The Healer Pt. 11

When Searra died, Vadim witnessed Quell's collapse. Quell had everything—a mate who loved him, a strong family, brothers to play with, a kingdom to rule one day and finally the promise of a foal yet it was the Fates that stole his dreams away just as dispassionately as they had cursed Vadim. His heart ached for his little brother and he silently thanked the powers that he would never find the love of a mate because he saw what losing it did.

Then, she arrived. A red haired maiden, an anomaly just like Vadim—she never fit in to her life and was equally hated by the Fates. He knew from the moment he laid eyes on her that she was meant to be a part of him and he a part of her. Their paths were woven together by destiny and maybe, just maybe they could find happiness in each other. But, alas, Vadim's curse remained and she chose Quell.

Vadim struggled to remind himself to be thankful for what he had—he still had his family, his brothers and now he had a sister who loved him as earnestly as he did her. It did little to ease his suffering but it was enough to get him through the day. And with Lynette's patient compassion, he started to feel like maybe life would be tolerable.

But now, all of that is gone. His heart and soul withered into dust having to watch Coral suffer. The looming curse that seems to follow the Prince wherever he goes finally breaks him. The buried hate in Vadim looms to the forefront; his brother had not one, but two chances at loving a mate. Quell didn't know how lucky he was to have Coral's love and he was too blinded by his past to realize that he never deserved it. Had Rainer a spine, he would have ended the hatred instead of leaving it to fester in the surviving human men. If Yulnar actually enforced the power he chose to flaunt, women wouldn't be raped and stolen in Centurion. If centaurs didn't exist—Coral would have grown up with a loving family and be safe.

Vadim knows he isn't without his own fault—as was beaten into his head when he was little, he is a centaur through and through. For the first time in his life he finds that he is disgusted with them all, himself included.

By the time they reach the road leading into Centuarna, the party veers off to take the lesser used path through the eastern edge of town thereby skirting the main thoroughfare. While the centaurs continue trotting up the ramp and into the castle, Vadim dismounts his horse and leaves the reins with a stable boy before running after his brother.

Jogging up the ramp to the second floor, Vadim yells at one of the passing servants, catching the human completely in surprise at his harsh affect, "Get Pelium at once!"

With little regard for his own self, he follows Quell into his brother's chambers and watches as he places the still unconscious Coral down on the bed. The centaur's chest heaves with the pain of the long run and of seeing his mate in such a state. Hastily, he strips off his cloak and shirt, discarding the sweat soaked articles to the ground while he paces back and forth in the room.

His man servant, Oren, quickly slides in and builds the fire, not speaking a word. Vadim kneels near the bed, staring at Coral—he desperately wants to pick her up, to hold her close to his chest but he wouldn't dare touch her in such an intimate way in front of his brother. Then, it occurs to him, that he will never touch Coral in such a manner again now that they have been saved from Callen's clutches. The sorrow at knowing that and relief of being free battle deep within his mind.

Quell stops in the middle of the room once Oren has left; his wet body glistens in the fire light. Vadim glances at his brother and sees the wild creature that dwells deep within all of them, the beast that they try so hard to suppress, the truth of their history that is only ever told to the First Prince, something which Vadim knows but Quell does not—that despite all that Centuarna is, it was once just as wild as Centurion. That it is a constant struggle to keep it from returning back to the barbaric roots that lie hidden within their nation. That only five generations ago, those from Centuarna pillaged the human villages, stole hoards of women and raped them in order to stave off their own extinction. That regardless of the equivocations they exude, every centaur is a descendant of an animal, a predator, a horrific creature without remorse or empathy, solely driven by the primal need to exist.

His eyes wander over the beast that is his brother, seeing a glimpse into their ancestors, noting the way Quell has drawn himself up tall, the stiffness of his torso, the savage, wild glint in his dark blue eyes. Fleetingly, he thinks that Quell has the same eyes as their mother, the same eyes as Callen. The thought vanishes when Quell's menacing voice growls out.

"Tell me what happened," he demands.

It isn't a discussion Vadim wants to have with his brother—not now, not ever. He doesn't want to remember the sounds of Coral's sobs or the way her moans of forced pleasure made his own cock harden and drew him to vomit in disgust because of it. He doesn't want to remember how she sought comfort in his arms or how he was absolutely powerless to stop Callen from raping her.

