Crimson Blood

Chapter 2

"Luck is simply the advantage a true warrior gains in executing the correct course of action."
— R.A. Salvatore.

When Crow Burnham opened her eyes again, she immediately knew her surroundings were unfamiliar and that put her into an alert state. The woman meant to sit up, but at the faint idea of moving her muscles, she fell back into bed, with a gasp.

'Burnham.' Someone said in urge.

Assessing her situation, the female captain recalled the memories from last night. She had been betrayed by those her own people her subordinates with whom she fought beside and trusted. They had been able to arrest and torture her, in the ways of the East she knew well, just to leave her do die, locked away.

And it would've happened like that hadn't the woman found a rabbit hole she ordered them to sew up in the made-up prison. Thankfully, they had ignored her orders and she fled to the forest. Running for her life while knowing she left a blood trail, Crow had taken a rest at a tree, hiding from her persecutors that had noticed her escape by then.

In all honesty, the woman thought she her life ended. She had lost so much blood, her chest ached terribly, the feeling of a million needles puncturing her lungs and muscles. Her head was dizzy and her sight, blurred. There was no hope for Crow Burnham. That is, until her enemy found her.

And he had saved her.

But, with the pungent taste lodged in the back of her throat, he might've just poisoned her.

'Don't sit up alone.' Bennetti said, with relief. The woman's fever hadn't completely subsided, but she seemed to be with a clearer mind now, almost midday. He had canceled his appointments and postponed his affairs, leaving only to relieve himself and even then, never going too far.

He trusted his associates with his life, but not with the enemy's. He had given orders, but there was a limit to where they could be followed. Or to how long

Hades didn't want to test his theory, so that is why he had been in the room when Crow regained proper consciousness.

'Did you poison me?' He wasn't surprised with her first question. Instead of entertaining her with an answer, the East Captain poured her a cup of water and helped her sit straight.

'It's water, drink it.' Crow hesitated and Bennetti grabbed her hands and placed it around the cup. 'Don't be stubborn, your voice sounds scratchy.'

'Not sure I should he drinking this.' The man rolled his eyes.

'If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have stitched you up, Burnham, so drop the suspicion and just drink the water.'

Still not buying it, the woman squinted her eyes.

'This could be part of a torture plan.'

'Would you have the time to do this torture plan you accuse me of being the mastermind behind?' Her silence had been enough of an answer.

'I guess your brain doesn't think so far ahead.'

'Maybe I should've let you die in that forest.'

'Meh. There are no takebacks now, or you'll have stitched me up and tried to poison me with whatever you made me drink for no reason.' She replied, drinking from the cup of water.

It was lukewarm at best, but the liquid streamed down her throat in such a relieving manner. She hadn't been able to drink water since the morning before, so this felt like a drink delivered by the gods.

'It wasn't poison, no matter how much I now question if it should've been.' Hades said, resting back on his chair, the same one he spent the whole night seated at while aiding the enemy. 'The battalion doctor prepared you some herbs to lower your fever and stop infection. What you taste is probably the remnants of it.'