Chapter 17
Clan Fairfrith Camp
Lara
My cabin was just as I had left it. I opened the trunk at the foot of my bed and pulled on some clean clothes. The cut on my leg was starting to bleed through the cloth I had tied around it. I flinched in pain and decided that putting on a skirt would be best for now. I would have to do something about that soon.
I made my way to Benette’s cabin on the other side of the camp. Inside I found Cai, sitting with hands folded on her table, but no Benette.
“Where is she?” I asked, closing the door behind me.
“Don’t know.” He shrugged.
“Always missing when you need her.” My eyes landed on all the supplies that were laid neatly on her small tables and shelves. “Take off your shirt,” I ordered Cai, lifting a nearby pitcher and pouring the water into a bowl. There were a few strips of cloth on her table, so I dipped one of them into the water.
“What?”
I rolled my eyes. “Take off your shirt. Your wounds need to be looked at.” I started picking through all of Benette’s little bottles of tonics and ointments. Luckily, they were all labelled.
“I can do it myself, it’s fine,” he replied. I took a bottle that would help with the pain and another that would prevent his cuts from getting infected.
“I’m trying to help you.”
“Yes, well, if it’s out of pity or guilt, I’d rather you wouldn’t.”
After everything I’d been through, he had managed to tug my last nerve. I didn’t feel guilty yet, but I wasn’t going to have him die on me either.
“Cai, take off your damn shirt or I swear I will strap you to that table and do it myself.”
“I’d like to see you try,” he mumbled, but I heard clothes being removed as I wrung out the piece of cloth.
Cai’s body was covered in cuts and bruises, from his face to below his ribs. There was one particularly bad cut on his ribs and another above his eyebrow.
“When did you get that?” I asked, referring to the one on his torso.
“One of the guards after Lance took you away.”
I bent down and placed my hand near the wound for better inspection. It looked painful and uncomfortable. Something tugged in my stomach at the thought of Lance’s guards beating Cai after Lance dragged me away. Cai had risked himself for me. My finger ran along the ridges of his defined stomach, and he suddenly sucked in a breath. The action cleared my mind and I pulled away from him, realising the intimacy of the gesture.
I pulled over a chair and began cleaning the cuts with the damp cloth. Cai winced, but didn’t say anything. I took some of the medicine and attempted to pour it over the worst of the cuts. Cai’s hands were wrapped around the edge of the table and his grip was so tight that it turned his knuckles snow-white. The strong muscles of his stomach contracted as if to pull away from my touch, but he didn’t make any attempt to stop me. I mumbled half an apology and stood up to work on the cuts on his face, since he was so much taller than me.
“You’re lucky your ribs don’t appear to be broken, but they are severely bruised, so I would suggest minimal movement for some time.”
“You seem to know a lot about this?”
“It’s not my first time.” And I didn’t care to elaborate. I had cleaned more wounds than I could count, and some scars... well, they never healed. I gently pressed my finger to his head, inspecting what I presumed was a hit from Lance’s fist with his golden ring on, the one with the royal seal. I had thought more than a few times about attempting to steal it, but it would have been worth nothing as everyone would know it was stolen and I wouldn’t easily be able to sell it. “It’s not too bad, but you’ll need some stitches,” I said as a matter of fact.
He nodded wordlessly and I tried my best to keep my hand as steady as possible as I pulled the needle and thread through his skin. I dabbed the cloth over it once more to clean off the dried blood.
“How’s your leg?” Cai asked as he stood up and pulled his shirt on again. My head spun a little and I pressed my palm flat on the table.
“It’s fine,” I said, trying to shake off the dizzy feeling.
“I thought you were a good liar.” I refused to meet his eyes until I felt Cai’s fingers grab my thigh and I yelped in pain as the world momentarily went black. My knees started to give and I grabbed for the edge of the table.
Cai cursed under his breath. “You’re bleeding through your clothes, Lara. Why didn’t you say anything?”
I watched the red slowly leak through the material of my dark skirt and sucked in a breath. The adrenaline from before had worn off completely and now the pain had set in.
“Lift up your skirt.”
“Excuse me?”
Cai carried a slight smirk now. “I’m just trying to help you.”
I scowled as he used my own words against me.
“If anyone is going to take care of my wound, it is going to be me,” I insisted.
“You’re hardly in the state.”
But I wasn’t going to agree with him. Before I knew it, he had his hands on my hips and had lifted me onto the table. I protested and pushed him away, but Cai wasn’t exactly a weak opponent.
“Lift up your skirt or I swear I will strap you to this table and do it myself.”
“Unbelievable.” But I had stopped fighting him.
“With all due respect, that’s very ironic coming from you.” He sat on the chair, still wincing slightly, and lifted my leg onto his lap, the other one still dangling. I pulled up the skirt to where the wound had been wrapped and held it there firmly.
