42. Cleared

The bad news came after two full days in bed. Muireann visited both mornings after breakfast to check on me, and that second morning she was forced to administer the healing spell again.

She looked worried as she informed me, "I'm afraid as it stands now lady Tegan, you will probably require me to repeat this spell every second day."

Kelly stood on the other side of the bed, once again watching the healer like a hawk.

I frowned and looked up at her and asked, "For how long? How much longer until my leg is fully healed?"

Muireann hesitated, "I can't say for certain. Of course, we'll hope for the best, but it could take a while. I don't know why the spell keeps failing."

I sighed and glanced at Kelly, then looked back at the healer and asked "Does this seem like the same sort of problem you had two decades ago, with the soldier and the servant who's wounds wouldn't heal?"

Both Kelly and I saw it, she obviously didn't expect us to know about that, and just as obviously she was well aware of it herself. She seemed frozen for a few moments then sighed "Yes, I'm afraid so. I was hoping it wouldn't be the case, and I didn't want to alarm or upset you with that sort of news."

I kept my eyes on her and said "I'm not spending the next decade in bed. So tell me the truth. What's my condition, what are my limitations, what can I expect?"

Muireann sighed, "It's best if you wait thirty minutes after the spell is applied before getting up. Then you can expect a day or so of relatively pain-free mobility. After that, the pain will gradually return until the spell is cast again. If the spell is cast too often it will loose its effectiveness, which is why it's best to wait two full days rather than using it daily."

She added, "When I say mobility, I do not mean your leg is fully restored. It will remain weak, and the more you push it the sooner the pain will return. Running, hiking, climbing stairs, walking over rough terrain, will all take a toll. Worse if you are carrying anything heavy."

Kelly looked more and more upset as the healer went on, but for now I just accepted it for what it was. "So every other day I need a blast of healing magic, and I can expect to be stiff and sore on the off-days?"

"Yes m'lady," she nodded slightly. "I'm sorry."

I just nodded slightly "Thank you Muireann. I appreciate the honesty." I added, "I'd have appreciated it more two days ago."

She bowed as she apologized again, then I dismissed her. Once again Kelly was there hugging me as soon as we were alone.

"I'm so sorry Tegan," she sighed. "I'm working to learn that spell as fast as I can."

I hugged her back, "I know Kelly. It's ok. Don't stress about it."

Of course the easy answer would have been for me to just learn the spell myself, then I could take care of my leg any time I wanted. Except one of the first things we learned about healing magic was it's ineffective when you cast it on yourself. According to the books it was because of how healing magic interacted with your aura or something. You couldn't heal and be healed simultaneously, which made it impossible to work healing spells on yourself.

I learned the spell anyways, just in case. I mean, if Kelly ever got hurt then at least I could help her. But until she could cast it, I was stuck relying on Muireann or another fae healer to keep me from becoming bedridden.

We waited a while like the healer suggested, then I got up and pulled on some hose and a short dress, then put on a pair of sandals. Even though I'd just been told to avoid stairs, I was about to go and tackle several flights of them.

"It's too bad you couldn't just levitate or fly," Kelly commented as we started up into the tower.

There were some levitation spells, I'd read about them back in our first week here. Unfortunately it was similar to the problem with healing magic. You could levitate other things, but attempting to levitate yourself could have unpredictable and dangerous results.

So I climbed the stairs the old-fashioned way, and just accepted that I'd be paying the price for it tomorrow in terms of aches and pains. Captain Siobhan must have heard we were en route as she caught up to us just as we reached Liam's room.

I took a minute or two to let my leg recover from the climb, then Siobhan nodded to the guards and one unlocked the door. The captain led Kelly and I in.

Liam was laying on the bed looking bored, but sat up as we all entered. He was dressed similar to last time, in black trousers and a white shirt, with his hair in a ponytail.

He looked surprised by the unexpected visit. Then he stared at me and Kelly, and obviously noticed how I was leaning on my girlfriend. He frowned and asked, "Lady Tegan, you were truly injured? And you're still recovering?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I nearly lost my leg, and it's going to be a long time before I'm fully healed by the sound of it."

He seemed shocked, "I'm sorry. When I was given your letter, I assumed you were stalling. I thought it was a ploy, that you were going to avoid lifting your curse from me."

I just shrugged, I didn't blame him for doubting me. I looked from Liam to Siobhan and asked, "I don't suppose anyone thought to supply Liam with clothes that will fit once I remove my magic?"

The captain grimaced slightly, "No m'lady. I'll make arrangements as soon as we're done here."

I looked back at Liam and asked, "If you're ready, it'd be best if you got out of the small clothes. Uh, maybe just get under the sheets in bed or something."

"Right," he blushed, and seemed to hesitate. After a moment he finally asked, "I don't suppose I could have some privacy?"

Kelly and I both turned around, but captain Siobhan didn't. I wasn't surprised of course, there's no way she'd turn her back on a prisoner, especially with me and Kelly present.

After a few moments Liam said, "Ok."

We turned back to find him sitting on the bed, with a sheet wrapped around himself. The clothes he'd been wearing were laying on the bottom of the bed.

He was watching me closely and asked, "You're really going to reverse your spell? You're really going to restore me to my normal self?"

I nodded "Yes. I gave you my word and I mean to keep it." I paused a moment then asked, half-joking "Unless you've gotten used to this of course. You do want me to restore you, right?"

