Okay. So just for Rachael (who seems to be the only one reading it...) this is part two. xD It's...longer...than the first part. But...there will be more. I'll try to keep it going. ^.^ Still need a title. Ideas are welcome. Comment or message them to me. :)
So, without further ado...
***************
Part 2
It took three days for Adrienne to regain consciousness. The
stench of death, mud, and rot hit her nostrils full on, and when she exhaled,
it emerged as a weak groan. The pain in her head was constant; throbbing,
aching, sharp and dull and increasing the more she woke. She felt stiff and cold
and she could barely feel her fingers or her toes. The rest of her body slowly
came back into her consciousness and she felt as if she were lying on an oddly
soft bed.
Deciding that she couldn’t keep her eyes closed for forever,
Adrienne slowly opened her eyes to take in her surroundings. She was no longer
on the battlefield, and she was neither in the healing tents or the one she’d
been assigned. The tent here was elaborate, the fabric pristine and new. Well,
newer than what her tent had looked like. The tent that hadn’t even been hers…
Adrienne pulled herself from her thoughts as she tried to
move her head, trying to see more of where she was. When she finally turned her
head to the right, she saw a figure sleeping in a chair next to where she was
laying. Jonathan.
Almost as if he could sense her watching him, Jonathan awoke
with a jerk. His eyes landed on her, and instantly they softened. He didn’t speak,
but it was clear he was relieved.
“Where…?” Adrienne tried to speak, but her voice was dry and
cracked, and it hurt to speak. But thankfully Jonathan knew what she was
asking.
“In the High Commander’s tent.” He replied. “He was killed
in the fight…We only have one hundred men or so left…about one quarter are
injured…” He said. “As soon as I got permission I brought you here. It’s warmer
and cleaner than most of the other tents…and…more private…” he added. His eyes
flitted over her body for a moment and then he averted his gaze.
Adrienne was confused for a few long moments before she
realized what he had meant about the privacy. Her cheeks reddened, for she
could not feel anything except the blanket that had been pulled over her body
and up to her shoulders.
When she inhaled deeply next, Adrienne could feel every
bruise, cut, and scrape that she had acquired. All from her toes up to her
head. She grimaced and tried wiggling her fingers and toes, relieved when she
could with minor pain.
“Adrienne, you really should just res—“
“Hush, Jonathan.” Adrienne gasped as she tensed a few very
tender spots. She could hear Jonathan’s frustrated sigh and the rustling of
clothes as he stood. Adrienne didn't care. She was too focused on getting back
to moving.
Soon Adrienne could move her arms and her legs with no
problems, but from where she’d felt the pain before, she was terrified to see
the damage from her shoulders to her hips.
“I insist, Adrienne.” Jonathan finally said as she started
to pull the blanket from her body. Adrienne hesitated. His voice was full of
anguish and something else. It almost seemed a mix of fear and sadness.
“You don’t have to stay…” She told him. “I’m actually dying
of thirst.” She added, giving him an excuse to leave.
He hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “Don’t get up.”
He told her firmly. Then there was a slight breeze from the flap of the tent
opening before she was left alone.
Adrienne pulled the blanket from her body and ignored the
shivers she felt. And then she saw them. There were cuts, some superficial,
some deeper, all over her abdomen. As her fingers ran over the bandages, she
moved to roll onto her side.
A severe sharp pain that stole her breath stopped her.
Adrienne’s hand flew to her side where a particularly thick set of bandages had
been attached. She noticed now that most of the stiffness she felt on her
abdominal area was the fact that they’d wrapped bandages all around her body,
affixing the bandages to her side firmly so they wouldn’t move. The bandages
were already soaked with blood, a few hours old she could tell from the color.
Most of the cuts would scar. There would be no way to heal
them effectively. The one on her side would definitely do so…
Tears burned her eyes and she pulled the blanket back over
her body and lay still, listening to the wind beat against the tent and the
sounds of men yelling and talking…
She didn’t want to know any more.
By the time that Jonathan returned with water, she’d wiped
her tears away.
“I’d like some clothing.” She told him as he entered the
tent. He nodded with a small smile and helped her to sit up slowly, letting her
rest against his warm body (and from what she could tell, there wasn’t much
damage done to her back except bruises) as she took the glass from him and
drank the water eagerly. She noted that it was still slightly warm, from being
boiled.
“I could try to find some of the women who were helping in
the tents to help you get dressed.” Jonathan said after he’d helped Adrienne
lay back down when she finished with her water. He was digging through a pack,
looking for clothing suitable for Adrienne that wouldn’t be too large, but also
wouldn’t be too tight. After he found a pair of breeches and a tunic for her,
he held them up and she nodded her approval. But Jonathan was surprised to see
a smirk on her face and her eyes glittering.
“Tell me, Jonathan. Was it women who undressed me and
bandaged my wounds?” She asked him. Jonathan’s face turned crimson and he shook
his head. “Was it the other men?” she asked him, half hoping that his next
answer was no as well. When it was, she felt a sort of relief. “So it was you.”
She told him. He nodded.
