happened for the first few days. They would ask us questions, beat us up when we didn't answer but kept us alive." She continued.
"Now believe me when I say that as a Guardian, I've been captured a lot of times and had similar experiences. I was quite calm and waited for a good opportunity to escape. Creating portals took a lot of energy and concentration. I didn't heal myself in the beginning not wanting to spend too much energy in the process. Bruises heal quickly anyway. But I began to panic when I couldn't heal myself or use any of my magic even to escape. I later found out that Lord Dimitri was facing the same problems as well. I was barely left conscious and every time I forced myself to use magic, I would get a nosebleed or fall unconscious. That's when I began to pay more attention to the potion making around me." She said.
Beside me, Hailey let out a soft gasp. "The liquid you were injected with- it really exists?" She said, going pale by the second. Nana nodded.
"Not the final product but they're close to perfecting it. Maybe they even did it. We were rescued right before the last batch could be injected in our bloodstream." Nana said. Hailey shuddered. I shared a confused look with Jase and Julian.
"Is this liquid some kind of a poison?" I asked, remembering the incident where Aiden and I were attacked a few days ago.
"Not exactly." Hailey explained. "A few years ago, a rumor arose when people went missing and returned bloody and bruised with their powers gone. It did return a few weeks later but the captured victims said that they were fed a liquid that apparently made them lose their powers and almost killed them in the process. His Highness looked into the matters immediately and the cases were closed saying that the person responsible was caught and it was just a prototype of a drug that the accused was trying to invent. The rumor died down after a year of no more missing cases. But I guess the case has been reopened yet again. Only, the drug seems to be much more deadlier than before."
"It does not end there. I believe all of them work for that traitor. And he's using these potions or drugs as you as call them, to create his army." Nana shivered. "I'm sure you must have heard of them by now. A batch was sent out to test the results and I overheard a few men who were guarding us say that it the mission is going successfully."
Suddenly everything made sense. The random attacks and strange occurrences that were taking place in all the kingdoms. I clenched my palms into fists. So many people are dying and families are being ripped apart due to this.
"Now, I'm not sure when my powers will return completely but they neglected us in the last few days before we were rescued when the news of the search reached them so Lord Dimitri and I were left alone. They put all their time and effort into creating more of this army."
"Did you meet him?" I asked, referring to the traitor of the uncle that I possessed. Nana shook her head.
"He's well hidden wherever he is." She said. "But the interesting part is that, this drug that made my loose my powers doesn't affect a person with no magic source in them. I saw them test it out on a couple of subjects."
"This is messed up." I groaned into my hands. "Why can't he just face me directly once and for all and sort out his damn problems like a normal person."
Nana patted my head gently and I sighed. She was almost done with her food and I noticed she looked much more tired than earlier.
"You should get some sleep. We can talk later when you have rested well." I said, getting up. The rest of them got up at my cue. Julian held the door open for us.
"Ellie, can I have word with you alone?" Nana said.
"Yes, of course. I'll meet you guys in the training room." I nodded to the lot.
We waited until the maids cleared the food and Julian closed the door behind him. Nana didn't bother about small talk.
"What did the rest of the Guardians tell you?" She asked. Her expression remained grim. "I suppose they mentioned about the betrothal and outright refused to accept the bond." She said, more like a statement than a question.
"Yes, something along those lines. Did you know about the betrothal before?" I asked.
"I did but I also figured the both of being bonded would make a difference. But I should have know they would cause trouble. Rest assured, don't you worry yourself over it. I'll take care of it." Nana said.
"Well I did explain a few things about why I shouldn't break my bond with Aiden just because I am betrothed to someone who doesn't want anything to do with me as much as I want nothing to do with him." I said as a matter of fact.
Nana raised her eyebrows. "They asked you to break the bond?"
"Even offered to do it themselves."I replied.
She shook her head and muttered a few colorful words under her breath.
"Anyway like you said, we shouldn't worry about a trivial matter like this and instead focus on the main picture here. Let's talk some more when you've gotten a good rest. I'll be in my chambers if you want me." I said, getting up from the bed. I kissed her cheek and motioned for her to lie down.
"You've grown so much in such a short time. I can't recognise the fun loving teenager who loved baking cookies with me at 2 in the morning." She said. I tucked her in comfortably and adjusted a few pillows.
"Yeah, me too." I replied softly. I turned to leave and then stopped short as a thought passed my mind.
"Nana..say, is there a way to visit Kyle and Dad? I know Cole would be away in college but I was just wondering if you know..we could visit Dad and Kyle just for a little while."
"You miss them?" She said.
"More than you can possibly imagine. Especially Kyle. He would be left alone in the house while Dad is away on his business trip and now that I'm not there for company, I just...I really want to see him. I really wish he was here with me right now. I could use one of his hugs." I said truthfully.
"Well there is a way for him to enter but I'm not sure if it will work for sure. Nobody has tested it yet. I'll think about it." She said.
"Okay. I'll be off now. I love you."
"I love you more, darling."
I sighed as I shut the door behind me and took a moment to collect myself together. I really did miss Kyle and talking about it just made me want to see him more. I also wished Aiden would come back sooner but it can't helped I guess.
"Let's go Julian." I said.
"Yes, Princess."
As we passed through a tapestry in the hallway, I thought to myself,
'Chopsticks.'
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021 MY LOVELIES ❤
Hope all you beautiful angels have a wonderful year ahead and achieve all that you've dreamed of! I love each and every one of you *muah*