Inheritance

Set Fire

Alec catches the woman as she faints, stumbling with the unexpected weight.

"You just had to scare her," Alec scowls at Heira. His demeanor towards his step mother is baffling when compared to the gentle kindness he shows to the woman as he carries her back into the room she had been staying in.

As he sets her on the bed her eyes flutter open once again, the peaceful expression fading as her stern mask is put into place. Being weak still, she does not fight against Alec as he lays her down on the bed.

When her back and shoulders touch the bed she jolts up into a sitting position, seeming startled and panicked. Her arm twists around over her shoulder, fingers delicately brushing against the spot where one of the gashes had been on her back. 

Her face seems to crumple then, her strong elegance turning into hopeless misery. Tears start to run down her face and Alec, not knowing what to do, simply stares in shock before wrapping his arms around her comfortingly. 

"Shhh.. it'll be alright..." he whispers, not knowing what was wrong and, in that moment, he didn't care. He only wanted to find the cause of her pain and fix it for her. 

Her face turns up to look at him, the tears slowing to a stop but not taking the haunted look from her pain filled eyes. Alec takes her cheek in his hand, brushing his thumb over her tear stained skin. 

"It'll be alright.." he repeats quietly. 

She simply stares back at him, silence enveloping the two as the day fades into evening. 

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Alec finds himself running his fingers through her hair, thinking to himself how strange the young woman was. 

It takes him a moment to realize that she had fallen asleep clutching his shirt like a life line. Alec gently lays her down on the bed and pulls a blanket up over her. He brushes his hand over her cheek once more, clearing it of her tears from her breakdown. 

"It'll be alright..." he seems to be whispering to not only her, but himself.