The Intruder
Donncahd didn't seem aware, his breaths were still steady. His face, normally stern, was softened in his sleep, his hair mussed.
The blade glinted in the candlelight, poised above his chest, and Rache was up and out of her chair.
That was not the medic, nor any kind of associate she recognized.
They were on the other side of Donncahd's bed. But they weren't looking at her.
She grabbed the first thing she saw - the bamboo stick at her side - and lunged forward, reaching over Donncahd to whack the figure's face before they could strike.
The bamboo stick slammed into the assailant's face, bending and then snapping ins a shower of splinters.
Drops of blood splattered across her hand from where her now-jagged stick scratched across the assailant's face. They staggered backwards, recoiling in shock and confusion.