Coral had the good sense to box the man’s ears. That was her sister he was giving eyes to. What was worse was that this man, bloodied and hurting, was far more interested in ogling her pretty sister than he was for his own safety. There were wolves literally throwing themselves at the gate!
She had taken very little stock in the stories she had heard in the cities of the monsters and creatures that roamed the outskirts of towns. Hob goblins, trolls and bandits were normal occurrences she had expected.
That was why adventurer guilds were set up in small towns on the outskirts of civilisation. The town guards only ever bothered with handling the townsfolk problems.
However, Coral had thought a lot of the stories gossiped about were rather embellished. Like wasps the size of your head, undead popping up out of the ground in old cemeteries, large dragons hoarding treasures.
Coral stared at the massive teeth, the foaming saliva dripping from their maws and was now seriously considering adding giant wolves to her own repertoire of gossip. And, she considered snidely, pretty men that fell on people’s doorsteps.
The iron gates clattered loudly against the onslaught of a giant wolf barging into it, intent on getting inside. Coral took one look at the beast, then her drunken brain seemed to kick back into gear. What on earth was she doing standing dumbstruck in front of a barrage of angry wolves? Deftly checking the rusty kitchen knife in her hand, she felt rather silly now. A rusty knife was useless against people sized wolves.
She turned lopsidedly back to the injured man. He was still transfixed by Pearl, who was torn between being terrified and mesmerised. Coral noted to herself that she ought to have a serious talk with her sister later.
Coral stumbled a little as bent over the man, intending on finding a way to get him to his feet. In the lamplight the man was a mess of blood, and as she caught sight of his eyes once again, they looked as deep red as the wine she had been enjoying.
"Can you walk?" Coral asked him, glancing back at the gate at the sound of flesh and teeth hitting the iron. "I don't know if the gate will hold. It's not safe to be out here. Come inside."
The wolves, if possible, sounded even angrier. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and her feet were itching to get moving. There was more running and scrabbling at the gate. Three wolves had gone to run alongside the fence, sniffing at the ground. They had marked their prey and they weren't willing to let it get away so easily. Coral did not intend to get between them.
"I'll help, if you need the assistance?" Pearl offered in a small voice.
He offered Pearl a smile that quickly turned into a grimace as he struggled to his feet. He leaned against Pearl and Coral hurried to his other side to assist.
The wolves went wild as she touched the man. She had never heard such fury come from an animal. It promised teeth, ripping and pain. Coral didn't know how she knew, but she did. With great drunken determination, she wrapped an arm around the pretty man’s upper body. Pearl’s arm slipped slightly lower beneath Coral’s. The man struggled to his feet, wincing as he moved his injured shoulder. He favoured his left leg as he finally stood. Together they set forward at a slow, stumbling pace.
Mostly it was Coral who stumbled, and the man hobbled. He was solid enough even with his limping that it helped her on her trajectory to the ornate entrance. The front double door was left ajar, and the man paused before the steps leading up onto the terraced landing.
"Are you alright?" Pearl asked, her voice breathless from the effort of half carrying the man.
It was then that Coral realised she hadn't heard the man pant once. He was very good at keeping quiet about the pain. Perhaps he was in shock. She turned her head to peer closer at him.
He looked disheartened. "Is this where you live?" he asked in a silvery tone that slid over Coral like satin.
Coral stiffened. What could be so disheartening about her mansion? She blinked up at it, with it’s towering windows and broken façade and – oh. It did look rather ominous from this angle.
"It is. It's also the safest place to be with wolves at our door." She reminded him.
"Please, come inside." Pearl said, her voice high with tension. His gaze pulled away from the front door and onto Pearls face.
"If you insist." He said with an undertone that Coral was sure she was reading too much into. The man was in pain and bleeding.
She and Pearl assisted the man up the steps. With every yard they pulled away from the wolves and the forest, she heard them pining and growling amongst themselves. Silly, angry wolves. From this distance they blended in with the shadows, but she could feel their eyes on her back, watching.
She pushed forward, stumbling again as she knocked her shoulder into the door. The man winced at the sudden movement, breathing in sharply.
"Sorry," Coral apologised. "We'll go to the salon. I've already a fire going. Pearl will you fetch the medical supplies from the kitchen?"
