Ch 93. Shortcuts on the road to recovery

I walked briskly through the Marcet family mansion, knowing exactly where I needed to go as I navigated the winding corridors. Coming to the guest bedroom we had used several times during our visits. My two girls were currently being hosted there, both for their safety with the added security of the soldiers, our house having been just attacked after all, and for the sake of medical treatment.

Belle had it the worst, her arm was clearly broken the last time I saw it this morning, while Tammy simply had scratches, nearly all of them from trying to restrain Belle. 

Even before I got through the door I knew there was trouble. 

"Belle, you need to get your arm treated!" Tammy's voice cried out. 

"HSSSSSSS!" Belle hissed back before scrambling away aggressively.

There was clearly a struggle going on between the two girls, followed by the running of feet. 

Sighing before I entered, opening the double doors wide. 

Belle was cooped up in the far corner of the room, cradling her injured arm against her belly while she used her good hand to hold up a pillow she had swiped earlier, using it as a defensive prop between the two of them, while Tammy stretched out her arms, trying to cut off the avenues of escape for the wild eyed and uncooperative Belle.

On my side of the room, something of a crowd had formed to watch the events unfolding. Jagen, Cal, a few of their most trusted knights, and of course the doctor, all staring helplessly at Tammy trying to coral the waywardly catgirl to see the doctor. 

It wasn't as if I didn't understand. One of their own had just tried to kill me, the optics of forcefully restraining Belle couldn't be good for them, even if their actions were well intentioned. 

Realizing that I would need to be the one to do it, I raised my voice.

"Belle, come over here please." I asked in a soft voice. Feeling guilty, as if I were somehow tricking her. 

Belle's arm needed to be set, all of us understood just from looking at it. But being in some way responsible for her injury, it felt especially wrenching. 

Belle's ears piqued then dropped flat, trotting past Tammy docilely and over to my side. Apprehensive, because she too knew what was going to happen. 

Stroking her hair lovingly, the only thing I could do for her is to take her mind away from the task at hand. Whispering promises in her ears, quiet enough that only Belle could hear. I already owed her one wish, indulging her more was the very least I could do to make things up to her. 

Belle's tail started to swish, slowly at first, her face reddening as time went on. Tiptoeing on her bare toes to whisper back. 

It was always about that with her, I could only smile wryly.

"Belle ready. Arm fix." Belle said, wandering to the edge of the bed a few steps away before flopping herself into a sitting position. Motioning to the arm she was still cradling tenderly against her belly.

I gave a nod to the doctor, an elderly man with an authoritative aura to him, who moved in quickly after Belle became cooperative. 

...

Not even two minutes later Belle was licking her arm as it rested in a sling, while the doctor explained to me how she would need to keep it like that for three months.

Three months? I could only shake my head in doubt. There was no way Belle could follow that for a week, let alone three months. She was always so energetic that wearing a sling was probably already a very unnatural feeling for the girl, if she wanted to move her arm, there'd be no stopping her. 

I motioned to Cal, approaching to seek his advice.

"Isn't there anything you can do about this? Like a potion to heal bones faster?"

Based on the troubled expression he was making it probably was not so easy.

"It's not that it's impossible, I have a few recipes for them myself... the main problem is finding the ingredients. Things like troll's blood are excessively expensive and hard to find." 

"Troll's Blood?" The monster's name catching my interest. 

I was familiar with descriptions of that kind of beast, a large lumbering humanoid like monster, one with an excessive appetite and a startling regeneration rate. Adventurers could severely wound the beast one day, and then while tracking the fleeing monster come upon it again only to find the monster completely healed. While they were decently strong, their defining trait was undoubtedly their tough body and vitality to match. It reminded me of something, and gave me the start of an idea.

"Does it have to be a troll's blood?" 

"Substituting the ingredients isn't ideal, but that's mainly because not many creatures have more vitality than a troll. Unicorns, dragons, anything aside from that it is probably subpar, but good luck finding the blood of those. You can use herbs or weaker magical beasts, but ultimately you end up with an inferior product. The common health potion, I am sure you are familiar." 

"So the quality of the substitution is the only thing that matters, it doesn't have to be a troll's?" 

"Like I said, it's the vitality in the blood that's the important part. Magic and vital essence are two completely different things, which is why mages have still never successfully developed a healing magic, the life energy needs to come from somewhere and you can't just convert between the two. Believe me when I say that they've tried, the beastkin have their ritual and sacrifice magic which is effective to a point, but all you're doing with that is stealing vitality, it isn't really healing."

Cal glanced at Belle, as if to make his point that only a beastkin would do such a thing, "Such practices are naturally outlawed, which is why healing remains firmly the domain of alchemy."

Troll's blood? I have something much better than that. 

"I believe I have a job for you, Cal." Giving him an earnest grin.