If Sam Cortland Lived

Chapter 6

Celaena awoke to the sound of hooves on a gravel road. She should be used to waking up in a different place, with a different environment every time, and yet she still doesn't feel as if she can be at ease. Her head was on a blanket, though her back and upper body was bare despite the cold. The cold.. Where was she?

She slowly pealed open her eyes, watching the night colored mares that pulled them along. Her eyes then went up to Sam, always alert. Always diligent. He didn't seem to even notice she was awake, though. He had to be exhausted. How many days could it have been?

"S..Sam.." She rasped, throwing herself into a coughing fit.

"Shh.." His hand was automatically on her back, not touching her wounds but keeping her down. Her wounds.. What was going on anymore? She could barely feel them. She was so lost and confused. What had happened before she passed out?

"Not much," Sam said, as if reading her thoughts. Her jaw hung open. "What? You don't hide your emotions well when you're that tired, especially from me."

"Well my apologies for not being a statue," She retorted, coming out sharper than she wanted the words to be. Before she could apologize, she was yet again coughing and cursing under her breath. She felt so sick.

"Perhaps we should stop for a bit and I can make you a bed in the actual hold of the cart. You'll be warmer there."

"Why can't I just wear those lovely items we call clothes instead of suffering." Her coughing seemed to be under control now.

"Because then you won't heal. Just go back to bed, Silence is nice." He smirked. It wasn't his full beautiful smile she loved, just the small tilt of the corner of his lips, but it was something. Something that could turn into everything. Already was her everything.

Celaena laid her head down, staring at the road, wondering about their future, and their past. Did she want to tell him all about her? Would he run?

As she dozed off, these thoughts racked her brain till she felt as if she couldn't take it anymore. Her dreams shook her body  with fear, and yet her mind still wandered.

*****

Sam watched Celaena out of the corner of his eye as she slept, his hand on her lower back where her injuries were less prominent. Always on guard. He couldn't help his worry, though. Perhaps it was normal for worry, perhaps nothing in their lives could be normal. But Sam could live with that. Normal was much too boring.

As the roads got to rougher terrain, and Sam couldn't stand seeing her shiver any longer, he stopped the cart, getting off the coachman's chair. Tying the horses to a tree in the clearing before anything could happen to them, he went back, scooping Celaena up in his arms and walking into the hold of the cart. Making a bed for her in the center, he laid her down and held her to his chest, slowly dozing off.