Pearl let the man go, her fingers hanging hesitantly in the air, waiting to see if he could manage with only Coral supporting him. He smiled at her again, a signal that he was well enough to keep moving. Coral handed her the lamp, and she hurried down through the corridor, slippers slapping lightly on the wooden floor.
Coral guided the man to the salon and set him down on the chaise before the fire. He did not comment on the blankets sprawled out over the floor, or the heady scent of wine and cheese. She raised an eyebrow as he observed the room, his eyes lingering on the darkened parts of the room that was not lit up by candle or firelight.
"I intend to install electricity, but I'm afraid this place is so old that we must abide by flame for our light" she told him.
"I've no complaints," he said lightly. As if for all the world he were here on a friendly visit, and not in fact, injured.
"You ought to," she told him. "It looks as if you've been dragged backwards through the bushes."
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"I believe I have," he said, a half grin on his face. Coral blinked and shook her head. She could have sworn for a moment that his teeth were a little too pointed.
"Yes, well. I'll see to that. I'm afraid we weren't expecting guests. It just so happens that I have plenty of wine to share, and I can offer a room free of charge for the night. I'll send for the doctor in the morning."
With the current situation, Coral thought it would be rather rude to charge for the night.
"Thank you, for your hospitality." He said, with a slight dip of his head as a substitute for a proper gratifying bow.
It was this, his sincere gratitude more than anything, that Coral decided that she did in fact like this man. A man who thanked her for her help. It ought to be there regardless, general human decency and all. But Coral had grown up with a cold-hearted father who was dramatically caught up in the old ways of women being servile to the male species. Hospitality was expected, not deserved, according to her father.
She also wanted to make a good impression, should he ever want to return and pay for a room. This was going to be a hotel after all. Perhaps he would, judging from the enraptured look that crossed his face as Pearl entered the room.
Coral pursed her lips as Pearl hurried over to them, her arms laden with the basket of medical aid and a jug of water. She set them on the chaise beside the man.
"This is my younger sister, Pearl." She introduced. "And I'm Coral Seaver. Please feel free to address us casually, under the present circumstances."
"Caspian Acheron," he dipped his head again more animatedly, not quite a bow but showing polite respect.
Pearl set out a bowl, pouring water and then dipping a cloth into it. "If you please, sir." She tentatively held the cloth up, and she looked worriedly at the blood over his face. He nodded, and Pearl set about dabbing. At her touch his fingers spasmed, but other than his fixed gaze on Pearl, he did not move.
Deciding that the budding interest between Caspian and Pearl was too much for her to watch. Coral made a mumbled excuse she was sure went unheard and hurried to the kitchen. A few moments of privacy for her sister could be afforded. Pearl wasn’t under the constraints of hiding away from an unwanted marriage with a man she did not know. Besides, she doubted the Mister Acheron, injured as he was, would not harm Pearl.
Coral was reminded again now that she was away from the slightly warmer salon, that it was freezing. In the glow of moonlight streaming through the window, Coral selected another bottle of wine. This would do nicely to take the edge off the chill on her skin. She already was rather relaxed, considering. If she didn't already have half a bottle of wine warming her belly, she would rather be anxious, knowing a whole pack of wolves stalked her very home.
They hadn't knocked down the gate, and she was inside. Unless the wolves knew how to open latches. Coral paused, frowning at the cork she had just popped. Hadn't the gate been locked? Surely the man hadn't climbed the fence, it was ridiculously high! Purposely built to keep intruders out if she were so bold to make assumptions.
Coral poured herself a fresh cup, muttering about being more diligent. Here she was, worrying over her sister making the wrong choice in men, love at first sight indeed, and she hadn't even locked the front gate.
Well. She better chastise herself first before going to nag her younger sister. She had a very good reason to be more diligent now. Leaving the front gate open seemed to welcome in unexpected guests.
First, though, more wine and to warm her steadily freezing feet. Coral set about collecting the wood strewn about the kitchen. There was an awful mess she would have to fix in the morning. She figured ten minutes alone were enough to appease her sister's sudden interest in the man. He was rather handsome. She just hoped her years of teaching Pearl practical sensibility would be enough to set her thinking straight against that swoon worthy visage.