"Now is not the time," he reiterates, "right now we need to focus on helping Coral." He knows Quell better than anyone else—he remembers the rage, the agony, the sheer insufferable pain his brother experienced when Searra and the foal died. He was the only one who was able to stop him from tearing the entire castle apart and stepping in front of the terrifying beast that Quell became almost cost Vadim his own life.

"Tell me!" Quell roars, his entire body shaking in rage.

Junta bursts into the door—quickly looking from Vadim to Quell, he steps in front of the younger Prince, speaking firmly, "Prince Quell, you must calm down."

Quell looks to be moments away from fighting with Junta. He takes a step towards him and Junta tenses, ready to defend himself—but both centaurs are halted when Pelium walks into the room.

Though the doctor sees the danger, he quickly skirts the other centaurs and heads to the bed. When his eyes fall on Coral, he frowns. He reaches a hand out and plucks up her wrist, feeling her pulse; then he presses his hand to her forehead, "How long has she been out?"

"About three hours," Vadim says quietly, rising.

Pelium glances at the Prince's makeshift splint, "Has she been like this before? How long did it last?"

Vadim closes his eyes and swallows hard, "Yes, she passed out a few other times. It lasted a while, maybe overnight?"

Gently, Pelium sets her hand back down and motions to Vadim's arm, "Broken?"

He nods, "She set it and put the splint on it—that was about nine days ago."

Glancing from Prince to Prince, Pelium takes stock of the situation—he doesn't need to ask what happened because he can smell enough of it from Coral to discern that he doesn't want to know the rest, "I am afraid there is nothing we can or should do until she wakes up. I would like to put some comfrey on your arm, Prince Vadim. Thankfully I am confident enough in her to know that Lady Coral set it correctly—otherwise I would be forced to rebreak it and do it again. Centaurs heal much faster than humans and while we have never had cause to find out before if this was a trait passed on to you Prince, I dare say we will discover it now."

He turns towards Quell, motioning to Vadim and Junta as well, "It is clear that you had a long and rough journey—all of you need to take this time to bathe. I will sit with the lady."

"I will not leave her side again," Quell growls out, though his demeanor has calmed somewhat from before.

Vadim knows that Pelium was a force to be reckoned with in his younger days—not only did he patch up centaurs and humans after the Battle, he did just as much damage during it. Though he has calmed a lot in his older years, the spirit of a warrior never dies, "It wasn't a request, Prince Quell."

Before Quell can yell back, Kiera's gentle voice comes from the door, "Do as he says, my sons. I will also wait with my daughter."

Quell's jaw clenches, his eyes falling on Coral—Vadim's gaze looks down upon her as well. Slowly, he rises to his feet and walks past Quell towards the door, "Come, brother."

Kiera places a soft kiss on her eldest son's forehead when he walks out. She doesn't dare try to approach Quell, though, as it is clear he is still angry.

Inside the castle bathhouse, Vadim kicks off his boots. He sheds his shirt and pants before pulling at the tight knots of the splint on his right arm. He is still struggling to get the torn strips of gray fabric free when Quell walks in.

Quell doesn't say anything, he just stands there, staring at Vadim. The older of the two doesn't need to ask why, as he is pretty sure he knows the reason—the thick black bruises around his ankles, the slight weight loss that shows his hip bones, the hoof shaped marks along his chest and back from where the guard bucked at him each time he tried to fight to get Coral back from Callen. None of it would be visible if he were as dark skinned as their Moorish looking father, but since his flesh is a rich light brown it betrays the attacks he suffered. Angrily, Vadim manages to shred the fabric and watches it fall to the ground, bits of broken cane reed with it. His arm is dark as well, the skin slightly dented and wrinkled from the splint. Without saying anything, he grabs a bar of soap and carefully eases himself into the warm spring water.

Quell walks in behind him and dives beneath it. It is something Vadim rarely sees any of the centaurs do—though they are all strong swimmers, their large bodies make them awkward underneath the water. When he surfaces, he is only a few feet away.

