Hamish:294Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7p2EAfeBqw
I felt rather than heard the intrusion. The instinct curled inside me after years of being in combat forced me to wake. I tuned my ears to the sounds of tiny clicking, scratching sounds coming from the other end of the room. What did I have to fight it off? What strength did a wounded man have?
The window flew open, cracking against the hinges as a slight creature climbed in. I did not lift my head to see who it was, rather groaned and rolled onto my side to see better, pretending to fall back to sleep before catching sight of the intruder. The girl froze for a moment like a startled cat, waiting for my breathing to slow. Then she crept through the lines of beds, her feet making no noise as she padded closer and closer towards my bed being closest to the door.
As she came closer, she did not seem to even have a smell, as though she was a solid ghost wandering past. Silently, I bit my lip in preparation and in one small movement rose from the bed, wrapping one arm one over her shoulder and the other under her opposite arm and gripped hands. Pulling her back onto the bed with me, I bit down harder on my lip as my bandages heaved. Twisting, I lay on top of her so I could use my weight rather than strength.
“HELP!” I roared, grimacing as she struggled, “INTRUDER!” I cursed as she elbowed my chest, fighting to dig her sharpened nails into my forearm. I locked the side of my head against hers, forcing her to clamp her mouth shut filled with sharpened teeth. Men burst into the room, taking in the scene. They gripped her arms, allowing me to painfully roll onto my back.
I lay there, heaving. “She climbed in through the window.” I breathed. The men looked down at the woman, at the skin-tight black clothes and the curves they revealed.
“Men!” I barked, frowning at the guilty starts.
Loud steps vibrated off the wooden floor beyond the door, indicating the Lord was very close. I looked down at the mess of my wounds, lifting a tired hand to my bleeding bottom lip. Just as I lay into the pillow Lord Tomas strode in, taking in the scene. He bent down to grip the woman’s chin to look her in the eyes. He clicked his fingers and a servant appeared at his shoulder.
“Go get my captain.”
The servant rushed out the room just as Madelaine slipped through the door. I felt my mouth hit the floor before I even thought to move it. The scarlet dress dripped down her body, curving around her body and highlighting her fine features. She looked ruffled, but otherwise exquisite. My heart burned just as her form scorched me. Lord Tomas looked up at her approach, glancing at me before returning to his captive.
“Hamish?” she asked, catching my eyes and smiling, “are you alri- your wounds!” She came forward to lift the blood-soaked bandages laying limply on my chest. She frowned, turning to the bedside to find some clean linen.
“Even when you’re wounded you protect me.” She said softly as she slowly unwound the dripping bandages. Captain William padded into the room, steering towards the Lord, and nodding his head in greeting.
“Is this one of them?” Lord Tomas demanded, stepping back to allow his man to have a closer look.
William frowned, kneeling before the girl. “I beg your pardon,” he said, before ripping the shoulder of her top. She glared at him as he gently turned her shoulder, puzzled when he did not find what he wanted.
“Please show me your mark,” William said politely, “I would prefer not to continue.”
“Beacon of propriety, are you?” she asked, her words slurring together into a purr, “how unfortunate.” She looked down her front, pointedly to her chest, before looking up at him with a smile. William raised an eyebrow but followed her lead. There, nestled between her breasts was the inked depiction of a wolf.
“She is one of the pack Lord Tomas,” he said, “each of them has the mark of a wolf. This one I believe is called Dagger, a climbing thief and spy.” William pulled his cloak off his shoulder, swinging it around the girl to tie it behind her head and covering her.
I watched as a slow smile broke across the Lord’s face, “I have half a mind to send you back over the wall with a rope around your neck.” He said pleasantly to the thief.
“I know other dances,” Dagger smiled, revealing those cursed pointed teeth, “Much more entertaining.”
“Is betrayal one of them? A thief’s honour of none?”
“I belong to a pack, I am loyal to them. But our employer…” she smiled wolfishly, “He, I can provide.”
A healer came bustling over to my bed, looking at my wounds and tilting his head in thought. He stopped Lanie from applying new bandages and took the cloth from her hands, gently clearing the already drying blood.
Lord Tomas glanced over at us, seeing the way Lanie hovered over my bed, whispering questions to the healer. A frown clouded his face for a moment before turning back to the caught thief.
“We shall continue this conversation later. William, take her below – have a female guard watch over her. I am no fool."
William bent his head and led the thief away with the guards, looking over his shoulder to raise an eyebrow at me. I included observant in his list of traits. Very observant.
The soldiers left with the girl, leaving the healer, Lanie and Lord Tomas to stare down at me.
Lord Tomas breathed in through his nose, massaging his forehead with two fingers. “I owe you thanks. Again.”
I shrugged, “My duty Sir.”
He looked down at my wounds and his strong shoulders tensed, “no matter where I would put you, I know it would be futile to try and separate you from my Lady Madelaine.”
My.
He turned his gaze on the healing man, his hands full of clean bandages, “Master Healer, can I ask you to speed up the healing process? I will pay extra for the skillset you have.”
The man smiled grimly, dropping the bandages on the table beside my bed. “Very well Lord, give me time to call my mistress and your man will be ready by dawn.”
The Lord met my eyes, then glanced at the concerned features of the beauty beside him. “Her man.” He said, before offering his hand to Laine and swept her from the room.
The healer pressed a hand to my wounds, before asking a servant to fetch the mother healer of the city. “This,” he said, re-folding the bandages with effortless efficiency, “will hurt.”
294Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSYRAg51cL
Madelaine:294Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QO8hq5RJT
Tomas pulled me from the room, his hand holding mine tighter than usual.
“…Tomas?”
He stopped so abruptly I had to smoothly curl in towards him, forcing me to face him. His eyes were filled with confliction. He still held the letter in his fist from when the servant had run into the study.
“You ran.” He in a low voice, “one word of Hamish and you ran to him.”
I held my chin up, meeting him in the eyes, “no thanks to this cursed heavy dress. And now, thanks to his efforts you have a prisoner waiting for you in the morning.”
“What makes you think I will leave her there?”
“Scare tactic. Even if she is beyond that kind of manipulation, better to be fresh and ready.”
He frowned at me, “the only emotion I have seen from you concerns your captain. Otherwise, it’s business as usual. I bet even torture does not bother you.”
I cringed, remembering the spark of fear that had flown through me. How I had given back the letter to Tomas half read and quickly left. I masked the movement as distaste of torture. “Have I offended you my Lord?”
“Yes!” He cried, then shook his head doggedly, “No, you have not done anything wrong.”
“But cared for my captain.”
“You are a beautiful lady, one of high rank. One who rushes to her captain when you hear he is in peril.”
I understood the jealously flaring in his eyes, the cold pain etching onto his heart. He felt second best because I ran to the aid of ‘my man’. Because I showed compassion and love for a solider he considered beneath him. No, a man he considered a threat. I reached for Tomas then, cupping his cheek with my hand. He leaned into it, pressing a hand to mine.
“Tomas,” I murmured, “I know I am beautiful. I know I am a woman. And soon, I will be your wife. But I also know the power in loyalty. Yes, I care for Captain Hamish because he knew me before I was beautiful. He cared for the little girl, and cares still. He will die for me. And therefore.” I smiled sadly, “he is my greatest asset.”
There I left him, left him watching my back as I made my way to my rooms with the letter clutched in my hand.
ns 18.68.41.136da2
