“If you do experience any dizziness or nausea, please don’t hesitate to let me know. You didn’t hit it hard enough to cause internal damage, but if you permit me to do so, I can ease the ache with a light spell.”
“A spell?” Surely, all of this was a super-elaborate event I’d somehow gotten dragged into. There was no way he could actually heal me with magic, but I played along. “Okay.”
Briar touched my temple again and closed his eyes. The coolness of his fingertips then warmed, and a strange sensation came over me. His eyes opened again, and he smiled. “There. Better?”
The ache was gone. And when I lifted a hand to my head and probed at the spot, it still didn’t hurt, even though it had definitely been tender not even five seconds ago. My heart rate accelerated, the beats pounding in my ears. “You… you really…”
“Easy.” Callum grabbed my shoulder as I swayed.
“You can actually use magic?” I asked, my voice higher in pitch.
“Yes.” Briar frowned at Callum before regarding me again. “You’ve not met a magic wielder before?”
“Not real magic!” Was I panicking? I felt like I was panicking. “Who are you people? Where the hell am I? Stop with the games and tell me the truth.”
“The truth? You’re in the kingdom of Bremloc.” Briar frowned at my clothes, as though he’d just noticed them for the first time. Typical doctor, I guess. They focused on the injury before anything else. “The better question is who areyou.”
“That’s why I brought him to the castle,” Callum said. “The captain found him early this morning near the dark wood. He told me to bring him here for questioning.”
“The dark wood. I see.” Briar studied me. “I sense no dark energy from him. So if he did come from the forest, his soul hasn’t been affected.”
Dark energy? There was an annoying ringing in my ears. And why was my heart beating so freaking fast?
A light rapping came at the door before it opened and a man stepped inside. A man with fuzzy cat ears jutting from his reddish-brown hair and a long tail that whished behind him.
Now, I’d attended several comic cons in my life. I’d seen countless people dress up as animals, but even the most expensive and realistic costumes paled in comparison to this guy.
“Kuya,” Briar said with a welcoming smile. “What can I do for you?”
The man quickly bowed. “Kuya has come to fetch an elixir for Prince Sawyer.”
“What are his symptoms?” Briar asked.
“A pounding headache and nausea.” The cat boy flashed a nervous smile and rubbed at the back of his hair. “He drank a lot of wine last night. Kuya told him not to, but he didn’t listen.”
“I have just the thing.” Briar stepped over to the cabinet and withdrew a small glass vial. He took it over to a table covered in beakers, various jars filled with an assortment of herbs and ingredients, and mortar and pestles. He ground herbs, added some kind of liquid, and then drained the contents into the vial. Then, he held his hand over it. Light emitted from his palm. The liquid in the vial then glowed a pale blue.
I gaped.What the hell is going on?
Briar handed the vial to him. “The best cure for a hangover. Make sure the prince drinks all of it.”
“Many thanks to you.” The cat boy pocketed the vial and looked at me. His fuzzy ears wiggled as he smiled, flashing a pair of sharp canines. His eyes reminded me of rainbows, a kaleidoscope of colors. They caught the light from the window. “Kuya hasn’t seen you before. Who are you?”
“Evan,” I said, unable to take my eyes off him. “You… you have a tail.”
His grin widened. “Kuyadoeshave a tail. It’s cute, right?” He flicked it back and forth. The way it moved was too natural, not mechanical. He then pointed to his ears. “Kuya has these too. But you can’t touch ’em. Only Prince Sawyer can. Kuya loves when he scratches them during naps.”
“You’re really…” The room spun a little. “You have real ears. And you.” I looked at Briar. “You used magic. Twice.”
It hadn’t been a trick. This Kuya dude’s rainbow-colored eyes also lacked the telltale signs of contacts.
The spinning of the room worsened, and the ringing in my ears intensified. Callum said something, but I couldn’t make out his words. Briar reached for me. The floor then rose up, coming straight at my face, and everything went dark.
***
“I leave him in your care, and he dies.” The deep voice was familiar.
“He’s not dead, sir. He only fainted.”
