“How is Lady Marlena doing these days?” Macklin asked. “I have not seen her in some time.”
Isa opened the book she had borrowed from Brother Elias. “I wouldn’t know,” she choked out, hiding her face in the pages.
“Do tell me about Chendas, Professor Surrell. I’ve always wanted to go.” Livia caught up with them, taking her place on the other side of Macklin. “They say the castle is the most glorious masterpiece in all the Five Kingdoms.”
Isa silently whispered her sincerest thanks to her sister for drawing the man’s attention away in that moment.
Chapter 4
Aden sat with his arms crossed, ignoring the three physicians huddled together on the far side of the room. They whispered about his condition in uncertain tones, unaware that he could hear every word. His vision had partially returned over the last three days, but he still could not properly see the three physicians themselves.
“A lifetime as a surgeon did not prepare me for this,” the bald one whispered. “I have never encountered anything so hideous. He is no longer even human.”
Aden ran the tip of his tongue around one of the sharp-pointed teeth in his mouth. He, too, thought this body was grotesque. However, the bald one was here to fix the problem, not be disgusted by him. Aden only knew the man was bald because he could make out a bright spot of light bouncing off his reflective head.
“We cannot be expected to treat a magical condition with our scientific remedies,” the tallest physician whispered. “I do not know what to tell Their Majesties. It will greatly hurt our credibility.”
Aden once again felt as if he were viewing this scene from somewhere outside himself. At least that way he could pretend the feelings of shock and anger coursing through his foreign body were not his own.
“I wish we had information to understand this problem, but all we can observe is the end result. We have no basis for understanding how the change happened, or even if it is permanent. If this were a medicinal issue, we could attempt a process for treatment. But how can we apply a process when we have no information to base any decision upon?” This final voice was female, and while her words were hopeless, they were the most intelligent any physician had offered thus far.
Which was not very impressive, considering that this was the seventeenth physician to have visited Aden in the last three days. Or was it eighteen physicians? He had lost count after twelve. Some had offered herbal remedies, most had promised they would further research the problem, and one had even suggested sacrificing the life of Lord Munney to whatever gods the Majis worshipped in an attempt to break the curse. Fortunately for him, Lord Munney was being safely transported to Chendas, and his fate would be at the mercy of the Council.
It took two days for the fastest courier to travel to Chendas, and it had been three days since the ball. At the very earliest, aid from the Council could arrive on the following day. Hopefully, they would come soon and provide some answers.
In the meantime, Aden knew that summoning more physicians would be useless, but his mother had insisted. She needed to take action, which Aden understood, but he could feel the change in his entire body. He was not wearing some magical mask that gave him the appearance of a monster. He had truly been transformed into a beast. The only thing that could save him was a magical reversal of the curse, and what Majis would willingly—or even unwillingly—perform that change? They were the ones who had cursed him to begin with.
“Thank you for your time with us today, Prince Aden.” The tall physician walked back toward him, raising his voice to a normal speaking level. “We have learned much, and we will continue to discuss what treatments we can apply. I am sure we will have a remedy to recommend as soon as possible. In the meantime, do your best to rest.”
Aden grunted. The man had literally just whispered that nothing could be done. The physicians bowed, and their scuffling feet told him they were preparing to leave the room.
“My eyes,” Aden growled. “Is there nothing that can be done about them immediately?”
Surely treating poor eyesight was a standard procedure whether it was applied to a man or a beast?
“Of course, Your Highness,” the bald one said. “You said that your eyesight has improved in the last few hours since you have woken? That is excellent news and bodes very well for this entire predicament.”
“I am not sure seeing some shapes and gray shadows or flashes of light counts as much of an improvement.” Aden’s voice was filled with anger as he made no attempt to hide his frustration with the spineless physicians.
They cowered back, away from him.
“You cannot see any color whatsoever?” The woman physician had remained in her place.
Aden shook his head, letting his open eyes roam throughout the room. “Most everything is gray. Though I can perceive some greens and browns. Nothing brighter than that.”
“That is not entirely uncommon among men,” she replied. “You could see more colors before this incident?”
“Yes,” Aden growled. He felt like an object, being poked and prodded and assessed. It humbled him beyond words to be subject to such basic scrutiny.
“I am afraid there is not a treatment for those who cannot see the full spectrum of color. The best we can suggest is that you rest your eyes. I will come back this evening with an herbal paste that you can apply on top of your eyelids to encourage them to heal in other areas. I do not know whether it will help, but at the very least it should not cause any harm to a regular... it should not cause any harm.”
Aden nodded and watched the three hazy shapes bow again and leave the room.
He closed his eyes, disgusted by the sensation of the dual eyelids sliding shut across each eye. His head pounded from the extended effort of trying to focus his vision through the cloudiness around him.
Rest? All he had done was rest, and he had never been more exhausted in his life.
He shifted his body back into a reclined position on the bed, every sensation and movement feeling foreign. He hated himself. His foreign limbs trembled with unused energy.