He blushed brightly but insisted "Yes! I very much do not wish to remain human or female."

Kelly gave me a light swat on the arm and said, "Don't tease."

I just nodded, "I had to check. Ok Liam, here we go."

I raised my hand towards him and worked the magic to release my spell. It was much easier than I'd let on of course, I just modified the conditions of the curse so its revocation trigger was something ridiculously common. In this case, exposure to magic. As soon as I made the change, the curse was lifted and swirling light surrounded Liam's small figure. This time when the light faded, Liam was back to his original self. He was once again fae, male, and an adult. Even his big messy beard was back.

He blinked in surprise and looked down at himself. He kept the sheet wrapped around, but he looked at his hands then ran a hand over his face. Finally he looked up at me, wide-eyed. He confessed, "I honestly didn't believe you'd do it. Not after everything I did to you, everything I said to you."

I just shrugged then said "There's still no news yet on your ultimate fate. I've kept my word, that's the best I can do."

Liam stood and bowed, though he kept the sheet around him. He stated, "Lady Tegan, you are an honourable young woman. I swear whatever happens in the future, I will never raise a hand or act against yourself or miss Kelly. You have my word on that."

I wasn't sure what to make of that so I just nodded, "Thank you Liam."

Siobhan escorted me and Kelly out and the guards locked the door again behind us. As the three of us started back down the stairs, the captain said quietly "I rather liked him better the other way."

I was pretty sure that was because Liam was utterly harmless in the other form. Or perhaps because his normal self reminded her of his betrayal.

Either way, I just shrugged "I always intended to restore him, captain. And I only transformed him like that in the first place because he pushed me too far." I added, "Please see that he's supplied some new clothes. And I hope the change in his appearance won't lead to him being treated any differently."

"Yes m'lady," Siobhan replied.

Once me and Kelly were back in our room, I lay down on the bed again to rest my leg. The two of us got back to our reading. I still hadn't solved the puzzle of the vargur's unhealable wounds, and Kelly was working to learn that healing spell.

We were both absorbed in our reading when Maeve came to visit an hour or two later.

She greeted us, and said "Muireann spoke with me this morning. How are you managing? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," I replied. "Or as good as can be, considering. She told me what to expect, what limitations to be aware of, and how to manage things. So I'm managing."

My fae-mom nodded slowly.

I commented, "Of course she didn't volunteer that information, I had to ask. And I only knew to ask because I already knew about my condition."

Maeve nodded again, and I added in a slightly annoyed tone, "I would have appreciated learning the truth from the healer, rather than...other means."

I didn't know if Siobhan might get in trouble for telling me, but I didn't want to take the chance so I figured it best to keep her out of it.

My fae-mom sighed, "I'm sorry Tegan. I asked Muireann not to tell you until we knew for sure. I didn't want to scare or upset you, if it turned out to be nothing."

"I understand," I sighed. "Thank you for owning-up to it now."

Maeve nodded slowly, then changed the subject. "Captain Siobhan informs me that you've restored Liam to his original self."

"I hope that's not a problem?"

"Not at all," she replied. "Siobhan was impressed by your commitment to keep your word. And she tells me the prisoner was moved as well."

She took a deep breath then said "I promised you an answer a few days ago, but have been too distracted to tell you. That answer was, we will proceed with your suggestion and seek peace."

Maeve continued, "Two days ago I dispatched our best rider on our fastest horse. He carries a letter for Eileen. I've invited her here to meet and discuss a peaceful settlement. I've given her my personal guarantee of safety, so she need not fear us while she's here to talk. My letter did not mention that both you and Connor were back, but I did tell her I was considering releasing Liam to her, as a gesture of goodwill."

I was surprised, but smiled. "That's great! How long will it take to get an answer?"

"If his journey is without incident, the rider should reach her stronghold in another two days. He'll require at least a day to rest, then four more days to return. Assuming Eileen provides him with an answer right away, we can expect to hear back in another week, at the earliest."

She added sadly, "It may take longer if she doesn't answer immediately. Or it may be never, if she decides to simply execute our courier."

"Crap," I sighed. "Well, let's hope for a quick and positive reply."

As the days passed and we waited, I continued my research, Kelly kept studying healing magic, and I continued to receive magical treatments from Muireann every other day.

By the end of the week, there was good news and there was bad. Both related to my healing, or lack thereof.

My research led me to believe the problem had to do with vargurs' magical resistance, and the fact that my injury wasn't a quick swipe or slash. The thing had its claws in my leg for several seconds. I'd learned the two fae with similar complications after the original attack had similar experiences, the vargur's claws were in them for several seconds too. Those who healed quickly had only suffered brief contact with the beast.

Nothing I'd read made any mention of poison or venom, but I was positive something had 'rubbed off' while the vargur's claws were buried in my leg. And whatever that was, it still carried the magical resistance, and that had to be what was interfering with the healing magic.

For now it seemed like I was stuck just living with the problem and hoping in a decade or so I'd be ok. I wasn't ready to give up on finding a permanent fix, but I'd run out of ideas so I had to let that go for now.

On the other hand, by the end of the week the good news was Kelly had learned the healing spell well enough to take over my every-other-day treatments. That made both of us happy, since it meant I wasn't stuck at the castle indefinitely.

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