Page 13 of Heir Of Sun And Moon
Alexi finally managed to sneak her out in the dead of night, promising me that he would lead her away from the palace grounds.
I had never before cried as much as I did that first night without her. The tower felt lifeless to me, as though every bit of joy, excitement, and contentment I had managed to find in her presence had been completely sucked out. I slept through the entire next day, the hours blurring together. It was just before nightfall, the last bit of sunlight streaming through the windows setting the tower aglow in gold, when a loud banging on the door startled me. Then I heard Alexi’s voice. “Little One, it’s me.”
I was not prepared for what would greet me when I opened it. Alexi was panting, his face red from exertion and his salt and pepper hair curling at his temple with sweat. When my attention fell to what he was holding—to the blood smeared across his armor—my confusion turned to growing horror. In his arms was a shaking bundle of white fur streaked with deep crimson.
“Bella,” I gasped, reaching out to touch her. Her blood dripped steadily, quickly staining the stone floor beneath Alexi’s feet.
“She’s been shot with an arrow. I brought her here to see if I can stop the bleeding.” He rushed past me, laying Bella on the gray rug taking up most of the floor in the living area. Bella whined as Alexi carefully removed his forearms from beneath her body. He quickly unbuckled his armor, tossing his blood-streaked breast plate to the side, as I closed the door and knelt beside him.
He moved his hands to where the arrow was protruding from Bella’s side and separated the fur around it, assessing the wound. My hands trembled in my lap, a humming sensation building in me that I had never experienced before. It felt like the warmth of the sun, a bright light just waiting to be called upon. It was a strange bone-deep knowing but I couldn’t quantify what it was that I knew.
“I think I can pull the arrow out and stop the bleeding. Can you go get some towels, soap, and a bowl of water to clean the wound with?” Alexi spoke calmly, assuring me with the evenness of his tone as I gathered the requested supplies.
Coming back to his side, he instructed me on what to do once he pulled the arrow out. Kneeling on the floor, I scooted closer to Bella and leaned down, whispering quietly into her ear, “This is going to hurt for just a second, but then we’re going to fix you. I’m so sorry for making you leave, for causing your pain.”
Bella slowly laid her paw on my knee, the movement shaky as if she used all the energy she could muster. I placed my hands on her to hold her steady as Alexi counted to three and then began to slowly pull the arrow out, the muscles in his arms tensing with the careful movement. A howl reverberated off the walls, piercing through my nerves as Bella vocalized her pain, and I wondered if it could be heard well into the city of Vitour.
It felt like it took years, but with one final small tug by Alexi, the arrow was removed. I quickly placed a towel over her wound and applied pressure, my heart racing in my chest. A minute passed before Alexi gently moved me aside and replaced the now blood-soaked towel with a fresh one, his hands holding it in place. But the bleeding didn’t stop. Bella’s breaths started to become slower and more irregular, her heart beating at a new, labored pace. One of death.
“No. No. No. We pulled the arrow out. Why is she still bleeding so much?” I cried to Alexi. He slowly lifted his hands from her, wiping them on a clean towel as blood continued to leak out. My bottom lip trembled, my hands rushing to replace his, applying pressure.
He whispered remorsefully, “Rhea, it must have hit an artery. I’m so sorry.” I felt his hand settle on my shoulder and squeeze, but I just shook my head. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t lose her. Not like this. “I think—”
“Don’t!” I hissed through my teeth, my jaw clenching so hard I thought they might break. “Don’t you dare say it.”
Tears spilled from my eyes, blurring everything around me. I leaned down, my hands still applying pressure to Bella’s wound as my forehead came to her furry temple. Her eyes were closed, and her jaw had grown slack, but her chest still rose and fell. Though the pauses were growing longer between each strained movement.
“Please hang on,” I begged, my chest heaving with a sob. My hair fell around my face and Bella’s, as if it was a curtain that we could wrap ourselves in to shield everything else out. Alexi removed his hand from my shoulder but stayed kneeling next to me.
“You can’t leave me,” I whispered to Bella. “You have to live.Please, you have to live.”
That warm feeling in my belly stirred again, causing me to gasp and jerk back upright. It traveled up my torso, passing my chest and shoulders until I felt it pouring down my arms, a tingling following in its wake. It was calling on me to use it, to wield it, but I didn’t understand how. This feeling was speaking to me in a foreign language that I couldn’t interpret. All I knew was that I couldn’t give up on Bella. She didn’t deserve this and it wasmyfault that she was in this position.
“You will live. You will live.” I repeated the words. The sensation that moved through me halted like it was waiting for permission or directions. I couldn’t make sense of it, but I knew we were running out of time. So I closed my eyes and gave my body over to that feeling, to that light I imagined was burning inside of me—not burning to cause pain, but burning with life. A few seconds went by before I felt the warmth gathering in the palms of my hands. I kept my eyes squeezed shut, afraid that opening them would cause me to lose whatever this connection was.
“Gods.” Alexi’s voice was a shocked whisper, but I didn’t stop.
I imagined the luminescence pouring into Bella’s wound and healing it completely. I pictured it restoring her blood loss and making her whole. I saw in my mind her muscles and veins coming back together—becoming one again.
“Rhea.” It was a silvery, ethereal murmur on the wind, but I paid it no mind. I couldn’t. Not with the humming in my body, the warmth flowing through me.
“Rhea,” Alexi said, his voice different from the one I’d heard a moment ago.
His hands landed on my shoulders, but I tried to shake him off. Hecouldn’tstop me from doing this. Ihadto do this.
“I’m not trying to stop you, Little One. I want you to open your eyes.”
Open my eyes? I felt his thumbs sweeping back and forth on my shoulders, and the movement calmed some of the frenzy I felt.
“Open them, Rhea.”
My eyes obeyed and immediately focused on Bella. The white light I had imagined inside me was shining brightly from my palms and onto her—intoher. My gaze slowly traveled up to Bella’s head, and when I saw her eyes were open, I nearly crumpled with relief.
“Can you stop… this?” I heard the hesitation in Alexi’s voice. The fear.
“I don’t know how,” I muttered, still confused about what had actually happened. My eyes were wide as I looked at him, sweat beading down my neck.
“Try to take slower breaths, like when we do our mind cleansers,” Alexi said, his eyes betraying the attempted calm of his voice. “Bella is alive. She isn’t bleeding anymore.”
