Black Eyes To Blue

- 10 -

"Rise and shine Princess!" Said a gruff, and soothing voice.

Letting out a small moan, Soris groaned "Mardston?"

"The one and only!" He said with a cheer.

Without too much difficulty this time, she cracked open her eyes, where she saw an undeniably familiar face smiling back at her. Instantly recognizable, despite it requiring a bit of a shave.

"I've missed you sweetheart." The man said sadly. "It's been a while. Not for you, but for it has been for me."

No longer feeling the agonizing pain that she felt last time she was awake, she began to sit herself up. Before Mardston put one of his large hands on her chest and forced her back down.

"Don't get up just yet, just... stay laying down. Rest for a minute. Okay?" He said sadly.

"Oh... Okay... How long was I sleeping?" She asked, the growing dread building inside of her that something was horribly, horribly wrong.

"You haven't been sleeping. You were unconscious. Lady Eir, the person who was helping heal you. She's an enchantress, and this blanket is enchanted to have the person beneath it remain asleep for as long as they are under it." Seeing the questions in her eyes, he asked her calmly, "Do you remember what happened in the storeroom? The fight with the armored guy?"

Thinking for a moment, she shook her head no.

"You got injured. Badly. Really badly. It's been almost a year and half since you were hurt." Said Mardston, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"A year and a Half!? I had been asleep for a year and half?! That's impossible! What happened to me?! How was I—?" Sitting up abruptly in her bed, she could immediately feel that something was in fact wrong. She could see something was wrong through the top of the sheets. With a shaking hand, she pulled back the covers to see what she desperately hoped couldn't be true. Her feet were gone.

"Oh my gods," she thought. "I remember now... I'm never going to walk again..."

Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she couldn't stop them. Feeling strong arms wrap around her, she leaned into the embrace and sobbed. Then continued to sob, until the headache that formed was too much to bear. Mardston handed her a glass of cool water, which she drank eagerly. The glorious feeling of finally getting a drink after not having anything in for over a year, running in parallel with the odd thought that she probably hadn't.

After downing the glass, she handed it back to him for more, and whimpered "I'm a cripple now... What am I going to do, Mardston?! I can't live like this."

"I don't think you will be, sweetheart." He said back, his best attempt at sounding reassuring, completely falling flat the moment the words left his mouth.

"You say that now! And I know you're just going to say 'well I will carry you' which is bullshit. Yeah! You'll carry me now, but you'll get sick of that eventually. You're all I have now! So what happens when you get sick of me and you get bored of carrying me? You'll leave me behind! Then what!?" Snapped Soris.

Surprised at the sudden outburst of fury after a half hour of tears. He stumbled upon his response. "Well? Answer me!" She snapped again.

"Uhh, Well you were right about the part of me trying to reassure you by saying I would carry you. I had a whole speech ready and everything." He confessed.

"Wait... Why are you feeling happy right now? Do you... You have a present for me don't you?" Soris said skeptically.

"Hey hey hey! Get out of my head! Let surprises be surprises! I forgot how easily you could do that..." Mardston grumbled. "When you're feeling ready to get out of bed, I can show you the surprise I made for you."
"You made something for me? Yeah, I am ready to stand up for a bit. Or... Oh." She said, her voice cracking as words trailed off.