Lyn took another tentative step closer when the guard didn’t answer immediately. “What’s your name?”
He blinked and gave a small smile. “I’m Todd and I’m fine, Lady Arelyn.” He pushed himself to a standing position just as the door to the cabin opened.
She spun, ready to face the new threat but it was only the other guard.
“Liam, is everything alright?” Todd asked.
Lyn barely suppressed a smile at the subtle way that Todd offered the other guard’s name.
“King Lionheart is injured.” Liam turned to her. “He was asking about you and said he’d be in his cabin.”
“Thank you, Liam.” She turned to the other guard. “Thank you for your help, Todd.”
As she walked back the way she came, she heard Liam say, “We need to find Prince Lionheart, help him with the passengers and see if there are any healers since Henry is dead.”
Henry, she thought, now all she needed was the warlock’s name and she’d know everyone. Lyn was ashamed that she hadn’t asked their names before now but she’d make a point of it from now on. When she made it to the cabins and Kayden wasn’t there, she knew where he was.
Thankfully, this part of the train didn’t hold dead bodies and she found Kayden talking quietly to Thunder. She watched him for a few moments and as she did; she noticed the blood on his side and the way he wasn’t moving as gracefully as he normally did.
“Kayden,” she said as she slowly approached. When he noticed her, she said, “You’re injured.” She stepped up to him and her hand hovered over the spot where the most blood was seeping out. “Please, come back to your cabin and let me tend to your wounds. The horses are safe; Thunder is unharmed. Your warlock made sure of that.” The hint of her earlier anger came out in that last sentence.
He tilted his head slightly and looked her up and down with a look that made it obvious she didn't look any better than he did.
“You don't approve that he stayed here instead of fighting.”
“No, I don’t,” she said firmly. “I would have stayed and protected the animals but I wasn’t going to waste time arguing with the stubborn man.”
“I understand your frustration, Arelyn. But Thunder is important to me.”
He caressed Thunder again before stepping up to her. “Did they rape you?” Kayden caressed her cheek; his finger came away smeared with blood and soot.
A shudder ran down her spine and she wasn’t sure if it was his touch or the image his words invoked. “No, I wasn’t willing to be a victim again and didn’t give them the chance.”
“Kieran will heal you.” He stepped around her, heading for the exit. “It will only take a minute.”
She turned and followed. Her wounds were superficial, so much so she hadn’t even realized she was injured. “I don’t need healing, Kayden. You do.” She reached his side before he made it out the door and touched his arm lightly. “If Kieran is a healer, then he should heal you.”
He shook his head. “Kieran has the ability to heal, but that's not his main strength. Others need him more. Like you.”
Lyn stepped in front of him. The man was so damned stubborn. All she needed was to wash her face and the injuries would heal in time. “I’ll let Kieran tend to my wounds after yours are tended. Either someone heals you or you let me bandage your wounds but I’m not going to leave you in this state just to have superficial wounds healed.” She reached her hand towards his bleeding side and Kayden gently stopped her hand.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“I'm okay.”
“No, you’re not.” Lyn gave an exasperated sigh. “Are you going to stand here and bleed out while we argue this point or are you going to go to your cabin and strip?” Lyn was proud of herself for not flinching at her choice of words, but maybe that would be enough incentive to get him to cooperate.
Kayden laughed, then pressed his hand to his side and groaned.
“Go and seek Kieran. I can tend to my own injuries.” He winked at her playfully. “I promise I won’t get dressed if you visit me after you’re healed.”
With that, he stepped around her and headed towards his cabin.
She watched him for a moment and shook her head. The man really was stubborn but so was she. She followed him and waited for him to go into his cabin before she turned into her own. Pulling water into the basin, she stripped out of her ruined clothing and quickly washed up. It wasn’t quite like having a good bath but she looked better when she was dressed again, putting on her boots this time. Grabbing the kit she’d found in the cabin, she dabbed some of the salve on the cuts on her face—they really weren’t bad enough to warrant a healer—and she headed to Kayden’s cabin.
After a quick knock, she said, “I’m coming in, Kayden.” Thankfully, he hadn’t locked his door and she could push it open easily.
He must have been in more pain than he let on because he was just dropping his shirt to the ground when she stepped in and closed the door, locking it behind her. “Oh, Kayden.” She took a fortifying breath. “Sit down and let me clean that for you.” Lyn knew she’d be exhausted by the end of the day but she was pulling more water out of the air.
He stared at her for a moment before muttering, “You aren’t healed.”
Lyn looked at him when he didn’t move. “Kayden, please. I know you’re a strong self-sufficient man, but please let me take care of you. You’ve done so much for me, at least let me do this.”
His lips pulled into a half-smile. “I have a cut on my thigh too. If you want to take care of me, I have to take off my pants.”
“Yes, I want you to take off your pants too.” She resisted the urge to help him; she didn’t think he’d appreciate it.
Slowly, to rest his injured shoulder, he stripped and then sat on the bed.
“Did any of my guards protect you?”
As she pulled the water to cleanse his wounds, she said, “Todd. I escaped from the two who were holding me and he told me to wait with your wizard, I’d be safe there.” Lyn cooled the water as much as she could as she let it clean away the blood so she could see the damage as she spoke, “I asked your wizard—I don’t know his name—to help him stop the people in charge of the attack but the wizard said something about not taking orders from me and then he claimed to be protecting the horses. Liam didn’t argue with him which doesn’t surprise me considering your culture.”
She frowned at his side. “This needs to be stitched up. Hold this here.” Lyn placed a pack of cloth over the wound on his side and waited until he was holding it before moving the gash in his leg. She continued to tell Kayden what had happened as she cleaned the blood and grime away from the wound. “I got so angry at your wizard’s attitude that I was pulling water to myself and decided to go help Todd before I froze your wizard where he stood.”
She considered the wound on his leg. “I should be able to wrap this but only if you’ll stay off of it. If not I’ll have to stitch this as well. Do you want me to sew this wound as well?”
He remained as still as possible while Arelyn cleaned his wounds, and he even held his breath, but couldn’t take his eyes off her. “Have you seen the damage to the train? Stitch it up. I’ll need to be out there.”
“No, I haven’t,” Lyn replied as she got to work and had him bandaged up with salve on his other wounds in about a half hour. Then she moved to his shoulder. Her touch was feather light as she tried to assess the damage done to it. “What happened to your shoulder? I don’t see any visual wounds but there’s a nasty bruise here.”
He hissed when she touched his shoulder. “I fell.”
Out of the train, she’d guess. “Let me know if this helps.” She pulled more water into a bubble and cooled it as much as she could without freezing the water and let it hover gently on his shoulder.
Lyn moved around to the front of him. “Kayden,” her emotions broke through in her voice, “I was so worried about you. I…” She reached out to touch his face but hesitated.
Searching Kayden’s eyes, she leaned down to kiss him. The kiss was tentative at first but, when his fingers ran through her hair, she moved closer and deepened the kiss.
