Bleeding Heart 8 Raven's Hope

"So, Raven is it?" The man had a nice gentle voice. "The queen said that something was the matter with your eyes?"

"Well," Raven almost winced at how hoa.r.s.e his voice was. It sounded almost like a caw, but it had been that way since he had woken up washed ash.o.r.e, "I can't see, and it hurts when I try to even open my eyes. That is not normal right?"

"Hmm." Geris touched his face tilting it upward to inspect the closed eyes, "Open them, if you can. Even if only briefly. It helps to know what exactly is wrong."

Raven let out a sigh, before attempting to open his eyes. The stabbing pain was instant and he doubled over screaming, his eyes reflexively snapping shut.

Geris tutted, "You're right. That does seem quite painful. I did not get a good look at your eyes, unfortunately. I will see whether Xi'eli will heal you though."

His hand moved to rest over Raven's eyes. The sound of the prayer went through Raven's ears and he felt himself relaxing even as he started to antic.i.p.ate being able to see.

A few minutes pa.s.sed and Geris removed his hand, "I am sorry, Raven. Your eyes are beyond my faith to heal. There is something vastly wrong with them, perhaps some other priest might be able to… or maybe there is someone who has the skill, but I am not able to help you."

Raven felt crushed by the despair. Though the priest had just tried to rea.s.sure him Raven was no fool. Dawn had called him the best of her priests. The likelihood of his eyes being fixed was next to nil. "I see," Raven summoned his best smile, "Thank you for trying. I am getting used to being blind anyway."

He managed a soft laugh. It was true; he was getting used to being blind. His hearing had improved as had his sense of smell. Even taste had been improving. His body was adjusting for his comfort.

Geris patted his shoulder, "Don't despair young one. Perhaps there are other ways. I am not a high priest or anything, so..."

"Are there any high priests?" Raven could not remember hearing anything about that but then again he did not really remember anything.

"Legends pa.s.sed down among the order mention such a thing. A person who was particularly close to the faith's power. They were said to be able to even at times bring back the dead. Surely if you could find such a one then your eyes would be no issue for them."

"Thank you." Raven murmured, "Though I doubt that such a person would not have been heard of."

"If they were in Nix'Ryl they would not have been."

Raven had no answer to that. Even with no memory he was aware of the fact that that place had little contact with the five kingdoms. Geris left the room, leaving Raven to his thoughts.

He fell back on his bed, feeling a trifle down. He would get over it, but surely it was okay to, for just a moment, lament the circ.u.mstances.

As he lay there silently, he slowly entered a daze and a memory came to mind.

A sword flashed. Steel against steel. An older man with a blurred face. He could not remember the details. But there had been comfort. It had been a friendly match. He knew not who the person was nor what their relations.h.i.+p had been. Just like he had no idea who the beautiful woman in his mind had been.

A smile came to his face. Even if his eyes never healed, he would be fine with just his memory starting to return. Though he figured that would take a while.

*****

I know that the priest called Raven a young man, but Raven is actually of indeterminate age.