Chapter 116 Hospital

Avalyn

I looked at myself in the mirror as Tessa braided my hair.

It was post lunch and we had bid our guests goodbye. Nik had briefed me up on their meeting and said that the goods from Kingdom Prajini were on it's way to Silverwitch Bay Port. And then we were supposed to transport them wherever needed. Andrei and Symon had gone to the port to make sure the distribution process would go smoothly when the goods arrived. I was happy with the way things were going on. We had a pack meeting early in the morning tomorrow during which the stones will be distributed to everyone. We also would have a lot of plants that would be delivered all over the pack. Everyone were under strict orders to plant the flowers and plants around the periphery of their homes.

I already had a ruby ring which I had slipped on my finger and I had given away all of my ruby jewellery to Tessa and the other females in the palace so they were a little less people to worry about.

"Are you sure you are feeling better, Mistress?" Tessa looked worried.

I had lost a lot of weight in the last couple of days but I could finally stomach my breakfast and lunch so I took that as a good sign. My cheeks had a little colour and my eyes didn't look dead either. I wore a simple white dress and a pair of comfortable shoes I could walk around in all day. I wanted to visit a few places before the big meeting. I wanted to assure people that everything was going to be fine. Because I knew Nikolai's speech of what was to come would scare the entire pack.

"Yes, I'm sure Tessa." I smiled at her through the mirror.

Tessa smiled back.

"Thank you. Go call Eliyah too and then wait for me in the car. I'll talk to Nik and meet both of you in ten minutes." I told her before I picked up my purse that Tessa had packed before hand and walked out of the room.

I knew that Nik had a lot of meetings so he was going to be in the Council Room.

Everyone paused when I entered. My eyes instinctively fell on Nik and my lips widened in a smile.

He got up from his throne and walked up to me, kissing me in front of everyone and making me blush. "How are you feeling now, Love?"

"A lot better. I was thinking I'd go out around the pack today, haven't talked to everyone in a while..." I hope he doesn't say no. He never does but I know things are very tense because of the upcoming war.

"Sounds like a good idea, as long as you take guards." Nik said and then Nat came and hugged me, "I'm so glad you are feeling better again."

"Yes, we missed you around here." Dimitri lifted me off my feet and twirled me around, making me squeal and giggle. Max and Mikhail hugged me too.

I felt overwhelmed with love. And I was happy to see them all again properly, it had been a while.

My eyes fell on the woman with the scar on the side of her face. The same one I had seen at the dining table. She was over six feet and well built. She was wearing half an armour and had a sword at her hip.

"This is Chiara, the General of our Army." Nik introduced and Chiara bowed down, "a pleasure to officially meet you, Queen Avalyn."

"Rise." I smiled and she did. "It's a pleasure to meet you too."

And then my eyes fell on a vampire who I had also seen at the dining table, but he seemed familiar. He was tall, but shorter than Nik, had wide shoulders and strong arms. He had wavy brown hair and a strong, square jawline along with pools of clear water for eyes. I had seen those ocean blue eyes before.

"This is Algebrus, soon to be the Lord of Treasure." Nik introduced and my mind flashed to almost forgotten memory.

I was sitting on a bench when I saw a boy throwing mud at girls who were playing with dolls.

The boy laughed when the girls shrieked and cried and started running to their mommies.

The girl's mommies scolded the boy, making him sad. I realised he only wanted someone to play with. A smile slid on my face. Jumping off the bench, I ran towards the boy, picked up a handful of mud and threw it at his retreating back. The boy jumped and turned around in shock.

I gave him a wide smile and extended my hand, "I'm Avalyn. Friends?" His ocean blue eyes crinkled as he smiled back and neared me to shake my hand, "Best friends. My name is Algebrus."

"Like math. Like Algebra!" I giggled.

"Don't call me math!" He made a face.

I showed him my tongue. "Catch me if you can!" I grinned and climbed up the tree near me as fast as I could. Papa had taught me how to climb and when I was half way to the top, I heard a scream.

"Girls don't climb trees!" A boy showed me his tongue.

"Shut up!" Algebra told him and began following me up the tree with a grin but got stuck on the first branch itself.

"Yes! I'm not just a girl!" I rolled my eyes. "I'm a super-girl." I won and looked at the boy standing on the ground with superiority. "Girls can do whatever they want!"

