When I came too I was sweating through my clothes and my body was burning up again. My eyes stung more the longer I held them open and my head ached with a dull scream telling me to just fall asleep.
It was going to be way too hard to do that in my current state though, as I slowly sat up with a groan. ‘I’m in bed back at the inn…’ Opening my window told me it was well into the night, but the beautiful sparkling lights floating around town like fireflies made me lose all track of thought for a moment. Well, that and one other thing. ‘It’s so freaking hot…’
I groaned again, taking off my armor and covering my body in thin layers of ice until I cooled off, drying my skin before quickly throwing on my pajamas and face-planting back into bed. ‘I wonder if that counts as a bath?’ Having cooled off enough to shiver, I pulled the blankets back over myself and fell right asleep.
When I slowly opened my eyes the next time I found myself mysteriously not in my bed, but in the carriage, it wasn’t so much moving either, not as much as it was swaying back and forth like a wave. ‘Can people stop moving me around so much when I’m unconscious… It’s hurting my head…’ The wavy movement only made my headache worse as I started to look around, My brother was sleeping on the opposite bench, and my head was resting on Finlo’s lap, as he stared out the window. It’s not all bumpy… But we are moving, right? We’re on a boat then… I have so many more questions though…’
I moved around a bit more only to realize I was essentially wrapped in a giant roll of fuzzy warm blankets, and still wearing my pajamas. My clothes were all bunched up underneath the tightly wound covers, so it did feel a bit awkward, but I almost didn’t want to move too much and ruin it. I tensed every muscle in my body in place of stretching and relaxed all at once, closing my eyes again. But as much as I wanted to I couldn’t fall back asleep.
I was extremely comfortable… At least physically… Mentally though… I opened my eyes again, looking up at Finlo as he continued to stare out the window. I still couldn’t get that image of him out of my head… And the way the sunlight illuminated his hair and more chiseled features certainly wasn’t helping. It all just compounded the fact that I was lying on his lap, and had no real answer as to why… ‘Well… If nothing else… He probably won’t have a hard time getting married…’
No doubt feeling me shift around, he turned his gaze down to me, staring deep into my eyes with a smile that only crossed half his face.
‘That’s so not fair… I’m waking up to that? Uhh…’
“Been staring for long?” He asked.
“N-no, I mean… I, uh… 32 seconds… Isn’t…” ‘It was that long!’ Suddenly my whole body tensed again as my mouth shut, refusing to open. Even if it had, I wasn’t sure I was capable of speaking.
He placed his palm on my forehead making me freeze in place, my breath catching in my lungs as I widened my eyes. His hand was warm and soft, nothing like the hard calloused hands I was used to from my father or brother. “When you didn’t wake up we got worried, Airsidh thought you might be sick because you had a fever… But when I explained how dragons blood worked he ended up sticking me with watching over you. Does that answer your questions?”
I slowly started to breathe again, taking a few moments to properly gather my thoughts, letting my tired mind wake up before answering. “That explains why you're here with me but uhm…”
“Yes?”
“Why, is your hand still on my face…” I squeaked out, closing my eyes, unable to look at him any longer.
He gently took it away, leaning back into the window. “Sense I went through soul forging I have pretty good control of manna flow, so I’m regulating your manna that your body would otherwise be turning into heat.”
‘My manna? Turning into heat…’ I concentrated and if anything it seemed like my manna was running more full than normal, almost overflowing, certainly not being spent up. In fact, I just felt good all around. My senses, while tired, were sharp, and my muscles were loose. ‘How long ago did he fix me then?’ “I don’t feel any different…” I muttered.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“That’s because everything I just said was a lie.”
“Wha–?” ‘But then… Why are we sitting like this?’ I felt my face turn bright red again. ‘Wait, was he lying about other stuff too? Like when he said I wasn’t his type? He never actually said what his type was… Maybe I’m overreacting–’
“Does your head still still hurt?”
“No…” I muttered, quiet as a mouse.
“Good. Then my job is done.” He stood up, gently resting my head on a pillow, and kicked Airsidh in the shin as he left. “She’s awake now.” He said sternly as he walked out.
‘What… Just… But. When he said everything was a lie… Did he mean like, all of it? But then… Why was he here… Was he lying about lying just to mess with me?’
“Siya? You’re awake, how do you feel you look flushed.”
