The Brave Human Mate

25.

* * ☾ * *

Healer Rhea's POV

With her back straightened and forcing her knees to unlock themselves, Rhea managed to push through from the crowd with the given mask over her face and watery eyes—Death was never easy to witness.
No matter if they were good or bad.

Not to mention that Blair was giving her the sly comments of 'Queen of Poisons' every other breath, it was most certainly going to her head. But that was the very motivation she needed when facing off with an absolutely livid Rogue King.

"FEMALE?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS—My males are falling ill?!" With soot clear on her face, her body smelling entirely of an herbal remedy, smoke, and a bit of salt that was starting to drift into the King's nostrils, he took in Rhea's attire.

She looked the part of a constantly working Healer in an attempt to contain everything.

With the King completely vacant during lunch, the three had plotted another way as she came rushing forward and offered up another makeshift mask. One that was soaked in the placebo broth, and infused with the wolfsbane concoction while also coated in tears.

"Sir, please. We can't afford for you to fall ill." Her desperation to get things sorted was easy to play into, but Dreven had only pushed away her offering before roughly caressing her cheek.

"Control this."

"I can't. Even with Lillian and Blair, we're only capable of so much. We hardly knew what we were dealing with when it first started. It's infecting the lungs, making it difficult to breathe." The description was similar to that of wolfsbane, but as Dreven had eyed the better part of his camp, the darkened smoke filling the sky like a beacon, he growled in aggravation.

"Who's idea was it to burn my males?" The question had caused Rhea to sigh, taking the blunt force of his anger as he pulled her forward by the braid and yanked down the mask in response.

"How dare you act with permission, female." His words were low and continued once more as the saved males were lingering about on the other half of the unscorched property, watching the newest Healer be dragged her braid through the land and straight to his tent.

Goddess, she couldn't imagine what would happen if she was secluded from the rest—And so she acted, she screamed, kicked, and did all she could.
How was it that she was playing the part of a concerned Healer and this is the reaction of the King?

To put blame?

No, she would not have it—And given that the King had his closest males with him during his expedition back toward the mountains. It meant only a select few were at risk of still being a threat, while the others were in various states of being ill or on the verge of getting burnt.

"Rhea!" A shout reached, and that in itself had caused the entire territory and its humans to stop their clean-up assignment to see the King manhandling their kind Healer.

And the only instance that sparked through it all was the animosity and trauma that wracked through all the humans. Man or woman alike. There were a few glances between one another as Rhea was losing her strength and the King began to actually drag her the rest of the way—Out of the public eye.

However, it was Gilroy who was the first to make the move, followed by Dane and Hawes—Who tackled the King with a similar concoction that they were instructed to use. Yet they didn't hold back, it was supposed to be used in small amounts, and while she had shouted her indiscretions—It was no use.

Not when her mask was no longer on her face, it was a wonder she hadn't inhaled more of said mist.

"Rhea!"