By the time it was all over everything seemed to kind of blur together. I still remembered the events clearly, how Nillous applied medicine to the wound on my head, and helped me with my nose until the bleeding had finally stopped.

It all seemed so vivid though, like I was only half conscious while it was all happening.

“Siya.” Suddenly my vision came into full focus as a bright light shined in my eye. “How do you feel?”

The light moved to my other eye before I finally realized what was happening. “I feel fine.” I said plainly. It wasn't a lie. My nose and head did admittedly hurt a little, but besides that I felt like normal again.

“Are you absolutely sure that you're ok?”

I lowered my head and rubbed my eyes. “My head hurts, but it's not that bad really.”

He let out a sigh and sank down into a nearby chair. “Can’t you go 1 week without almost dying? Seriously.”

“You're exaggerating.” My voice was completely void of life, almost like I just didn't have any energy left to add any to it.

“Maybe a bit. Still, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry.” I looked down at the shirt he lent me. It was covered in blood. ‘Is this really all mine?’

“Don't worry about it, it's armor, it's supposed to get covered in blood.”

Nothing he said was going to make me feel better about ruining it. I couldn't help but highly value clothes, even if he didn't feel the same. “If you say so… What about my dress?”

He pointed to the door behind him with his thumb. “Jerry's wife came by while you were zoned out, she grabbed it for you and washed it. It's drying, all the blood came out.”

“Well, that's good at least.” I looked down at my arms, the shirt he gave me was oversized, of course. Big enough to be an effective substitute for a dress. The main difference was that it was thick, and had sleeves. To an extent, I actually preferred it to the thinner nightgown.

I used my hand to grab the collar and bunch it together at my neck before jumping off the table and taking a moment to catch my balance.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Hey, easy now.”

I felt his hands on my back and shoulder, steadying me as my vision faded to small circles for a moment. ‘I'm starting to get really sick of this… All of it. Never knowing what's happening or why. Getting injured or sick… Being… Being weak…’

“Thanks Nillous…” I gritted my teeth as I said his name.

“You lost a lot of blood, are you sure you didn't hit your head that hard? It was bleeding too.”

“Nillous, would you believe me if I said I didn't actually fall until after this all started?”

His face twisted into a worried snarl. “I'd be far more concerned if that was the case.”

“It doesn't matter I guess. At the very least I'm sure that my head is fine.”

“Young miss, I'm going to have to report this to your parents.”

I let out a sigh from the side of my mouth. ‘If he is addressing me formally then he really is worried.’

“Yeah, I know. You should go and do that now. If they call for me I will be in the archery range. I need to clear my head.”

“Miss, I would avoid any physical activity for at least a couple of hours to make sure you don't reopen any of those wounds. The last thing you need to do is lose even more blood.”

I looked down at his shirt, and the floor under where I was sitting. It hurt if I tried to breathe through my nose, not that I even could with all the dried blood and gozz that was in it. Furthermore, it almost looked like a murder had taken place with how much blood was around the room. There was even a trail leading from where we had come in.

Looking back up to him I slowly realized his hand never left my shoulder. It was steady, but I could tell from his eyes he was trembling on the inside. “You might be right…”

He slowly removed his hand, some of his worry dispersing.

Still, I felt awful. My body was tired, and my head felt worse than when I would have fevers. “Can I take a bath instead? A hot bath would help me relax just as well.”

“Young miss. You should know that you are able to do as you please so long as it does not contradict the master and the lady's wishes.”

“Nillous!” I whined his name. “That's not what I meant… Although, honestly I never knew that.”

He snorted, the rest of his worry seeming to vanish before my eyes. “I suppose you would like me to just keep talking casually with you. Sorry about that.”

“Of course. I'm hardly a lady, and even if I was I wouldn't want my friends acting like I was above them somehow.”

The once serious expression he had slowly changed to a gentle smile. “No I suppose not.” He walked to the door, opening it for me and leading the way. “I'm off duty right now so I can heat up the bathhouse before making my report. “Though, if I'm being honest, I'm worried about leaving you alone in case something else happens.

The thought of how uncomfortable bathing with Mara was jumped to my mind and I reflexively covered myself with my arms, tightening my grip on the shirt. “Nillous, no.”

“I didn't mean me!” He yelled in protest.

It took me a minute to even comprehend what he had said. ‘I guess, it makes sense that he would assume that's what I was thinking with how I reacted.’ “Uhm… No, that's not what I thought you meant. You were suggesting you would get Elsie, or Catherine, or someone right?”

He coughed, clearing his throat and recomposing himself. “Yes, exactly. I'm glad there wasn't a misunderstanding.”

‘He looks so awkward.’ “I'd really prefer to be alone. If other people were there I wouldn't be able to relax. Even if they were girls.”

The puzzled look on his face was more than enough for me to know full well I was being weird, but it didn't bother me. I didn't care if it was weird, it was still the truth.