A Double-Edged Sword

Discovery and Injury

That night, they didn’t stop to sleep, but by mid-morning the following day, they were finally forced to stop and rest. The wagons with the wounded kept going, on their way to a city where doctors could be found to treat them. Despite her weariness, sleeping in the saddle never worked very well, even though Lela had tied herself to Tumbleweed and managed to doze for a few hours. Consequently, all Lela wanted to do was sleep when they stopped, but somehow she managed to keep going.

By the time they stopped the night of her second full day without sleep, Lela could barely keep her eyelids open. However, somehow she managed to tend to her horses before she collapsed in a blood encrusted heap, and allowed her body the rest it needed.

Nightmares plagued her dreams. She woke up covered in sweat several times that night. Just before dawn, the worsened, and she actually found herself screaming when she opened her eyes.

“Leake?” a groggy voice asked.

Lela was too busy fighting to separate her nightmare from reality to answer. The worst part was she had been dreaming about reality.

“Hey, are you okay?” Jorany asked again, as he propped himself up on his elbow in order to get a better look at her.

“I need to get this blood off of me!” Lela suddenly panicked.

She flung her covers off, and without thinking ran to the small lake they were camped by. Not stopping to evaluate her actions, she plunged into the cold water, scrubbing at every part of her. Her hair, her hands, her face. She couldn’t get the sticky, bloody feel off of her. She removed her jacket, trying to wash the blood out of it as well, and realized that the blood was everywhere. Her pants were stained with her, as was her shirt. And the boots she had pulled off, right before entering the lake. She had just removed her shirt, when she finally realized that she wasn’t alone. Jorany had followed her.

“Leake?” he asked again.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, grabbing her shirt and rebuttoning it.

“Are you sure?” he didn’t sound convinced.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Lela insisted without turning around.

She had been foolish. She had nearly outed herself, merely because she had overreacted. Trying to calm her breathing, she tried to feel around for the jacket she had just torn off. She heard the water move behind her.

“Leake, really. You can talk to me,” Jorany spoke, reaching out to grab her arm.

As he grabbed her arm, Lela felt the wrap she had made for her chest, loosen. No, not now, she thought. Not when she was soaking wet, and only wearing her white undershirt. She needed to find her stiff blue uniform jacket quickly. It was cloth, it had to be floating.

But she couldn’t find it in time. Her cloth wrap fell down, and her white undershirt revealed to much even in the pre-dawn. Jorany pulled on her arm, turning her towards him. His gaze was focused on her face, and for a moment, Lela though that he wouldn’t notice.

“Hey, you’re clean now, see?” Jorany motioned towards her arms, and his gaze drifted downwards.

He froze.

“Leake?” he asked again, and this time there was a confused warning note in his voice.

Lela yanked her arm away from him, and finally located the jacket she had been searching for. Jorany grabbed her arm again, staring at her as if he had never seen her before. He grabbed the front of her shirt and ripped it open.

“You’re a girl?!” the accusation ripped from his throat.

Lela felt all the blood escape her face. This was it. This was the end. She had escaped death on the battlefield, only to be found out two days later. Fate was playing a cruel trick.