by Wylie, Jen
"Hmm," she replied, not really having any idea exactly what trouble that would be, but not wanting to show her ignorance. "So is he in on your plans of escape?"
He raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think I've got some?"
"Well if you don't yet then you're an idiot."
He chuckled. "You got me there. He's in. He's just not participating overly much now. In a bit of rough shape."
She looked over at the man, Prince, again. "Well, I'm in on whatever you're doing."
"Aro…"
She glared up at him. "You aren't leaving me behind!"
Her words obviously shocked him. "Of course not!" He grimaced. "I owe your brothers, if nothing else."
"You know I can fight," she said quietly. "I'll be doing so no matter what you say, so you might as well give me something to do."
He glowered at her, she glared back. He snorted. "Fine."
She grinned and sat back, tucking what remained of her hair behind her ears.
Shaking his head, Kendric looked over at her. Suddenly he lunged at her, raking his fingers through her hair until it covered her face again. "Rot it, Aro! Don't be doing that!" He shook his head again at her shocked look. "You don't look that much like a boy," he whispered.
Her cheeks grew warm in embarrassment. "Sorry."
"Well, back to planning. You coming?"
She looked at the group of strange men. "Do they know? About me?"
He glanced at them. "No. I'm thinking it'd be best to keep this up as long as we can. Safer that way."
His comment worried her. Did he not trust them not to hurt her? "If you think so." She looked over at Prince again. "I think I'll see what's ailing his royalness." Kendric raised his eyebrows and she made a face and leaned back again. "In a little bit. When I build up my nerve. And don't feel like throwing up."
"You'll get used to it."
"I doubt it," she muttered. "Anyone else hurt?"
"Nothing serious. How's your head? You've been out for a while."
She raised her hand and rubbed at crumbling dried blood in her matted hair. "I don't think it's too bad. It's not opened up again."
"Good. Get some rest." She nodded and he moved back to the other men she didn't know.
She grimaced. She didn't want to think about meeting them all. Their stares were bad enough. She didn't know if she could succeed in acting like a boy.
"What's with the boy?"
"He's good. Just right now he's feeling a bit shy, and sea sick. This isn't easy on a young boy." The others nodded solemnly and looked over at her.
She put her forehead on her knees again. She was definitely going to hurt him. The ship lurched again and her stomach twisted. "Uh." Yes. As soon as she didn't feel like dying.
Chapter 3
Meeting a Prince
The sea calmed at some point. Being trapped in a ship made it hard to tell the time of day. The cell's location at the back of the ship didn't help either. Outside the bars she could see the small hatch that let in light part of the day, and an occasional wash of sea water.
The men kept up their quiet chatter. The one in the corner remained still and quiet. She frowned as she watched him. Kendric said he was in rough shape. She assumed he'd been injured in the fighting. His wounds must not have been too severe, or the slavers wouldn't have taken him.
Often enough she'd have to patch her brothers up. In the winter, they were always getting into tavern brawls or injured during weapons practice. She could set simple breaks and stitch and wrap wounds. Her father and brothers had taught her a little, but she'd learned more from some of the army wives. She'd made an effort to learn all she could. Her plan had been to the join the army, which meant fighting. Knowing how to tend wounds could save her life.
Unfortunately she didn't have any of her supplies. Hopefully the prince's injuries were something she could help with. Her brothers always said she did a great job of tending to them. Pain curled in her chest again. Closing her eyes tightly she tried to push thoughts of her family from her mind.
She crawled over to the prince, trying not to blush when he turned his head to stare at her. She took his silence as a good sign. She'd never met a prince. She avoided nobility whenever possible. Nobles and soldiers didn't get along, or so her brothers had told her often enough.
She stopped and knelt beside him and sat very still, just looking at him for a moment while he did the same with her. Fair's fair right?
