His Amorem

The Children And Getting Caught

Pressing a quick kiss to Kili's lips, Keerla hurried along behind Bard and his son whom she had learned was called Bain. Kili watched her go, before following his Kin, worried about the limp his wife seemed to have taken on.

Bard slipped Keerla into the house as he turned and tossed an apple at one of the men on the fishing boat, Bain following after her. He made a comment she didn't catch, and stepped inside, shutting the door. Keerla pulled the cloak off, only to come face to face with a girl her height and one that barely reached her chest.

"An elf!" the little one exclaimed.

"Sigrid, take Keerla into the back, get her a pair of your mothers pants and a tunic, she's injured so help her wash up. Tilda, you stay with me, Bain, get the rest of them in," Bard ordered, giving his children no time to talk.

Sigrid led Keerla into a back room, obviously Bard's she guessed from the male clothing lying around. The girl said nothing as she dug through a chest, pulling out some rather high-quality leather pants that laced up the front and a shimmering gold and ivory tunic.

"Oh no, i can't take that," Keerla backed away, "Those look much too nice, haven't you got anything old and ragged?"

"Our mother never allowed us to wear such things," Sigrid smiled, "She always kept everything pristine, this is the oldest and most worn thing you will find, other than the house itself, and what our father wears."

Keerla relented with a small sigh, and sat on the edge of the bed as Sigrid disappeared for a moment, coming back with a bowl of water and some cloth.

"Um," she peeled the material from Keerla's skin, "You'll have to undress for me to see properly. The – the dwarfs are all getting changed in the front, so they won't bother you."

Nodding, Keerla carefully detached her corset from her body, using one arm to cover her breasts while the other tugged off the material wrapped around her wound.

"I have a bustier thing somewhere," the girl muttered, "Some kind of corset underwear my mother wore under her tunics; I'll get it once I've cleaned this wound."

"I'll do it," Keerla jumped in, not wanting the girl to see how back it was, and put on a playful grin as she said, "You just find me that corset thing."

Sigrid dug back into the chest, and Keerla took the time to quickly wipe away the blood. The wound did not look good, it was black and it seemed to be spreading through her veins causing spidery black lines on her pale skin.

She wrapped it quickly with the fresh bandages, cursing herself for never paying more attention to any healing remedies, and glanced up as Sigrid held a piece of white material in front of her. It was shaped like a corset that hooked together up the front, though it cut off two inches above her wound.

"Thank you," she murmured, and let Sigrid help her get it on, no longer caring for hiding her body – they were both female after all.

She then had her head dunked in a bucket of cold water that Tilda had brought in, and both girls scrubbed from Keerla's scalp to the ends of her hair, all the while she bit her lip to stop from crying out in pain caused by her wound. The leather pants clung to her like a second skin, and the tunic reached her hips but it was nice on and remarkably warm.

While she pulled on some over-the-knee brown leather boots Sigrid had hunted out – they were old and dusty, but comfortable and tied up the back – Tilda sat behind her and combed through her hair, removing the beads as she came to them. Keerla felt the braid lift from the back of her neck and reached behind her, catching the young child's hand.