Chapter 115

Blinking, Bastian slowly breathed in. Everything was so cold. He shivered and looked down the length of his body to see that half of him was submerged in the creek.

He rolled over and out of the water but his right side objected so painfully his vision began to black out. He rested himself on his knees and caught his breath, wrapping himself protectively to try and stem the pain.

Once the blinding pain has subsided he looked to his left and saw Hydrangea's horse, Tree, standing there. Pawing the ground and nickering nervously. Where was Hydrangea.

"Hydrangea…" He whispered but winced as the action had painfully stretched his wound.

Turning to look to his right his heart stopped. The snow jaguar, the beast that had nearly killed him, was lying still, pressed against a large rock.

"Hydrangea." He said and tried to stand but the world swayed beneath his feet and he fell to the hard ground. The freezing snow that surrounded him did nothing to ebb the pain or the cold. His teeth chattered as he crawled to where the beast lay.

With as much strength as he could manage—which wasn't much—he shoved the beast's corpse away and only caught a glimpse of Hydrangea's pale body before his world careened into darkness.

~~~~~~~~~

Hydrangea's eyes snapped open. The white cloudy sky met her eyes, small snowflakes falling lazily.

She swallowed and finally inhaled. Her eyes looked to her right where the white and grey creature was resting on the rocks. The sword embedded in its stomach.

She grimaced as she recalled how in that instant before it attacked her she'd raised the sword to meet it. She killed it.

With very hesitant hands she reached out and tried to pull the blade out. The sound of flesh against the steel made her stomach churn violently and her throat burn.

She let out a shaky breath and decided that she couldn't look at it anymore. She looked at where her horse nickered and remembered that the Sovereign had been lying there.

Her eyes widened when he wasn't there.

Her mouth opened to call him but that's when her eyes spotted the dark cloaked form on the ground next to her. She immediately crouched and surveyed his person.

Her head spun and she felt somewhat faint, it might be because she'd hit her head on the rock.

She carefully flipped him onto his back and she paled upon seeing the wound. Three long gashes stretched along his right side. Luckily they didn't cut too deep, but they were deep enough.

He was still cold and his clothes were slightly damp.

She looked around and began to prioritize. She knew that they needed to get out of the valley; there could be more creatures out there. But right now, the Sovereign needed to be tended to.

She took a deep breath and after fixing her clothes she hooked her arms under his underarms. With all her strength she tried to pull him to the cover of the trees. But her meagre strength failed her and she collapsed to the rocky ground, panting for air.

She decided that she might as well set up the camp. Looking down the creek she spotted the bloodied and torn body of Gravel, the Sovereign's horse. She didn't feel like sifting through the poor animal's saddle bags, so she turned to Tree, her horse.

Setting up the single tent and starting the small fire had only taken a few minutes. As soon as her hands were free she sprinted back to the Sovereign. There wasn't too much blood but he'd still lost some, she could tell by the streaks on the ground. His shirt was damp with the red liquid and it was still flowing slowly.

She did her best to tend to him as he lay on the gravel. She turned for a second to collect some cloth from Tree, when she heard the distinct sound of gravel crunching.

She spun on her heel and her jaw went slack, but she quickly shut it and clenched her fists.

Before her stood Ratri-kar, his white skin shone in the afternoon light, and though it was a soft light it still seemed to block out the sun. She looked away from his pit-like eyes and saw that he was carrying the Sovereign.

She wetted her lips, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

He carried the Sovereign to the tent and after depositing him there he turned to her once more.

"I am here, because Samadur cannot show himself to you, or he simply chooses not to."

She blinked and shook her head, glancing between the Sovereign and the Primal, "That doesn't answer my question."

"No, I suppose it doesn't." He said as he began to walk with his hands clasped leisurely behind his back.

She was confused, this didn't make any sense, she tried to puzzle through it but her gaze kept returning to the Sovereign. She needed to help him.

"Do you know how I must help the Sovereign?" She asked and Ratri-kar stopped in his steps.

"I do. But why help him? He does not have your forgiveness, you despise him do you not?" He said and she looked at the hot coals.

Why was it so hard to say yes? She asked herself. She looked at him once more and then looked back through her memories; he'd slapped her, hurt her, bruised her, cursed her, scared her. This man, the man that was resting with an injury was not that man. He'd never done a single thing like that. And she cared for this man. Her heart still stung from what the old him had done, from what he'd done to all those girls. Just to get a Queen, but he had a Queen now, and she had vowed to be loyal to him.

"I don't despise him." She said in a quiet whisper that was nearly lost in the gentle wind.

Ratri-kar looked at her with his brows raised, "No? And why not?"

She released a shuddering breath, "Because he's changed." She said in a mutter, clearing her throat she said in a louder voice, "Because he's not that man anymore. I can see that. And this new man, is not one that I despise."

"But he does not yet have your forgiveness?" He asked, his white robes shifting as he moved to walk to the creek.

She shook her head, "No. I will never forget what he did, how could I? Girls my age and younger were ripped from their homes and forced to bed with him, in hopes," She scoffed, "In hopes that they might one day become his Queen and bedwarmer for all eternity. No… I will not forgive him. And I never will."

She stood there resolute, her heart stinging and she didn't want to admit why.