Chapter 159 – Healing the Beasts

"My Lady, Lady Alzi," Enna calls out, opening the blinds. "It is time for you to wake up."

Geta stirs with the maid's ask, taking me with her. The warm covers slide down and leave me with no choice but to get out of bed. Aurora is standing by the door, waiting for me with a robe and slippers.

"Morning, my Lady," Aurora says with a small nod. "Are you ready to go..."

"Do I really need to go up to my room just to walk back down the stairs and outside?" I ask.

"I thought you may ask that," Aurora says with a sigh. "Lady Geta, is it ok if my Lady gets dressed in your room?"

"Yes, I wouldn't mind spending more time with my wife," Geta says. "But a warning. I don't have to leave my room today, so I'm just putting on a robe. So, I will be watching in great detail as you get dressed, Alzi."

"I don't mind," I say.

"Very well, my Lady," Aurora says. A simple blue dress pops out next to her. "Lady Oriphusa will be here soon, my Lady, and today you have real practice healing. I do not wish to keep her waiting."

"I'm married to a Princess, and I still can't keep people waiting?" I say, rolling out of the bed.

"It is about who invited who, my Lady," Aurora says. "The Queen is the only woman who can get away with making her guests wait. Now, arms up, please."

Geta stays true to her word. Her eyes watch my every move as I step into my underwear. My tights get pulled up to my thighs then the dress drops over my head. I'm sure she was looking at my ass before Aurora let my tail through the stupid fabric.

"All set, my Lady," Aurora declares, putting some modest heels in front of me. "Just some heels, and we can let Lady Geta rest before her trip."

"Have a nice day," Geta calls out as I leave.

I go out one door and into the waiting breasts of Shimmer. Her arms wrap me in a tight hug.

"I'm about to head off so I wanted to say goodbye to all my wives real fast," Shimmer says. How large are her heels that I walked into her breasts? "I had a lot of fun in the bath last night. Thank you, and I love you. I won't keep you from your lesson, but have fun, and I'll see you again in a week or two."

"Thank you," I say. "Be careful."

"I will," Shimmer says, letting me free. I peek down to check her heels and find she brought a damn box to stand on! "Yes, I planned it out, Alzi." Shimmer steps down and enters Geta's room.

"To the garden, my Lady," Aurora says, not caring that her Lady was just molested! I have to stomp after the perverted maid as we move through the winding halls.

"My Lady, I have said it before. I am not perverted, and I hope you can walk through the halls by yourself," Aurora says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"As I said, my Lady. I keep my collar loose to be fair to when I seduced you. The halls are mapped out on a grid. I hope you have been paying attention to the halls we walk down so you can find your way through the house by yourself," Aurora says again, opening the back door.

"No," I say back.

"Do try, my Lady. It is important for you to be able to navigate the house by yourself," Aurora explains as we walk through the chill air. "It is rare, but it is possible people would try to intrude. There, you will likely be forced to flee by yourself to find Geta, Elora, or Vanya for safety. Try to remember the ways to the stairs and the first floor."

"I'll try," I mumble out. Glad I got brought into danger. Fuckers taking me from a simple life with my Mommy to one where everyone may die over a stupid chair.

Aurora at least lets us walk the rest of the way in silence. We walk through the same extravagant garden until we get to the strange shelter, and despite the rush, we arrive before my teacher.

"I had to give us time to walk up and down the stairs, my Lady," Aurora says. "You can sit down and enjoy the garden for a bit. Lady Oriphusa should be here soon."

"I guess," I say. I take a seat on the bench under the roof and listen to the small stream run behind me. "Can I have Calli as a maid over Annoris?" I've got the time, so I should ask before I forget about it.

"Normally, you do pick your maids, my Lady," Aurora says. "But then you would only get one maid. Shyla and Annoris are working with you by the order of Princess Elora. So she would need to agree to the change."

There is always something stopping me. Why should I get a single thing I want in this shithole. I have to bargain to get just a taste of what I truly want. Nothing is just as I want it. I'm about to get a lesson on healing by some bitch that doesn't seem to like me. I have Kelly, who loves me, to do that.

I stew in my thoughts for a few minutes before I hear the pained cries of some monster coming our way. Every kind of squeal imaginable comes through the peaceful garden. I jump up and get ready to run, but Aurora holds me in place.

