Herba's Forrest [Complete]

Chapter 14

Ben woke near noon the next day. Natalie was asleep beside him. She sat in the chair, but her head rested on her arms, which were folded on the bed beside him. Her necklace lay on her arm.

Ben reached out with his right arm – the one that was unbroken – and stroked her hair. Natalie was awakened by this gentle pressure and sat up. When she saw Ben looking back at her, tears sprang to her eyes and ran down her face.

This confused Brian. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Nothing is wrong. I'm just so happy you're awake! We didn't know if you were going to make it. You've been unconscious since yesterday morning. I should call for the doctor."

Ben nodded. Natalie got up from her chair and disappeared around the curtain. She returned shortly, followed by the doctor. The doctor, too, seemed to be relieved to see him awake and alert.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Ben.

"Like I've been shot by an arrow…"

The doctor laughed. "Well, that does tend to happen when you have been shot by an arrow. Of course, that arm of yours is no joke either." He crossed to the bed and placed a hand across Ben's forehead. "The fever seems to finally have broken." He had Ben sit up while he removed the bandage from his shoulder. Ben was not quite prepared for the cry that escaped from his lips when the doctor rubbed a foul smelling liquid onto the wounds.

"Sorry," apologized the doctor. "I forgot to warn you that this might sting a bit."

"Oh. Well, thanks for the warning," Ben said, clenching his teeth. Natalie took Ben's hand. If she was going to betray her love, she was definitely not going to do it halfway. Ben looked surprised, but said nothing.

"This medicine will keep the wounds clear of infection," explained the doctor.

The door of the infirmary flew open, banging loudly against the wall. Natalie jumped. The doctor stood and went to see who was there. Natalie heard a familiar voice and was instantly terrified. Who was hurt now?

She withdrew her hand from Ben's and flashed him an apologetic smile. "I'll be right back."

"I'll be here," he returned.

Natalie walked around the curtain and groaned. Gabriel was stretched out across the next bed over. He was bleeding steadily from a gash in his right thigh. The doctor was bent over him, hard at work to stop the bleeding. Hovering nearby were Kotaku and Mara.

"Tell me he's going to be okay," Natalie breathed.

The doctor did not turn. "Yes, he'll be fine. It looks much worse than it actually is. He may have a slight limp after this, but it's nothing major. I'm just glad that I don't have to dig out any arrow heads or weave bone back into an arm like I did for Ben."

Kotaku turned green. "Ben's okay, though, isn't he?"

"Yes, Kotaku," Brian called from behind his curtain. "I'm alright. Can someone please pull this stupid curtain somewhere else?" Natalie laughed and did as he asked.

"Thank you," he said.

"Happy to be of service," she answered.

"What happened?" Ben asked.

"I," Gabriel said, trying to sit up, but the doctor pushed him back down.

"Hold still!" he snapped. "Unless you want to bleed to death!"

Gabriel grumbled but did as he was told. Mara giggled at her fiancé's frustration.

"We were coming back and one of the captives escaped," Kotaku told him. "Gabriel went after him. The man cut Gabriel's leg and escaped. We let him go, naturally more concerned about Gabriel. What happened to you?"

Natalie answered for him. "We were coming back here, but Captain Darion followed us. He shot Ben in the shoulder and Ben fell off the horse. He shot Ben again and broke his arm real bad before I got there. I knocked Darion out with a, uh, big stick. He's in the dungeons. We were at the gate when Ben passed out from blood loss. Not long after that, the fever started. Ben just woke up. Thank goodness the fever's gone. He'd been burning up with it for a day and a half."

"Speaking of captives, we had a couple of them who claimed to know the two of you. They're down in the dungeons with the rest. A boy named Alex and a man named Allen."

"Yeah, we know them," Natalie answered. "The boy can be released, but I wouldn't trust Allen to be let loose just yet. Who knows what havoc he could wreak."

Kotaku raised an eyebrow.

"Allen was, ah, one of the men who beat me up the first time we met. He and my brother liked doing that."

Kotaku's mouth dropped open. "Your brother did that to you?" He still remembered how awful Ben had looked when he had first laid eyes on him.

"Yeah. Him and Allen did, anyway. Allen seems to have gained some respect though, now that I'm stronger than he is…" Brian's voice trailed off at the end.

"Maybe we shouldn't release him after all," Kotaku said doubtfully.

"Naw, he's fine as long as he isn't left by himself for too long," Ben answered. "And anyway, I know how to get rid of him."

The doctor allowed Ben to go down to the dungeons with Natalie two days later to talk to Allen. Alex had already been released from his cell. He had quickly announced that he would like to stay in Simone​ as a stable hand. No one had a problem with that, and so Alex had found his niche.

"Allen," Ben said, tapping the sleeping figure gently with his boot.

Allen stirred and looked up at Brian.

"What do you want?"

"We have an offer to make you," Natalie said.

"What is it?"

"We'll release you from the dungeons on one condition," Brian told him. "You have to leave Zaviera."

"Zavi-who?"

"Zaviera," Ben repeated. "You have to go back to your own time."

"You say that like you're not from there."

"We're not anymore. We've given up that world completely. But that's beside the point. You have to go back."

"Done. Let me outta here." Allen got to his feet.

Allen was escorted through the forest to his own home by Ben and Natalie along with Gabriel and Mara. Naturally, this resulted in having to tell the couple where they were really from, but they took it almost as well as Brendan had.

Darion was dealt with fairly according to his crimes. The people of Zaviera were grateful to be rid of the threat that he was to their peace.

It took Ben three months to make a full recovery. During this time, things came to a standstill between Natalie and Ben. They were still good friends, but they saw less of each other than they once had.

Kotaku approached Gabriel with an important question. He wanted Gabriel to be his heir. It took days of trying to persuade him, after all, Gabriel had never in his life imagined that he would be king, but Gabriel finally gave in. The people rejoiced in the decision. They knew that Gabriel would be a wise and fair ruler.

Gabriel and Mara had their wedding and everything went smoothly. The couple was inseparable. Six months after they were married, they found out that Mara was pregnant. They named the baby girl Ashley and asked Natalie to be her godmother.

Natalie was thrilled and spoiled the baby rotten, much to Mara's and Gabriel's dismay.