Chapter 27 #2
He holds up his hands. “This wasn’t because of my training Althea, I am not a brute.” He gestures for me to come closer and I reluctantly do so. “Tell her, feather, or I will.”
I inwardly roll my eyes. “I hurt my hands.”
Althea breaches the distance between us. “Both of them? Did you get yourself burned? Let me see — oh.”
She examines my hands much in the same way Conláed did moments earlier. “Dear moons Conláed, couldn’t you have brought her in sooner?”
“Well…”
“It isn’t his fault, he wasn’t there. I hit a punching bag without protection and…voila.”
He really was going to take the blame for me? For what reason? Althea lets go of my hands and gestures for me to enter the empty room on our left. “Go inside and sit down. Don’t move an inch. I’ll be with you in a second.”
Knowing she will not tolerate any contradiction, I enter the room and sit on the bed, my legs dangling off the side. She’s talking to Conláed, their voices too silent for my ears to pick up. He gives me a quick glance, full lips pressed in a tight line, before he walks in the opposite direction.
Althea disappears out of sight, but returns shortly after, carrying a basket with supplies. She rolls a small stool towards the bed and sits down, the basket standing on the small cart next to her.
She pulls the table closer and lays out a sterile field, placing my hands on top of it before she begins cleaning the wounds.
“You don’t have to talk about what happened, I don’t expect you to.
” The disinfectant stings, but with all the pain — physical and mental — I can handle another burn.
“But please take care of these two. Correction, take care of your whole body. It does so much for you.”
She gently squeezes my fingertips before continuing with the treatment, applying a thick, sweet floral scented ointment.
“I will bandage your hands so the ointment can really sink into the wounds overnight. You should be fine by tomorrow morning, meaning the wounds should be closed and you can walk around without covering them. That does not mean you can go punching anything or anyone. Do I make myself clear?”
I nod twice. I know she is a kind soul, but she can be a little scary and you really don’t want to end on her bad side.
She takes her profession very seriously.
And that is actually a good thing. She makes the bandaging look so easy, but the criss-cross pattern is quite complicated to do and one that took me many tries to master.
“Perfect. Now, don’t forget to move your fingers so they don’t get stiff and —” She stands up, grabs five small veils from the table behind her and hands them over to me.
“Drink one now and the rest over the next four days. It is to ease the pain and to stimulate healing, prevent inflammation and kill any germs that might have entered your blood flow, if that would be necessary.”
I pop the cork of the little bottle and bring it to my lips, the golden liquid a syrup-like consistency and it takes me a couple of times to swallow it down. It tastes a little like honey. “Thank you, Althea. For everything.”
“My pleasure, although I do hope the next time I see you here, it isn’t as one of my patients, hm?”
Deciding it might be wiser to not answer that, I hop off the table and leave the patient room, nearly bumping into Conláed who carries a tray with some delicious smelling food.
“Whoa, easy there, feather. Adding burns to your injuries wouldn’t do you any good.
Although you would be at the right place.
” He lifts the bell jar up and reveals a divine looking pasta.
“It’s pasta with mushrooms, nothing special really, but I wasn’t sure what you like to eat.
Pasta seems a safe option, because who doesn’t like that and the mushrooms were a lucky guess. ”
He looks at me with uncertainty, as if he really hopes I like the food. I mean, he brought me food. A man was thoughtful enough to think about my needs when I couldn’t do it for myself, even after I told him I wasn’t hungry.
Oh, Conláed, the man that you are. What other secrets have you got up your sleeve? “Thank you, that is very considerate of you. You really shouldn’t have.”
“I do though, you wouldn’t have eaten if it were up to you.”
He is right, although I won’t admit that.
“I can take care of myself.”
He takes in my now bandaged hand before our gazes lock.
“I can see that.” The burning sensation that had just ebbed away, comes back instantly.
He takes his bottom lip between his teeth and gently bites it and I can’t help but follow the movement, noticing how full his lips are as his teeth release it again.
“Can you please eat the food, Maily?”
I suppress the urge to gawk. He calls me Maily. It’s my name, I know, but he never calls me by my name. How can I deny him?
I nod and he starts walking towards the serenity room. I follow him, because, well, he is carrying my food, meaning I don’t have that much of a choice. I was planning on going there either way.
Watching Conláed walk in front of me is very distracting in the best way.
His tall figure is one thing, but the strong shoulders that are clearly visible through his shirt, the muscled back that flexes as he carries the tray, his perfectly sculpted ass that is very accentuated in the trousers he is wearing and that fit perfectly tight around his upper legs…
Not wanting to stare too long, I force myself to lift my gaze to the back of his head. Perfectly tousled, brown curls bounce a little as he walks. How I want to run my fingers through them. They look so soft, like silk and —
I give myself an internal shake. That is enough, no more lusting over the handsome guy who brought you food.
He places the tray on the table and sits down on the opposite chair, patiently waiting for me to do the same. I pull the tray closer and take a bite, it’s delicious and creamy, not that I was expecting anything else from the staff here.
“Could we pick up the intensity of the training?”
He lifts one brow. “Is my training not exhausting enough for you already, feather?”
I quickly swallow away the pasta. “It is, I just mean, some one-on-one combat. Not just practice punches against a cushion, but real training battles?”
He thinks about it, really taking it into consideration. I appreciate that. “Hm, you did fuck up both of your hands pretty badly, so maybe we should indeed move on to the next stage.”
First off, rude. But secondly, he didn’t say no, a small victory for me. I hide away the grin that is trying to show by shoving some more food into my mouth.
“Keep running in your free time though, or go for a swim. Your endurance is equally as important, you know.”
I want that too, so that is an easy deal to make. “Of course, pinky promise.” He rolls his eyes and looks to the other side, taking in the view.
My eyes land on the plate in front of me, the enormous amount of pasta still there. “Would you like a bite?”
He takes me in, in that way of him, and I hold out my fork. But instead of taking it out of my hand, his big hand gently envelops mine, we pick up the pasta and bring it towards his mouth. “Delicious.”
I just fed Conláed. Some of the creamy sauce sticks to his lips and he licks it away, still holding my hand.
My core clenches and…aches. It has never done that before. It’s painful in a way that it’s nearly unbearable to ignore. His pupils become larger, nearly consuming the colour of his eyes.
A door slams shut behind us and I turn around, my heart skipping a beat. My hand still rests in his, and I feel his fingers tense around mine before he lets go.
I turn back around and lay down the fork, my appetite satisfied for now. “I think I should return to my room, it’s getting kinda late and I’m tired.”
I stand, so does he. “Perfect, I am coming with you.”
I laugh, but he doesn’t. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“Of course, I am. I wouldn’t want some beast to get you.”
I open my mouth to explain I really don’t need an escort, but the look he gives me says there is no debating this. Oh whatever, he was very kind tonight and I actually enjoyed his company. I can handle it for five more minutes.
We reach my door sooner than I anticipated and I’m about to reach for the handle and turn around to say goodnight, when he halts me. “Wait.”
“You know, there are no monsters here. It’s just my room.”
I might as well have said nothing. He stares intensely at the door, remaining silent.
“Conláed? Is everything alright?”
“Someone’s in your room.”
Not what I was expecting him to say. I take one step back and one of his hands pulls me behind him, keeping me there as he pushes down the handle and opens the door in one smooth movement.
A yelp sounds from inside my room, obviously female, and I quickly walk around Conláed, who is throwing angry glances at the woman who returned from the dead.
“Hi, Mai.”
It takes everything in me not to stagger back. “Amira.”