Vadim scrubs his body, wishing there were some way to avoid it, but he knows that Quell will not let it go, "After we left the mating, Coral and I were walking down the hall to our room. I was knocked out. The next thing I recall was being chained in a dungeon and seeing Coral laying on the floor. It was Callen and the two centaurs who greeted us upon our arrival to the Centurion castle. Callen had instructed them to grab me and only me—but seeing as how I was never alone that was virtually impossible. When one of the guards saw that Coral was with me he took us both and that decision cost him his life. Callen thought that I knew the recipe for the elixir as well as you, but seeing as how I am just a man, I was the easy target." He pauses, dunking his head under the water to get it wet. Slowly he lathers up the soap into his thick dreads, trying to loosen up the grim and dried blood from his attack.

Quell's voice is quiet, "What did he do to her?"

Tossing the bar of soap towards the stone shore, he snaps, "You know exactly what he did to her, Quell. He raped her—repeatedly. And there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop him." His voice shakes as he screams, the full force of his agony and outrage unchecked, "I tried, I fought, I begged, I pleaded—if I would have known the recipe I would have given it to him but I didn't! Coral was the only one who could have stopped it but she never broke—she suffered more than you will ever know and she stayed strong because she knew that if she gave that piece of shit anything no woman would ever be safe!"

He wants to hurt something. He wants to punch his brother, he wants to kill every centaur he sees because if they hadn't existed, Coral would have been safe. Vadim clenches his hands into fists and dives under the water to rinse his body off. He swims back to the ramp and climbs out of pool, his entire body shaking. He slumps down onto the stone bench and drops his head into his good hand; finally the tears flow free, his voice aching, "Where were you brother? We waited—she waited—and you never came."

Quell stands in the middle of the pool staring off into the darkness of the cavern. He shakes his head, "When you and Coral were not in our room, the rest of us immediately searched the castle but by then it had been hours since we saw you last. I sent word to our father and he showed up the next morning. We scoured the town, we went to every outpost, I forced all of those women to speak to me—I demanded they tell me who was responsible. I almost hurt one of them but Junta and Tomir pulled me off of her. I never stopped looking. Callen," he spits the name out as if it leaves a sour taste in his mouth, "led us on a wild goose chase. He told us false rumors and we found the body the dead centaur guard near the shore of one of the small villages. We thought that perhaps the others were holed up in a cave near there, but we discovered nothing and returned to the castle—that is when I saw our father with his sword drawn on Yulnar, threatening to murder him and his entire lineage. I was the one who pulled him off. That is when he told me that you and Coral were back and to leave at once. He never said who took you—if he had, I'd have killed Yulnar with my bare hands." His voice is low as he struggles to get a hold of his anger. "How did you get away?"

Vadim has never lied to his brother before and it pains him, but nowhere near the amount of agony of the past nine days, "I managed to get the keys from the guard without his knowledge before he left. Callen was focused on Coral when I unlocked my shackles, got out and killed him. I shot the guard with a crossbow when he came back and Coral fainted from being overwhelmed." Vadim knew the punishment—outside of war, if a human killed a centaur they were immediately sentenced to death. He doubted that the law would stand in Centuarna with all that she had gone through but he knew what kind of centaurs ran Centurion and he would not see his sister survive everything that she had, just to be killed for it. Part of him wished that Yulnar had the courage to slay Vadim on the spot and end his suffering.

Silence sits over the brothers. Neither of them knows what to say to each other, how to offer comfort for what has happened and both of their minds are focused on Coral. When Quell walks out of the pool and shakes his hide off, Vadim follows him out of the bathhouse.

He stands naked in the hallway, watching his brother drip a trail of water onto the carpet as he walks back to the room where Coral sleeps. Vadim wants to follow, to lay by Coral's side, to never leave her again but he knows that he cannot; if his heart weren't already broken it crumble in despair. Instead, he turns and goes the opposite direction to his room; he notices Pelium standing outside with a small satchel, no doubt containing what he needs to bind the Prince's arm. Drawing in a deep breath, he opens his door for the doctor, following him in.

Lynette immediately rises from the stack of pillows near the fire; her face is blotchy and wet from tears. She almost tackles Vadim, her arms wrapped around his neck, her tears now of joy. He holds her tight with his left arm, wincing when she brushes against his right, "Calm down, Lynette, I am here now."

