𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘦𝘴

The Wounds (part 1)

The sun set and the moon came up and Ferox still had not returned. I had sat up and waited in the sitting room for him but I felt myself drifting off in the summers heat so I gave in and went to bed.

I awoke to him closing the door to the bedroom. It was dark but I could see the stains on his clothes: deep red and sticky.

I lifted my head from the pillow to get a clearer view.

"Ferox?" I said, putting on my worried voice. "What has happened? Where have you been all day and all night?"

I pushed myself up and out of bed and rested my hands on his clothes.

"Ferox! Is that blood? Are you hurt? What-?"

He cut me off by shushing me. "It is just a cut, nothing more."

What has happened? I thought. The plan was not going ahead for a few more days.

"Where have you been?" I pleaded. I needed this information.

"I cannot keep this from you, my love." He strained as he took off his shirt. "I go to the dungeons everyday. Something happened today..."

He trailed off.

"What?" I persisted. "What happened?"

I saw him flinch in the moonlight.

Shit, I thought, I should be his loving wife and be worried about his wounds.

"Oh, it doesn't matter now, come here." I said.

I then placed one hand on his back and the other on his elbow and lead him to the bed. There, I propped him on the pillows and placed a kiss on his forehead by sweeping his white blonde hair back off his sweaty face.

There left him and went to light a candle before hurrying from the room.

If I keep this up and pretend I care, I thought, I may be able to get details out of him.

I rummaged through the medicines. They were all herbs I have seen before, I just needed to wrack my brains for the right one.

At last I saw it: the green herb I can recognize anywhere. I grabbed it and ran back to Ferox. I pressed it between my hands and it formed the familiar paste.

"This will sting a little." I warned him.

***

Sting? Ferox thought, burn more like!

He tried to hide the pain he was in but obviously failed.

"Hey." Hilda comforted. "Hey, just look at my eyes."

Ferox did as he was told. In the dim candlelight he could see the greenness of her eyes - like the forest, where she belongs; like the grass of the hills she should be riding in on Storm; like the apples in the tree in their garden which she should be worrying about picking and not worrying about him.

He allowed himself to relax and watched Hilda's expressions as she worked: concern mixed in with concentration.

Then the shivers came. He thinks it was the shock from the unexpectedness of the situation. It should have been another normal day in the dungeons and at the wall but it wasn't. How long could he protect the only person he had ever loved? How long was their time together going to last? Ferox had never felt this way about anyone, could he protect her until his death? Or would she be strong enough to hold out without him? She seems strong now; stronger than anyone he had ever met. She would be able to save herself and her sister if Ferox could give them the time.

Stop, he thought, you are getting ahead of yourself. You are still here, Hilda is still here.

"There." She said when all the wounds had been tended too. Her hand moved up to his forehead again and she rested it there for a moment. "You are fevering." She said before disappearing beyond the door.

It was not long before Hilda was back, carrying something Ferox could not see clearly. He felt something cool and damp on his face and then...