Inheritance: Scales of Change

Chapter Twenty Three - Fighting

"Come on." Caspian led you to the bedside. "Take them off."
    You gave him a look of defiance but complied. Caspian poured water into the wash basin and cleaned off the dried blood. You winced each time the towel brushed near the open tissue, but tried to hide it.
"You're lucky. It doesn't seem that deep." He finally sighed.
"See I told you."
"But it is wide." He inspected it. "We have to wrap it."
    You watched the blanket over your father moved up and down slightly with his labored breaths as Caspian wrapped your thigh. Your thoughts raced with the events of the last few minutes. He took an arrow for you. One of Vorsud's men shot at you, even when you had shown the General mercy. You beat him. You won the freedom of your people, your father, and yourself, and they broke that agreement. Righteous anger rose inside you.
"Did Vorsud escape?" You looked down at Caspian.
"Yes."
"Motherfucker." You swore partially at the situation and partially at the stinging pain on your leg.
"You were brilliant."
"A lot of good that did us...."
    "It did more than you think. You showed the men what kind of leader you are, you fought with honor and showed mercy when you didn't have to. And I know how difficult it was for you to stay your blade..."
"It actually wasn't. When all was said and done, I didn't want to kill him anymore..." you surprised yourself with your admission.
Caspian looked up at you from his knees. "Well now, I do."
You gaped at him. "You don't mean that."
    "I do. He broke our agreement, one that he insisted on the details of. Because of him, your father could be..." he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, and cleared his throat, "but most of all, he hurt you." He finished wrapping your leg, and leaned down to kiss it. "That man has no honor, no value for human life. He is pure evil, and there is no place for him in this world."
"I thought you wanted your people to see that their King was merciful?"
"My Queen did that for me, and now it's my job to defend her." He stood, and kissed the top of your head. "I want you to stay in here, keep an eye on your Dad, I'll send Roisin in to help you."
"What? No. I'm going back out there." You started to get up
"I'm not arguing about this with you." Caspian held your shoulder down. "You've done more than enough, please."
He had such fear in his eyes, such a desperate plea to keep you safe. You couldn't bear to fight him. "Ok." You sighed.
"Thank you, My Starlight."
    He moved into the study, and you heard him digging around in his trunk. You walked towards him, and stood in the doorway as you watched him pull out several bronze pieces of armor. It hit you suddenly that you were at war. Caspian is going out there to fight a war. You panicked.
"Stay here, with me." You knelt by him and grabbed his hand as he pulled a pauldron out.
"My Love, my men...our men... need me."
"I need you." You squeezed his hand.
    He stopped pulling armor out and cupped your cheek with his hand. "I need you too. Which is why I'm asking you to stay here. I cannot fight and focus on keeping you safe."
"Who's going to keep you safe?"
He knocked on the breastplate sitting on the floor. "That's what these are for." He gave you a half-hearted smile.
"If you're going to fight, I want to be by your side."
    He shook his head. "You have no armor, and you're already injured. You fought your battle, My Love, now I must fight mine." He stood and began securing his armor.
    You picked up an arm brace and stood as well, handing it to him. He lifted his breastplate, securing the buckle to the back, fitted it over his head, and you helped strap the closures tightly. You continued, in silence, helping him into his armor, until he stood before you, a fully clad, shining knight. Outside of this situation, you might have found the image swoon-worthy, but at this moment, it was a reminder of the danger he was about to face.
"Be careful." You said softly.
    He stepped towards you, and pulled you into him. "As long as I know you are here waiting for me, I have a reason to fight for my life." He pulled you into a desperate kiss, and you fell into it. Every unspoken word between you was said in a split second. Every plea for each other's safety, every "I love you," every fear of losing the other spilled over your lips as you pressed them to his.
    He pulled away, and reached for the door. "Stay safe. Both of you." The door opened and the sound of utter chaos and pain filled your ears from the deck. With one last look back at you, he stepped into it.

*    *    *

    You sat in a chair next to your father, talking to his unconscious body for what felt like hours. You knew he couldn't hear you, but talking kept your mind off the banging, shouting, and screaming that was coming from outside. It also kept you from thinking about the fact that although his wound had been closed a while ago, his condition had not improved. His color was still off, his skin still cold to the touch, and his breathing still labored. A large black and purple bruise had begun to form around the site of his injury, which you could only assume was internal bleeding. You applied a compress of lavender and frankincense to help promote the healing, but as you would have told anyone else in your shoes "it's going to take time."
    Roisin still had not come, even though Caspian said he would call for her. You could only assume that meant it was too dangerous for her to cross the deck from the forge, or... worse... No. You can't think like that. Raxe would die before he let anything happen to her. As if on cue, the study doors burst open, then quickly shut again.
"I's bloody madness ou' there..." Roisin rushed towards you.
"I'm so glad you're safe." You stood to hug her. "I was beginning to think the worst."
"Sorry, Raxe wouldn' le' me ou' o' the forge until all the Calormen were gone."
"They're gone then?"
"Aye. Caspian chased them off, fer now..."
You sighed a breath of relief. "So he's...?"
"Yes, they're both alrigh'." She smiled. "You on the oth'r hand..."
"I'm fine. I'm not so sure about my Dad though."
She moved towards the table, and took his wrist in her hand, feeling his pulse. "He's very weak..."
"Yea... he lost a lot of blood."
She pinched the skin on the back of his hand. "He needs fluids. Has he woken up atall?"
You shook your head.
"Have ye tried to wake him?"
"No, I thought it was best to let him rest."
"If we can ge' him teh take some wine, it'll help."
You crossed to your father's other side, and shook him a bit. "Dad..."
Nothing.
"Dad." You spoke louder.
You swear you saw his eyes tighten.
"Dad. Please wake up, I need to know you're ok..."
His head tilted in your direction, ever so slightly, then he stopped moving again.
Roisin handed you a towel soaked through with water. "Press tha' to his lips. See if he'll suck on it."
"Dad. Here. Water." You shook him lightly again, and pressed the wet cloth to his mouth. To your immense relief, he opened his mouth slightly, and allowed it to drip onto his tongue. You pulled it away as his body relaxed back into his sleep.
"Be'er than nothin'." Roisin sighed. "I'll wa'ch him now. You need teh rest too."
"There's no way I'm resting while all this is going on..."
To emphasize your point, the sound of heavy THUNK, THUNK, THUNK pattered against the hull, echoing through your room.
"What was tha?"
Without stopping to think, you turned and ran out the door.