“Then why should it be any different that I am conscious
when you dress me?” She whispered. His eyes met hers and he smiled a little. “I
was just offering.” He told her. He wanted to tell her that he’d spoken with
Adam as he was dying…but the news would probably bring more pain and grief than
comfort.
***
“Promise me, Jonathan…that…you’ll take care of our girl…”
Adam choked. Jonathan cursed the tears falling down his cheeks, but it looked
just like the rain falling down his cheeks. He kept brushing the water from
Adam’s face, shaking his head. “You’re going to live, Adam…you have to…” he
choked. Adam winced as his breath caught in his throat. “Won’t…you know that…”Adam
said.
It seemed like time had stopped then. Their conversation had
been no more than a few moments, but to Jonathan and Adam, it had been a full
conversation they’d been having for hours. Adam knew Jonathan would honor his
dying wishes, he trusted Jonathan and no other with Adrienne’s well-being and
safety.
“She’s…she’s still pure…” he gasped. “You have to protect
her…help her find a good man…good family…”
Jonathan’s heart was breaking. “Adam…”
“Promise…!”
“I…I promise. But it’s stupid to make me promise. You’re
going to be fine and then we’ll laugh at this after you’re all better….” He
said, glancing up to see Adrienne fighting so many men that they were just a
rush of bodies. But Adrienne was holding her own on the field. “She’s so brave.
Fighting still now…” he told Adam.
When he looked back down at Adam’s body,his friend's eyes had
slid unfocused and his jaw was slack. The color had drained from his face, and
already the heat was leaving his body. When Adam placed shaking fingers against his friend's throat, there was no pulse.
Fire raged in his veins. Anger and hurt. He wanted to kill all of them. Adam was dead because of them!
Jonathan gently laid Adam down on the ground and stood.
Adrienne was slowly losing her momentum now. The men had sensed anguish and
weakness and had gone after it. He ran through the mud, trying not to step on
any dead bodies, or anyone who was alive. He made it to the fray just as the
blade sliced into Adrienne’s side and slid his sword right through the weak point in the man's armor. He hadn't had any warning, and Jonathan honestly didn't care.
As another man came at him, he turned and re-joined the fight. Adrienne didn't even seem to notice the gash in her side or the blood pooling out of it. She just kept fighting...
***
Adrienne sighed a little and pulled at the tunic. “I wish it
was tighter around this part here…” She muttered to Jonathan as he finished
tying a cord around her hips to keep the pants up. They were just slightly bigger
than her hips and kept slipping.
Jonathan looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Adrienne
sighed and nodded. “I know…I know…” She muttered.
To him, Adrienne looked beautiful, even in the shabby brown
of the tunic and pants she was wearing. He’d even found her a pair of boots
that fit her better than the last pair.
He managed to convince her to rest for the rest of the day.
---
By the end of the fifth day post-battle, Adrienne was
walking around short distances from the tent. She assisted where she was
allowed, and helped sometimes to perform the funeral rites as they burned the
dead. The other army had come in the night to gather their dead, and just over
the opposing hilltop, Adrienne could see the smoke from the stacks where the
men were burning the bodies of their fallen comrades.
When the smell of burning flesh and decay became too much
for Adrienne, she would wander away toward the woods that lined the rear of
their camp. Some said the trees were haunted, but all Adrienne saw was a serene
and peaceful place. Even the most beautiful of things had dark shadows inside, though, where pain and secrets were hidden.
Soon it was time to pack up the camp. Adrienne had decided
to go for a walk in the woods one last time and wandered farther than she ever
had before. She stopped at the top of a slope to catch her breath against a tree when she
suddenly felt faint and everything started to blur and move in unnatural ways.
She frowned and slid down the trunk of the tree and felt the wave
of nausea just as the bile ran up her throat, giving her only enough time to launch
herself onto her side as she vomited the entire contents of the venison stew
they’d made just an hour earlier.
Then she felt cold. Her teeth chattered and her focus
disappeared. She pulled the jacket closer around her body just as she heard men
yelling her name, looking for her.
"I'm here!" she said, but her voice seemed to have been eaten up by the trees...
***
“Don’t you dare die on me, Adrienne! I’ll bring you back
from the dead just so I can kill you myself!” Jonathan’s voice was angry and
low, and she didn't even realize she’d been staring at him until she blinked
and saw him next to her. She looked up at the sky and was surprised when she
saw that they were moving. She frowned a little in confusion until they hit a
bump and she realized that they were in a cart. When she looked to the opposite
side of the cart, she saw men carrying items, tents, pots, pans, sacks of food…
Guilt wracked her as she realized what had happened. They’d
cleared a cart for her and were carrying the load that should have been in it. “Let
me up. I can walk.” She said softly, but her voice was barely audible.
“ You've a fever and you've not kept any water or anything
down for the past six hours. You aren't getting up.” Jonathan said, the fight
out of his tone, but he was still firm. He was scared. His hands brushed hair out of her face, and she
flinched at how cool his hands were.
“It’s worse.” He mumbled, cursing under his
breath.
