Wicked Winter Book. 1

❅ Chapter 8 ❅

The kid nodded franticly. "Yes sir," he murmured.

Fritz hit him on the back, hard enough to make his teeth rattle. "Off with you then! Hurry!"

Soon his finger landed on he, his once teasing eyes now as hard as stone, almost frightened. "You come with me." He motioned for a woman with salt streaked hair. "Fetch a healer to see to her wounds. And make it fast."

The older woman nodded and bowed before turning briskly on a heel and strutting away from us.

Ulirc had let my elbow go, leaving me to swoop and sway on my own as I stumbled after Fritz. We entered his large tent, and I was amazed to see it was more elaborate than my dorm back at the academy; large rugs of red velvet and golden silk coating the floor. Large drapes clung to the walls, embroidered with dark beading and silver gems that glimmered in the little light that filtered through the opening in the tent.

Fritz's tent was one large room, a huge canopy bed in one corner, a gas stove in another, and large chairs and couches in the middle to comply for a living room.

I stopped and wavered in place, fighting to keep my balance. I just wanted to sit down, to rest, to set my head in my hands and close my eyes. Fritz must've saw my internal dilemma because he turned around and placed a hand on my arm, letting me settle my weight on his shoulder. "So Bash sent you, yes?" He asked, his voice rumbling in his throat. What was up with all male witches having scary, deep voices?

Fritz let me towards a chair where I could finally sit down, my knees almost ready to give out.

"Yes."

"Are you sure he said code blue?"

I nodded, not bothering to answer this time. I let my head roll to the side, not having the energy to lift it. My head hurt so bad and I felt like I was going to puke.

"Is there anything else I need to know? Did Bash say anything else that might be useful?" It took me a moment to comprehend what he was asking, and I was duly interested in why he was calling him 'Bash'. I thought only friends had nicknames. Were they close?

I groaned. Couldn't he just let me sleep? "Yes," I croaked. "He said you were to send for the Water Sage, Akan."

Fritz's eyes widened, his lips straightening into a firm white line, but I was too tired to care.

Suddenly the entrance of the tent pulled back, bathing the interior in light for a moment before it died and a small woman stood by the opening, a square briefcase in hand.

"I'm here to see to a young girl's wounds."

With Fritz's command she flittered to my side, her black cloak flowing around her feet. She wasn't old, not by any means. If anything she was my age or younger, her cheeks rosey and her emerald eyes bright. She golden hair was pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, and her fingers were gentle as they poked and prodded the tender flesh on my hairline.

"My, you must've took a nasty fall," she mentioned with concern, her eyebrows knitting together. I didn't want to talk, and shaking my head seemed to take too much effort, so instead I decided to go with a low grunting sound. It seemed to do the trick, because she chuckled and stopped talking to me. At this point I just wanted to lay down and calm my rolling stomach. With a sigh I closed my eyes.

"It looks like she may have a concussion," the woman said, not to me.

"How bad?" asked Fritz. I heard footsteps come closer.

There was shuffling beside me, and the snap of a button. "Judging by the way she's struggling to keep her eyes open, bad enough. She has a nasty cut on the crown of her head and I still need to check her mouth." Another snap. "But I have a few herbs in my satchel that should make the pain go away -"