Glass Rose

Chapter 6B

Her hands glued themselves to Alec's waist. His breath hitched at the touch. She wanted to push the skin on his back together and have it heal itself. She wanted to close her eyes and pull him closer and have the problem disappear, but she no matter how much she wanted to bury her head in his shoulder and stop thinking, she couldn't pull her stare away from his bleeding back. 

"Can you sit down alright?" She was whispering, afraid he'd break more if she spoke any louder.

The hot breath tingled on her skin, "I'll try." 

She guided him down to the ground, conscious of the claw wedged into his back. The creature was immobile, and her sword was still buried in its chest. As he sat, she drew back her arms and settled down behind him, focused entirely on his back.

"The wound's deep, but not to the point where you need stitches. Some ointment and bandages should be enough until we can get to a healer," The Captain turned to look at her, but quickly twitched back. "Stop moving your back. It'll hurt more."

Her hands traced the talon. With the positioning of the creature's hand, trying to pull it out could end up scratching him more. She felt her throat squeeze as she raced to find a solution. She prayed the creature was truly dead. One hand closed around the finger and the other slid onto the mutt's knuckle.

With a pop, the talon disconnected, tearing the webbing in between. Immediately, she tossed the hand aside. "Ah...um...do you have anything you can focus on? Something to distract yourself. This part is going to hurt."

"Not exactly," he muttered, but she could hear the smile in his voice. "Would you mind talking to me a bit?"

Her chest tightened. She forced a small smile to prevent the surprise from showing on her face. "...sure. What would you like me to talk about?"

"Anything on your mind, it doesn't matter really. I just like listening to your voice." She could barely hear his next words over the thumping in her ears. "Ah, sorry. That must have been a bit awkward for you."

"No, no, it's fine." Her voice was higher than she would have liked it to be. She threw a slight laugh in between her words in an attempt to make her sound more cheerful. "We shouldn't really talk about my mind right now. I'm still trying to sort through my thoughts."

"Then tell me about them," She wished she could see his eyes. "You don't have to do everything alone."

Laera didn't like silence at all. She felt uncomfortable in it, and the more she stayed quiet, the more nervous she got. As her hands wrapped around the blood-soaked talon, she took a breath to calm herself and began talking. 

"I haven't seen a beach in years. The last time we visited Traison, Dad was still alive. Mom wasn't sick. Kris wasn't gone. It was still so peaceful." Laera pulled gently on the talon, praying it wouldn't bleed too much more. "Sometimes I wish I could go back."

"Since the war got worse, I've been stuck in that castle. Mom doesn't like Kris leaving, but he's always taken guards with him. I've asked, but the answer's always the same." The claw was almost out, thankfully. "I guess she's afraid one day I'll escape to the ocean and never want to come home. I'm afraid she might be right."

"Mom has been sick since Dad...since Dad passed, but it got pretty bad throughout the last few weeks. When Kris came back home, I thought we would just take care of her for awhile, wait till it got better, and then go back to everything. She must be worried sick. It hurts. We haven't always gotten along, but even then..." Laera trailed off. 

They sat in the quiet. Laera wanted to take a couple minutes to gather herself anyways.

Alec grunted as the sharp tip of the nail came out. A splotch of blood started appearing, which Laera quickly pressed her hand against. "Do you have another change of clothes with you?"