She hesitantly pulls away, letting him go—when her eyes fall upon his naked body, the bruises and how he cradles his right arm, she starts sobbing again.

Vadim kisses her on the forehead, wiping away her tears, "Shh now. Would you please get me a robe?"

When she nods and rushes off, Vadim makes his way to the tall table at which Pelium stands. The doctor tends to his arm without saying much; he spreads the comfrey paste on Vadim's skin before wrapping it in a clean muslin bandage, then he splints it and wraps it again. After he packs up his things, he says, "I'll have someone fetch some food for you and Lynette." The old centaur slips out without another word.

Lynette helps Vadim into a robe and follows him to the loveseat where he drops down into the soft cushions, realizing how nice they feel when he's spent over a week laying on stone. His mate tips down onto her knees in front of him, her hands placed on his legs. When her brows crinkle, Vadim can see that she wants to know what happened. She opens her mouth, hesitates and shuts it again. Drawing in a deep breath, she simply says, "Coral?"

He is thankful that his mate is one of the most perceptive creatures he knows; with all that her parents have gone through, she is able to understand that there are some things that are better left unsaid. "Our sister is alive," he offers, not sure how to word it otherwise.

"Will she be all right?"

He sighs—he does not think anyone would be all right after going through that, "I do not know."

Lynette fights back tears, rising and going to the door when there is a knock. She comes back with a platter of food and sets it next to Vadim before kneeling back down. She rests her head on his knees and Vadim understands her desire to simply be close to him, as it is the same desire he has towards Coral.

He eats in silence, though not much as his stomach is so used to being empty that very little fills it to the brim. With the warmth of the fire, his full belly and Lynette's soft hands stroking his calves, he drifts off into a dreamless sleep.

...

Vadim jerks awake when he hears a scream, his eyes wide, his breathing already frantic. When he looks around he sees Lynette walking towards him, worry on her face. She hands him a pair of pants and a shirt, her voice shaky, "It is Coral."

He rushes to pull the clothes on, barely buttoning up his pants before he goes bursting into the hallway, running barefoot down the carpeted length, Lynette at his heels. Outside of Quell's room stands Kiera at the door. The Queen is usually so reserved and collected—nothing jars her—yet when he sees the expression on his mother's face, he sees a look he doesn't recognize, reminiscent of fear, shock and sorrow. Vadim hears a loud crash of something breaking followed by Quell's pained voice.

"Coral calm down!"

When she shrieks, her words are full of trembling terror, "Get away from me!"

Vadim pushes past his mother into the room. Furniture has been over turned, broken bits of pottery and glass litter the floor, his brother stands on one side of the bed trying to get near Coral but she cowers in fear against the wall, a wild look in her eyes. Vadim can see her panic rising and he knows that soon she will be catatonic, just as she had been many times before. He quickly rushes forward, stopping Quell from rounding the bed. He braces his shoulder into his brother's chest and pushes against him.

"Outside Quell!" Vadim whispers harshly.

When Quell looks down at his older brother and sees the urgency, the pleading in his expressions, he lets himself be pushed out of the room.

Vadim looks to Lynette—she should not be here, she should not see any of this. He tries not to yell at her, though his voice is more firm than he ever wishes it be towards his mate, "Go get Pelium and then return to our room."

Lynette's brows crumple and her gaze drops; she doesn't fight him, she nods her acceptance and leaves.

"What did you do to her?" Vadim growls at his brother.

Quell's eyes grow wide, "I didn't do anything! I was by her bedside. She started tossing and turning in her sleep so I pulled her into my arms to comfort her." His shoulders slump when he recalls what happened, "She nestled against me and embraced me. She started crying and told me she loved me. When I cradled her face and kissed her forehead, she opened her eyes—when she looked at me all I saw was fear in her face. She broke free of my hold and—" He starts trembling, tears welling up in his eyes, "She told me to leave her alone, she wouldn't look at me and kept throwing things when I tried to get near her to calm her down—I—I don't understand."

Vadim's fists clench despite the pain in his broken arm. His blood boils inside of him. If Coral were his mate, none of this would have happened.