Sitting in the corner, he rested his back against the hull with his long legs stretched out. Aro could tell he was tall. She stared at his pants. They looked soft and expensive. She forced her eyes up. It surprised her he wasn't wearing silk, but a white cotton shirt, until she saw the marks and nodded faintly to herself. So he had fought, he'd had mail on at any rate. Regret spread through her that the slavers had taken it and she'd never get to see it.
She noted he had his left arm stiff across his abdomen. From the way he held it she guessed a broken arm. Her eyes went to his face last, shyly. She didn't really care what he looked like, but she wanted to make sure he wasn't glaring at her.
A little gasp escaped her lips before she clamped them shut. He was beautiful. She shouldn't have been surprised. He was a prince after all. Weren't they all handsome? She took in his long black hair, fine and straight. Hers had never looked so nice. His skin was fair, except for a purpled bruise high on his left cheek and curling over his temple. His features were angular, but somehow slightly soft, too. Gentle. His nose was impossibly straight and his eyes... his eyes were glaring at her.
She looked away quickly.
"Are you quite done?"
Even sharp with anger his voice sounded beautiful and refined, with a slight accent she of course didn't know. A visiting prince, Kendric had said. Where was he from then?
She looked at him again because she hadn't finished. She'd only noticed his too long dark lashes and fine sweeping dark brows before his glare had scared her. She wanted to finish the picture and see what color his eyes would be.
They were blue, of course. Perfect, brilliant blue.
They were also glaring again.
"What do you want?" His pretty voice wasn't friendly at all.
Her eyes dropped back to his arm. "It is broken?"
After what seemed like forever, he answered. Relief flooded her that he didn't sound furious anymore, just irritated. "Yes. It is."
She glanced back at him. "Will you let me look at it?"
"Can you do anything if it is?"
His attitude began to irritate her. "Actually yes," she snarled, making him start. His blue eyes opened wide. He wasn't used to people talking to him in such a way. "Well, depending on how mangled it is. I know how to set broken bones. My brothers came home with enough of them."
"Fine," he said. He looked away and held his arm out toward her as if bestowing some great gift. No wonder no one got along with nobility, bunch of arrogant asses.
She stared at it a moment before shifting closer, and had to move even closer to reach his arm. She gently took his wrist and slid his shirt sleeve up to his elbow.
She grimaced. His fair arm was black and blue from his wrist almost to his elbow. She looked up at him. "Shield arm?"
"Yes," he said in surprise.
She gently moved her fingers over his arm, testing the swelling, feeling for the break, or breaks. "How much does it hurt?"
"Enough," he replied curtly.
"Did you hear a snap?"
He didn't answer and she looked up at him to see him glaring at her again. She wished people would stop doing that. It was really starting to unnerve her.
His lips pressed tightly together for a moment before he finally answered. "Why all the questions?"
Anger rose within her again. Men were impossible. Truly they were. Here she was trying to help and he was not appreciating the fact at all. "Well. I'm trying to discover if you've a clean break or a shattered arm. If it's shattered, it will have to come off. If it's just a break I can actually do som
ething about it." Hopefully. If she could find something to set it with, and even then, if he was really unlucky it could still go bad. If it did he wouldn't make it to port before the fevers came and killed him.
He stared at her intently, his lips a fine angry line before suddenly letting out an exasperated sigh and jerking his head away to stare at the far wall. "Yes, it snapped."
She still had her hands on his arm and let out a sigh of her own. So then, time to find the break. It didn't take her long, even though she worked slowly, trying not to cause him more pain. She'd seen what pain could do to people. Sometimes it made them crazy. She eyed the prince again. He was big, a lot bigger than she was. It surprised her that his arm was in no way soft. Under all the expensive clothes he was in incredibly good shape. Especially for a prince, considering they just sat around all day doing princey things. She felt around the area, trying to feel for splinters but it seemed to be a truly clean break.
She let go of his arm and sat back, thinking. She could set it, but it wouldn't do much good if he moved and the bones shifted. She looked around the cell, trying to find a small board or anything else she could use as a brace.
