Theo (need a title any suggestions?)

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen
I wake to the smell of Chamomile tea. A horrid tasting tea that Hulda use to make when anyone was upset. It’s hard to make out where I’m at but the sun is just about coming up over the horizon, but it is still too dark to see.
“Sit up and drink this,” a cup is pushed in my face.
I can’t see who is giving it to me and I begin to cry.
“What is wrong?” Asks a man’s voice.
“I failed and now I’m caught. What are you going to do with me?” I ask.
“You did not fail, you fainted. There is a big difference between the two. Once you loosened the knot I was able to open the bag and crawl out. I helped the horses run away and found this pace to hide as you are in no condition to move.” Explains the man.
“You mean you’re not one of those horrible men from the camp?” I sniffle.
“My apologies, Lady Theo,” the man bows, I forget that humans can’t see well in the dark.”
“This pounding in my head isn’t helping much either.” I stop, “how did you know my name?”
“Where are my manners today?” The man drops to one knee in front of me. I am Graydon an elf in the personal service of Queen Danika. All the elves know about you. Now drink this tea it has chamomile and lavender in it. It should help with the shock of what you’ve been through and help your head feel better. We need to get moving as soon as possible.”
I nod my head and then wish I hadn’t. I take a drink and make a face. Chamomile and lavender do not make a good mix in a tea. “You’d think that something that smells this good wouldn’t taste so bad.”
“Taste bad?” Graydon raises his eyebrows in surprise. “My dear, that is an excellent tasting tea, one of my very best.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” I shake my head only to start it pounding again. “I think my head has made me forget my manners.”
Graydon laughs. “That is okay child. Finish up the tea and your head will feel much better.”
I take a big drink of the tea and fight the urge to spit it back out. “I don’t know why I keep getting these headaches. I’ve never had them before.”
“I told you it’s from ding too much magic without proper training.”
I jump up, “you’re back! Ouch that hurt!” I fall back to the ground and hold my head.
“Whose back?” asks Graydon
“I’ve had this voice in my head for the past couple of weeks. At first I thought I was going crazy and just arguing with myself because I was lonely but then it went away and I missed having it to talk to. I don’t care if I’m crazy, I miss that voice and now it has come back. Though I’m worried it might be a side effect of the headaches.”
Graydon begins to laugh. He pauses a minute and gasp out. “No wonder Lord Elysia and Queen Danika like you.” He’s laughing so hard he can’t even finish what he was saying. He wipes tears from his eyes.
“You think its funny that I’m crazy?” I rub my head. “See if I share anything with an elf again.”
It takes a big effort for Graydon to stop laughing. Once he has it under control he bows. “My dear lady, please let me introduce you to the voice in your head.” He points behind me. “Lady Theo, please meet Fashant.”
I slowly turn around and am face to face with a cat. Not a small cat. This cat stands about two feet tall and is about three feet long. His tail seems short for a cat, about six inches. He has funny looking tuffs sticking up from his ears and long hair around huge paws.
I let out a scream and scramble backwards. “Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.” Says the familiar voice in my head.
Graydon puts his hands on his hips and then shakes a finger at Fashant. “Shame on you, you were in her head and never introduced yourself? You know that isn’t proper etiquette. Lady Theo,”
I interrupt, “Just Theo please.”
“Theo, this is Fashant, the lynx you rescued and I gather the voice that has been in your head making you think you were crazy.” Finishes Graydon
“Why have you been in my head?” I demand
“Because, I would like very much to be your familiar. You said that a familiar should be a friend. I wanted to be your friend so that I could be your familiar.” Explains Fashant.
“My familiar? Why?” this isn’t making any sense to me.
“You have great magical potential. I want to help you develop it. I’ve been so proud of you going out of your way to help others, I want to be a part of it if you’ll let me.” Fashant lies down and looks up at me.
Graydon steps between the two of us. “We do not have time for this right now.” He points at me, “we have to get her back.”
“Back where?” I ask
“Queen Danika has called all the high ranking elves and her personal elves to Alfred’s house. Once she found out you were missing she sent out search parties to look for you. (Elvensteed) and myself are one of those parties. She also wants an explanation as to why Alfred has not held up his side of the agreement to train you in magic.”
“It’s not Alfred’s fault that I ran away.” I defend him.
“But it is his fault that you are not trained. He took an oath to train you as a master and apprentice. We elves hold oaths in high regard and now he has to explain why he has not fulfilled his oath.” Graydon begins getting our stuff together.
“But it isn’t his fault,” I protest, “I was mad because he wouldn’t believe me when I said that Queen Danika wanted me to visit. I might be a thief but I’m no liar!”
“You can tell that to all the elves looking into the matter once we get back. Keva has agreed to let you ride him. Fashant, you and I should be able to keep up. Now lets get going before those men find us.”
“By all means lets get going.” I’ve forgotten about those men. “By the way, how did the two of you get caught?”
“I promise, we’ll tell you all about it when we get to Alfred but if you feel up to it we need to get moving now.” Promises Graydon.
“I’ve never been on a horse before let alone an elvensteed.” I admit.
“Don’t worry, Graydon will not let you fall off. You will not even know you are riding anything but air.” Guarantees Graydon.
I stand up and the world spins. I sink back to the ground and lower my head into my hands. Graydon pushes some dried meat into my hand. “Eat this it should help.”
“You need to eat better if you plan on doing such elaborate magic.” Chides Fashant.
“Fashant is right,” agrees Graydon. “Doing magic takes energy and you are not using the energy around you but your own personal energy. After using so much of that you must recharge.” There is also the danger of using too much of it and then not being able to recharge it. You must learn to use the energy around you and save your personal energy for emergencies.”
I eat the meat and then get up like I’m a hundred years old. Every bone in my body aches. At least this time the world doesn’t start to spin. I inch my way towards Keva not making any sudden or big movements. “I’m sorry,” I reach up and pet Keva, “I don’t mean to offend you and keep calling horse. Thank you for agreeing to let me ride you. I have no idea what to do so I’m just going o hang on and let you do what you do.”
Keva whinnies and nudges me.
“Keva says you are welcome and he did not mind that you called him horse, you could have thought of a worse name than that. Let me help you get on him, we do not have much time to waste.”
“Just a minute, don’t rush me,” I snap.
“Quit being a scardy cat and get on him.” Fashant commands
“I am not a scardy cat! I don’t have an idea how to get on.” I admit.
“I can fix that,” Graydon picks me up and throws me over Keva back. I grab the mane, situate a leg over each side and then squeeze tight with my knees.
Graydon gives Keva a slap on the rump. Keva starts off at a brisk pace but I wasn’t prepared for it so I pitch off backwards, it’s a long way to the ground, I groan and lay there.
“You wee not joking when you said you had never been on a horse before. Let us try this again.” Says Graydon as he helps me off the ground. He throws me on again. This time Keva starts off at a slower pace and gradually goes faster.