Raw Winter

Chapter 22: Bright Eyes

"I would think you would be afraid of me," Yulsylus told her. She hadn't been shy with her story, and by now he knew all about her. It was necessary for him to take care of her properly. It wasn't a surprise when he saw how precise the stab wound had been after what she told him.

"I'm extremely afraid of you," she said. She didn't convince him when he noticed the private smile she gave when she said it, her dark eye lighting up, but only briefly. "I suppose it's just that I don't really care all that much. I find you're an interesting person and you're currently taking care of me. I should be grateful for those who take care of me."

"I suppose that makes sense," he answered.

He held the blue jewel in his hand and was carefully buffing it out, carefully shaping it into a proper eye. It wouldn't look like an average eye, but he wanted to give it some semblance to an actual eye. He didn't want it to be overly apparent that it was artificial. He thought she looked lovely, and it would be a shame if her second eye were to detract from that. He didn't really know what she would actually want, but he didn't want to ask outright if she wanted the eye to look unnatural or if she wanted it to look nice.

"For example, I wanted to know about the chef," she told him. "I know I must have insulted him. He looked upset, but I had little to say to him when I was leaving the room, so I didn't. I think I might want to make that up."

"I'm sure he didn't mind," Yulsylus said.

"I don't want you lying to me to protect me," she said, knowing he almost definitely was. "Tell me what would make him approve of me or make him happy." Her lips thinned as something came to mind, but she hoped he wouldn't say anything like that.

"Nothing makes Marcal happy. You may as well forget about it," Yulsylus answered.

"His name is Marcal? I'll have to remember that," she said. "Nothing definitely makes that easier. What about complimenting his food?"

"Empty flattery, he'll say," Yulsylus answered. "You may as well just leave him alone. The last time anything pleased him was when he had an assistant to do simple tasks for him while he was preparing large meals, but the last turned out to be a conman and was trying to smuggle things off the ship."

"I see," Rawintr answered, standing and then sitting back down. "Would you happen to be done with the eye?"

He considered it for a moment and replied, "it may be a bit uncomfortable for you at first. I'll need to check your socket to make sure everything is healing well, and it's not infected."

"Can we do that now?" She said.

"Are you sure you're ready for it? It's going to be uncomfortable if you don't want me to hold you steady and there will be a lot of holding involved while I'm checking you, especially your head. You can't move while I'm doing this or I may end up hurting you," he explained.

"I had an entire child removed from me," she answered. "I think I can handle this."

He didn't know what to say to that, his lip twitching. He then nodded and leaned forward and gently gripped her head, slowly unwinding the bandages. He expected it to be messy and bloody still, but it was remarkably clean. He had to remind himself it was like this before, even when she was being dragged up. She had only looked bloody and torn up when she was in the water, and that's what made it surprising to all of them when she came up clean.

Whole except for her left eye and reproductive organs.

When he was done doing his examination, easing her head back and forth to get a good look at her, he took a cloth and went to boil water before using it to clean her face after it had cooled a bit. She didn't seem all that disgruntled or impatient, even when he was gently wiping her eyelashes and eyelids.