Blushing and Bathing

Jeremiah headed back to the main house to check on Dorothy. He found her sitting under the table, she was pale with bags beginning to form under her eyes. It appeared she hadn't gotten any sleep during the night either.

"Be a good girl and be making us some food. A brothy soup with lots of salt be best." He picked up a knocked over stool and sat on it before slumping over the table.

"Dad? You aren't hurt are ya?" Dorothy scrambled out from under the table.

"I be fine girl. Just tired, too old for this." He felt his eyelids sagging, there was still lots of work to do. "Have you seen Eli or Daniel?"

"No, dad." Dorothy couldn't take her eyes off her blood soaked father. She was just glad it was the blue green blood of monsters and none of his.

Jeremiah just grunted, his eyes already closed. "Wake me when the food is ready."

**********

D tried to wipe some of the tacky blood off himself and found it impossible. Another of the things he missed from the academy was being clean. For most of his life how clean or filthy he was hadn't mattered. But after his time at the academy, he found he disliked being gross and filthy.

Eyeing a water trough outside the stables he made his way there. Inside he could hear the goats they kept bleating loudly, most likely still terrified even in the aftermath of the battle. Or maybe it was just the stink of him approaching. Stripping his clothes off he climbed into the trough. It was cold and the water wasn't all that clean. But it was better than nothing. He spent a little bit scrubbing the filth off of him then leaned back. The water didn't feel as cold anymore to him and instead felt relaxing. It was barely past dawn and the next attack wouldn't happen until tonight. With his arms braced on the sides of the trough and his head lolled back he slipped into unconsciousness.

**********

Jeremiah jerked awake, his eyes having only been closed for an instant. Dorothy was next to him a steaming bowl in her hand. "Dad? Food be done."

Jeremiah pushed himself to sit up. Despite feeling like only an instant he must have been asleep for a while. It did little to abate his fatigue but instead only left him feeling stiff. "Dat be a good girl." He took the soup and tried to eat with the spoon in the bowl. His fingers were stiff from his death grip on the hilt of his sword and the joints ached from the impact of his sword cleaving bunyips all night long. He gave up and slurped the soup straight from the bowl.

It was gone before he knew it, the rich overly salty broth warming him from inside out and revitalizing him. He was tempted to eat another bowl but knew as exhausted as he was eating too much would only make things worse. "Go feed da boy. Then see if you can find them damn cousins of mine. I'm going to clean up, then we got work to do repairin da wall."

Jeremiah groaned as he pushed to standing and started making his way to his bedroom. Dorothy watched her father go with more than a little worry. She had lived her entire life in Lender's Mire. Grew up watching her father defend the place from bandits and monsters. To her, the yearly Bunyip invasion had almost been a holiday. Some of her cousins would come, they would tell her stories and share news of the world beyond the walls of her home. Now, now she just wished it was all over.

With a sigh, she took her father's bowl from the table and entered their small kitchen. She had to feed the other hunter. Da boy as her father said. She remembered how her father acted the night before and wondered again if she was mistaking his intentions. Despite everything, she felt her pulse quicken if only a little at the implications.

**********

Dorothy stood frozen. Sitting in the trough for the animals was the boy she was bringing the bowl of soup to. The water was now murky with the blue green blood of the bunyips. But his torso was exposed and she couldn't help but stare. His dirty blonde hair was wet and slicked back dripping water from where his head lolled back. He had seemed skinny compared to her father and her cousins. But now without his shirt, she saw a chest hard with muscles. She felt herself flush as she stared at his chest and forced herself to speak. "Um, Sir D." Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

Licking her lips she cleared her throat and spoke a bit louder. "Sir D."

His head snapped up and his eyes focused on her with an intensity that stole her breath away. His hand instantly darted to the pile of filthy clothing next to the trough as if making sure it was still there. "Just D." His voice was smooth and surprisingly deep for someone she thought was just her age. It made her heart flutter and gave her chills.

"Sorry, um D. I brought soup for you." She held out the steaming bowl she was carefully holding in both hands. She had filled it almost to the brim.

D stood up and stepped out of the trough. Dorothy's eyes bulged and her face grew fiery hot. She wanted to cover her eyes as she squeaked but her hands were full. Dorothy's eyes darted down, against her will, only making her embarrassment worse.

D for his part seemed not to notice, his eyes locked on the bowl of soup and his nose twitching. He took the soup from her hands and sat on the edge of the trough. Taking the spoon he tasted the soup and then proceeded to drink the soup straight from the bowl.

