The Fires of Esus - Ranger's Apprentice

Chapter 30: I Promise

The next morning, Will prepared to leave the camp as soon as everyone was awake and packing up, ready to move on for the day. He tried to roll over and crawl out of his tent as silently as possible in case Alyss was still asleep, but as he emerged on hands and knees he was surprised to see her there already, sitting by the coals of last night's fire.

"Here," she said, raising a package of clean bandages. "Let me."

He gave her a small smile, and sat beside her, pulling aside the collar of his tunic to reveal the bandage on his shoulder. As her gentle fingers separated it from his skin, he pressed his lips into a thin line, clenching his jaw as the burned skin met the cool morning air. It was somewhat soothing, but still painful, even if it was cold.

His shoulder was only marginally better. The skin was red and blisters still remained in some places next to the site where the metal had actually been pressed into him, but the black ink that made up the design of a swirl had settled into his scars. The design was starting to look almost recognizable, and the raw skin was nearly sealed. It would likely take at least a month, if not more, for this burn to heal completely, but for now, Will was thankful he could still move his arm. He was thankful he was still alive, and that Halt and Alyss were too. It was worth being burned like this for them. But that didn't mean he didn't hate the design now etched on his skin, never to fade, it would be there when he died. He hadn't decided if he would regret it later. He hoped not.

Alyss swiped the last of his dressing across the burn with fast fingers, having learned by now that shortening Will's pain was preferable to trying taking too much time to be gentle. She was just folding the fresh bandage over itself, ready to cover the burn, when a now familiarly irritating voice interrupted them.

"That looks painful, Ranger Will. Let me have a good look at it."

King Carr, in his morning splendor of a silken dressing robe and long nightshirt, sporting a tangled beard, the hair on his head flattened in the back and sticking straight out on the sides, came waddling up to where they sat. He slipped on patches of mud a few times in his languid approach, his shiny slippers getting caked with mud from the early morning dew.

Will, blinking once at his strange appearance, and being used to it by now after their days of travel together, kept an entirely straight face as he quickly said, "It's alright, your Majesty, Alyss was just re-bandaging it. It's healing fine."

"No, please, I'd like to see it. Reminds me of my old days, when I got my first mark." He sat down uncomfortably close to Will, who scooted away subtly to avoid the King's too-warm sweaty arms inches away from brushing against his own. Alyss reluctantly lowered her hands, letting the bandage fall back to reveal the damage.

The King looked at for quite a while, twisting and turning his head to view it from every possible angle. "It was a rough one, that's for certain." He glanced up at Will, pursing his lips with a perfectly serious expression on his face. "If you hadn't struggled this would have been a whole lot cleaner, and it would have healed faster, it'll always be a little lumpy..."

He felt Alyss tense beside him, and he gripped her hand tightly in an attempt to stop her from lashing out, but he was too late. She narrowed her eyes menacingly at the King, and hissed, "We have your maniacal son to thank for that, your Majesty, and don't you forget it. He was about to murder us, after burning us, and there was nothing any of us could have done by ourselves to stop him, including you. So I advise you to speak carefully, as I don't want to hear anything more if you're going to criticize us for your son's sins."

The King gazed at her, speechless for a moment. "You're right, Lady Alyss, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything. I was simply commenting on the quality of the mark, and how it may not heal as smoothly as it might have."