For King and Country

Monty and Delia

Chapter 19

"Micah?" I gasped, completely forgetting myself as I ran forward, throwing my arms around his neck, like I had done three short weeks ago back home. He grunted under my weight as his familiar arms went around me. I pulled away, looking up at him. A large scar ran over his eye, red and puffy still. Outwardly, he didn't change his expression. His face remained cold and stony, his teeth gritted together as he straightened to his full height. Gone was the happy, care-free boy that I knew. He had grown far too quickly in the past few weeks, but I guess so had I. He locked eyes with me, searching my face for some trace of something he recognized. He had always been easy for me to read and he could read me like an open book, but his eyes now were swirling with pain and grief and something that made my stomach twist in guilt. He looked at me like I was a stranger, someone he'd never seen before.

"Cora." He kept his words short, his mouth barely moving as he spoke. But his eyes trailed upward to my tiara.

"What happened to you?" I gasped, reaching up for his face, to trace his dirty cheeks and his long scar. But as I reached for him, he flinched away from me, as if my touch was poison. I stepped back, my eyes filling with hurt.

"Avalyn..." Henry said, making me tear my eyes away from Micah for the briefest of seconds. My eyebrows were furrowed together in worry, my mouth open from the worst kind of shock. "...Private Thornbury is very tired, and injured. I'm sure all these men are...Why don't we let them get some rest. We can save the inquiries for tomorrow." My mouth opened and closed at his worried face, and his soft words, but eventually all I could do was nod. I looked back to Micah, whose eyes were trained on the General and Henry, who were giving them directions to their rooms. The muscle in his jaw was straining, like it did when he was angry or nervous, and his shoulders were set so rigidly, like he was prepared to spring into action at any moment. His hand was wrapped over his stomach, like he was reaching for a weapon, but then I noticed he was clutching a cloth.

I gasped out loud as he started to walk, his hand shifting, showing a red smear of blood on the fabric. I knew everyone must have looked at me, because he did.

"Why did you... Micah..." I tried to form coherent thoughts, but the shock was beating me. "How..."

"You, Cora. That's why." He hissed, before stomping away after his unit without a second glance. Henry was gone, and the guards were blending into the stone as well as they always did. I stared at the stone, hot tears swimming in my eyes. Then someone's warm hand wrapped over my shoulder. I didn't move, just stared at the wall, my mouth open.

"I'll go get the Prince," Elijah said, squeezing my shoulder slightly, then drawing away after a moment. The last person I wanted to see right now was Fitz, who'd just crack jokes until I stopped crying.

"No..." I croaked, my voice not my own. "Please...Stay..." I begged, turning to face him. He appraised me for a moment, then nodded, stepping forward to wrap me in his arms as if that's what I knew I needed. I buried my face in his chest, a hand over my face as a sob broke free from my body, than another and another, as I wept uncontrollably.

"What have I done?" I cried, my body shaking as his hand went in my hair.

"Shh..Shh..." He whispered, rubbing my back. "You've done nothing but what was asked of you."

"I've ruined him. He's not even Micah anymore..." With that came a fresh wave of tears. Elijah just stood there, letting me cry until I was hiccupping.

"Are you alright?" He asked, pulling back to look at me, a soft smile on his face.

"No..." I snorted, realizing how ridiculous I must look. "I did that to him."