"Avalyn!" Papa's eyes widened when he saw me at the top of the tree.

I smiled widely at him and waved at him enthusiastically. "Look I'm so tall now, Papa! Taller than you!" I stood on my tippy toes to grow even taller and waved enthusiastically.

"Climb down right now! Or else you will fall down." Papa immediately zipped towards the tree and looked up at me with worry. I hated worrying him.

I jumped off the branch and easily, he caught me. He breathed a sigh of relief. "You'll give me a heart attack one day, Firefly."

I giggled. "I knew you'd catch me, Papa."

"Of course." He grinned and kissed my cheek. "And who is this?" He helped Algebra off the first branch.

"Algebra! Like math!" I giggled. "he's my new best friend."

"Algebra." I breathed. I hadn't seen him ever since I was thirteen, since the day of the attack on Papa.

"Avalyn." Nik called, making me pull away my attention from Algebra. I turned around to look at Nik. His eyes were hard and his jaw set.

He was jealous.

I couldn't feel my wolf which was why I couldn't feel him either. The mate bond was there, just not as strong. I couldn't feel his emotions anymore.

"Nik, this is Algebra, my best friend from childhood." I gave him a smile. He instantly relaxed. My smile widened and I pecked his jaw. I thought we were past this jealousy stage. Apparently not. It amused me.

I turned to look at Algebra. He was all smiles and I saw hundreds of emotions flicker through his eyes. "You're alive."

My legs automatically took me to him and I wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. His arms came around me and he hugged me tighter.

"I thought you were dead." I gulped.

"I did too."

"Papa's alive." I whispered. "He's not here right now but—" I started to rant.

"I know. King Nikolai told me." His smile was sad.

And then it clicked. "Your parents...?"

He shook his head.

"I'm so sorry." I hugged him again. "Where were you all this time?"

"I left the island and went to America. I didn't have a reason to stay here."

"Well I'm glad you decided to come back." I smiled.

"I'm glad I ca—"

The doors opened suddenly and a female walked in. Now her, I definitely hadn't seen before.

The girl had long red hair and flawless porcelain skin. Her light light brown eyes were lines with kohl and I instinctively knew she was a witch.

Nik grew tense when he saw her.

Who is she?

The girl's eyes fell on all of us before she looked at Nik again. "We need to talk. In private."

An ugly feeling grew in the pit of my belly. Who was this female? How dare she talk to him like she knew him? And order him like this? I haven't seen her. But it looked like the two knew each other.

I was jealous. We were definitely not over the jealousy stage. And it was definitely not amusing.

Nik gave her a sharp nod and then turned to look at me. "This may take a while. You can go. Take guards, be safe and have fun." What? Who was she? What work did she have with Nik? Why talk in private? I didn't like it.

"Who are you?" I asked the female.

She bowed.

"Rise." I said.

She stood straight again, "Apologies, Luna Queen. My name is Anna." The name rung a bell.

I turned to look at Nik. He nodded, replying my silent question. She was one of the witches he had seen in Poziarne. Her friend Arrow was going to go to Scholae Pythonissam to get more information about the sacrifice and black magic. But where was he? Why is she the only one who's here.

"Where is Arrow?"

Tears erupted in her eyes. "They took him."

My hand flew to my heart. He's probably sacrificed by now.

"And Lloyd." A sob tore through her throat.

Oh goddess. My feet took me to her and I wrapped my arms around her. "I'm so sorry."

She broke down. "It's all because of me! Stupid! I'm so stupid!"

"It's not because of you." I said softly. "You couldn't have known."

She backed away and looked at me with tear filled eyes, "but I did! Arrow had told us to not come. But we f-followed him. Upon my insistence! They came and captured Lloyd. Arrow tried to save him and they both got taken!"

I chewed down on my lip. "We'll get them back." I looked at Nikolai who was looking at me with creased eyebrows. And then I saw an idea light up in his eyes.

"Did you find the information you needed?" Nik asked.

Anna looked at him and nodded. "We found a couple of books that could be helpful. But we accidentally dropped them...and then I-I had to run away before they got to me too." She said in a small voice.

"We have to go there." He said. "The answer to saving them and all the witches is in those books."

She opened her mouth but Nik cut her off. "If you keep following the only witches rule, no witches will be left alive."

