Celeste yanked her arm away from her son. “You have no right to interrogate me.”

“What are you hiding!? And why are you protecting her!?” Casitas answered.

“Don’t you find it odd that she hasn’t told a lie to us!?” Celeste asked. Casitas stopped himself and reflected that it was true, that Levi hasn’t lied once. “She is a Baellon. She is powerful enough to kill all of us on her own and she didn’t. She had multiple opportunities to do anything to hurt us and yet she hasn’t. Why am I being so trusting of her!? It is because she hasn’t done a single thing that makes me believe that we can’t!”

Casitas grit his teeth hard. Slowly his fangs were growing smaller but that didn’t cover up his anger. “You still didn’t tell me what she did to you.”

Celeste knew that if she told the truth, Casitas would assume the worst out of Levi but if she didn’t then Casitas would start to lose trust in his own mother. “Casitas, she healed me. I am not sick anymore.”

His eyes widened. “She healed you!? You don’t know if that is what she did! You could have easily gotten infected.”

“Then have Avan check on me. If I really am sick then I cannot stop you on what you want to do with lady Levi right? You’ve wanted her dead the moment she showed up. If I am really healed, then she will be my caretaker. Like before, I can keep an eye on her even though she isn’t suspicious at all.”

Casitas annoyingly agreed to his mothers terms.

Later, Casitas, Celeste and Avan returned to Celeste's bedroom. She sat on her bed as Avan lightly rubbed his hands on his mothers forearms. Faintly, a beautiful white glow illuminated from his palms. Her skin started to chill as Avans breathing was exhaling white fog. The tests did not take long. When it stopped, Avan slowly opened his eyes and stared deeply at his mother.

“Well? Am I alright?” she asked.

Avan still had a confused look on his face as he stood up. He slowly turned to Casitas looking as stiff as ever.

“What is it Avan?” asked Casitas.

Avan privately whispered to his brother. “I cannot find a single trace of the virus anywhere in her body. It is like it was never there. Cas…mother isn’t sick anymore.”

“I heard that!” Celeste jumped out of bed. “So, I am not sick anymore!?”

Avan turned back to his mother with tears in his eyes. “Yes! Did Levi do this!? Do you think she would heal Conall as well!?”

“I asked her and she said she would!”

“Stop it you two!” Casitas ordered. “We don’t know if whatever she has done to you mother is permanent. What if you are alright now but get worse later on? And Avan, you are going to dismiss years of healing for this?”

“Of course I would! I don’t feel discouraged about this. It makes me delighted! Conall will get better and Galen and I can discuss him doing scout training!” Avan cheered.

“That is wonderful! He can be a knight just like he wanted!” Celeste smiled. “Should we ask her now or wait until morning? I don’t want to trouble her.”

“Just stop it!” Casitas screamed. The two paused where they stood. Casitas let out his anger and his horns started growing longer. So long that it almost reached the back of his waist.

“Calm down Cas! You cannot fully transform here!” said Avan. “Just breathe!”

Casitas didn’t even bother to try to calm himself down. He wanted to stay angry and didn’t want to hold anything back. His claws grew long and sharp like knives, his skin on the back of his palms started to turn into ridgid scales like a reptile.

“You are already catering to this Baellon. Treating her like she is a savior, like she is better than us when she isn’t anything but a selfish royal. You expect me to welcome her after using abilities on my family, not knowing what toll it will do to them? I cannot risk my family or my people just for a chance she could make things better. Taking chances is not worth it.”

“Casitas please,” Celeste said soothingly. “Please let her help Conall as well.”

“I cannot risk it mother,” said Casitas. Slowly his body began changing back to normal. “I am going to put her in the cells in the basement.”

“You cannot do that! Those cells are colder than outside because of the ice caverns beneath us. She wouldn’t make it through the night even with the ring,” said Avan.

“Then so be it,” said Casitas.

Celeste glared coldly at her son. “Are you that afraid of her?”

“I am not afraid of her!” Casitas said.

“No,” Celeste scolded. “You are. You are afraid of her; but not about killing us. You are afraid that she might actually be an asset to us. Making us rely on the one clan you cannot stand. A Baellon; and that is frightening.”