Cai started to unwrap the torn piece of cloth and I clenched my teeth as some of the dried blood pulled on the skin. His hands were pleasantly warm, allowing heat to spread up my thigh that had nothing to do with the wound. He cleaned it with a cloth, same as I had done with his wounds, and poured on some ointment. It wasn’t so deep that it would prevent my movement, but it still hurt more than enough.
He picked up the needle and thread and I grabbed his wrist with my free hand. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“You need a few stitches.”
“Have you ever put in stitches before?”
“Once. Do you remember the friend I told you about? The one I used to get in trouble with when I was younger?”
“Thatcher? Yes, I remember.”
“As we got older, Thatcher got involved in some gambling here and there. Most of the time he ended up drinking too much and they cheated him out of his money, but, once, he figured it out and got into a huge fight. I had to help him with some of the stitches so his parents wouldn’t find out.”
Before I could reply, the needle had already pierced my skin. I forced myself to be strong.
“I wonder where Benette is?” Talking helped to distract my mind from the wound, that and the feeling of Cai’s hands on me.
“Ray said he was going to get her,” Cai replied and didn’t give me time to answer before asking, “So, are you two lovers, then?”
If I hadn’t been so firmly planted on the table, I might have fallen off. “What? No, of course not. Ray is like my brother.”
“It’s certainly not how he sees it.”
I frowned at Cai. “Whatever gave you that impression?”
“I see the way he looks at you, it’s rather obvious.” He cut the excess thread and unrolled a bandage.
I shook my head as he wrapped the material around my leg.
“What am I really doing here, Lara?” Cai asked, his hand coming to rest on my thigh after tying the bandage. Did he sense that all of my focus was now drawn to the burning contact?
“I—” He looked at me as if he could find the answer in my eyes.
I didn’t get a chance to reply before the door burst open and Ray stood on the threshold. He looked surprised for a moment at the state of us, but quickly composed himself. Cai pulled away and my leg suddenly felt cold where his hand had been. I immediately pulled my skirt back down.
“Get dressed,” he said to Cai, tossing him a pile of clothes, which he caught without effort. “Can’t have people knowing there’s a prince in the camp.” Ray was right. There was enough tension as it was. Cai would have to keep his identity secret for the most part.
“Arthur wants to see you,” Ray told me and then looked Cai up and down again with an expression of distaste. “Both of you.”
I waited outside for Cai to get dressed, digging my bare feet into the ground.
It was one of the warmer summer nights and though it must have been the early hours of the morning, some people were still outside around the fires.
The way Cai looked surprised me for a moment as he exited the cabin.
His ruffled blond hair looked like he’d run some water through it and gone were the royal shirt and breeches, replaced with plain hunting trousers and a white linen shirt and some old boots. He almost looked like a bandit.
“Come along.” I walked to Uncle Arthur’s cabin with Cai following. The wooden door of the cabin creaked open. My uncle was seated at his table, looking at a map of Everness. Like all the other cabins, it was a single room. His worktable, where he spent most of his time, stood in the centre of the space. A few odd chairs, old and none of them matching, stood about the room, with a small bed in the corner. There was a trunk near his bed and I’d wondered since childhood what Uncle kept in there. Presumably weapons or something personal. Either way, he’d never let me go near it.
“Take a seat.” He motioned at the chairs on the opposite side of the table.
Cai and I each took a seat and watched as he poured us cups of wine.
“You have quite the tale to tell, Lara.” My uncle was tall, with the figure of a man who had once been a soldier. His eyes were dark to match his hair, but this had turned greyer in recent years.
“You disappear one morning and we all thought you were dead until Ray found you gallivanting around with the Prince of Norrandale.”
“It was a difficult job,” I replied.
“You’re not going to tell me much, are you?” My uncle knew me well enough.
“Unfortunately not everything went according to plan and now Prince Lance is after us, if he isn’t dead.”
“Lance has been after bandits for a long time, this is nothing new,” Uncle Arthur replied. “But with the King sick and the prince in a weak position, this could present some opportunities for us. Except for the fact that you have managed to drag the future king of Norrandale into this.”
“Lance was going to kill him,” I said. “You and I both know he could prove to be useful to your cause. Cai has access to soldiers and weapons. The fall of the Evernean monarchy wouldn’t exactly be a loss for Norrandale.”
“I am right here,” Cai interjected. “And as much as I appreciate you not leaving me for dead, I am going back to get my men and then I’m leaving Everness.”
“And how exactly do you plan on getting to Norrandale? I stabbed the Prince of Everness and left him for dead before escaping and taking a hostage with me,” I said, arms crossed.
“If that is the case and Lance is alive, he will have every armed man in the kingdom looking for you. There will most likely be a bounty on both of your heads tomorrow and there are people who would kill for that kind of money. You’d never make it to the border.”
“So am I to be your prisoner, then?” Cai asked, and Uncle Arthur shook his head.
