The Guarded Princess

LXVII

They had returned back to the cave and Wu Kong had ordered the bandits to tie up the soldiers and throw them along the side of a mountain road until the others found them. The horses and weapons had been taken by them but as of now, that was the least of their worries. It had been a while since they returned and right now, Lucy laid on one of the makeshift beds, sleeping soundly.

Being a member of the royal family of the Kina Kingdom as well as the sister of Takeruhiko - who was known for fighting a lot - she knew how to deal with physical injuries. Taking off her clothes, Tomoyo had cleaned Lucy's wound and bandaged her up.

"It was a good thing that it didn't pierce one of her vital arteries," Tomoyo said as she washed her hand. "But, I was completely surprised. Masrur-sama, Lucy-sama is capable of self-healing?"

"Huh?" Kaede widened his eyes.

"When I saw the amount of blood on Lucy-sama, I assumed that the wound must have been deep since according to that bastard over there," Tomoyo pointed at him, hating him from the moment they met. "She had been shot by an arrow and at a considerably close range. But, the wound wasn't as deep as I thought it to be."

"So Lucy's body healed herself?" Wu Kong said.

Kaede looked his way before averting his gaze, not really on a friendly term with him yet. Placing a hand underneath his chin, he gazed into deep thought.

"I heard that there were people whose body's healing magic naturally kick in when they suffer from a physical injury but I didn't think that Lucy was one of them," he said and gave a helpless smile. "But knowing Lucy, it's to be expected."

"Did Masrur-sama know about it?" Tomoyo turned to him.

Masrur leaned against the wall of the cave, right outside where Lucy laid, a piece of curtain separating the two. He looked up and looked back down, giving a curt nod.

"Back then during the war with the Garanda Empire, Lucy suffered injuries that would have probably killed her ten times over but after it ended, she didn't have a single injury on her," Masrur said.

"I see," Tomoyo said but smiled, wanting to brighten up the gloomy atmosphere. "But, Lucy-sama will wake up soon so let's stop worrying too much."

"That's right, Masrur," Kaede stood up from his seat and smiled. "If Lucy were to wake up and see that expression on your face, you'll only cause her more grief."

Masrur looked at the two and peering into their eyes, he caught a glimpse of the expression he wore. His eyes were blank and dull and his body stiff; if someone were to appear before him, anyone would think that he would kill them right on the spot. It was almost as if everything around him was as good as dead and the remorseless aura that seeped from him was not helping the slightest. But, what he saw was the grief and helplessness in his eyes for without Lucy, there was no meaning to anything.

"You don't want Lucy to wear the same expression, right?" Kaede gave a pat on his back. "Tomoyo said so, didn't she? Lucy will wake up."

Tomoyo nodded her head.

Masrur looked down and gave a small nod as he turned, lifting up the curtain and stepping into the room where Lucy laid in rest. Seeing him enter, Kaede and Tomoyo gave a sigh of relief, glad to finally see him calm down for all the time that they had spent him, he looked like a rabid beast with nothing but death in his eyes.

"Now then," Kaede turned to Wu Kong. "Your name was Wu Kong, wasn't it?"

"That's right," Wu Kong met his gaze calmly as he situated his staff against his shoulder and grinned. "It seems like we're not on exactly good terms are we?"