Casitas stared back at his mother. Not saying anything to her, only proving her point.

“Brother,” said Avan as he reached out to place his hand on his shoulder. “I understand you not trusting her; but you are being blindsided by hate to see this could be a good thing. Don’t think of us seeing her as a savior. The Baellon is sadly more advanced than us in many ways, including healing. I can use her help to help our people and my son. Mother can stay close to her and you know we will report to you if we no longer trust lady Levi. Until then, we should use what was given to us and not leave it trapped in her room. Understand?”

Casitas turned away from his family, staring down at his hand. Desperately, he wanted to fully transform and just take out the threat right here and now. Still, he knew he couldn’t just act on violence alone. He inhaled sharply.

“I don’t want her to heal Conall,” said Casitas. “Mother, I cannot undo what she has done to you and the moment you are sick again or dying, I will put Levi at fault and she will face the consequences. I will allow Levi to be your caretaker and Avan, you will study with Levi and learn what you can from her. That is my only offer.”

“Thank you son,” said Celeste.

“Thank you brother,” said Avan.

Casitas nodded to his family then left the room. The two were pleased with how everything worked out but knew things wouldn’t be that easy.

Casitas just remained in his room the rest of the day. For once, he changed into his comfortable matching black tunic and pants.  His entire body felt numb from almost transforming in front of his family. Slowly he made his way to the large window in his bedroom. Outside, you could easily see a large section of the kingdom. There were still lights flickering even though it was night and everyone is asleep by now. Looking out for his people was enough to calm him down faster. In the corner of his eye, he had a good view of Levi's bedroom window below. He couldn’t see her and assume she was asleep by now.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and pondered about the past.

There was a kindhearted girl with big bright golden eyes. She was wearing a very thick winter colored gold and white coat. The wind was blowing so hard that strains of her hair were touching her face. She held out her hand a large purple fruit and reached it out. “Here, try it! It's my favorite thing at home.”

In front of her was a small boy with fragile horns and dull purple eyes. His clothes were nowhere near as fancy as hers; it was torn and he didn’t wear any shoes on his feet. Still, no signs of his body feeling cold at all. The boy was too afraid to move and unsure of what she was holding out to him.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like fruit?” she asked. The boy didn’t respond at all. The little girl took the food back and tried with all her might to rip it in two. Only the shell was harder than usual because of the snowy weather. The girl's hands were growing ice but still, she tried to open the fruit. The boy noticed how much she was struggling and almost laughed at how hard she was trying.

The little boy held out his hand to her. “I can do it.”

The girl smiled and handed it back to him. Immediately she tucked her hands in her coat. So quickly and easily, the boy shifted his wrists on either side of the fruit and split it down the middle! The little girls were amazed at him and started to smile.

“Wow! You are really strong!” she praised.

The boy couldn’t help but to blush at her. He looked at the fruit and saw inside there were many yellow round juicy seeds. “What is this? Looks gross.”

“You eat it,” said the girl. She plucked a seed out of the shell and put it in front of the boy's face. Confused, he saw the girl open her mouth, gesturing what to do. Slowly he did and the seed was placed inside. The boy began chewing and his face lit up like fire!

“It's so juicy!” he smiled. The boy started eating more of the seeds so fast, that his cheeks were puffing up. So quickly, he finished the whole thing, leaving a cute trail of seed juices all around his mouth. The little girl reached out her sleeve to the boy and carefully wiped off the remaining stains.

“Your clothes…” he said.

The girl looked down on her sleeve and noticed the stain. “I don’t care. Did you like the fruit?”

“It was really good,” the boy smiled.

The little girl laughed with him. “You liked it? Next time, I will bring you more.”

“Promise?” the boy asked. “You promise you will come back.”

The girl held onto both of the boys' wrists, making him blush even more. Not used to such a warm touch embracing him. The sense of heat was overwhelming to him. She didn’t look away from him once. “I promise.”

Even though this was new, it was enough for the boy to feel reassured meeting this girl.

Casitas placed his fingertips along his lips, remembering the sweet taste of the fruit. He grit his teeth, trying to push back any other feelings buried deep inside.