"I think they have a sensors or something there. We were not there for even five minutes and they arrived." She wiped her cheeks.

"We will have to be fast then." Nikolai said.

"You can't go." Nat suddenly said. "You're the King, you can't put your life in danger like this. You are needed here more."

She had a point. This trip would only be for witches. Our pack—our people needed him more. They needed him to fight for them, with them and kill Adrik.

"The kid went there for me." Nik simply said.

"I'll go." She volunteered.

"I'll go too." Mikhail said. "We'll be quick. In and out. And we're a good team too. We don't need anyone else. You know it."

"Fine. Get all the information from Anna, device a plan and then you can leave." Nikolai told them. "If you die, I'll crawl down to hell and kick your asses."

The pair smirked. "We expect nothing less." And then the duo, along with Anna left.

"You should also go, Love. Today will be the one day you'll be able to go about freely before it will get too dangerous." Nik's hands rested on my waist and he pulled me in to place a soft kiss on my lips. "I love you. Please stay with the guards." He reminded me. I nodded with a smile, "I love you too, Mi Amor."

The long walk out of the palace calmed me down slightly. Four guards joined me the moment I stepped out of the Council Room. The car waited for me at the entrance with Tessa in the passenger seat and Eliyah waiting for me outside the car.

He opened the back door for me when he saw me arrive. "Are you okay, Mistress?" He saw the guards defensively. I placed a hand on his arm, calming him down. He didn't like most of the supernaturals. Scratch that, he only likes me—and maybe my family a little bit because they care for me and protect me. But if those were his criteria, he should like everyone in the kingdom. I knew for a fact that everyone cared for me and would lay down their lives for me.

"Yes." I smiled. He was growing softer by the day and I was happy. I think this is the first time he has called me Mistress without hesitation.

"To the hospital first." I said once he got behind the wheel. The guards followed us in another vehicle.

"Fine." His tone was blunt again. He seemed to dislike the guards. He cleared his throat, "yes, Mistress." He replied normally this time around. I smiled.

"And how is your training going? I hope that Dimitri isn't going too hard on you." He wanted to grow stronger so I had asked Dimitri to train him whenever he was free. But Eliyah was still a human so I worried that we would seriously get hurt.

"The training is going good. But he's just making me work on the punching bag or do target practice. He's scared that he might hurt me if we actually spar." He trailed his hand through his hair, looking annoyed by it.

"He's not wrong, Eli." I told him gently. "For example me, I may look small, but I can break your wrist with just two fingers." His eyes fell to my small, delicate looking hands and then his own that were twice my size and looked much stronger and rougher. And then his jaw clenched when he realised it was the truth.

"We are here." He said as he pulled up in front of the hospital.

The three of us walked inside the hospital, the guards behind us. Everyone were shocked to see me. I hadn't been here since after the hospital was built. A nurse rushed towards me, bowing deeply.

"Rise." I smiled.

"Good morning, Queen Avalyn. Is there any way can be of your service?" She looked anxious.

I smiled kindly at her. "Oh no, I don't want to keep you from your work. I'm just here to meet the patients. You can continue with your work."

"Of course, as you wish, Queen Avalyn." She bowed and took her leave.

I walked up to the reception, making both the receptionist bow.

"Rise." I said both stood straight, looking at me in awe.

I smiled. "Can I know the total bill of everyone in the hospital?"

She blinked.

I waited.

"Umm...pardon me?"

"Can I know the total bill of everyone in hospital right now? I would like to pay it off."

Her eyes widened. "R-really?"

"Yes." My smile widened.

"Yes. If you could give us a moment...?" She was scared to make me wait.

"Of course. Take your time. I'm going to go around and meet everyone, if that is alright."

"Of course! If you want, Min here can help you around the hospital."

"That would be great, thank you." I nodded and Min was shocked and slightly scared but she walked around the reception and stood in front of me, wide eyed, unable to say anything.

Why was I having this effect on people?

"Let's go?" I prodded her out of her shock.

She nodded vigorously. "Yes, Luna Queen, as you wish, Luna Queen." She said and led me around the hospital.

We met a lot of people, some sick of some minor cold or fever who had come for a basic check up, and some with big diseases. But the most heartbreaking thing was that most of them were kids. The kids were humans until they reached their puberty and the wolf in them comes out before they finally turn into a werewolf. And while werewolves have a strong immune systems, humans don't. And the human vaccines don't affect our kids the way they should and no proper advancement has been done in this sector.

