The Raven & The Wolf

Chapter Thirty-Five

When we get back to Gedric’s house, he’s still in a little bit of shock. When we enter the house, his father is waiting for him. “What happened to him?” Drew asks, coming immediately to help me with him.

“He got some interesting news,” I tell him, stepping out from under Gedric’s arm to allow him to take over. Stanya is still holding Gedric up on his other side.

“Where is your sling?” He demands, looking me over. “Why are you bleeding?”

“I was meditating in one of the sweathouses and your son scared the living daylights out of me. I jumped back and hit the wall.”

“They weren’t lying. You are accident prone.” He grunts, leading Gedric to his old room out of habit.

“I’d take offense of that, if your son wasn’t so dazed. How long does it take him to shake off a surprise?” I ask when Stanya and Drew lay Gedric on the bed.

“An hour or so. I believe the record was three hours when we told him about his grandfather.” He looks me over. “Now young lady, what did you tell him?”

“Something that he really should work out before we spread the news.”

He gives me a serious look. “You’re not pregnant are you?”

I redden while Stanya bursts out laughing. “Fates no. Why would you ask that?”

“I-I never mind.” He then gives a heavy sigh. “I just fixed you.”

“Blame your son,” I say while Stanya looks at the surprisingly large amount of blood coming down my arm. Yep, definitely tore a few stitches.

“Sit down, don’t move,” he tells me just before leaving the room.

“Now I know where Gedric gets his bedside manners from,” I say out loud to Stanya while I go and sit on the chair next to the bed. I turn the chair away from him and remove my blood soaked top.

Stanya comes over and looks at my open wound. “Yep, ouch.” She pulls something from my sutures. “That had to hurt.” She shows me a torn piece of string, that used to be one of my stitches.

“What did I snag that on?”

“Likely a piece of chipped wood.” She then shows me a piece of a splinter. “Those huts are old and are probably beginning to warp.”

“True, but say hello to your classroom for the next few days.” I give her an even look. “It’s perfect to practice elemental sorting.”

She groans. “You always find the worst places to teach me.”

“Name one time?”

“The hall of mirrors to practice illusions of people. I still get nightmares.”

“It worked didn’t it?”

“I was twelve! Most of those illusions were headless.”

“Who was headless?” Drew asks, entering the room.

“Stanya’s illusions when she was younger.”

He nods, looking at the breast wrap I’m wearing. “You soaked your garments as well as your shirt? How many did you tear?”

“I counted nine in the back.” Stanya says while giving me a smirk.

Drew starts cleaning me up while muttering under his breath. I catch the theme, and that’d be patients who never listen. I’ve never said I didn’t listen. I just got startled. To be fair, I shouldn’t have been out of my sling, but I was just meditating. I had never gotten hurt doing that until now.

Finished with my new sutures, Drew wipes off my blood. “Go to bed. If I catch you out of bed, I’ll throw my shoe at you.”

“Yes sir,” I say, standing up.

“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” He asks, glancing at Gedric; who is currently passed out in the bed.

“She’ll spend it at the inn.” Stayna yawns. “Might as well get her settled into something more private.”

Drew looks me over then hands me a new sling. “Only for tonight. I want you under my care for at least another week.”

I yawn in response to Stanya’s. “I’ll live with that. I need to sleep.”

Stanya hands me back my bloody shirt and takes my arm, before leading me away.

When we get to the inn, Stanya talks to a man with orange hair and a very relaxed grin. He gives her the key to my room. Silently I follow her, already dead on my feet. She opens the room next to hers. The layout is identical to hers, but the colors are more of a dark purple. Stanya hands me the key and then tells me to wait. She’s back within seconds with a change of clothes for me.

“Sleep. Sleep in please.” Stanya tells me while handing me the clothes. She kisses my cheek before leaving me alone.

I do not hesitate. I step into my room and immediately lock the door. I pull my clothes off and quickly change. After awkwardly letting my hair loose I go straight to bed.

I wake to the sound of pounding on my door. Groaning I get up and answer it. I open the door to find Gedric panting and soaking wet.

“Gedric,” I groan. “What are you doing here?”

Wordlessly, he grabs the sides of my face and pulls me in for a fevered kiss. My body freezes, unsure what to do or how to feel. I push into his body, allowing myself to feel the warmth spreading through me. His hands traces my waist as I throw my arms around him, my heart beating rapidly, almost matching my breathing.

Gedric hooks his hands behind my legs and pulls me up, stepping into the room without breaking our kiss. Quickly he closes the door with his heel, making my stomach quiver. His tongue dances on my lips, waiting for me to part them. When I open my mouth I hear a loud pounding.

I bolt up, my breath coming out heavily. What did I just dream? Why on earth did I have that dream about Gedric? I glance out the window and see it’s still night and it’s pouring rain, giving the air a sweet smell. Another knock on the door gets me to my feet.

As I stumble to the door, I pinch myself to make sure I’m actually awake this time. My arm is still useless, so I know it’s not a dream. When I open the door, I find an out of breath, soaking wet, Gedric. I blink hard, trying to see if I’m not somehow being influenced by Brin’s owl.

“What are you doing here?” I ask Gedric. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”

“Why are you here?” He demands. “You’re supposed to be under my dad’s care.”

“I still am. You were passed out in your bed, so he told me I can spend the night here.”

He rubs his face and takes a deep breath. “Okay, sorry. I just woke up and you weren’t there. No one was awake, and I just found out I’m the freaking Champion.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I was praying it was a dream. Then I woke up in my old bed and I realized it wasn’t…this is just a nightmare that doesn’t end.”

