I heard him groaning and looked over
at him. He was starting to stir after
four days of being unconscious. He sat
up looking puzzled,
“Where are we? What’s that sound?”
“We’re in a cave near a lagoon with
waterfall. The river runs from here into
your kingdom. Do you remember anything
that happened?” I asked. He thought for
a moment.
“I remember my brother standing over
me with his sword drawn and my wife was lying somewhere nearby, injured and the
baby…” He groaned again and grabbed his left side. “I guess he tried to stab me.”
I cut him off, “No, Gavin, he did stab you and almost killed
you.”
“Yes. I remember.
What happened to my wife? Is she
safe? What of the baby?”
“Your wife is alive. And they believe the child is alive also,
but.” I paused, not sure how much I should tell him.
“ What?”
“I couldn’t heal your wife and save
the baby…“ I took a deep breath and let it out, “and you. I’m sorry.”
He put his head in his hands. “You chose to save me and not my child, why?”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him
the child wasn’t his not so soon after what had happened to him. His own brother betrayed him, slept with his
wife conceiving a child with her, stabbed him and left him for dead just so
that he could be the one to sit on the throne when their ailing father died, so
I didn’t answer.
He looked up at me, “Why?” There was
anger in his voice now.
“I cannot say. Not yet.” He tried to stand.
“No, you mustn’t or you’ll tear the...”
It was too late he was already bleeding as I rushed over to him. “Here, lean on me.” I helped him stand and we walked to the bank
of the lagoon. I sat him on a rock. “Please, be still and sit while I get
something to fix this with.”
He wouldn’t look at me but he stayed
where I put him and for that I was thankful as I hurried back to the cave. Even with all my skills as a healer, it took
everything in me to keep him from dying let alone heal the gaping hole his
brother’s sword left in him while also trying to heal his wife. I found what I needed in my satchel and tore
some cloth off my skirt to use to wash and wrap his wound. I started out of the cave, his back was
facing me. His shoulders were broad,
muscular. I swallowed hard and continued
toward him, stopping to wet the cloth from my skirt in the water. He watched me now as I sat on my knees in
front of him and wrung out the cloth.
Neither of us spoke. I tried not
to glance at him as I cleaned his wound and stopped the bleeding. I could see him taking slow deep breaths to
manage his pain. I made an effort to be
gentle as I put my hands over the gash but when I touched him a shock went
through me and I jerked my hands away. I
looked up at him for the first time since I’d sat down in front of him, he was
very handsome and it caught my breath. He
hadn’t moved, maybe he didn’t feel it, did
I imagine that?
“Everything alright?” he asked. Shaking my head and avoiding his question, I
put my hands back on his wound, “This may hurt.”
I felt his stomach tense up before
the healing force left me and went into him.
His breath quickened as did mine.
My hands were shaking, it’s
working! I saw his wound begin to
heal and then it stopped. I moved my
hands away. He looked down at me but I
could only look at the hole still in his side.
He put his index finger in the gash, winced a little then chuckled to
himself.
“That’s amazing!” he said still
laughing. I stared at him for a moment. He seemed so pleased with what I’d managed to
repair that I couldn’t help but smile a little.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t heal it
completely.” I looked down at my hands in my lap and fidgeted with a string
from my torn skirt.
“Nonsense,” He stood slowly, looked
up at the sky then closed his eyes. “Thank you, Cora.” He said as he put his
hand down to help me up. I grasped it and stood with him
until he began sniffing the air.
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