Nothing, nothing, nothing. Rot it, how could she fix him? She frowned, trying to think.
"Well?"
She shifted uncomfortably, knowing he was glaring at her again without even looking. She sat up straighter suddenly and looked up at him, raising a finger. "Wait, let me think."
Her greaves. They might work, if they weren't too wide. She looked at his arm. Hers was scrawny in comparison. His, while being well-muscled, wasn't bulky either. Maybe if she wrapped the arm in something…
She shifted position from her knees onto her bottom, bringing her legs forward. She undid the buckles on one of her greaves and then pulled the piece of hardened leather armor off. It wasn't like she needed her shins projected now. Thinking, she stared at the other men a moment and doubted they'd help. He was a rotting prince after all.
"Whatever are you doing?" He sounded both angry and irritated.
She risked a look at him as she held up the old piece of armor. "Something to brace your arm with."
He stared at her incredulously and shook his head. A faint and beautiful smile came to his lips. "Clever."
She smiled slightly at the praise, and of course was immensely happy he stopped glaring. She pulled at her shirt, un-tucking it from her pants.
"And what are you doing now?"
She looked up. "It will need to be wrapped in something."
He frowned and his good arm reached out, his hand resting on her arm. "No."
Her brows drew together in confusion. "No?"
He tugged at his own shirt, easily pulling it free from the waist of his pants. With a jerk he started a rip and then abruptly stopped.
She looked from the rip to his face and saw it had paled. Of course, he'd forgotten about the chains and the sudden motion had jerked his broken arm as well. Her hands moved to touch him, to try to sooth him...and froze when his body tensed. She yanked her hands away. "Sorry."
He jerked once again and a piece from the bottom of his shirt came away. Her eyes widened in surprise. He was a lot stronger than he looked to shred his clothing so easily.
"Will that be enough?" His lips pursed together tersely, pain still etched across his face.
"Yes." She took it from him and set it on top of the greave lying beside her. Concentrating on his arm again she let out a long breath. Now the hard part. She moved her hands over his arm, finding the break, and paused to look back up at him. "You want me to count off or something?"
"Just do it," he snapped.
He sounded angry again. Just what she needed. She sucked in a deep breath. One, two, push and pull and snap and the bones fell back into place.
She froze, hands still on his arm. The prince was snarling.
She squeezed her eyes closed, hoping he wouldn't hurt his arm. She didn't want to have to fix it again. On second thought, she hoped he wouldn't hit her either. At least not too hard. Yes, that's what she should have been wishing for first off, because she suddenly knew he would… just like Sammy had the one time because it had hurt too much. She should have found something for him to bite on. That would have been smart. Or maybe have had one of the others hold him down. They probably would have agreed to do that. Fear tightened her stomach because the prince was strong, too.
She heard him move and gritted her teeth, tensing for the blow.
She wasn't prepared for gentle fingers cupping her cheek and tilting her face up. The first thing she noticed when her eyes flashed open at his touch was how he had suddenly become much closer. The second was the pained look on his face.
"I apologize," he said very quietly, his brilliant eyes staring straight into hers. "I did not mean to frighten you. I will not hurt you."
A ragged gasp escaped her and she swallowed over the fear in her throat. Well then. So he was one of those noble princes.
Unfortunately, he now stared intently at her. His fingers slid across her cheek, brushing her hair from her face. It was too tender of a motion. So maybe he wasn't so noble. She just couldn't win could she? Before she could move herself away she was yanked backward violently. She turned and stared in shock at Kendric.
A very, very furious Kendric.
"Touch Aro again and I'll break more than your arm." His quiet voice quivered with barely suppressed rage.
Too shocked to do anything but stare, her eyes went first to Kendric and then to Prince.
Prince chuckled suddenly and leaned close to Kendric, his voice a mere murmur, "You should tell her not to speak so much. She doesn't sound like a boy." While they both stared at him in shocked horror, Prince looked at her, a faint smile playing across his lips. He winked. "Nor does she look like one."
