Between A Rose And Its Thorns (ON HOLD)

Then something bends...part1

Lucinda's point of view

Three days have passed since the... um... incident. That is also three nights I have had of no sleep, I've had four hours of sleep at most each night. I did get a new change of clothes for Isabelle and I from Mrs. Thompson.

Unfortunately, they weren't trousers with a shirt. To Isabelle's delight, and much to my discomfort, we were given dresses to wear about the castle.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful to get out of my old uniform, and the dresses are beautiful... I just prefer clothing that I can actually move in.

Isabelle was sleeping while I sat on the window sill, looking outside at the setting sun when I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," I call out.

I look over my shoulder, watching as a candle floated into the room. "Pardon my disturbance, mademoiselle, but I have a favor to ask of you."

I raise a brow as I stood. "Which is?"

"Erm... the master... he's not getting better, worse even, and he refuses to let anyone attend to his wounds. I worry for him," he whispers, his form slowly revealing itself as the moonlight shines through the window.

I stared at his eyes, worry and panic filled them.

I shrug. "What do you want me to do?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Well, I thought -perhaps- you could... help us help him...?" He asked more than stated.

I sigh and close my eyes. He did save our lives, the least I could do is return the favor. "...fine." I say, opening my eyes.

He smiles at me and bows. "Thank you, mademoiselle!" He walks out of the room, I take a step and hesitate. I look back at Isabelle as I bite my lip.

She'll be fine, I reassure myself, following Domain through the hall and down the stair case. I felt the air get colder as we neared the west wing, climbing up its steps.

"Be careful, mademoiselle, he is running with fever and acts stranger than usual," he warns me as he opened the door.

"Aren't you coming?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "I am not permitted to step inside the master's chamber unless ordered to do so, I apologize," he says sincerely.

I nod, walking inside. I gulp as the door shut behind me. I look up, candles lit the dimmed room, I squinted my eyes as I navigated my way through the room.

I stop as I heard a grunt coming from the bed, my eyes widening as I watch the beast flipped over, his face formed in discomfort as sweat dropped down his forehead.

I reach out to the discarded supplies on the table on the side of the bed. I dipped the cloth into the cool water and lightly patted at his forehead. He growls and opens his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" He glares.

I stare at him blankly and continue to tap at his hot forehead. "Taking care of you," I answer. I place the rag into the bowl, my eyes catching at his wounds. "If we don't cover those, they will get more infected than they already are."

He growls and flips over. "Leave me."

Yet I stayed where I stood. I reach to the warm bowl, pulling it closer to me. I grab the new rag, squeezing the water out of it.

I lean over the bed, pulling the covers down to reveal his bloody back. I wince at the scratches and bite marks that covered his body. I hesitate a inch away from him then place the cloth against his wound. He snarls, grabbing the covers tightly.

"S-stop!" He orders, I ignore him, quickly yet carefully cleaning up the dried blood. He grits his fangs, closing his eyes tightly. "Please," he whispers. "It h-hurts..."

"I know," I nod, understandingly. "I'll try to be gentle."

Silence stays between us before he cuts it off. "Why are you helping me?" He asks as I continue to carefully dab at the last of the blood.

I blow a stray hair out of my face and answer, "Someone had to do it, and my sister is too terrified of you to help so..." I shrug, dipping the cloth back into the steaming water.

"I have servants that are perfectly capable of taking care of me." He growls, glaring at me.

I glare right back.

"Your servants were the very same people who asked me to do this since you wouldn't let them fix your wounds," I say as I pick up the dripping cloth, moving back to the heaving beast.

"As I had said, my servants are-."

"Fine!" I snap, tired of his bickering. I stand and drop the cloth into the bowl, little splashes of water escaping onto the floor. "If you don't want my help, fine! Call one of your mysterious servants or lick your wounds yourself! Because I'm not going to!" I fume as I stare down into his widen eyes. Taking a deep breath, I turn and whisper, "I don't even see why I bothered to help."

I start to walk away from his bed when a large paw grabs onto my arm. "Wait," he says, I glance over at him. He licks his lips and says, "I do appreciate your hospitality, please, continue."

I stare at him cautiously as he releases my arm. I sigh and reproach him once more and grab the cloth. Silence once again falls into the room besides the few grunts and whines as I dabbed at his back, chest, and arms.

"How do you know how to do this?" He asks, breaking the silence.

I stop for a moment, thinking. "Why do you wish to know?" I ask in return.

He shrugs. "Curious," he answers.

"Hm," I dip the cloth into the warm water, thinking as I watch the water drip from the cloth. "You know curiosity is what killed the cat," I point out, removing the last of the stained blood.

"Yes, but satisfaction brought it back," he retorts.

I sigh, placing the cloth down. "I had too many wounds of my own not to know," I answer honestly, grabbing the bandages I begin to wrap his arm.

"What happened?" He asks as I finish. I motion for him to flip over, he does so, glancing over his shoulder at me.

My mouth grows dry, I lower my gaze from his. I say nothing as I wrap his chest and back. "I don't want to talk about it," I whisper, ripping the bandage. I place the roll on the table, tucking the end of the bandage under the others. "Try to get some sleep," I murmur and take my leave, softly I close his bedroom door behind me.