Elderflower, The Last Halfbreed

Chapter 5 Worry

The morning sun greeted my face as I stretched awake. Arthur was already awake. The tent was already down and he had packed all of the supplies. I didn't even hear him. I knew he wanted me to rest. It was nice of him after all. The necklace seemed to glow happily with my emotions. Before we left, I payed a last visit to the only Elderflower tree I had seen. Wishing it farewell, I headed off with Arthur in tow.

I knew these woods like the back of my hand but once we passed the rotted trunk, I knew nothing. That was the farthest I had ventured. Now I would be going farther then the old trunk. I carried the supplies while Arthur carried the canvas tent. My bow was strapped on the back of my pack and I had the ancient sword by my side.

I felt the warm sun radiating on my skin. It felt good finally journeying towards home. Soon I would be Great Queen and finally be able to avenge my family. I also thought of Arthur. His family was killed by Saul also. After they died he never spoke of revenge as his life at all. I knew he was keeping it inside himself. I could see it sometimes. His face would scrunch up like he smelled something bad and squeeze his fists until his knuckles turned white.

If he did let loose this monster inside of him, I knew something bad would happen. Something I never wanted to see happen to him. At the same time, I wanted him to release his fury so he would be feeling better. Then I remembered that his parents were killed when he was only a child. For his whole life, his life had been filled with such hurt and pain. The only way he could contain it was to think of something that he knew every feature of. He told me once that he thought of me when the blood rage comes.

I was glad to know that he knew me so well. It hurt me to see him this way. I'm glad I wasn't like that. Henry had kept me sane. While Arthur had to grow up with no one to guide him.

It seemed like we had been walking forever when Arthur collapsed. I knew he wasn't well. Sweat had beaded his forehead as well has his thin shirt. I noticed the wound was a bright red around the edges of the cut. He had strained it too much. I wondered how long he was struggling with this before he gave up.

“Rose, It hurts so much.” He murmured.

“I know Arthur. Stay still. How long has it been hurting?”

“Soon after we started walking. I didn't want to tell you. Tried to get as much ground covered while we still had time.”

“You should've told me Arthur. I knew we shouldn't have started so soon.” His wound was still not completely healed. On the outside it looked fine but on the inside the muscle was still not healing. I had to get him to Diathalon as soon as possible. Even with my expertise in healing, this was to difficult for me to manage. The best I could do was put more salve on his wound and patch it up.

The night worried me the most. I couldn't sleep. Arthur had a fever which I couldn't break. The whole night I was watching over the fevered figure. I changed his bandages every hour and changed the wet towel on his head.

Every so often he would wake up. His blue eyes would look at me and I could see he was smiling. I held his hand long into the night. I knew that I would have to carry him. There was no other option. I would leave everything and carry him. That was the only option.

With a sigh I started to talk. I don't remember what I talked about but I talked about everything. I talked about Arthur to no one in particular. I talked about how his eyes dazzled and how he was so honest. I talked about how he was brave and loyal. I felt my eyes shutter close and I dreamed of Arthur.