Assassin's Eye

Chapter 10.

Lucy shifted to lay on her back, wincing as a lock of her hair caught on a bar of the cage. She grimaced and worked it out, then looked around. There were no guards in sight, but one could be around the corner. She waited a while, then her eye caught a flash of movement. She turned her gaze to where it was, and saw that it had come from the corner behind her. A guard was approaching, dragging a familiar figure along side him. Lucy's eyes widened and she gasped in surprise, startling the guard who cursed and continued walking toward her.

The guard opened the cage at the bottom and dragged the figure inside, reappearing a moment later to lock the cage behind himself. He climbed up to Lucy's cage and directed her down to the bottom cage. Lucy glanced at the man questioningly, but he didn't reply. She didn't care, though. Lucy immediately went to the slouched figure in the corner and checked his pulse. The man was breathing in quick, rapid breaths, his black hair matted with blood. Lucy went back to the bars of the cage and called for the guard.

As the man approached once more, she looked up at him worriedly. "Please, I need some water for him. He'll die!"

The man nodded and disappeared for a moment around the corner, and after a few minutes reappeared with a bowl of water just large enough to fit through the bars of the cage. Lucy took it graciously and went to the injured man quickly but cautiously so as to not spill a single drop. How... How did he get here? She thought, tearing his already tattered and bloodied shirt to make a small cloth. She glanced down at it and cursed. The fabric was covered in dirt and blood.

She had to do something, though. Lucy's hands gripped the hem of her skirt before she realized: she could use that. Reluctantly, Lucy mentally apologized yet again to Nemos and unwrapped the sash from around her waist. She tore part of it off and wet it, then began to dab at his head. The man's eyes flickered open and he looked at Lucy, but in a moment his expression went from relief to terror.

"Luce..." He coughed and continued. "Lucy why are you here?"

She shushed him and tore the remaining cloth into strips, and began to treat his wounds. She couldn't believe he was here—didn't believe it. He looked so fragile... Simon. Lucy grimaced as she caught sight of the source of the blood on his shirt. A gashed from his left shoulder down to the right side of his hip, and it looked on the verge of infection.

"How did this happen, Sy? What were you doing when you left?" She asked, then said, "This may hurt." Lucy laid the cloth down in the bowl of water and ripped the remaining of Simon's shirt off to get a better view of his injuries. She retrieved the cloth, wincing at his pained expression, and began to clean the blood off of his torso. Simon didn't reply, rather tried to sit straighter.

He gasped again in pain, and Lucy looked at him condescendingly. She pushed him back into place. "If you move it'll hurt more."

Simon grit his teeth. "Doesn't... Hurt... At all..." Lucy laughed grimly.

"Sure it doesn't," she replied, wetting the cloth again. The gash wasn't as bad as it had originally looked, not being too deep, but it was on the verge of infection as she'd originally thought. So, Lucy took the strips of her sash and bound it to the best of her ability, which worked surprisingly well, seeing the sash was wider than it was long, which meant there'd be more strips. Then, she moved to look at Simon's head.

"Simon, what on Astaria were you doing? Provoking an assassin?"

Simon didn't answer again, and winced as she moved his hair off of his forehead, to find another cut that went from his right brow to curve around to his cheek. She dabbed lightly at it, apologizing when he winced yet again.

Eventually, he spoke. "Lucy..." He said, cringing again, "why are you here?"

She stopped and sat back on her feet. "I won't answer your questions until you answer mine," Lucy replied, taking a long, deep breath.