“Avis, are Maven Healers really rare?” I asked her, thinking of Ariyon and how Ayden had refused to be healed by his brother.
She looked up at me with a little surprise. “Very. Ariyon Madden is the only living one I know of in our entire realm.”
I swallowed hard. “And they are all destined to die young?”
She peered at the crushed herbs in her mortar with a frown. “Yes. They have a different kind of magic. One that cannot be infused into any herb or tincture. They are a living tincture of sorts. People take from them, and they cannot replenish.”
“That’s sad,” I mused as I dusted. I didn’t like thinking of Ariyon dying young. It was almost unfathomable.
“Very. But a Maven Healer is the most respected fae to ever live. By the time they perish, they will have saved thousands of lives. They live by the Great Code of Honor, all in service to the Light.”
I nodded. I guessed I understood that, it was hard, but I was trying. “Did you go to The Academy to study healing magic?”
She tipped her chin. “I did. All healers start at the novice level and work their way up to the best of their ability.”
“How many healing levels are there?”
“Novice, Adept, and Master.” She rattled them off easily.
That reminded me of when Ariyon got his master marks. Could he already be that advanced? Barely two years in school and already at the highest level?
“What one are you?” I prompted.
She looked over at me with a sly grin. “It’s unbecoming to talk of such things.”
“You’re a master, aren’t you?” I asked.
She laughed then, looking ten years younger. “I am.”
“Cool,” I said and went back to my work silently.
About a half hour before my shift ended, Avis snapped her head up suddenly. “You must hide. Someone with ill will towards you is coming this way,” she blurted out, shocking me from where I crouched refilling theMental Claritybottles.
I stood, unsure if I had heard her right, when she raced across the room and pulled open the hidden bookshelf that led to her home. “Fallon, I’m not joking. Hide.Now,” she commanded in a tone I had never heard from her before.
I raced across the shop quickly and into the hallway that led to her home. Avis then placed her hand inches from my face, not touching me. “Conceal,” she whispered, and a puff of green smoke exited her palm and settled on my skin.
I blinked rapidly, because the magic had made my vision slightly blurry, but before I could ask what she’d just done, she shut the bookcase.
What in the fae was going on!
Now that I was shut into the dark hallway, I could see there was a slight crack in the left side of the bookcase door that I could peer through.
The shop bell dinged overhead, and I held my breath as Queen Solana stepped inside. There were no guards with her, which I thought was odd. Someone that had ill will towards me? Definitely Queen Solana.
“Oh hello, Solana, I wasn’t expecting you.” Avis had her usual cheery voice on, but I could see the tension in her body as she ground the herbs.
Solana? She called the queen by her first name?
“I don’t need to send a messenger before I drop in, do I?” Queen Solana asked.
Avis stopped what she was doing and looked up at her. “Of course not, I just would have had things more in order.” She pointed to the boxes I was stocking before I ran in here and the duster that lay on the floor.
The queen nodded in understanding.
“How can I help you?” Avis gave her an easy smile, seeming to relax a bit.
The queen blew air through her teeth. “You know I hate to ask for favors,” she began, and Avis nodded. “But I heard that Fallon Bane was working off a debt here.”
