Elemental Shadowed by Helen Scott

24

Tessa

The last thing I remembered was the wave. My head was throbbing, and I felt wet, but I was warm, so I didn't really care. As water lapped at my skin, I felt a structure under me that I didn't understand. When my eyes flickered open, I heard something shift.

"Tessa?" Kai appeared before me looking haggard.

"Kai?" I tried to say, although I think the only sound that made it past my lips was the first letter.

"I'll let everyone know you're awake," he said before he disappeared.

I blinked and when I opened my eyes again everyone was there talking in hushed tones. Before I could even say anything, I was coughing up a lung. Although, thank goodness that wasn't literally happening.

"Easy, siren," Finn said as he stepped into the water with me and helped me sit up.

"What happened?" I managed after I was done coughing. As I took in my surroundings, I figured out that I was in a healing pool and my stomach dropped at the realization.

"You survived an assassination attempt," Dres said looking grim. I could sense that there was more to it than that, but I wasn't sure how much I could handle at that moment if I was honest with myself.

"Where's my dragon?" I managed to get out before another coughing fit consumed me.

Once I'd quietened down Griff replied. "We don't know. Once you're able to be up and about again we'll go and look for him."

I nodded, not trusting my voice just yet.

"Excuse me, it's time for me to reapply the salve," a woman's voice said from behind me.

"We'll be right outside, just yell if you need us, okay?" Griff reached down and squeezed my hand.

I nodded again and watched them all file out of the small room while the woman came in. It wasn't Malia, who was pretty much the only person I knew that worked with the healing pools, and my heart sank a little. I had been hoping for a familiar face.

"Hi, I'm Cherish," the younger woman chirped. She was wearing the same pale blue dress as Malia did, which I assumed was a kind of uniform. It reminded me of the color of the doctor's and nurse's scrubs back home and a wave of homesickness hit me. Before I could get too wrapped up in it she asked, "Could you lean forward for me so I can reapply the healing salve?"

"Sure," I said softly as I did as she asked. My back was still sore, and I had to fight not to whimper in pain as she rubbed the gooey brown paste into my skin.

"You're very fortunate. An inch to the left and even we wouldn't have been able to heal you," she said quietly. I absorbed that information and felt sick to my stomach. This really was going to be a battle to get the remaining stones and secure the four realms to one another. I just hoped I was up to the task. Before I could lose myself in my thoughts she spoke again. "Those boys out there have been watching you like a hawk. You're lucky to have them. They haven't let anyone in here without a thorough interrogation. And the dark-haired one barely left your side at all."

"The dark-haired one?" I asked since three of them had dark hair and my curiosity was burning.

"The Earther," she whispered.

Kai.

I was surprised that he was the one who hadn't left my side. After all the animosity between us, I had barely even considered us friends. While Dres could come off as detached, it was Kai who came off as outright hostile toward most people. We hadn't been on great speaking terms since the night he kissed me and insulted me.

"There, all done," she said as she patted my wound. "If you want, I can help you get out and get dressed. You should be perfectly stable and you're well enough to leave if you wish. This was the last application and is mainly just a precaution."

"That would be great, thanks," I mumbled as I took her hands and shifted into a standing position. My head buzzed with sensation as though my scalp was tingling and a radio nearby was playing static. It was almost like being light-headed, but more so.

"Sorry, it's the healing ability," she said as she quickly removed her hands.

I felt unsteady for a moment but quickly recovered. "Why didn't I sense it before?"

"The salve was blocking it," she said with a shy smile.

"Thank you for helping to take care of me. How long was I out?"

"Just a few days, but you're almost as good as new. I'm afraid we couldn't heal your old scars though."

"That's okay, I'm used to them. It would be strange not to have them at this point." I chuckled as I tried to keep myself from feeling too self-conscious.

The dress she slipped over my head was barely there. A sheer fabric that had been embroidered with small circles of fabric that shimmered like scales all in teals, greens, and blues. Unfortunately, the scales barely covered my breasts. There was a deep v shape between the scales all the way down to my belly button that was just sheer fabric. I felt more than just exposed, I felt exploited. At least the sandals that she gave me this time were flat.

"Isn't there anything else?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"The queen gave orders that you were to attend her as soon as you were well enough. You want to look nice for the queen, don't you?" she said encouragingly.

"Of course," I placated. With a stiff smile I asked, "Could you send them back in, please?"

"As you wish," she said with a little bow.

Griff let out a low whistle as soon as he entered the room, and I watched as Finn's eyes about bugged out of his head. Dres picked at some invisible fluff on his sleeve instead of looking at me, while Kai held my gaze almost as though he was challenging me to break eye contact first.

