When he woke again, Lilly was gone room. His head and face itched so he removed the bandages. He face was swollen enough he had a hard time opening his left eye. He wondered what kind of wounds he had received from his fall. He turned and grabbed a mirror out of the night stand drawer. He looked and had to turn away. With shaking hands he replaced the bandages. He took a shaky breath and large tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked up when the edge of the bed sunk and Lilly moved the mirror to the night stand. She sat a little closer to him and adjusted the bandages on his head. Her face was calm so he couldn"t tell what she was thinking."Lilly? How do you see me now?" he asked.
She kissed him tenderly. "Same as I always have James."
He tore the bandages away, causing his wounds to start bleeding again as he gestured to the disfigurement of his face with his other hand. "How can you love this?!"
Lilly worked to bandage it again, but he fought and tried to stop her. "James, stop it!"
His hands stopped and he watched tears roll down her face.
"It hurts me to see you in pain, but I do not love you any less because of what"s happened. If anything, I love you more. Physical appearance means nothing to me. It is who the person is, not the money, not the looks, but the man that you are and have become that I love. Besides, did you stop loving me when my face was scarred or my hands were horribly wounded?"
James glanced away as she finished tying the new bandage in place. When she was done she kissed him. He looked up a little surprised. She smiled and kissed him again. His arms wrapped around her and he held her close.
"I"m sorry, Lilly."
"You"re forgiven, James. I love you. I truly do."
"I love you as well." He kissed her forehead then allowed himself to be laid back down to rest.
Lilly healed his wounds a little more before she lay down for a nap.
When he woke up the next morning he was really hungry. He drank three bowls of soup before he slept some more.
James woke to find Lilly gone yet again. His ran his hand across the sheets on her side of the bed. They were cold and he was worried. No one had seen Lilly for a while. They had all thought she was with him. He buried his face in his pillow until he felt the bed sink on her side. Looking up he saw Lilly sitting with her head bowed.
"Lilly?" he asked, reaching out to her.
She turned with a look of uncertainty.
"Come here, Dear. What is it?"
Lilly moved into his embrace, head pressed against his chest.
"What"s wrong Lilly?" he asked again.
"What are the Gerrabellas planning?"
"Nothing that I can feel. Why do you ask?"
"I saw two Gerrabellas in the trees near the edge of town."
"What?!" He moved her away to see her face. "What were they doing there?"
"That"s why I asked."
"You"re afraid." James pulled her close again.
"Afraid for various reasons."
"Would you like to tell me about them?"
"Perhaps later, when..." Her shoulders started to shake and she cried.
"It"ll be all right, Lilly….You"ll see."
It wasn"t long after that, that they both fell asleep.
James woke to the heat on his chest. Lilly had a fever. A servant girl came in with a new pitcher of water.
"You there," James said.
"Yes, My Lord?"
"Bring me some cold water and cloths."
"Yes, My Lord."
"And a sliced apple," he added as she was leaving.
He sat up and picked Lilly up, laying her in a semi-reclined position. The young girl returned, and handed James what he needed, trying not to stare at the bandage that still covered half his face. She bowed formally then left. James dipped the cloth in the water and wrung out the excess before placing it on Lilly"s forehead. Taking the apple slices, he broke them into bite size pieces. Lilly woke up when he renewed the cloth.
"Lilly you promised you wouldn"t do too much."
"Something else… is going on."
James felt his Gerrabella blood stir. "Guard."
"Yes, My Lord."
"Gather some soldiers and guard the king. He should be in his bed chambers."
"Yes, My Lord." The soldier left.
Lilly started to sit up a little more, but James kept her down. "I need you to rest, Lilly. And eat."
She shook her head, but James was insistent. Finally he was able to get her to eat most of the apple pieces he had. He kept the cloth wet, but after a time she pulled it off. "It"s not helping… James."
"Then what can we do?"
She wrapped her arms around him and he felt his body turn cold. Her hot hands felt good against his back, but the rest of the heat was blocked by her dress. He helped her take it off then held her burning body against his freezing body. Within minutes he started to warm up and her fever was going down. James kissed her and continued to hold her as she slept. He listened to her breathe until there was shouting in the hall. Soldiers ran pa.s.sed and there were a few screams. James" hold on Lilly loosened so he could check it out, but she held him tightly and rolled with him out of bed and to the floor. The blanket fell over them completely.
"Lilly are you...?" He started to ask, moving off her.
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"Be still." She commanded, and held his head against her shoulder.
The door flew open and several heavy steps could be heard. They searched the room, but left the blanket untouched. Then the door closed and all was still, but Lilly didn"t move.
"Lilly?"
"Wait."
The footsteps moved towards the door again then they ran down the hall. More screams and shouts were echoed down the hall, followed by silence. Lilly let go of James and he was quick to get off. She dressed and helped James with his shirt. Something about her features told James that she was still unwell. He wanted to send her back to bed, but she took his hand and half ran to Carthago"s room. Several soldiers lay dead in the hall as well as a Gerrabella. Carthago sat alone in his room.
His right leg cut and bleeding badly. Taking her knife, Lilly cut the pant leg off and tore it into pieces to cover the wounds. As she worked to bandage it, Carthago caught her wrist and shook his head. Lilly shook her head in return and continued to work.
"James, are you all right?" Carthago asked softly.
"Yes, are you?" James replied softly, trying to soften how much his voice would hurt Lilly.
"I"m glad the soldiers were here or I wouldn"t be alive."
"Thank Lilly. If she hadn"t asked what the Gerrabellas were doing I would have missed it."
Lilly"s head bowed as she worked.
Carthago lifted her chin, but she turned her chin from his hand and let her head bow once more. James caught the concerned look on his brother"s face and knelt next to her.