“You are to be our guest until it is safe for you to leave.”
“I cannot offer help to the rebellion.”
“Well, considering you won’t be able to get word to Norrandale, no one is expecting you to.”
My shoulders drooped in slight disappointment at Uncle’s words. I would have felt better knowing my uncle stood some chance with help from the Norrandish army.
“You can stay in her cabin.”
I almost choked on my wine. “What? Why?”
“You’re the one who brought him here. Where else do you expect him to sleep?” Uncle chuckled.
“Outside,” I mumbled. I hadn’t put any thought into sleeping arrangements.
“You’re very cruel,” my uncle said jokingly, as if Cai wasn’t in the room.
“So I’ve been told.” I stood up and headed for the door.
“Lara,” my uncle called, before Cai and I walked out.
“Yes?”
“It’s good to have you back.”
Cai and I entered my cabin and I suddenly felt self-conscious as he looked around the modest space with its few possessions. I looked at the little single bed, my cracked, old mirror and the shelf of folded clothes, the little cold stove against the back wall, and wondered how it compared to his room.
I closed the door before locking it.
“Should I be worried?” Cai asked in jest.
“Some folks around here have had more to drink than they can handle. It wouldn’t be the first time someone stumbled into the wrong tent or cabin in the middle of the night. Scares the crap out of you. It’s also how Frederick lost one of his eyes.”
“You cut out a man’s eye?”
“No,” I said, grinning slightly. “I believe it was Woody whose reflexes were faster than his awakening eyes.”
“We’ll arrange somewhere for you to sleep soon, but for now, you should take the bed. Sleeping on the floor isn’t going to do your upper body any favours.” I tossed a blanket onto the floor next to the bed.
“I can’t have you sleeping on the floor while I take the bed. It wouldn’t be right.” He protested, picking the blanket up again.
“Don’t get all princely on me now,” I joked. “Just earlier you insisted on lifting my skirt against my will. What would your mother have said about that?”
Cai gave me a disapproving look. “I wonder how I ever thought you were a princess. You’re much too improper.”
I pretended not to be offended and made to grab the blanket from him.
“I was suggesting we don’t share the bed. How am I the one being improper?”
“Are you always this stubborn?” He wouldn’t let me take the blanket.
“Fine. Just for tonight.” I said.
Cai took a seat on the bed and started removing his boots. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” There was a hint of a smile playing on his face.
“You’ve clearly suffered major blood loss if you think you’re coming anywhere near me. I promise I will not hesitate to use my dagger.”
“I believe you.” He looked up at me innocently and the cabin fell into a heart-stopping silence as we stared at each other.
“Surely you’re not afraid.” He knew exactly what words to use to challenge me.
“Of course not.” I scoffed. “I just told you I will use my dagger.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Cai pulled off his shirt, pausing in pain when he had to lift his arms over his head.
For the mere sake of needing somewhere else to look other than Cai’s bare and ridiculously toned chest, I sat on the other side of the bed and started taking off my shoes.
“Then what did you mean?”
“I think you’re afraid you’ll enjoy sleeping next to me a little too much.”
I was relieved my back was facing him and Cai was unable to see my face.
“Very funny.” The blankets shifted behind me as Cai made himself comfortable.
I laid next to him and pulled the blanket up to my chest.
The cabin and the bed suddenly felt too small, and I was increasingly aware of the achingly little space between me and the Prince of Norrandale.
My gaze remained glued to the ceiling. Any reminiscence of tiredness was long gone.
“My men are still there.” I heard Cai’s voice through the darkness of the cabin.
“I know, Cordelia as well.” At least she had her brother to look out for her. There was no telling what Lance would do to Cai’s guards.
“I shouldn’t have left them there. I should have helped them.”
“We didn’t have a choice.” If we didn’t make a run for it, Lance might have gone as far as to kill Cai, consequences be damned. “But we have a chance of saving them now.”
“You seem very confident that we’ll be able to.”
“I can’t promise my uncle’s help. He’s not the sort of man to hand out favours for nothing in return. But he’s capable of a lot more than you think.”
Cai shifted his arm, and I felt his bare shoulder graze mine, the heat of his body warming me. The only sound in the room was our breathing, and if I listened carefully, I could hear the insects outside. It must have been the summer night, but my body suddenly felt very hot. What was Cai thinking about? Did he also notice how close we were?
My leg was still partially in pain, and I moved in an attempt to evade the discomfort.
“Are you alright?”
“It’s just my leg.” I replied softly.
“Are you pain?”
“It will go away soon.” I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince more.
Finally, I decided to roll onto my side, facing away from Cai.
“Goodnight, Your Highness.” I whispered in a playful tone. He might have smiled at that. I would never know.
I closed my eyes and felt the blanket being pulled over my shoulder.
“Goodnight, fair bandit.”