Part of Them

Part 34

I decided to try my luck in convincing him that he had finished treating my wounds before he had left earlier.

"We were done, remember?"

He gave me a look that said something along the lines of 'Do you think I'm some kind of idiot? I dare you to continue that statement.'

"Don't look at me like that, it's true! You cleaned the wound on my stomach very thoroughly. What else is there to do?" I looked at him with a hint of annoyance in my eyes. Couldn't he just let the matter go? I had far more worries than some wounds on my mind. The curse was more serious than that and the removal of it could quite possibly change my whole perspective on life! How could he continue thinking about my physical health when there was a way more important matter at hand?

"Maybe wrapping it up? I'll be quick, don't worry," He mumbled the last part under his breath.

Scowling, I knew there was no point in arguing when he had already made up his mind and rolled my shirt up to give him access to the wound on my stomach.

He visibly cringed. "Couldn't you have been a little more careful with it? There's blood all over it," He hissed.

"I did my best, but the examination from the curse mark on my back required me to lay on my stomach. I couldn't have been more careful when moving," I defended myself.

My words were true, I had only followed Rayi's commands.

Turning around on his heel, he threw Rayi a nasty glare, but I highly doubt that the man noticed because he was way too immersed in his work, scribbling at high speed on his paper on the clipboard.

Sighing in frustration, Alerus turned back around, grabbed a small white package from a corner of the counter blocked from my view, and strolled over to me. He squatted down in front of my bed and gingerly ripped the package so that the contents wouldn't spill out onto the floor.

He pulled out a roll of bandages, a large white and soft pad, which I guessed went on the wound itself, and some tape that was probably supposed to hold the contraption together.

Glancing at my eyes for a second, as if to assure himself that this was alright, he pressed the white pad on my wound. It was just large enough to cover the open skin.

I took the little wave with his other free hand as an invitation to sit up and had to hold the hems of my shirt up with my chin so that it wouldn't fall back down onto my stomach when sitting up. I needed my hands to support the weight, otherwise that process would be way too painful.

Scrunching my face into an expression of discomfort, I lifted my torso up. It was very uncomfortable with his hand pressing down onto my wound like that.

When I was in a position he considered straight enough, he picked up the roll of bandages and started wrapping my stomach and lower back in it.

"I can't believe how calm you are in a situation like this... You don't even flinch," He chuckled lightly, but there was also a hint of nervousness in his voice.

He really thinks I suffer a lot from it, doesn't he?

To me, a wound is just a wound. Of course it hurts, and you are sort of restricted when it comes to moving around with it, but it will heal one day. Isn't that enough comfort? Why make such a big deal out of it? It's just a little pain and as long as it doesn't turn into something life threatening it doesn't make much of a difference.

Alerus was just an oversensitive mother hen in my opinion. He looked out for others when they could look after themselves just fine too.

I was looking at him with different eyes now. Some time ago, I always tried to see similarities between my brothers and me. Let it be some distinct feature like the shape of their eyes or Rosen's cute nose that I somehow resembled too. But now that I was looking into the dark, black eyes, I could no longer compare the dark gray specks in my eyes to them.

I felt ashamed. How could I have been so naive back then? I should've noticed something.

He was almost done wrapping me up with all the bandage that the roll consisted of, when I needed to ask him the question that had been nagging me at the back of my mind ever since he stepped into the room.

"Was the woman you just took into the castle Linda?" I asked, chewing on my bottom lip nervously. For some reason I didn't want her to be tortured so severely by the brothers. Even though her actions were very wrong, she was still a nice woman who had taken a poor child in and treated it as her own. The problem was me, not her. You couldn't expect someone living in a village where all supernatural was frowned upon and considered demonic to just welcome me with open arms after she found out about my true origin. But then again, she herself wasn't even human. She might've only been half witch, but she was still a witch nonetheless. She could've helped me somehow, or maybe NOT have drawn the mark on my back. Perhaps she could've even drawn some nice charm that would help me instead of hurt me.

Alerus halted in his movements for a second, before continuing again.

"Yes," He replied a little nervously. "But you don't have to worry, she will learn her lesson down there. Not that it helps her anyways, her fate is already sealed," He continued.

I opened my mouth to say something, but he held up a hand, signaling me to be quiet.

"And no, before you even ask, you are not allowed to visit her. We can certainly deliver her any messages and you can suggest any torture method of your choice, but you cannot go down there," He stated, speaking in a finalizing tone.

And just like that, I closed my mouth again, disappointed and a little disturbed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next update tomorrow :D