Servants were called and a hot bath drawn. A clean dress was left and James and Lilly were left alone. It took a while to get her clothes off since they were stuck to her skin with dried blood. Some of the openings bled a little where the clothes needed an extra pull to get them off. James noticed, amid the blood, that there were several long white scars across her abdomen. He had not seen them in the moonlight when they shared their first couple nights together. James picked up a cloth to help wash the blood off her back. He had barely moved it, when she leaned away from him."The cloth is too rough, James," she said.
"All right. Let me try something else."
She nodded and moved back towards him. James filled the wash cloth and wrung the hot water over her back. Then he used his hand to wipe away the blood. Her muscles still protested.
"Sorry, Lilly."
"No, James. I should be sorry. I should have been able to do this on my own."
"We both know that"s not true. What I want to know is why this has happened to you."
"After my blood was tainted with that of a Gerrabella it was only a matter of time before I would be fighting this battle."
With the blood washed off James helped bandage her wounds and she pulled on the clean dress, refusing the rough towel. James pulled her close, his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Lilly, the scars on your stomach…. What are they from?"
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"Adremedian creation. Adremedians don"t have s.e.x organs like humans do. However, because I am half human, I do. It"s just another thing that makes our people different."
"And why you tried to convince me that we were too different for any kind of intimate relationship."
She grimaced at the memory, but nodded.
James nodded then kissed her forehead. "How are you feeling now?"
"Tired… and broken."
"Do you want to get more sleep?"
"It might be for the best."
Gently he picked her up and carried her towards the bed.
"Leave me on the floor, James. I can still feel the child"s presence."
"Then let me take you somewhere else."
James carried her to the room that was hers and laid her on the bed. He lay close to her until she fell asleep. Once she was asleep, James found his record about Adremedians and added to it. He sat at the table and wrote, casting glances in her direction every once in a while. It wasn"t until he was finished that he saw her staring at the other wall. He watched her until she took a deep breath and sat up. Her head hung and her hands moved up and down her arms like she was cold. James walked to the edge of the bed and took her hand. Lilly lifted her head. Her eyes looked haunted.
"Lilly?"
"I think it would be best to return to the forest."
"All right. I believe Torta is still here. Let"s go."
She nodded and got, somewhat painfully, out of bed. They made their way down the hall and left a message for Carthago. Torta was anxious to leave, but calmed considerably once Lilly was placed on his back. When James tried to make Torta move faster the prompts were ignored. Getting frustrated he kicked Torta hard and nearly was thrown off.
"Calm down, Torta, please." Lilly said, barely hanging on herself. "James, let Torta move at his own pace."
"But..."
"It"ll be better with the slow pace than a quick trot."
"Lilly, I just…." Tears burned his eyes as his dream came to mind. "I don"t want you… never mind."
"James,… if you"re worried about recovery, two years is the longest I have been out.… Torta?"
Torta started to move again.
Even though she spoke the words, James still couldn"t help but feel that wasn"t all together true.
As they neared the forest they pa.s.sed by several Adremedians. All of them glared at James as they pa.s.sed. Last were Sapientiis, Patientiam, Briar, and Willow. The only ones that did not glare were Sapientiis and Patientiam. Instead their gaze was one of confusion and pain. Once they had pa.s.sed, the Adremedians dispersed until only Briar remained. He followed at a distance until they reached a healing tree. James helped Lilly off Torta and she leaned into him. Her eyes were closed and her bandaged hands rested against his chest.
"What have you done to Lilly, James?"
He ignored Briar"s question, intently listening to what Lilly was telling him. Her head came up and she kissed him deeply. He broke away and Lilly touched his cheek. He picked her up on his back to climb into the tree.
"Answer me Human!" The wind picked up and Briar had to cover his eyes. When he put his arm down he was all alone.
In the tree, Lilly lay down with James next to her. He held her close though she didn"t close her eyes in sleep. Beneath them the tree warmed considerably to the point where it was almost uncomfortable. The heat made James tired and he fell asleep. He woke when Lilly pulled away from him. He could hear her throwing up, but felt too dazed and unattached to move. It wasn"t until she lay next to him once more that he remembered where he was.
"Lilly, are you okay?"
"For the time being."
James sat up and held her. With his hands pressed against her back he checked her over for injuries. He couldn"t find any. Then his energy was pulled further in and he almost broke away.
"Be still, James. See where your energy is taking you."
He followed the lines and saw two different kinds of blood. Shouldn"t there have been three? As he searched for the third, he noticed the other two had been damaged and several scars covered her internal organs. It was only in the scars that he found traces of the third blood. Slowly James pulled his energy out. He looked at her face, Lilly looked beaten and in pain. He kissed her tenderly on the lips.