She sipped at her drink, noticing that the floor hardly swayed as much as it had earlier. A late-night adventure definitely was a sobering affair. On her return to the salon, she only knocked into the wall once, only jostling herself slightly as she caught the opened bottle of wine.
Pearl stood abruptly on Coral's entrance, her face aflame. Well, look at that, Coral chuckled to herself. Pearl’s cheeks were so flushed Coral could warm her hands on them. Clearly, she must have interrupted something between the two of them. It took an abnormally large amount of self-control to not say anything.
Don't. Say. Anything. Pearl would not appreciate her needling she reminded herself.
She set the wood down by the fire's hearth and piled another thick log on top. Purposely her back turned to Pearl, giving her a moment to cool her cheeks. Coral prodded the coals, the log caught alight. She sipped her wine, and she was not going to say anything.
"So, Master Acheron," Coral said, noticing her words were still a little slurred. Pearls eyes widened at the grin that Coral couldn't help. From her place beside the man, she silently begged her not to do it.
She lifted the bottle of wine. "Now that you're patched up, care for the wine I mentioned earlier?"
Pearls shoulders relaxed.
"You can tell us more of yourself. How you got here. Where you're from. Should you have a beloved waiting for you to return home to?"
Pearls eyes flashed in alarm. "Coral, let's not hassle him. He needs something for the pain. I still need to bandage his arm." Though her words were considerate, Coral could see the curiosity in Pearl.
"The wine will help," Coral assured her, pouring them both a cup. It was best to get the question of his availability out of the way. His answers were best to be heard first, and then she would consider how truthful he was. The drink should loosen him up a little.
Caspian took the offered cup gingerly, drank, and sighed. "I'm afraid the story isn't as dramatic as you're hoping." He told Coral. "I was returning home from an evening out for supper. On my journey home, I was accosted by the wolves. My horse is dead, ran down by the beasts along the road. I was thrown from it. The wolves were at my throat, and I fought them off-"
A small gasp from Pearl interrupted Caspian. "You fought those wolves." She said, both awed and horrified. If Coral was truthful with herself, she too felt a little awed. Taking on those beasts would have been terrifying. They were the largest wolves she had ever seen. Their backs came level with her eyes, and that didn’t even consider the brute strength they would have.
"It wouldn't be the first time" Caspian said.
Pearl looked to Coral, eyes large with worry. "Have they killed people from the village before?"
Caspian considered before answering. "I'd like to say no, but I'd be lying."
Pearl's fingers tightened around her cup, and she drank from it deeply.
That was particularly unsettling news. Was it safe to venture out at night at all? She would have to be very sure to lock the gate from now on.
"So how did you happen upon our estate?" Coral asked. There's no lamp set up at the gate, and she doubted the light from their fireplace would have led him to their door. The mansion was hidden in dark shadows, and the outside itself was dark and imposing.
"Pure chance, I suppose. I had heard the manor had been bought recently, and I found myself further down the road than I had intended. I ran, and somehow I was able to squeeze through the gate without too much harm."
"You're extremely lucky to not have been caught." Pearl said. "And that Coral was unusually lax in locking the gate. She is so diligent in that sort of thing that I’d have thought her back would break if she didn’t. She is quite rigid in that sort of way."
Coral lowered her cup long enough to shoot a discouraging look at her younger sister. Pearl wanted to make fun of her, did she?
"You've yet to answer my other questions. Particularly if a beloved is waiting for you to return. Should there be a message I can send in the morning?" Coral asked lightly.
Pearl bit her lower lip and returned her attention back to the handsome man sitting beside her.
"Only my direct family. They would be grateful for a letter informing them of my whereabouts. Though, I wish to trespass on your hospitality until I can safely return home."
"Of course," Pearl said instantly. She seemed hopeful, and somehow Coral regretted her earlier question of a beloved. Perhaps Coral accidentally fanned her sister’s interest into sparking embers. The kindling was perched mere inches away from her as it was, sitting there with his dark eyes and pretty hair. Mister Acheron looked refined even in soiled clothes. Perhaps leaving Pearl alone to develop her own opinion of the man was the wrong thing to do. Her father would certainly have thought so, gentle ladies being unsupervised in the presence of a man.