XIX

Lumi charged to the door, barking loudly; Hazel stood next to his chair, a look of horror in both of his Chimeran eyes. Elanor froze at first, watching Mira give servants orders and checking Talvi's limp body for a pulse. The human realized that someone needed to inspect him for injuries, and she approached the unconscious elf, taking a seat at his head. 

"He has a pulse," announced Mira. "Bring me the net I left in my working seat, and some water. We need to move him to a bed."

When one of the maids brought scissors and cut open his clothes, they could see traces of wounds on his body, and Elanor began feeling nauseous, which worsened as she took the net in her hands to help Hazel transport Talvi to a bedroom. It so happened that the closest one was Elaor's room, so when he lay on her bed, his feet did not fit and stuck out a little. 

"Here is warm water, my lady."

"Lara, we will clean his skin, and you will need to describe to me what you will be seeing."

Talvi's bronze body, which always looked tan and healthy, was of a greyish colour. Together they cleaned the wounds, and Elanor was describing them as best she could, worry building up inside her chest. When they washed off the golden pigment from his hands, she discovered that it was not the black underpaint she saw once, but something more of a necrosis, or at least ink, spreading under his skin. 

"His fingers look decayed. Something is turning them dark," she complained to Mira.

"Look at the left leg and let me know."

"Left leg? One moment... Yes, the darkness is spreading here too; it's past the knee. Lumi, please, give us space to move around him."

Mira turned ghostly at that and pursed her lips. 

He told me he has an illness that he wants the healer to look at. If only we had gotten to see him earlier. 

"Hazel, does this look like it could have caused his fainting? How serious is it?" asked Elanor. 

"I can definitely say the cause is a magical sickness," he proclaimed. "We could give him time to heal the majority of it on his own."

"Uncle, does it look like poison?"

"No, I tried to sense it, but it looks indeed like his old illness is flaring up."

"Can we send for a doctor?" suggested Elanor in a nervous voice. 

"I'm afraid, we will not. Our friend instructed us very clearly for a case like this, and I have confidence that his life is not in danger now. He got beaten up quite severely, brownies know where, but those wounds we can take care of here, at the cottage."

Elanor was not in a position to argue with them; they must know their old friend the best, but she checked every human way she remembered for his vitals, breathing, and body temperature, to comfort herself and ensure there was nothing they could have missed. 

Hazel announced he is going away, added a short "Will return before nightfall," and strolled outside. Elanor did not leave Talvi's bedside. Lumi was snuggled to his battered body on the bed itself. When Mira prepared some nice-smelling salves, the faery maids helped them cover all the wounds and scratches with them, and they finished by dressing him in a warm velvet pajama. 

In a few hours, when the panic subsided in the house, everyone was getting ready for sleep. The tailor returned with a small leather pouch filled with some salt or sand, and he sprinkled it over Talvi, leaving the pouch under his pillow. They brought a couch to the room so that Elanor could sleep on it and provided her with a bell.

"Please ring it if you need us," asked Mira cordially before leaving. 

***

The cottage grew increasingly nervous with anticipation as the time went by. When Talvi did not wake up after the first night, it was a bit unnerving; after the second, it rose to uncomfortable; after a week, it was clear that the recovery would be much more serious than they had imagined. Elanor was significantly comforted by the unwavering faith of Hazel and Mira that the fae would wake up. 

***

"Lara, I brought you more books from the library."

"You're too kind to me, Hazel."

Reading was a wonderful escape, and after she studied a daily portion of history and tales, she would read to Mira some love stories with glory and dragons. Sometimes she felt that humans and fae proved not to be too different after all. 

***

Days went by through simple routines: morning Yorkshire on the window, playing fetch with Lumi, checking the magic pocket for trinkets or a snack, checking on Talvi's state and caring for his wounds or hair, learning faery knots from Mira, searching books for anything on curses, having dinner with her and Hazel, chatting with one or both of them late into the night, going to sleep.

***

By the middle of the second week, Talvi started opening his eyes. The first time it happened, Elanor caused him to squint them back shut after she rang the bell vigorously. Everyone rushed in and surrounded the bed. Talvi opened his eyes again, just for a moment, and slipped back into slumber. 

Elanor would sometimes linger and watch his beautiful face, wondering if he sees dreams. Mira taught her all sorts of braids, and they would change them together after brushing his long green hair. 

Slowly, Talvi started spending more time with his eyes open, and in a few days could speak, but it took more time for him to be able to hold his own mug of tea. Life at the cottage became even more enjoyable and homely once they included Talvi in the daily reading sessions and evening get-togethers.

The recovering fae had a liking to the fluffy pillows and he assembled on his bed, probably, most of them from around the cottage. He gladly allowed Mira and Elanor to work on his hairstyles, praising their work in a shameless, flirtatious way. Lumi was constantly at his side, only leaving to play with squirrels outside. But most of anything, Elanor enjoyed when the household settled in for the night, and she would lie on the couch and talk to Talvi until one of them fell asleep.