Erica

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As the rain continued on and showed no sign of stopping, Erica started to show signs of getting nervous.

She knew that Aleric was due to take the covering off his eyes soon and she most certainly did not want him to see her.

The rain needed to stop or at least lessen its heavy down pour so that she could make a quick getaway. She unknowingly shifted her body slightly, almost leaning to the cave entrance.

Aleric could feel her getting agitated and he knew the reason as to why. He gently tightened his hold on her waist pulling her close again.

"Please don't move, you are making me cold." Came his silly playful excuse when she placed her hand on his arm in a futile attempt to move it.

"I... I must go..." She trailed off and tried again to move his arm, "The herbs should have done their job by now so you should be able to see again soon."

King Aleric's arm tightened again as it snaked more around her small form. He was not happy with her answer, and he did not want to get run away again.

He would not let her do so anymore.

"My eyes still hurt and besides you should wait for the rain to let up."

Erica hesitated but reluctantly agreed and settled for the time being. She was slightly lost in thought and now worried about Aleric's eyes.

Had she made a mistake in her mix?

Sure, she was missing some ingredients, but she did manage to find the most important ones so what could it be?

Her eyebrows furrowed and a frowned tainted her lips, "How bad do they feel?"

Aleric still not wanting her to leave proceeded to lie, "Quite bad."

Erica turned around to look directly at him. Her soft hands moved to the material above his eyes.

"Try not to open your eyes, I want to check the swelling."

Aleric nodded, his action causing her fingers to gently brush his cheek. He could not help but lean slightly towards her touch.

Slowly Erica pulled the material down. She was shaking slightly, worried that he may open his eyes and see just who she is.

The skin was slightly pink but nothing to serious. The swelling had just about completely gone down yet the man before her claimed that it stung.

She froze as his eyes shifted slightly beneath his lids. Not wanting to risk it, she quickly tied it back and moved away.

Aleric frowned at the loss of her warmth and opened his eyes. The material originally blocked his sight but Erica had not put it back correctly. There was a slight unnoticeable gap near the bottom letting light in.

Slowly he tilted his head back against the wall so that he could see out of it. The first thing he focused on was her sitting across from him leaning against the opposite wall.

Her wet clothes clung to her body and get wet hair sharpened her features.

She looked so beautiful.

Her eyes were dropped to the floor in thought and a frown graced her lips. His eyes lingered on them for a while. They were turning blue, a clear indication that she was cold.

Her skin started to pale but she could not be bothered by it to focused on her thoughts. One the other hand Aleric was concerned.

Next second her head dropped and without thinking Aleric shot forward and caught her as she fainted.

He wasted no time to rip off the material disrupting his sight and places a hand on her forehead. She was warm, very warm.

Not good.

Erica was sick with a fever.

He pulled her to his chest and looked outside, the rain was still pouring down hard.

The weather was against him.

He would not have a choice, he needed to get her some place dry and warm and out of her wet clothes.

The cave was dry, but it was cold and there was nothing to start a fire with which meant he would have to ride out with her into the storm.

That was something he did not want to do. He did not want her to get worse and the rain would just speed the process up but staying at the cave would not work either.

He swore under his breath.

He had no choice.

Within minutes he was cantering through the trees, a shivering unconscious figure in his arms. He held her to his chest, her legs draped over the side and her head tucked under his chin.

The rain continued to pelt down, uncaring for the dire situation. Aleric urged the powerful horse to move faster, the animal obliging and taking faster steps until they were in a full-on gallop.

The surrounding trees became blurred, and the wind and rain began to dig deep. It felt like an ice-cold bite and Aleric tried his best to shelter Erica from this.

The horse pushed on and a few seconds later broke free of the tree line. Aleric could not be more relieved as the capital city came into view.

He continued to push the horse on, they galloped across the muddy fields and onto the roadway. It was fortunate that in the horrid storm, no one was out.

Lightning struck in the distance causing a loud rumbled to reach Aleric's ears. He was fortunate that the horse did not get frightened by this.

Aleric's heart was beating at a pace faster than the horse's hooves could hit the ground as they raced by. His eyes strained through the wind and rain searching for any sign of a physician, but it was to no avail, so he was forced to push on to the Palace gates.

His horse came to a skidding stop as guards rushed out to slow the animal. They moved away once they recognised their king and opened the gates.

They held shocked and apologetic expressions, but the King was in too much of a hurry to be bothered.

Barely a few minutes had past when he burst through the Palace doors and into the nearest room. Erica was still tightly in his arms.

"Get me the Palace physician now!" He urgently ordered.

Servants scurried around the place in a frantic manner. Many were curious and startled.

While they waited for the physician to arrive, Aleric stepped out as two female maidservants changed Erica out of her wet clothes.

When the physician finally appeared, he immediately got to work. Aleric stood over his form watching him carefully.

When the man stepped back and bowed to the King, he finally spoke breaking the silence of the intense atmosphere, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this servant has done all he can. It's up to her now."

"Will she be okay?" Aleric's words were laced with worry and his tone was almost threatening towards the physician.

"She seems to have broken out in fever due to the stress and exhaustion. The rain has not helped either." the physician bowed his head, "I will keep a close eye on her until she wakes."

"No. I will stay." Aleric pulled his eyes away from Erica as his intense gaze pierced down on the slightly quivering physician, "Don't go far. I will summon you again if needed."

The physician nodded and quickly bowed again before rushing out the room. The atmosphere had been so intense that he felt like he was drowning.

Whoever that unconscious girl was, she meant a lot to the King...