Fearless (A Mulan Retelling)

Chapter Twenty Six

Iris wobbled to her feet two hours later. Her head throbbed and her abdomen was still in terrifying pain from the night before, causing her to clutch the wound. The General used a hand to help steady her, much to her appreciation. He'd been in and out of her room since she'd woken up.

"How are you holding up?" Zayn asked, still keeping a hand on the top of Iris's back. Iris wasn't sure how to answer his question, as she was still in way more pain than she was ever accustomed to being in. She only held tight to her wound and grimaced as the sharp pain flared up.

"Ingred?" the general repeated, and Iris remembered that he had asked her a question.

"I'll live," she finally replied, "I just hurt like hell. My head is ringing too. Gods."

"You drank a lot last night. You were quite the show," he told her, trying his best to distract her from her discomfort. Humoring him, she tried to remember any of it, and yet even with thought, she found that her mind only drew blanks.

"I'm sure I was," she grumbled, voice even rougher than usual.

The General didn't get a chance to say anything else before the door opened. Iris watched as each of the men from her scouting group walked in. They all seemed to be surprised that she was standing.

"He's up and about?" Ra asked, surprised.

"Aye," Iris croaked, "I am. More or less."

"Are you sure you shouldn't be laying down, Ingred?" said Dregar. Iris drew her gaze to him, and found a genuine look of concern swimming about his face, "You really did take a hard hit last night from that archer. General had to pull the arrow from your rib." Iris nodded, and then slowly sat down on the bed's edge.

"It might not be a bad idea," she admitted, "but don't we have something to do today?"

"I do," Zayn answered. "I'm supposed to meet with that messenger about the Caverns," he told all of them, and then added, "This evening, we were going to head out. We can stay longer though, if you need it."

"No. I'll be fine. It wasn't lethal." Her face contorted, defying her words. "Don't let me hold us up."

"Are you sure about that? I think I speak the obvious when I say that you've seen better days, Ingred." Zayn met Iris's eyes to emphasize his point. "You are very injured... very injured."

"I'll heal on the road. Every day we take cutting the head from the snake is another that our soldiers spend fighting and dying at the Caverns," she said. "My comfort is not worth hundreds of lives. I'll be fine to leave on schedule. Just... I'll rest for today."

"You do that." He looked to the window. "I'm going back out to see if I can't find a medic for you."

"No! I will be fine," she said a little too quickly, and then reprimanded herself for looking suspicious. However, no one seemed to notice, not even the General. Ra then stepped forward, and placed a hand on Iris's shoulder and shook it a little.

"Don't being stubborn, lad. Tha's comin' from me. Ye need someone to look ye over and get you somethin' for pain."

"Healers aren't cheap," Iris went on. "I don't have the kind of coin for that."

"Then it's on me," the general said. When Iris opened her mouth to argue, he threw up a hand to cut her off. "You saved my life. Call it a gift. I won't hear anything more of it. You need healing."