"Those are just the test subjects, my Lady," Aurora says. "They are already well contained. Oriphusa has done this many times. It is a bit startling, but you need to get used to the sounds of the dying, or you won't be able to help those that are coming to you in pain or on the verge of death."

The minutes crawl by as the screams grow louder. How far away were they when I first heard them? I try to cover my ears, but Aurora once again stops me.

I'm ready to cut my ears off by the time I spot the noble Lamia slithering towards me. A long tail of cages follows, floating with monsters howling. Blood pools at the bottom of many enclosers. Injuries range from missing limbs to simple scratches.

"Hello Lady Alzi," Oriphusa says. "You have a lot of mana, and I think it would be a waste to have you walk out with any today. So I brought plenty of test subjects for us. Once we are done, I will let you or your maids kill them for the levels if you wish. I wouldn't mind taking them myself if you don't care for it. I don't have anything special, but every bit counts."

"Hi, Lady Oriphusa," I say back. Following the stupid noble rules. "It doesn't matter to me."

"Well, we have a long lesson ahead of us. Plenty of time to decide then," Oriphusa says. Her maid separating a cage from the rest. "Come, the first one here will be easy. A simple cut on the hand. One of the easiest places to heal. We will grow in difficulty from here." I follow behind her, moving towards the cage. Inside is some small monkey-looking thing. Hideous black fur patches cover the beast. Its right arm is strapped to the side of the cage so we can access the cut easily.

"Now, I will go first to show you how. Then my maid here will remake the injury," Oriphusa says. "So remember, you focus on the strand of mana and push it right to the wound. Get the deeper wounds first, working from the brain and heart first, then out to the skin. Just like this."

The cut closes in an instant, leaving just the blood behind. A second later, the maid cuts it back with the monster screaming about the attack.

"Your turn."

I circulate my mana and send it out, focusing on healing the beast in front of me. I do my best to ignore the yells and screams around me. When the mana reaches the monkey, it finds the cut and slowly heals it.

"Good job Lady Alzi," Oriphusa says. "Most students struggle to focus with all the pain surrounding them. It seems your past has given you some rewards for all the pain. Now, on to the next one. For the next several, I won't be showing you how to heal them. I have a lot of mana, but I can't compete with you, and neither can my maid. So I'll need to save our mana for later. The next one is a larger cut around the neck. It is normally slower to heal but still simple enough for you to do without problem."

Monster after monster comes up with some cut on their body. Each is a tad more difficult than the last. Then comes monsters with more than one cut. Oriphusa still doesn't demonstrate healing them like she said she would. No, she would just have me tell her the order they should be healed and then ask me to do it.

The worst part is the screams don't stop when the monster's been healed. No, they just change. From a pained squeal to a roar of blood lust. Their desire to kill their healer and captor now that they are done bleeding.

"This will be the first with an internal wound. A broken hand," Oriphusa says. "With a broken bone, you have a small process to follow. The first goal is to set the bones, then mend and create them. Watch carefully."

The maid moves some warped dog to us. Blood red fur and a mangled front paw.

"Broken is a bit of an understatement here, isn't it?" I ask her.

"Yes, but you seem to have a good grasp on mana now, so I think you can handle it," Oriphusa says. Her brows bunch up as she stares at the mangled paw. The dog barks and snarls at the woman, trying to heal it.

Maybe they know she was causally talking about their death at the beginning?

Anyway, I watch the mangled paw reform, first straightening out the filling up with bones again. The beast gives it a simple stretch before howling at us with renewed vigor. Looking to once again try and kill us.

Its howl transforms into a scream of pain as the paw gets mangled once again.

"Your turn."

I get my mana moving and stir towards the beast. It fights my mana, not caring that I'm looking to fix the paw. I'm working to straighten out the mess so I can start rebuilding the destroyed bone. It's slow work. The beast is not willing to let me do my thing, giving me its final struggle.

"Did I do it?" I ask. I don't see the monster stretch like it did the first time. But maybe it learned that would just get it hurt again.

"Hmm, for the most part. The bone could use some more mana to strengthen it. But it would heal naturally from here with a week's rest," Oriphusa says. "Good for the first bone you healed. Well, we have more monsters to heal. NEXT!"