White Roses Bloom

Chapter Nine

Anna woke up on a bed of velvet blue sheets. There were blankets wrapped around her limp figure. She sat up, startled by her unfamiliar surroundings. She shuddered feeling a cold feeling run down her spine. Her ankle was burning in agony. Her eyes darted down, spotting bandages wrapped around her ankle. Anna flinched and went to go stand up as memories of what happened came flooding back. She stumbled forward a few inches then collapsed to the floor. Someone's hands slipped under her armpits and caught her before she hit the ground.
Anna looked up hesitantly to see a young man, around the age of eighteen, holding her up. His green eyes shone like emeralds, hiding compassion, determination, strength, and an unbroken resilience behind them. His ginger hair fell into messy tufts. There were freckles dusting his cheeks. Anyone could recognize this young man in an instant. He was the retainer knight of the royal family. His name was Carvar.
At the age of six, he showed extreme talent with swordsmanship, just from learning and watching his father. His father was a knight of the Royal Guard, and often brought his son to work with him. When his son showed talent in the way of the sword, the child was brought into the Royal Guard and taught even more to expand his skills. When the king adopted the prince, he wished to keep the child safe but also give him a best friend that was his age and he could trust. The two boys were just seven years old when Carvar was announced as a retainer knight.
Anna couldn't believe that the knight had caught her now. He gently pulled her to her feet. "Are you okay?" Carvar asked. Anna hesitated then nodded. Carvar sat Anna down in a chair gently. "Why didn't you run when you saw that creature before? I could tell you saw it in the trees before it attacked, so why didn't you run?" Carvar questioned, raising an eyebrow as he studied Anna. Anna frowned, she had no idea really why she didn't run. "I just....the thought of another person dying to those things....scares me more than the creature themselves...." Anna muttered, finding that the only suitable answer. Carvar nodded, understanding what she meant.
Anna reached down to her ankle and began unwrapping the bandages. Carvar watched and stared at her ankle as it was revealed. Black rings under her skin surrounded a set of punctures in the shape of a dog like bite. Anna flinched and looked around. "Did you happen to pick up my bag? If so...can I have it?" Anna asked, her throat tight and her voice struggling to come out. Carvar grabbed a brown satchel from the ground and passed it to Anna.
Anna began placing things from her bag onto the table in front of her. Carvar raised an eyebrow, confused as to what she was doing. Anna pulled out herbs, water, a chunk of wood, a bowl, a spoon, and a knife. Carvar watched as the girl began cutting the herbs apart. She mixed the cut herbs and the water together in the bowl until she got a green liquid. "Do you have a bucket?" Anna asked. Carvar jumped, having been focused on Anna's handiwork with the herbs. He nodded and called for a servant. A maid came into the room, then took Carvar's orders.
After a few minutes of awkward silence the maid returned with a bucket. Carvar waved for the maid to leave then turned to Anna. Anna stared at the bucket and frowned. She put her bitten leg in the bucket then reached for the piece of wood. She wrapped it in a piece of cloth, then put it in her mouth. Carvar watched, unsure of what Anna was doing.
Suddenly Anna grabbed the bowl and poured its contents onto her bitten ankle. Carvar flinched as she dropped the bucket and let out a muffled scream. Tears ran down Anna's face and her body trembled. Carvar grabbed onto Anna's arms, holding her up. Anna was biting down hard on the fabric covered wood. The knight was unsure of what to do to calm the young lady, he wasn't even sure why she did this to herself. Anna whimpered, letting out muffled cries through the wood and cloth gag.
Carvar stared down into the bucket. Blood, the green herbal remedy, and a strange, black puss was leaking out of the wound. The liquid pooled into the bucket, making a murky brown color. Anna, weakened by the pain, went limp in Carvar's arms. He held onto her until the black puss eventually stopped flowing out of Anna's leg.
Once that stopped, he sat Anna down on the chair. Anna pulled her leg out of the bucket weakly. She reached for her bag and pulled out a small tin. Inside was a white salve. She scooped some out with her fingers and rubbed the salve into the wound, flinching as her fingers ran over the punctures. Carvar stared in amazement. Usually when someone is poisoned with the black rings, there is no getting rid of them, yet here was Anna, no longer bearing the rings. Anna grabbed some clean bandages from the bag and wrapped them around her leg tightly. "That was a goddamned miracle," Carvar muttered, studying Anna. The young girl chuckled and smiled.
Carvar stared towards the large, birch door, biting his lip. "Would you be able to do the same for the princess? Heal the rings I mean?" Carvar asked. Anna's eyes widened. She had never been ask to treat anyone higher than a merchant, and never before had she been asked for her treatment for the rings. Most people didn't even know they had the rings before Anna had given them the treatment, and if they did, Anna lied about their disappearance. No one except Anna, before Carvar watched Anna deal with her wound, knew that there was a cure for the rings. "I can try," Anna murmured worried that perhaps her treatments would fail her and the princess would die under her care.