I give him a sympathetic look while I look him over. His clothes are covered in sweat stains and his hair is a mess. He did just wake up, but he looks like he’s been told his life is over. “Do you want to come in and talk about it?”

In response he walks past me and sits on the corner of the bed. I shrug, confused as to why he chose that particular spot, but then realize it’s dark enough in the room that it’s the only thing you can visibly see. I close and lock the door then turn on a light by slightly brushing the small ball on my nightstand with my fingers. The ball lights up and begins to hover in the air, making the room light up.

Gedric drops his hands from his face when I sit next to him. “I’m a bear?”

“Apparently,” I tell him, holding back the glare that comes to my face. I’m still a bit salty that it got a kick out of scaring me.

“How did you find that out?” He asks, giving me a look that is telling me he’s desperate to be told I made a mistake.

“I was in a state where I was able to see my marks. I saw yours while in that state, and even heard it. You also have gifts that can only truly be explained by being gifted with a mark. Bears are incredible trackers, and so are you. They’re also very attuned to the earth, and so are you. They’re very protective of those they care about, and so are you.”

He looks at me, appearing as if I just caught him doing something wrong. “So you’re saying that I’m a bear?”

I playfully nudge him. “You do sound like one when you snore.”

He rolls his eyes and gently shoves me. “I’m not the one who snores here.”

“Oh, and I do?”

“Softly, but yes.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re worse.”

“Because I’m a bear.”

I chuckle, “It does seem to fit you.”

“Is there anyway out of this?” He asks, looking me over.

“When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.” I lean against him and yawn. “Welcome to the animal club I guess.”

“I’m glad I have your company in there. If you weren’t there, it’d just be Ari.” We both shudder at that. “What happens when Ari finds out about me?”

“He’ll try to kill you and steal your mark. So basically the same thing he’s been trying to do to me.”

“You can fight him. I can’t.” He says, fear evident in his tone. “He’ll mop the floor with me.”

“I’ll train you if you want.”

He tenses a little before speaking. “That’s going to require a lot of your attention. Do you have it to spare?”

“With this arm, I have all the time in the world.” I yawn again. I’m still drained for my little exploration. I’m fortunate enough for Brin to have taught me how to stop in my magic, and use it to evaluate what is around me. If I hadn’t stopped because the earth’s attack, and Articus’s warning hadn’t scared me, I never would have noticed it. I swear that Servant is trying to help without helping. I’m betting he’s trying to attack on both fronts, but it’s sometimes best to not acknowledge the reason behind someone’s actions.

“How is your shoulder feeling by the way?”

“Stitched back up. Your dad was upset by the way. I blamed it on you, so he might have some choice words for you in the morning.”

“Can I take a look?”

I sit up and lower the strap to my black satin top. I feel his fingers hover over my puckering skin, just before touching it.

“You’re bruised but that seems to be the worst of it. How did you even tear them?”

“Stanya thinks it was the wall. There must have been some loose wood, or some part that warped from the steam and stuck out.”

He hesitates. “Are you still angry with me? I didn’t mean what I said. I was just frustrated that you seem to have so little regard for your life.”

I take a deep breath before speaking. “Gedric, since I was young my life has always been in danger. It got to the point that I was so scared that I would die, that my fear kept triggering overloads since I was constantly in fight or flight. I had to accept that I am going to die someday, and it may very well be from Ari. I guess in that acceptance I have grown careless with the value my life can hold. However, I do not have that luxury to try to preserve my life when others are in danger because of Ari. I’m the only chance the world has to surviving him. That is until, I guess, you.”

I look over my shoulder. “The Fates have chosen you to take the wolf Gedric, and I have been forbidden to. Our only option to survive him right now is training you for that battle, and researching what happens if you were the one to actually steal his wolf. We can’t destroy it, or it’ll upset the balance. However, you’ve been chosen as the only one that can handle the violent tendencies the wolf will bring. It’s possible to tame the wolf, and you get to be the unfortunate person to be the one to attempt it.”

“You’re going to be there to help me, right?”

“Every step.” I turn my head and yawn. I think I used more energy than I had anticipated.

Gedric yawns in response. “I think we better get some rest if you’re going to train me.”

I nod. “We’ll start after we wake up.”

“Do you want me to go back to my room?”

I glance out the window and it’s raining harder. Almost as hard as the day when we were in Shira. My head tingles a little, making me rub my head. “If you want to you can, or you can stay here since it’s a torrential rainstorm out there.”

“Are you okay?” Gedric asks, touching my healthy shoulder.

I shake my head. “My head feels funny. Like it’s trying to remember something.”

“The rain might be triggering a memory. Focus on it.”

I try to and it feels like a sneeze that won’t come. I groan and rub my temples. “I can’t remember.”

He lets out a disappointed breath. “Well if it’s hurting you to try, don’t force it. Maybe it’ll come to you in the morning.”

“Maybe,” I groan and lay down in the bed. Gedric lays down as well and pushes himself as far from me as possible, before carefully throwing the covers over us.

I start massaging my temples and roll towards him, pushing my head into his firm chest. “It’s giving me a headache.” I say in way of explanation. He smells sweet, like the rain, but it’s making my head more distressed.

He strokes my hair, “It’ll be okay. Just try to sleep it off.”

I nod and close my eyes, and eventually, drift off to an eventful slumber.