Page 38 of Once Upon a Woven Wish
“The one I told you about, Ferris,” the king said.
Ferris looked down his hawkish nose at her, his dark eyes narrowed and his face lined with suspicion.“Forgive me, your majesty, but you mean to tell me this…girl is going to heal his highness?”He punctuated that with a sniff of haughty derision.
“She is.”Then to her, “Aren’t you, girl?”
She did not like being calledgirl.But when she realized everyone stared at her waiting for a response, she cleared her throat, dipped a low curtsy to the king.“I will try, your majesty.It is all I can do.”
Because, truthfully, she hadn’t a clue how the magic in her hands was supposed to work.As she turned toward the bed with the dying crown prince, she hoped the price she paid was worth it.Her palms tingled, and she swore she felt the stranger's voice whisper in the back of her mind.
The price is always too high.
Chapter 14
Ferris,thephysician,steppedaside to allow her access to the bed.She stared down at the prince’s ghastly face, apprehension sweeping through her.Her hands tingled.She curled her fingers into a fist.
She couldn’t do this.
Her heart lodged in her throat.
“Well?Get on with it, girl,” the king boomed.
She jumped at the king’s insistent voice.Her gaze flew to him, his ruddy face, his pinched expression.If she did not do this, he might toss her in the dungeon never to be seen again.
Clutching her hands to her chest, she looked down at the prince once more.
“Sire, forgive me, but perhaps she needs a bit of space to work?”the Grand Duke said.
Serena cut him a glance.His eyes never left hers.Was he…helping her?He tried to motion the group toward the door.
But the king wasn’t having it.“If my son dies here and now, I intend to stand here and watch.”
Her gut clenched.
She stepped closer to the bed and leaned over him.His breathing was shallow and raspy.His tunic was open a bit at the collar, his chest damp and pasty.She had no reason to think the magic the stranger put in her hands would not work.After all, her other wishes came true.The stranger had said a hand over the heart would heal him, but she thought that might be too easy for the onlookers to accept.
Instead, she made a show of it.
“I will…need to examine him.”Her voice was small and quiet in the room.
With a shaking hand, she reached out to him and placed her palm on his forehead.Gods, his skin was cold and clammy.The moment she touched him, his eyes flew open.
Blue eyes, the color of the ocean, peered back at her.Confusion edged away the surprise.
“Who…” he started, but his voice gave out.
“I’m here to help,” she whispered.
“I don’t know you.”
She granted him a smile.“No.My name is Serena.”
The prince closed his eyes again and expelled a breath.“Serena…Pretty name.”
Her heart fluttered.“May I try to help you, your highness?”
His dark head nodded against the pillow as his eyes remained closed.
In the lamplight of the room, her skin continued to shimmer.But it was no longer muted.Now, it had started to faintly glow.
