44 Let Me Protect You (1/2)

The cough, hard and violent pulled her out sleep, shaking her whole body. Strong hands reached for her, touching her back gently. The cough died and she opened her heavy eyes slowly. Arren's shadows touched her face and neck.

She pushed herself up slowly, meeting his concerned eyes. No jacket, his shirt, plain and white hung loose, the collar and sleeves undone as if he had been waiting for some time. She smiled weakly and sighing he positioned her pillows to hold her up. ”I'll get you some water,” he said leaving the bed and crossing the room the waiting pitcher.

She looked around the room at the lengthening shadows. How long was I asleep, she thought. It hadn't felt like much. Maybe when I'm healing someone like that, more time passes than I think. She knew that time sometimes ran a bit different in the Veil, it was the way of dreams, but the late afternoon sunlight was too far removed from the morning to just be the strangeness of dream time.

Arren held the cup to her lips, helping her take a few sips of water before lowering it and looking at her again. ”I didn't want to wake you,” he said finally.

She glanced around the room, Ilun's presence absent.

She turned back to Arren, the question on her face.

”I sent him to play with Julen in the garden. Haribit is watching them,” he explained, placing the cup on the table by her bed and picking up a clean cloth. Gently he wiped the sweat from her face and neck. ”Let me dry you chest and back, it will make you feel better.”

She nodded as he opened the front of the night gown, just enough so it could slide over her shoulders. Carefully he wiped the cloth over her skin, tilting her forward to apply the same treatment to her back. Finished, he pulled her clothing back into place, his fingers cool against her skin.

She motioned for her book and he supplied it to her waiting fingers.

Why didn't you tell me about Lehan, she asked.

”I told you not to be concerned for him, little bird but why are you asking about him?” his tone neutral as he lifted sweat wet hair from her skin, brushing it back to allow the air to touch her shoulders and neck as she rested.

Harbit told me he was very hurt. Saw him in Veil, was dying, she wrote.

He tilted his head, ”Was dying? Did you save him?”

”Yes,” she said, her voice silent to his ears. She braced herself for his anger at her defiance.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers and then to her forehead before settling next to her ear, sighing. ”Dearest,” he said, ”I would expect nothing less of you. He will not thank you but I will. You saved my brother even though he did not deserve it and I will protect you from whatever may come next.”

She touched his chest as he pulled away, his face held a soft smile.

Not angry, she asked.

He shook his head, ”No. There is no reason to be angry. And I was never angry with you to begin with. I was very worried and I did not show it well. I apologize for that but you have brought a man back from death. You are truly something remarkable. But why did you do such a thing?” He touched her face, his palm cool against her cheek.

Don't know, she wrote, frowning slightly, thinking of herself in that moment, remembering the act, like instinct. It came to her suddenly, the reason why. I wanted to know, she thought, if I could. To heal Ilun or the darktellers seemed more natural, they were, like her, things more tied to the Veil but Lehan was not and using her ability on him seemed more like magic, real magic, which she did not possess. I am, she thought, able to change this world too.

The idea burned hot in her, huge and uncomfortable.

She sighed, pushing the new idea away, too much for her fever dulled mind. Around her the silky touch of his shadows fluttered over her skin, slipping under her gown to caress her. Does he know he's doing this, she thought again.

She bent, coughing into her own palm, breaking their contact. The shadows along her skin changed their touch from caresses to support as Arren cradled her, shifting in the bed to sit behind her so she could rest her head and body along his as her coughing fit subsided. As before it drained her. She relaxed her body onto him and he kissed her head.

”I will have the doctor came back to look at you this evening. This fever is still too much and your cough is so violent,” he said, dropping the matter of his brother.

It hasn't been very long, she wrote with a shaky hand.

”Any moment you are unwell is too long, my love,” he said softly. She looked away, his words spreading warmth through her. He brushed her hair back, ”Are you hungry? You should eat before you have more medication.”

She shook her head, the fever had stripped her of her appetite.

He smiled at her, ”I thought you would say as much. I had something prepared special for you. Wait.”

He left the room and returned quickly. ”It will be here shortly,” he said.

What happened to Julen's mother? He mentioned her, she wrote.

Arren sighed, ”You don't want to hear such a sad story while you're so ill.”

She frowned and he took her in his arms again.