She grimaced at Kendric, punching him in the arm. "If your other plans are this bad you're going to get us all killed."
Kendric scowled at her.
Prince chuckled and held his broken arm out to her, catching her eyes with his own as he did so. "I will keep your secret." He looked over her shoulder to the other men. "Be quiet, and keep your face hidden and I doubt they will notice."
Kendric snorted and she looked away with a deep sigh. She picked up the strip of Prince's shirt and quickly and efficiently wrapped his arm.
"You do know what you are doing."
She could hear the surprise in his voice and it made her angry again. She scowled at him. "Go rot."
He chuckled and then winced. "Ow."
"Baby." She clamped her mouth shut. Shouldn't have said that.
Prince only grinned at her before looking to Kendric again. "Truly though. Aro will be just fine."
She could feel the soldier's gaze on her and ignored him as she carefully set the greave as a brace.
"I did cheat a little," Prince divulged and they both looked at him.
"What do you mean?" Kendric tensed as he waited for an answer.
Prince looked over at him. "There was much talk in court of the Mason brothers, their father, and…" he looked at her again. "Of the youngest…sibling."
Her eyebrows rose as she secured the greave. "They were talking about me at court! Why would they be doing that?"
"Many wondered what you would be doing come spring. When you came of age. If you would be joining your brothers, or not."
She frowned. "Why would they care what I did?" Yes, her family had become well known and respected but she was just a girl.
"Your brothers were not commenting and that had everyone wondering of course."
"Of course." She rolled her eyes. Her troublesome brothers again.
Kendric looked surprised. "You're considering it?"
"Idiot. Of course I am! They were still fighting over it. Like they'd be able to stop me."
Prince frowned. "Why would you want to join the army?"
"Why does everyone think I'd prefer to get married off? Not a chance!"
They both looked at her like s
he was crazy. She resisted jerking on the leather strap in her hands and clamped her mouth shut. She sat back, finished, and sucked in a deep breath trying to steady herself. Prince touched her knee lightly. "Well done. I thank you."
She nodded, sudden pain and loss choking her for a moment. "It doesn't matter anyway," she said quietly. "The city fell. The army's gone, dead, scattered, or slaves. My brothers…" Thinking of them brought the terrible hollow pain to her chest again. She truly was alone. They would not come riding back this time. She would not be protected or rescued by them. They were dead. She couldn't try to delude herself into thinking otherwise.
"Aro?"
She looked over at Kendric. "All done." She turned slightly to Prince, but didn't look at him. "Try not to move it too much. Let me know if feels wrong, or anything. Or if you start to feel feverish." Not that she could do much if anything did go wrong.
"I will."
He sounded so very serious she couldn't help a faint smile.
The ship lurched suddenly and Kendric caught her by the back of her shirt before she sprawled into Prince's lap.
"We've just turned very suddenly," Prince said quietly, a frown on his face.
They heard a lot of banging above, people running about, and loud voices yelling words she couldn't decipher. She looked in alarm to Kendric.
He was looking up, listening.
She looked at Prince. He did the same. She waited, looking from one to the other for what seemed like forever, waiting for someone to tell her something, anything.
"The Dressen Navy," Kendric said finally.
"Wither me," she muttered. "This is really not my day." She looked up again with all the others at another flurry of activity above.
The Dressen Navy. Sinkers of slave ships. How could things get much worse than that? She was likely going to be fish food very, very soon.
Chapter 4
The Men
She stayed with Prince when Kendric got up to stand at the bars of the cell with a few of the others, listening in tense silence to the commotion above.
Eventually she moved to put her back to the wall, sitting beside Prince, but not touching him. She didn't want to jostle his broken arm. She drew up her knees, wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her forehead on them. She sat that way for a long time, just listening, swaying as the ship rolled and occasionally lurched sharply.