Isolation & Fear (Damned of the 2/19th Book Seven)

Thoughts & Dreams

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Dawnside Face, Upside
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Longnight, Third Sleep Time

I sat on the rug, facing the cot. The large woman was asleep, naked from where I'd pulled off her clothing so that she would be comfortable sleeping under the furs on the cot. Her hair was auburn, like thick maple syrup, and spread out around her face. It had been raggedly cut and she had a thin cut on the back of her neck that I'd smeared salve on. She had long lashes, and a cute little mouth, with freckles across her nose and dusting her cheeks. One hand was on top of the furs, and her shoulder had old scars and was thick with muscle. She had large, strong hands, callused from hard work.

She was beautiful.

The redhead, obviously a sidhe from Tir na Nog, had brought her to me and charged me with seeing her to health.

Was she a gift for how many unmen I had slain?

She had a few scars on her face. Thin ones, something sharp had kissed her. The frostbite on her cheeks was fading beneath the thin layer of salve the sidhe had coated it with. Her nose was pink again, the skin unblemished, and her ears were pink and delicate, still gleaming in the firelight with the thin coating of salve.

While I watched she shifted, kicking the heavy warg fur off of her, revealing her body to me.

I reached out and laid my hand on her belly.

It was warm, and I could feel the thickness and warmth of her womb through her skin. It raised goosebumps on my skin. I could feel the faint trembling of her heartbeat under my palm as my eyes roamed her body. It was thick, covered in muscle and soft plumpness here and there.

Was she a gift, or was I to guard her?

She sighed softly when I pulled the warg skin back over her, her lips parting gently. Her eyes were moving under her eyelids. She was dreaming. For a moment I wondered what she was dreaming about before I stood up, looking down at her.

Her auburn hair told me that she was related to the sidhe, probably why the tiny little one had brought her here.

Was she a gift?

I felt like I knew her. I didn't know from where. She felt familiar, safe, and comfortable. Sidhe magic to make me fall in love with her? Was she the tiny sidhe's sister, half mortal, and the sidhe wanted me to round her sister's belly?

Too many questions, not enough answers.

I stoked up the furnace, pumping the bellows.

Less thinking, more work.

Blackbriar Ridge Training Facility
Building 135
Sixth Phase, Day One

We all moved in silent. Most of my fellow students were still shocky from Mad House, and the three days we had been given to recover hadn't helped them. The two Navy ratings moved close to one another, seeking some comfort in shared branch of service. They'd had a hard time at Mad House, and Houser had barely passed when she'd thrown up in her mask.

Part of me despised their weakness.

We took our seats, setting down notebooks and opening them up to the first blank page, setting our pens in the middle of the page at a forty-five degree angle. We folded our hands and put them in our laps, waiting. I sat at attention, something you could actually do, and waited.

In three days the others hadn't recovered enough to do much more than put on clean uniforms. Mine was starched, pressed, my boots polished to a high gloss. I'd used the liquid black enamel to ensure my rank was completely black without brass showing through at the corners. I'd stained my lips with holly berries, and after some consideration, walked down the "General Store" (a thin cover for a PX) and bought real makeup and some scented deodorant and perfume.