Golden Eyes

5 - It could be a trap

"Take a bath and rest a little," he told her. "I will come back to escort you to dinner".

He started to walk away.

"Lothar!" she called as he put his hand on the doorknob.

"Yes?" he asked as he turned to face her.

She took a deep breath. She already felt her cheeks heating up and her heartbeat quicken at what she was going to ask. She looked away.

"I can't take the armour off alone," she said.

Lothar's cheek reddened a little but she didn't notice it, too focused on her own embarrassment.

"Forget it, I will find a way to take it off," she quickly said as she turned to face the wall.

She bent forward to take off the boots, but cried in pain and fall on the ground wincing in pain.

"Karandra!"

Lothar rushed to her side, kneeling beside her and taking her hand in his.

"Are you alright? What happened? What's wrong?"

"My back..." she groaned. "My wound re-opened..."

"You're wounded?" he repeated. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He pulled her on his lap and turned her so he could see her back. He swiftly removed the laces with an expert hand and pushed the armour away.

"I need to move your shirt away to look at the wound," he announced.

She nodded and tried to push on her arms to get back up but groaned in pain as she did so. She had held back the pain for too long and now it was hitting her hard. He grabbed her under the arms and helped her stand against the wall.

"Hold on just a second, you can lie down after".

She merely nodded, trying her best to stay still. From the corner of her eyes she saw him draw out a small dagger. He used it to cut the fabric, which now hanged open on her back.

"How did you get this?" he muttered when he saw the scar.

It was a blurry line from one shoulder to another. There was dried blood around it, little red stains on her light brown skin. The cut was a nasty greenish-black colour.

"It's badly infected... Why didn't you tell me ?!"

"Showing a wound is a sign of weakness," she weakly answered.

"But this is a serious injury! It needs healing! Hold on a little longer, this will hurt".

He pressed a hand lower on her back, pressing her against the wall to keep her still. He started removing the strange black fluid and pieces with his dagger, careful not to injure her more. She let out a loud scream of pain at first and then grinded her teeth together to keep silent, groaning now and then.

"Don't move, I'll help you out of the armour".

He quickly removed every piece, and grabbed her around the waist. He removed her shirt as well, leaving her pants on and only her arms to cover her bare chest. She didn't mind though. He helped her in the bathtub, and pushed lightly on her back so he could clean her skin. She shuddered when he poured hot water on the wound, and started cleaning it. Once cleaned up he helped her out of the bathtub and wrapped a large clothe around her to dry her skin, covering her chest but not the wound.

"Can you hold on a little longer? I need to wrap this up so I won't get infected again".

She nodded. The bath helped her feel better, even if the wound was hurting her a great deal. She didn't move as Lothar wrapped bandages around her shoulders, covering her skin with the white fabric above her chest.