Ireale's Crown

Chapter 3: Haile

Chapter 3: Haile

I carried him over to my bed slowly while panting, and laid him down painstakingly, not caring whether or not my bedsheet would get stained. Gathering all the necessary items for the wound, I started to work.

Ever so slowly, I untied his blood-soaked shirt, and started to clean the raw-looking skin with a wet cloth. Once done, I dapped it with another, but drier, cloth. It was kind of messy, because he just wouldn't stop bleeding no matter what I did. Quickly, I got hold of three handfuls of herbs that was always at the ready in a basket (just in case I get really injured one day because of a wild boar or other feral animals when I go out to hunt), and spreaded it across his stomach towards his back. This small process was based on a one-time memory.

I fell down, and scraped my knee badly once. It bled profusely, and I couldn't stop bawling. Marlene just looked at me calmly, and hushed me before starting on a lesson on how to use the herb. First, she made me remember how it looked like and how it smelled -- a bit of spiciness and a very distinct aroma -- before she went on to show me how to put them nicely. After which, it was bandaging.

But to Marlene at that time, my injured knee must have been nothing as compared to what I had to attend. It was extremely huge. I even wondered how exactly this man here was actually holding up. But no matter what, questions come later, and saving a life comes first.

I repeated the process when I wound the bandage around his abdomen -- I heaved him up, turned the white cloth one round, heaved him... It was beyond tiring. Why must he be so heavy? I tried to tighten it as best as I could so that the bleeding could slow, but I also made sure that it wasn't too tight, or he would feel uncomfortable.

For the next few days, I cared for him, allowing him to sleep on the bed that I shared with Marlene in the past, while I slept on the floor. I changed his bandages everyday, and I was glad to find that he was recovering as the days go by, his fever slowly disappearing as well, considering how agonising it must have been, including the nightmares he was having. Most of the time, he would be murmuring some things, and I always couldn't catch what he was saying. But when he almost did say something really audible, the thing around his neck would glow, choking him again. Just what was this birthmark...? That is, if it even was a birthmark. I wanted so badly to find out to see if I could help him, but Marlene didn't leave me with any magic books.

But also, it gave me time to get used to the presence of a man around me. Always, I would spend minutes, or maybe hours just staring at his face, looking at the curves and thinking over and over... So this is how a man look like. But was it so that all men are handsome, and have blue eyes like his that seemed to be able to captivate anyone? That would be troublesome.

Then, he finally awoke.

It was night. I was asleep when a kind of shuffling noise woke me up. I opened my eyes slowly, at the same time getting used to the bright moonlight shining down through the windows. I looked up, expecting to see his shadow on my bed. That was when I jerked, and sat up immediately. I grabbed ahold of a handful of the blanket, thinking that it was just my imagination. But it wasn't. Then, from outside, I heard something.

"Come on, horse, get going. I don't have all day," he said it in a hushed tone, but it was clear. Icydash neighed back in response.

A thief? I frowned and shot up from my sitting position. Rushing out, I saw him trying to get Icydash under control, but it was obvious from how Icydash was walking about on the same spot and jumping lightly that he was failling terribly.

"What do you think you're doing?" I shouted angrily, stepped forward, and tried to pull him down. "What are you doing out of bed? Don't waste my efforts! And is this what I get for saving your life? Why are you stealing my horse?"