"Could we stop by the room on the way to see the queen? I just want to check for Bubba," I asked sweetly. My question hadn't been directed to anyone specifically, but I wasn't about to lose this battle of wills with Kai either.

"I can escort you while the others inform the queen that you're ready to meet with her," Kai said, offering me his arm.

If I didn't have any self-control then I would be picking my jaw up off the floor, but I knew he'd be far too pleased to get that kind of reaction out of me, so I clamped my jaw shut until the urge passed, only responding to his statement with a nod. The others all seemed to agree so we set off for our various destinations.

Kai was a perfect gentleman as he escorted me to our rooms. As soon as we were inside I said, "Just wait here a moment, would you?"

Before he could respond I shuffled as fast as I could to the room where my belongings were being kept and shut the door. The silence surrounded me, along with the fact that I was on my own for the first time in a while. It was nice.

I felt like I could breathe fully and think whatever I wanted without possibly offending someone. For a moment I started to second guess myself, wondering if I was doing the right thing, but after everything that had happened the last few days, I needed something of mine, some kind of normalcy.

Without wasting another moment, I stripped out of the dress and dug through my bag in search of two specific pieces of clothing. I hadn't worn a bra or panties for a few days, given that I'd been clothed by the temple the last I remembered, and the queen certainly hadn't supplied anything of that sort, not that I could have worn it under that dress.

The underwear and bra were my first picks as I tugged them on. I followed them up with my faux leather leggings and a black top that was part bodice, part sheer lacy thing. The bodice was basically a nice long-line bra and the sheer material just sat over it.

It had a high neckline and a low hem, providing much more coverage even though it was mostly see-through with the exception of the lace pattern that covered the material. It also had long sleeves, which was something I'd been missing since the queen always put me in strapless or frilly off the shoulder, fake sleeves, kinds of dresses.

I was sick of being her dress up doll, and I wasn't going to put up with it anymore. After I pulled on a pair of wedge-heeled ankle boots I was ready. I gave myself a once over to make sure there was nothing too weird about the outfit.

My midriff still showed, so I wasn't being completely disrespectful, but I was a thousand times more comfortable in this than I had been in that dress where I was basically naked. I mean, hell, if the wind had picked up then the circles of fabric could have blown the wrong way and revealed everything.

Blowing out a deep breath I prepared to battle Kai about my choice as I opened the door. He looked me up and down and smiled.

Smiled!

God was that man gorgeous when he smiled.

Maybe that was why he didn't do it very often. If he did, then people would just be going weak in the knees left, right, and center. When he didn't say anything, I left the room and walked toward him. He simply extended his arm and the two of us set off toward the throne room.

When we walked in, mouths dropped open and the advisers shook their heads looking disgusted with me. Finn appeared concerned whereas Griff and Dres both smiled.

I'd played the good little girl for long enough and now it was time for me to show the queen who I really was.

I was a fighter.

I'd survived an assassination attempt.

I had a dragon that lived within me, when I could find him at least, and from what I understood I would have more. Atlantis was safe for now, and I had more stones to retrieve and more parts of a prophecy to fulfill before the four realms decided to end all at once.

As she walked in I remained standing behind my chair, showing her every bit of respect possible. Her glance took in everything she needed to see and that was it.

There was no outrage, no shock, just one woman respecting another's choices. And really, what more could I ask for?

When we all sat down at the table, I expected the advisers to all start criticizing me or protesting my choices to the queen, but for once they were silent. It was only at that point I realized I had no idea what time of day it was.

Were we meeting for breakfast or dinner? Did it matter? Not really. I was starved and ready to chow down no matter what meal it was.

Once the first course was served, I realized it was dinner, and I tucked into the rolls as soon as it was acceptable to do so. By the time the staff had left the room the atmosphere had eased slightly, but the tension was still in the air.

"I love your blouse, Tessa. It's very becoming on you," the queen said which earned dropped mouths again from her advisers along with splutters of misconduct and outrage.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," I replied, inclining my head.

"Firstly, I would like to apologize for the attempt on your life. I thought we'd solved this problem after the attack at our last dinner but clearly our security is still lacking. We have taken steps to shore up our defenses." She paused and glared at her advisors, which was unusual before she sighed as though she was disappointed in her kingdom. "Now, while we eat, why don't we all get caught up on what's been going on. I know you have much to tell me, and I believe Dresden and Kai have quite a bit to share with you as well."

My head whipped toward Dresden who was sitting next to Kai on the other side of the table a little ways up from me. They looked a little guilty but mostly just tired, and my heart broke for them. I hadn't spent nearly enough time with Dres, and Kai, well, if he wanted to spend time with me that was up to him. All I knew at that moment though, was that I wanted to know what was going on.