Wildfire

Twenty Two

"If you take your time and are careful about it I see no reason why you cannot go to bathe, though you may need assistance walking there as the springs are more near the center of the palace... Would you like me to call on Akeno for you, Your Highness?" Kanaye is kind after considering the request my Starlit bride has asked, his hair upon closer inspection indeed matted, though the clumps near the back of his head are from the dried blood of his head injuries and not dust as he thinks they are. 

"No need, Kanaye... I think myself more than able to take you, Darling." My words stun both my beautiful mate and the physician, the promise that he'll never be away from the side one that I take most seriously... The thought of being the one to wash away the evidence of last night's brutality one that I cherish... I want to help Rayne feel clean again and wash away the feel of the Hirai family's cruelty... I want to make my tender love feel more like himself again so that I might bear witness to more of his happy cries and the feel of his lips moving of their own accord against mine. 

Kanaye does his best to suppress the smile that Rayne still cannot see, a slight shake of his head and a mumble about young lovers spilling from his mouth as he pulls the bottle of the sedative from his case of medical treasures before he sets it on the bedside table, a small note with instructions on the dosage being set next to it so that we need not call for him every time my sweetheart needs to be made comfortable again. 

"I'll leave the two of you to it, then.  I would say try to stay in the spring as long as you can stand it, Queen Rayne. I suspect that the minerals and heat will hasten your healing process... As will making sure you take the medicine and rest when you return... Your father mentioned that you feel resistant to spending your first days with us asleep, but your body desperately needs rest so you can get well." Hearing Kanaye say the words so I don't have to lets relief wash through me, the thought of souring my Moon Beam's affection towards me by having to be stern with him something I want to avoid at all costs. 

As soon as Rayne gives a nod that insinuates that he understands the physician takes his leave of us, our return to solitude signaling the need of me to pull myself out of bed, my only goal at the moment finding suitable robes for the two of us, Rayne's belongings not having been brought here yet to join mine in the portion of our personal chambers screened off as a changing area. 

It doesn't take long until I am dressed in as few layers as is acceptable for walking to the hot spring that the castle is built around, my hands careful as they aid my wife in slipping into a painted blue silk robe that I myself haven't worn in quite some time... And just as I had thought when I came across it in the bottom of the trunks that line my closet... It looks beautiful on him... The bruises on his face finally starting to show signs that they should be cleared by the end of the day even if his swelling does not reduce at the same rate. 

The print that had been so carefully stroked onto the silk highlights him just as I knew it would, the sparkling night sky appearing over the mountain range that shelters our kingdom... And it looks so lovely on him... As if the starlight trapped in his hair is shining down upon it all in a radiant if not tangled glory. 

...

Rayne

...

Having someone other than a maid or one of my family members help me dress is bizarre, the light brushes of Emrys's hands leaving burning trails in their wake, his palms finding my waist after he's secured the last tie for my borrowed robes to stay shut, the way he pulls me against him for an embrace reminiscent of how we danced last night, my cheeks warming at the one good memory I had been able to walk away with from last night... The memory of his handsome face and the feel of the same hands currently holding me close as he dips his head down to secret a kiss from me before making to pick me up, not listening when I tell him that I am more than able to walk... His hold on me feels as though it costs him no effort... But still, I feel somewhat self-conscious not being allowed to walk when my legs feel maybe more steady than the rest of me does. 

"I just don't want you to overdo it, my Love...Let me coddle you, please... If only while you heal." His voice is so earnest and disarming that I find myself relaxing into his hold and rather enjoying it when he gathers me close and calls for his guards to open the door to our inner chamber for our exit to be made as smoothly as possible. 

They do and it is but a short introduction to the two imperial soldiers tasked with Emrys's safety and now mine as well giving me their names as Bohdi and Indra, the four of us sharing a chuckle over the meaning of Indra's moniker being that he possesses drops of rain and how appropriate it will be that he helps keep me safe before we set out, the two of them joining us, one in front and one following, their presence adding to the safety I already know I have being in my fiance's arms

I'm not sure which of them moves to what position, but the one going before us makes sure to open every door and clear the way, the halls mostly empty anyway, a dull roar that I do not understand filling the air causing me to push my swollen eyelid open so that I might have to useless eyes to search for its source to no avail, Emrys not paying any attention to it in his focus on taking me for my bath... One that I am unsure of whether he will join me in or simply wait for me to accomplish myself, cleansing my floor-length hair something that I normally need help with.