Chapter 12 unfold
The sound of birds chirping was heard through the walls of the house. Neela and Sky sat together at the kitchen table, chatting quietly to pass the time as they waited for the bedroom door to open. Neela kept her eyes anchored to the hallway, praying for Niel to emerge with good news. Sky, on the other hand, didn't seem worried at all. Instead, she was deeply confused and intensely curious about what the strange, silver-haired boy was actually doing in there.
To break up the heavy anticipation, Neela ladled out two steaming bowls of the savory beef stew she had prepared. They ate in relative silence, the rich aroma filling the kitchen.
Suddenly, the heavy wooden door to Adam's room clicked and swung open. Niel stepped out into the hallway, a satisfied grin stretching across his face.
Neela immediately leaped up from her chair and rushed toward him, with Sky following at a much steadier, slower pace behind her. But before Neela could open her mouth to bombard him with questions, Niel beat her to the punch.
"You shouldn't leave your food uncovered like that," Niel said playfully.
That single, lighthearted comment instantly cut through the tense atmosphere. Neela and Sky blinked, looking at him in utter confusion, before Sky silently turned around to go cover their stew.
Neela turned her anxious eyes back to the young healer. "How is he, Niel?"
With a soft, confident smile, Niel simply raised his thumb and pointed back over his shoulder toward the bedroom, silently telling her to go see for herself.
Neela stepped past him and entered the room, only to freeze in stunned silence. For over half a year, her husband hadn't been able to sleep peacefully for even a single night. Yet there Adam lay, completely relaxed, his head tilted back against the pillows as a soft, steady snore vibrated through the air. The sight brought an overwhelming wave of tremendous joy and profound relief crashing over her.
Neela, not taking her eyes off Adam, asked in a soft, stunned tone of disbelief, "Are you some kind of magician?"
Niel, hearing this, simply laughed it off, shaking his head and quickly denying the accusation. "No, nothing like that," he said with a warm smile. "All I did was massage him and wrap up the swelling on his feet with cloth. Nothing out of the ordinary."
On the other side of the room, Sky stood perfectly still, looking at Niel with a deeply suspicious expression. What the hell? she thought to herself. Just two hours earlier Niel had acted like a completely different person. Or was I just imagining things? She shook her head, trying to find an answer.
Before she could linger on her thoughts for too long, Neela's voice broke her focus. "Sky, come here. Come look at your father."
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Sky muttered to herself before raising her voice. "Coming, Mother."
As she approached the door, her eyes fell onto Niel, who smiled at her excitedly.
In her mind, she groaned. Urgh, wipe that dumb smile off your face. Hmph.It's not like he did anything crazy, she thought as she finally stepped into her father's room.
But as she stood there, looking at the completely peaceful state of her father, all she could mutter was, "Well, I'll be damned."
Neela grabbed Sky and hugged her happily. "Isn't this great!" she said excitedly.
Sky stayed completely frozen in her mother's embrace, her mind trapped in a daze. How? she thought to herself. Just how could the man I brutally beat up two days ago do something like this? It's something I never thought was possible.
Plants.
Herbs.
A bucket of water.
A towel.
Cut-up cloth.
How could things as useless and meaningless as that produce such an amazing result?
All her life, both her father and mother had drilled the same lesson into her head: the only way to survive in this world was to possess raw strength and power—power that would take her to the very top of the world.
She glanced over at Niel, who was still talking to Neela, gesturing as he tried to explain that he really hadn't done anything special.
Sky's gaze dropped back to the ground as a flurry of dangerous thoughts ran through her mind. She looked back up at her mother. Is there something Mother and Father didn't tell me? She quickly shook the thought off. No, Mother seems equally surprised by this.
Maybe King Duston knows? No... if that greedy tyrant had known about this, he would never have sent Niel to us in the first place.
A sudden, chilling thought ran through her mind. Could it be... that the entire world is hiding something from us? If so, that means there have to be more people like him out there.
She fully turned her body to face Niel. With a piercing, stern expression, she asked, "Niel, where did you learn to do this?"
The sudden question caused an abrupt, heavy silence to instantly fill the room. Neela looked at Sky, a shocked and deeply uneasy expression washing over her face. Oh no, Neela thought to herself, a wave of panic hitting her. She's doing it again.
Neela knew she had to stop Sky immediately before she started asking too much. Sky had a dangerous, dictatorial nature; her relentless curiosity always made her escalate simple situations into all-out fights, turning potential allies into bitter enemies. It was the exact reason the girl didn't have a single friend to her name—she just couldn't stop causing hatred between people.
Trying to intercept her daughter before she ruined everything, Neela cut in. "Sky, how could you ask him that? Don't you know that a magician never reveals his secrets?"