"The next one is Ed. He has stage four cancer, he only has a couple of weeks to live now." Min's voice turned soft. "And he still hasn't let the light in him die. He's one of the oldest residents in the hospital. He used to be in a small hospital of Alvar but his sister shifted him here because of better facilities and subsidised costs."

My heart went out for the kid.

If it was in my control, I would have healed each and every person in here but there are some things I instinctively knew. I knew that a balance between life and death needed to be maintained. Especially when it comes to death from natural causes. If someone is hurt or attacked and has a wound, then that's a different story. But I shouldn't interfere with the Moon Goddess's decisions. Everything is for the greater good, even if I don't understand what good comes out of the death of a little kid.

I opened the door and widened the smile on my lips, holding it there even when I saw the sickly thin boy with bones jutting out of his thin skin. He had lost all his hair too.

His eyes snapped to mine when he heard me enter and widened. "You're the queen!" He whispered.

My eyes almost teared up at his genuine expression and the adoration in his voice. "Yes. You can call me Avalyn."

His eyes widened. "But that's bad manners."

"It will be our secret." I winked and took a seat on a chair by his bed. He nodded eagerly.

"I have a surprise for you." I told him and his eyes twinkled. "What is it?"

"Do you like magic?" I asked him.

"Yes. Do you know tricks?" He asked in awe.

"Yes." I said created an illusion and made the hospital disappear and created a jungle in front of us.

"Is that a lion?" He looked scared but excited to see the big cat approach us.

"Yes. Don't be scared, it's very friendly." I brought the lion closer to him and Ed extended his hand and ran it through the lion's mane. I made the lion purr before he roared causing Ed to snatch his hand back quickly and then let out a small laugh.

Then I made the lion turn around and walk away and brought in an elephant.

"It's so big." Ed whispered, his eyes wide.

The elephant lifted it's trunk in the air and trumpeted, making Ed jump and squeal. The elephant extended his trunk towards him. "He's saying 'hi', Ed, shake his trunk."

Ed extended his hand and shook the elephant's trunk like he would someone's hand.

And then the elephant too, turned around and left.

And then came a giraffe, causing Ed to crane his neck up to look at the tall giraffe. I handed him a long leaf, "feed it to him."

He took the leave from my hand and extended his arm towards the giraffe. The giraffe lowered his tall neck and extended his long tongue and took the leave from Ed's hand, causing him to jerk his hand back, "It's tongue is hairy!"

I chuckled at his reaction and then asked, "What is your favourite animal?"

"Cheetah! It's very fast!" He exclaimed.

I made the jungle disappear and created an image of an open area and then a cheetah who approached us. Ed clapped his hands in happiness.

"How about a race? Who do you think is faster? Us or the cheetah?"

"I can't run, silly!" Ed said, not feeling sad about that, too entranced with the cheetah that he was petting.

"The bed has wheels, hold on to my hand tight," I said and extended my hand towards him. He caught my hand in a deathly tight grip. "Ready?"

He nodded.

And them I created a mirage of the wind hitting us and the ground beneath us moving quickly so it felt like we were moving fast. The cheetah was running besides is too and then I made the cheetah win.

"That was so much fun!" Ed exclaimed, his face radiating pure happiness. He extended his arms towards me and I got up from my seat and hugged the little boy to my chest. "Thank you, Avalyn! That was the best magic trick in the history of magic tricks!"

"Anytime, kiddo." I smiled and kissed his cheek.

I heard a sob and my eyes snapped to a girl at the door whose eyes widened and she rushed out of the door. I motioned Tessa to go after her.

Ed's eyes dimmed.

"Is that your sister?" I asked.

Ed bit his lip and nodded. "She is sad because I'm dying."

"Aren't you sad?" I asked gently.

He shook his head. "I'll finally meet mom and dad and I won't hurt anymore. So no. But I'm sad to leave Sidney behind."

How did Sidney manage? Did she take care of him alone?

"Does it hurt too much?"

He bit his lip and nodded. "Most times."

I took his hand in mine and and used my powers to relieve his pain. I can't stop him from dying but I can ease his pain.

His eyes filled with tears. "You did that?"