Page 5 of Loved By the Orc

She slithered over to the cabinets and looked through them thoughtfully before taking down a slim bottle that appeared to be half full of sparkly purple liquid.

“Dear me—almost out,” I heard her murmur to herself. Then she poured most of the contents of the bottle into what looked like a martini glass and brought it over to me. “Here—drink this,” she said, trying to hand it to me.

But I refused to take the drink.

“I don’t think so!” I protested. “I’m not going to take anything until you tell meexactlywhat’s in it. I’m training to be a pharmacist—I know better than to take unknown substances.”

“A pharmacist, is it?” Madam Healer gave me an interested look. “I believe that is the human version of an apothecary or an alchemist, is it not?”

“I don’t know—I guess maybe,” I said guardedly. “But the point is, I’mnotdrinking it until I know what’s in it.”

Madam Healer nodded graciously.

“Very well—as you are not in grave or immediate danger and I have no other patients to treat at the moment, I will explain the ingredients and the spells that went into this particular potion.”

She made a gesture and suddenly an old-fashioned chalk board about as big as a white board appeared beside her.

I gasped at the sudden appearance and felt Tark’s arms tighten around me protectively. But Madam Healer only smiled and let her forked tongue slip out—which I later learned was her version of laughing.

“Please don’t worry—I don’t have much magic that isn’t of the healing variety, so I had one of the witches in town make this spell for me. It comes in handy whenever I need to explain something in writing,” she said. “Now please—attend to me.”

What followed was the most complex and fascinating chemistrylesson I’d ever had. Only it wasn’t actually chemistry like I’d learned in any of my classes at USF back home—it wasmagicalchemistry.

Madam Healer started out simply by listing the ingredients of the potion and then she got more in-depth, writing out their chemical formulas and explaining the spell that was used to weave each one together before they were all added to a single pot and “melded” as she called it.

She seemed surprised when I kept up with her lesson and asked pertinent questions.

“My…no one has ever understood it so well before!” she said. “You must be at the very top of your class back home in the Human Realm, my dear.”

“I have a 4.0 GPA,” I said, unable to keep the pride out of my voice. “But this isn’t like any chemistry I’ve ever learned before.”

“Of course not—but you’re doing quite amazingly well anyway.” She sighed. “Much better than the last apprentice I tried to train. That boy simply couldnotget his head around the material.”

I could see how someone might have a problem with the potion formula. It really was complex—which was what made it fascinating, as far as I was concerned. It also made Madam Healer’s next question easier to answer.

“Now that you understand it, will you take a sip of the healing potion?” she asked. “I promise it will take away the magical ache from the spelled armor. Your headache will be gone likethat.”And she snapped her fingers—which were covered in tiny scales, like the rest of her body—dramatically.

“All right. I’ll take a sip,” I agreed. “Er, but can I stand up first?”

“Better not—what if you get dizzy?” Tark rumbled. It occurred to me that the Orc was extremely strong. He had been holding me patiently all this time, though the lecture had taken almost thirty minutes, but he still seemed reluctant to put me down. And, as I think I mentioned before, I’m not exactly skinny so it couldn’t have been easyto hold me like a baby all this time—though he certainly made itlookeasy.

“Tark is right—just take a sip for now.” And Madam Healer held the martini glass filled with shimmering purple liquid carefully to my lips. “He can put you down when you feel better.”

I took a careful sip and was surprised at the light, delicious flavor that rolled over my tongue.

“Oh—it actually tastes good! Like some kind of candied flower petals.”

Madam Healer smiled and her forked tongue slipped out from between her perfect lips for a moment.

“Ah yes—I take great pride in the flavor of my potions. It’s not always easy finding non-magical ingredients that won’t react with the magic ones to create a pleasant taste.Nowtry touching your head, my dear,” she added, gesturing to my forehead. “Does it feel better?”

Carefully, I put my fingers to the lump on my forehead…only to find it was mostly gone.

“Oh—itdoesfeel better!” I exclaimed. “Wow—I’ve never had any medicine that worked that fast!”

“That’s because it’smagical,” she reminded me. “But having said that, I don’t want you leaving Hidden Hollow right away. I need you to stay close just in case there’s any kind of delayed reaction either to the potion or to the armor.”

“Why—do you think there will be?” I asked, feeling suddenly anxious.

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