Despite her mother's attempt to deflect, Sky showed absolutely no intention of backing down. Her dark eyes were firmly locked onto Niel's golden ones as she took several slow, deliberate steps forward. She didn't stop until their faces were inches apart. She stood frozen there, waiting for Niel to answer.
Neela tried to step between them to stop her daughter again, but this time Niel gently raised his hand, signaling to Neela that it was fine. He saw it as a perfect opportunity to share his passion for medicine.
"Well, my mother and father taught me how to do it," Niel answered truthfully, his voice steady. "I also read a lot of books."
Hearing his simple answer, Sky still wasn't satisfied. She took another aggressive step closer, causing a startled Niel to instinctively take a step back.
"Oh, really? Well then, where did your parents learn it from?" she questioned sharply.
"Well... their parents, maybe?" Niel answered, his brow furrowing. He genuinely didn't know the deep history of his lineage.
"That's not the answer I want!" Sky snapped, her voice growing dangerously loud as she pressed forward. "Adamson... that is a surname I have never heard of before. And yet the people who bear that name have the power to completely heal broken bodies. How come they know, but the rest of the world doesn't? Make that make sense!"
Niel didn't raise his voice—he never shouted at a woman. Instead, he looked at her with a gentle, softer tone, trying to defuse her intensity. "I really don't know what you want from me. I told you the truth to your questions... what more do you want from me?"
"I want the truth!" she demanded fiercely.
Her sudden, terrifying shift in tone caused Niel to flinch hard. Feeling completely cornered by her aggressive nature, he darted his eyes over to Neela, silently begging for intervention.
Neela let out a heavy sigh, stepping in. "That's enough, Sky. He already told you what he knew. Let's end this conversation."
"No. I'm not satisfied with what he told me," Sky said coldly, her stubborn dictator instincts taking over as she kept her eyes glued to Niel.
Neela let out another sigh, but this time, her entire demeanor changed. "Sky. I told you to end it."
Her voice didn't rise in volume, but it dropped into a tone that was bone-chillingly cold and heavy with absolute authority. A sudden chill ran straight down Sky's spine. She froze in her tracks, her breath catching as she slowly glanced back at her mother.
Seeing her mother in this rare, terrifyingly strict mode, Sky realized she had pushed her boundaries too far. She reluctantly backed off, raising her hands in defeat. "Fine. I'll let it go."
She shot Niel one last, venomous glare before turning on her heel and marching out of the bedroom, heading straight down the hall.
As Sky passed the kitchen, Neela called out after her. "Aren't you going to finish your food?"
Without stopping, Sky shouted back over her shoulder, "I'm not hungry anymore. I lost my appetite. I'll eat it later."
Neela placed her hand on her forehead. It's always that girl she mutters to herself.
She glances over at niel who was visibly uncomfortable by what happened. She says im so sorry about that niel raised up his hands and says no no it's no problem really no niel i can see your discomfort your absolutely terrible at hiding your true feelings about this.
As niel was about to continue he gets interrupted by his stomach rumbling neela hearing this couldn't help but laugh i forgot you must be hungry arent you she said softly before walking towards the kitchen and say common lets eat
At the dinner table niel and neela sat and ate. He complemented her cooking and then explained to her how he helped Adam's legs recover.
After a while silence fell upon them niel was deep in thought his mothers words coming back to him the outside world is not a place for people like us.
His thought about Sky's earlier words: How come they know, but the rest of the world doesn't?
He twirls the spoon in his hand and she's right.... At first I didn't want to acknowledge it myself.
Since i lived in the castle i always thought that in only in the kingdom of newfield people didn't know how to make medicine or bore proper knowledge of medicine but now it would seem that in this kingdom its the same
His heart aches as a thought runs through his mind. Am I alone in that aspect? Is there really no one else like me?
Neela notices his down expression and ask are you thinking of what sky had said earlier
Niel nods softly. I am, he answered.
Thinking to much about it will only stress you out neela said softly she continues by saying niel im going to tell you what i always tell sky as time goes by and you grow older and as you grow older your understanding of things widens one day the truth will reveal itself to you for now just focus on your main goal you love that princess dont you.
Hearing her words niel couldn't help but smile right thank you miss neela for reminding me. She gets up from her seat and pick up the wooden plates and say dont mention it she walks away carrying the plates before coming to a halt she turns around and looks at him with a soft smile dont call me neela she said softly call me noel
Niel looks at her in confusion as he says noel he remembers that adam had also called her noel he scratches his hair and says i thought your name was neela neela is my nickname and the name i give to people i dont consider myself particularly close with.
I het the point niel added softly and say but i only got here i few days ago and before he can finish his sentence neela cuts him of and say niel the things you've done in the short time that you've been here is more than enough reason for me to consider you family