Rebirthed

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Author's Note: And this chapter is for the lovely HecatesRaven22! She leaves such fun comments, and she's been dedicated to this story for quite a while. Not as long as others, perhaps, but she'd been a wonderful addition to my team of readers ;)

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As she stared, his flesh knit back together, and the wound vanished, leaving dried blood caked to his skin.

Elon released a shuddering sigh and raked a hand through his sweat-dampened locks. "I can't take your wounds away, as though they never were, and I can't prevent you from ever getting hurt, but I can bear your wounds for you."

Carissa drew his forearm closer to her. She scrubbed at his skin with her wet wrist, and the blood wiped away. Beneath it, a scar streaked down his arm. "Oh, Elon." She hadn't anticipated Elon actually getting hurt on her account. "I can't allow you to do this."

His fingers interwove with hers. "Though the thought is kind, Carissa, it's folly."

Her gaze snapped to his.

"Any wound you receive would sooner or later prove to be fatal, whereas I'm gifted with the ability to heal swiftly." He squeezed her fingers. "It's my choice, Carissa, and I'm glad I can alleviate your pain."

The protest died on her lips. She slumped, then grimaced in anticipation of a sharp stab in her chest. Except it never came. That's right: Elon had healed her rib. "I'm sorry." For all the pain he'd endured to heal her, the words felt like pitiful recompense.

Elon lifted their joined hands and kissed her freshly washed knuckles. "If you'll turn, I'll heal your back."

She turned, so her bare back faced him. His fingers traced the slashes across her skin. He stiffened a few times but didn't utter a sound. Then he smoothed his hand down her left forearm, and the burn vanished.

It was strange. Her entire body felt numb. She drew a fingernail down her arm. No, not numb. Painless. The strange absence of it, the nothingness left in the wake of his healing, was incredible. She dared to take another deep breath, her lungs expanding sharply, and stifled a giddy laugh.

"Face me, Carissa."

She turned towards him, her chest heaving and body trembling with barely restrained joy.

He drew wet fingertips across her cheek, brows plummeting in concentration—or was it pain? The flesh on his cheek shifted, and the air snagged in her throat. The skin burst into red and pink, moisture glistening off the burn, skin slightly sagging.

Tears prickled her eyes. "Elon, I—"

"A moment, Carissa."

His skin grew redder, angrier, slimier. Then it tightened, the color slowly fading. Where once his skin had been flawless and smooth, now it was uneven and slightly discolored.

Tears dripped freely down her cheeks now, and a sob jerked at her chest. It was the first time she'd cried without crippling pain. "Elon."

After he'd caught his breath, he glanced up at her. His arms curled around her shoulders as he drew her near and hugged her, despite the tub's rim awkwardly separating them. "Shhh."

She pressed her forehead to his chest, aching for the pain he'd endured and the scars he bore. He hadn't deserved either. He knew that she'd betrayed him, denied him, and even now, she'd yet to fully learn to love and trust him. But he'd still taken her pain and injuries upon himself. "Thank you," she murmured against his skin.

He tensed, and his arms around her loosened. "You're quite welcome. Would you like to walk?"

"Walk?" Her chest swelled with another luxuriously deep breath. She would like to walk. Or run, more like it. But first thing first. "One moment."

She ducked her head beneath the water, running her fingers through her hair until it parted into silky strands. When she resurfaced, she felt like a new person. Running a hand down the length of her flawlessly satiny arm, she realized she was a new person.

"Elon. Thank you." She delicately set her fingertips against his scarred cheek, and when he didn't flinch, she pressed her palm against it to cup his face. "What can I do to repay you?"

He chuckled. "That's not how this works, Carissa. You don't have the capabilities to pay for such a costly gift, and even if you did, I wouldn't allow it. It is a gift, after all."

She bit her lip, and a thrill rushed through her when it didn't sting. "Then what can I do to honor your gift?"

"Honor..." Elon twirled a soggy tendril of her hair around his finger before tucking it behind her ear. "Two things: you can learn to love me and to love others in the way I've loved you."

Her breath caught. "Like you've loved me?" Even though she'd only known him for a few hours, he easily loved her more than anyone else she'd ever known. Loving others as sacrificially as he had her would be nearly impossible.


He nodded. "You're their Queen now."

Queen. It'd been many years since a woman had last been titled such. "Why make me not only your bride but your Queen? Why would you want a cursed girl to be the first Queen in centuries?"

"You aren't the only Queen who's been cursed, Carissa."

Her startle caused the bath water to ripple. "The First Queen...?"

Elon nodded.

What did this mean? Were Queens always meant to be cursed? Before the questions could spill from her mouth, Elon pressed a finger to her lips. "All will be explained in time. For now, only concern yourself with the fact that you are Queen—not why."

She loosed a sigh and suppressed her curiosity. "Let me guess: being Queen is more about the number of people I serve rather than the number that serves me."

Honeyed warmth filled his gaze, and he nodded. "Yes, Carissa. Exactly." A smile rose on his face. "I knew you'd make a lovely queen."

Heat licked her cheeks. His words were kind, but she doubted she'd ever live up to those expectations. Would she ever shoulder someone's scars and pain for them? Even if they'd hurt her? Not likely.

Her gaze fell on the clouded brown water, and disgust carved a grimace onto her lips. "I believe I'm quite done with the bath."

Elon unfurled a silky sheet with a snap, stood, and held it towards her.

She gained her feet, water sluicing down her skin, and her breath hitched in surprise when it didn't hurt. This was the first time in weeks she'd stood without pain. A mirror caught her eye, and she turned.

Her skin gleamed like marble, her hair pouring down her back and shoulders like a waterfall at midnight. Her cheeks and lips were flushed with color from the warmth of the bath.

Finally, she could see what Elon saw: she was beautiful. How he'd seen that even before she was healed and scrubbed clean, she wasn't sure.

When she turned to face Elon, she was surprised to find he was glancing down at the floor instead of filling his eyes with the sight of her bare body. She stepped out of the tub and wrapped the sheet around her. "Why didn't you look?"

He finally glanced up at her, pink flaring across his cheeks. "I won't claim more of you than you give me, either with my sight or body. True, I did bathe you, but that was done so with your explicit permission."

"Thank you." The words expressed but a shadowy whisper of what she felt. He would never experience what she'd been through, but he understood nonetheless.

"Of course. Now, would you like join me for a turn about the room?" He slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow, and she was glad for it. Her knees wobbled a bit—whether from being unaccustomed standing without a stoop or stagger or from sheer excitement, she wasn't sure.

Two weeks ago, Carissa the nightwoman, whose pride had cost her nearly everything, would have walked on her own feet, regardless of the pain exacted.

She leaned more heavily against Elon, as much for the comfort of his warmth as for assistance, and stepped forward.

That Carissa wasn't merely long gone; that Carissa was dead, washed away in the murky waters of the tub she'd left behind.

***

Author's Note: The sneak peek of the next chapter can be found as an external link here or at the top of my profile!
And I posted this a wee bit early, because I'm going through Texas, and who knows when I'll have connection again...

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