Dorothy stood frozen. It was all too much for her. Like any girl her age, she had been curious about boys. She had felt overwhelmed just seeing his naked chest, now she had seen his naked… everything. Before she could decide what to do he gulped the last of the soup and held out the bowl. "Any more?"

"Um. Yes. I'll be right back." She looked down at the bowl and her eyes slipped past it to him. Suddenly, she snatched the bowl away and run as if fleeing back to the house. In the kitchen, she stopped to catch her breath. Half out of breath from running and half on the verge of hyperventilation from the situation. She took several deep breaths and found herself calming down.

"Get ahold of yourself Dorothy girl. It be no big deal. Just a boy. Yeah. Just a boy." Recent images flooded her mind and she shook her head to clear it. She started filling the bowl. "But a boy ya dad might be trying to wed ya too." She spoke her next thought out loud and some of the soup sloshed out of the ladle before it got to the bowl. When she returned she expected him to be dressed. Instead, he was kneeling at the trough still naked and appeared to be scrubbing out his clothes.

She squeaked a little bit when he stood up and turned to her but she was proud of herself. She kept her composure well she thought. Even kept her eyes from wandering, much. He gulped down the bowl and again asked. "Any more?"

She just nodded and scurried back to the house. When she returned the next time he was naked as he wrote out words of light in the air. She stood behind him watching the glowing symbols entranced. Magic. Her great granddad had been a mage. Magic was supposed to be in their blood. But her dad couldn't use magic. She certainly couldn't. No one she knew had ever even seen magic done. But here was a boy no older than her doing just that.

Suddenly, the glowing wall of words shrank down and formed a circle of light. A whooshing sound was heard and she realized his clothes were hanging from a pole in front of him. They flapped as if caught in a decent breeze but the air was heavy, humid, and still around them. He turned around to take the bowl from her hands and gulped down the broth. When he finished it looked as if he was going to ask for more, she was almost ready to run back to the house and scoop up the last little bit when he instead asked. "Where is Jeremiah?"

"Dad is getting cleaned up. He said to feed you." Dorothy answered the entire time thinking to herself. 'The eyes. Look him in the eyes. Nowhere else. Just the eyes…. Damn it.'

D turned around and grabbed his clothes. Dorothy blinked a few times and noticed that the previously damp clothes now looked dry. When he started pulling his pants on she blushed and turned around to head to the house. "I'll get dad."

**********

Jeremiah came out of his room wearing clean clothes. He'd taken the time to scrub most of the filth off him in a basin in his room. Dorothy came rushing into the house as if something was chasing her. Her face flushed and her eyes just a bit wide. "What be wrong girl? More monsters already?" He rushed up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"No. No monsters. Just… Um D. I mean Sir D. He be out in the yard." Jeremiah raised an eyebrow. He'd never seen his daughter so flustered, she was practically stammering speaking so fast she stumbled on her word. Had the boy tried something? What would he do if he did?

"What be wrong girl. You… Did the boy do something?" Jeremiah gritted his teeth starting to imagine the worst.

"No. He. I. He was bathing. I didn't mean. I wasn't trying to look." She couldn't look her father in the eye and her face was flushed even more. Jeremiah felt a rush of relief and resisted the urge to chuckle.

'That's my good girl.' he thought. Outloud he said. "I see. What about the others?" When she shook her head he sighed. "Go get some rest." He kissed her on the forehead and headed outside.

While cleaning up he had been debating on what to do. The number of monsters was beyond anything he had expected. Most likely Eli and Daniel had gone over the back wall. They were either halfway back to their own homes or dead. If the attack tonight was the same they might be better off abandoning Lender's Mire. But he didn't know where they would go.

His plan was to let the boy rest some while he appraised the extent of the damage to the wall. If it was too bad he'd take Dorothy and the boy to Nimil. It wasn't ideal but he wasn't sure what else to do. When he stepped outside he watched in a bit of shock as D carried one of the small boulders, easily as big as himself, with ease across the yard. He wedged it next to another covering the hole. After that, he stepped back and looked to be staring at the rocks intently.

Soon he drew out the golden feather and started more of that strange glowing writing. Then Jeremiah watched in a mix of awe and surprise as the rocks changed. Merging together first then spreading across the hole to completely seal it. Maybe Lender's Mire wasn't completely lost.