Bright Haven

Startled awake by a knock on her door, Gwen gasped for air as she woke expecting to feel the crushing weight when she opened her eyes only to see that the man had scooted off of her and was sleeping to her right closest to the door. She didn't even have time to marvel at the man's face since she had to respond to Cosette coherently.

"Good morning, Your Grace. Would you like your brunch in bed?"

Gwen glanced over to the clock on the wall to see that she missed the brunch in the dining hall with everyone. They must have thought to give her space after last night.

Running a hand down her face, she took in another breath to try and get the tiredness out of her voice. "No, thank you, Cosette. I don't have much of an appetite this morning."

"I see, Your Grace," Cosette said without a skip of a beat. "Your food will be in the dining hall whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, Cosette," Gwen called as relief coursed through her body.

Looking over at the stranger in her bed, she pulled the sheets back with her hands trembling to inspect the wounds of the intruder. Gwen was truly at a loss as to all the abnormal adventures that were being presented to her, and she hesitated before leaning over to brush away the hair that was in the man's eyes.

The man was sleeping so quietly, it was a marvel. But then again, he could have been trained to do so. Her light touch on the man's face only made her thoughts unravel deeper as she took in the handsome face that was a touch too masculine and rugged to be considered classically and aristocratically handsome. 

Still, he was handsome in all ways that mattered. A strong jawline combined with a tall nose gave him a domineering appearance, and his lips pursued into a slight frown despite being asleep.

Pressing her fingers lightly to the curve of his mouth, Gwen immediately retracted her hand to her chest when his facial expression relaxed.

She inspected the amount of blood that was left on the white sheets in shock at the fact the deep wound that she felt yesterday was nowhere close to what she saw this morning.

There was hardly any blood on the sheets at all. The wound itself wasn't as deep as she thought with the large cut healing well despite it festering greatly. She was no doctor, but she would give her all in making sure that it didn't get worse.

Gwen had a chance at getting away with this strange man in his room if she played her cards carefully, but for now, she would get the man's wounds all dressed up and would have to wait for him to wake up before hunting for some answers. The man was in need of help more than she was in need of answers. She would clean him up as best as she could.

She was lucky that she kept a large medical kit inside her room for emergencies. Inside the kit, there were a lot of tools that she had no idea to use, but for the items that she did know would help the man, she cleaned him up well before dressing the wound.

Gwen blushed profusely when she stripped the top half of the man to wash away the dirt and blood on his skin. Lots of bronzed skin with hefty muscles that went through ridiculous training she was sure.

His condition wasn't one that many would take to be beautiful, but Gwen easily marveled at the sight of a naked man's body presented in front of her. She didn't want to look too long since she needed to be respectful of the person rather than looking at him like he was a piece of unknown specimen.

Corded muscles stacked on top of each other, along with the powerful thighs were certainly something one would be intimidated by. She just had to stress that the man was huge once more. The bed within her room was already massive, fitting at least five or six of her, but the man took up a lot of space from head to toe.

There was no way she was able to get the man into the tub and back to the bed, so she stuck to washing the man with a wet cloth before drying the man off. Gwen was surprised to see that the intruder did not wake. His breathing was as deep and even as it was at night, and Gwen continued her work around the man.

It wasn't long before the sun started to fall within its course down the sky, and Gwen's stomach growled while she was cleaning the dirty sheets in the bathtub. If the maids saw what she was doing now, they might faint, but Gwen was proud to hang the sheets out of her balcony in the corner where no one, even gardeners would be able to see.

Rolling the man over to put fresh sheets on the bed was more hilarious than Gwen anticipated, but she soon figured out that the man was down with fever which was the cause of his unresponsiveness after feeling the abrupt change in body temperature. She thought that the man ran hot from the beginning, however now, he was burning to the touch.

She didn't have any fresh clothing that was large enough to fit the stranger, so he was left topless and covered with lots of blankets with a damp towel cast over his head.

Gwen tried to wash his hair as best as could only leaving the sheets and mattress damp with the spilled water along decided to let the man keep his integrity with his pants on.

The thought sent a bubble of laughter out, and Gwen reached over to grab the old towel to switch out for a new one. She had waited out for too long without eating, and she had to eat dinner before she lost her strength.

Gwen couldn't afford to skip her meals since she needed sustenance for strength as most people do to function well. She took a deep breath before moving her way towards the door. She would hope that he was there when he returned.