Chapter 558: A Place for Hauke
"Of course you can see him before we finish healing him," Ashlynn said, deliberately misinterpreting Hauke’s tear-filled question. "But you have to be strong enough to do so. That means eating while I explain things to you, you understand? You don’t want him to worry that you’ve wasted away when he gets to see you, do you?"
"No, I," Hauke began before shaking his head slightly. "Thank you. I, I feel bad, making you feed me like you’re my mother," he said, his horn glittering a pale lavender shade of embarrassment. "I’ll eat. Just, just tell me what’s happened..."
"I could be your mother, you know," Ashlynn said with a light laugh when she saw the puzzled look on the young Frost Walker’s face. "Ritchel is as comfortable as we can make him right now," Ashlynn said, moving on from the comment before Hauke could ask about it and firmly placing the spoonful of tatare in front of Hauke’s mouth until he took a bite of the rich, meaty dish.
"Talauia and or I have visited him every day to help with his healing," Ashlynn explained. "And Mistress Nyrielle has formed a fresh Blood Vitality Crystal for him to further sustain him while we work to heal him completely."
Hearing Ashlynn’s words, the tension in his body instantly melted away like ice before the summer sun. Her next words, however, startled him so much that he momentarily forgot to swallow the tartare in his mouth.
"I expected that with three witches working to heal him, we could have him restored to health by the end of winter," Ashlynn said, hoping that good news would help Hauke focus on his own recovery. "But with two more witches joining my coven, we may be able to move even faster than that. A circle of five has special significance according to Big Sister Amahle and with Talauia’s help, we’ll be able to place five witches around your father to heal his wounds."
"Two? Two more witches joined your coven?" Hauke said, swallowing the tartare along with a lump in his throat. He’d dreamed of joining Ashlynn’s coven until his father made it clear that Frost Walkers likely had no place in the coven of the Mother of Trees.
Hearing that two more people had joined her coven came as a shock, along with a complex wave of emotions... Faint hope warred with bitter jealousy and a forlorn sense of helplessness. Even if there had been a place for him in her coven before, what kind of place could he hope to find in it now that he’d brought about the disaster in the High Pass when the ancestors took possession of his body to attack Ashlynn and Heila?
"You remember Virve from our fishing trip," Ashlynn said with a gentle smile as she held out more of the tartare. "She’ll be my Oak Witch once she completes the transformation she’s undergoing under the branches of the Ancient Oak."