Bow to the King

Chapter Six

"Why?"

"She lost a lot of blood, my lord. She is unwell and injured. Sometimes the body just needs to rest." Brianne shrugged and walked towards Rose. "I cannot say how long it will be until she awakens."

"But she will awaken?" He pressed anxiously. Brianne chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, my lord, I am convinced she will. I believe you reached her just in time. Had the wolf held on much longer he would have undoubtedly killed her. She was very lucky." Brianne touched Rose's forehead lightly, but immediately a frown fell on her face. Tristan's heart skipped a beat at her expression.

"What? What is it?" Brianne turned and began rummaging through her supplies.

"She has developed a fever." She mixed some herbs together into a cup and left it on her table. "I must check her wounds." She rushed back to Rose's side in a hurry. Tristan silently prayed she would not make him leave again, he would not feel at ease until he knew what was wrong. Brianne glanced at him.

"Please do not ask me to leave," Tristan said in a hurry, widening his eyes. "I only wish to know if she is well."

"Very well, you may stay. But turn and avert your eyes. I must preserve the girl's modesty, my lord." He turned around willingly enough and stared at the fire. There was a pot of water heating in the edge of the coals, it was simmering away. He knew the healer's often made tea to help with pain and sickness. Tristan was silent but he could not hear much, Brianne was very quiet as she presumably unwrapped a bandage. All seemed to be well when suddenly Brianne sucked in a breath rapidly. Tristan desperately wanted to turn around but he forced himself to stay staring at the fire.

"What is wrong?" Brianne came to his side and he turned around. A sheet was covering Rose up to her neck for privacy. Brianne's face was nearly white.

"The wounds are infected." Tristan froze at her words. Infected wounds were rarely successfully treated. Often they were fatal. "Normally I would use bloodletting to try and remove the infection... but she has already lost so much blood." He swallowed and took a deep, restricted breath. If Brianne could not stop the infection the wounds would fester and turn septic. Rose could die... Rose could die. Tristan could not bring himself to comprehend the thought. Such a fate seemed so impossible for one who had already fought so much.

"Can you not help her?"

"I will do... everything that I can think of. But I have only seen a very few amount of people recover from infections, my lord. It is perhaps best not to hope too strongly for a recovery. I need to tend to her, you must go," she spoke gently but her words brought no peace to him. She pushed him towards the door.

"What can I do?" He asked her desperately.

"Pray, my lord. Pray."

~

Rose's dreams were vivid and her head was thick with a foggy confusion. She could not understand if she was awake or sleeping.

She saw strange, strange images. Wolves chased her and snapped at her. Dark trees crowded her vision. Sometimes the image of Tilly would dance through her dreams. Faces flashed before her. Mistress Eudora, beaming and always baking. The townsfolk, ignoring her as she begged for food. She could see Anabelle laughing, but her voice was far away and echoed around Rose until it faded.

Perhaps she was asleep. Confusion wafted through her. What was she doing?

Try as she might, she could not wake up. She felt in a haze. She could not move; she could not even remember how one moved. She was left, immobilized, to watch the scenes before her eyes.