I slowly hid my face under the blankets. “Please don’t look…” I groaned, too embarrassed to look him back in the eyes. “My head’s spinning… It’s too early for this…”
He took a deep breath in and let it out as a powerful yawn. “You are ok though right? Like, your heads spinning because you're trying to deflate it, not because you're dying?”
“What does that even mean…” I whined.
“Like let the air out… Make room for your brain.”
“Ha. ha…”
“Yeah, you’re fine.” He let out a warm chuckle as he rubbed my head. “Good to hear. We’re at sea now, but we should be–”
“Landing ready!” A yell came from outside.
“Right, so as I was saying we're about to come into port and travel by carriage for a while again. If you weren’t feeling well I would suggest that we stop, but if you’re doing alright then we will keep going.”
“We don’t have to stop… But, I have so many questions, and I really need something to eat.”
“Of course, just come on out when you're ready.”
Finally unraveling the blankets I slowly sat up. ‘Go out there? In my night clothes?’ It had never bothered me back at home but… Back at home and on a boat full of strangers, were two completely different things. The cold air blowing through my loose clothing was sure to give me anxiety on its own. ‘Note to self, regardless of personal feelings, or how tired you are, you should still put something on under your pajamas… I actually have more than one set of clothes now, so there really isn’t any reason not to… Other than breaking habit.’
I sighed as I stood up and fidgeted with my shirt, realizing I hadn’t even buttoned it properly the night before, which was honestly probably the reason why I was wrapped up so tightly in all the blankets from my bed back at the inn. ‘I guess it’s one way to solve the problem, but couldn’t Lu have just changed my clothes... Although I guess that’s a little embarrassing too.’
It was a bit of rogue thought, but realizing how many times my mom must have changed my clothes for me while I was either unconscious or too sick to move, made me miss her in a strange way. Thinking back on it though, I wasn’t sure if that feeling meant that I had grown up and matured… Or become more of a child…
Letting out another, heavier sigh, I walked over to the carriage door and locked it before starting to unbutton it and put it on properly.
Almost right after I did that though I heard the handle start to jossle around as someone outside fiddled with it, making my heart start to race. “What is the door jammed?”
“Ah, Hold on a minute–.” I raised my voice as I finished unbuttoning it but before I could finish my sentence the door handle snapped.
The metal lock broke and the handle came loose entirely as the door swung open with the saves gently moving the cairage. “Hey Siya, your brother told me you were up so I thought I’d come fill you in on everything that went down while you were out.
I was frozen completely stiff. “T-the door wasn’t jammed… It was locked…” I mumbled, slowly pulling my shirt closed, overlapping it instead of trying to button it again. ‘He didn’t even react…’
“What was that?”
“It was locked…” I muttered again.
“Siya, I can’t understand you if you’re that quiet.”
“The door wasn’t jammed It was locked you idiot!”
He turned back, inspecting the broken mechanism and handle. “Oh, I see, so that’s why it wouldn’t budge. But why was it–”
I honestly couldn’t say what expression I had on my face… But I knew I was embarrassed, and I wasn’t happy. It wasn’t so much the situation itself… As much as the fact I had to explain it while being in said situation… Either way, when he took one look at my face he froze as stiff as me.
“Right… Did I catch you at a bad time? I guess you must have been in the middle of something. I’ll meet up with you later then.” He said quickly before leaving, closing the door without ever convincing me he actually understood why it was a “bad time,”
‘There's no way he isn’t doing these things on purpose right? My heart’s beating so fast…’ It was a completely different feeling than the way it raced when Finlo was teasing me, a lot more… Unpleasant. ‘It’s not like I was naked. There's no way he would have seen anything… I wasn’t even changing, just adjusting my clothes… So why is my heart pounding so hard… It doesn’t matter when I wake up… Mornings are the worst…’ I lifted one of the blinds to look out the window and see it was well past noon… But that only annoyed me more.
‘I’m such a mess…’ With another deep breath, I finished buttoning my shirt and wrapped a blanket over my shoulders before I felt comfortable walking outside. When I opened the door again Zu was gone. ‘This guy is supposed to be watching out for me? I guess he is pretty strong but…’
As I stepped outside I saw all my clothes openly hanging from a set up close line with a note. “Your clothes were scattered on the floor of your room so I cleaned them for you. Your armor is back in the chest, and the rest should be dry by now. Airsidh.”
Don’t get me wrong… On the one hand, I was certainly grateful… On the other, seeing my underwear openly hanging on the deck of the ship made me want to die… ‘I may have judged Zu too harshly… All men are idiots…’