Wildfire

Fourteen

His words steal my breath away, my rage reignited, steam starting to billow from my nostrils in an effort to keep my chest from burning him as the fire in my belly begins to build, my afflicted fiancee letting his thumb stroke the sensitive flesh beneath my eye to try and regain my attention the words, "You misunderstand, my Prince...I can see...but everything is blurred almost beyond recognition, even up close... I... I-It started... It started after one of them kicked me in the back of my head."

"One of them?"I try and control myself, the urge to fly back to the wreckage and set flame to it until the ash itself crumbles.

"T-There were two men... And a girl near the end. She called one of them Uncle Shen." My Love volunteers the information as he cowers, his clutch on me growing tighter as if just the mention of the men who did this to him is enough to bring the memories of his terror back up to the surface of the still-fresh wound not knowing that his identification of Shen Hirai a confirmation of what is already known.

...

Rayne

...

Prince Emrys tightens his hold on me just slightly,  the sigh he breathes into my hair actually rather helping soothe the ache that had built up under my scalp, "I am so sorry for leaving you alone in the garden, Rayne... I... You'll never not be by my side where I can protect you again... I-I do not know how to forgive myself for your loss of vision,  and I will not hold it against you if you resent me now."

The words move me, exactly what both halves of me want to hear, the devotion he has towards me already apparent in the way he speaks to me, though he seems not to realize that even though earlier I had been willing to shun his affection to keep myself safe, my worst fear has already happened, and he had been the one to pull me from the thorns I had tried to take shelter in... He had been the one to seek vengeance on my behalf only to return to my side and immediately offer me comfort... "I-I could never, Your Highn-"

A blurry finger is lifted and pressed against my lips, a very enforced, "You must call me Emrys."

The invitation to use his first name makes me need to tuck my face away from him in a pained shyness, my continuance softer than I intended, "You could not have known that they were planning to harm me... Emrys."

He could not have known... The only person who had predicted this outcome was myself, and even then I had only been half right. I had originally thought that the beating would end up in my death instead of theirs.

"I still shouldn't have left your-" This time it is the Prince who is cut off, a sharp on the door the only warning before the door is slowly swung open by whichever of my sisters is closest to the door, whoever it is standing in the doorway just beyond the scope of my current understanding vision wise, Emrys's words transitioning almost seamlessly as he lays into the new guest that has joined us, "What on Earth took you so long to get here? You were called for ages ago." 

His tone makes me want to nuzzle his chest so very badly in order to soothe some of his heat away, his voice strained with his anger at the lateness of who I can only assume is the physician he had made sure that Papa had called. 

...

Emrys

...

"You should have dropped whatever you were doing and rushed to the Queen's side. It's unacceptable that you knew he was in need of care and you waited to show yourself until after  I myself arrived?" I am not pleased that he's dragged his feet in response to being summoned to care for my bride, another punishment quickly becoming clear on the horizon of my mind over Kanaye's response to knowing my bride needed assistance.

"Your Highness... I... I had been in attendance at the ball, I was sealed in with the branch families while you were punishing the Hirai family. The guards would not see reason." I have to grit my teeth at Kanaye's response... Technically the guards should not ever see the reason as to why they should set free someone they've been ordered to detain... But when it comes to something like this where they had seen Rayne's bloodied form on full display as Akeno carried his unconscious body out of the room.

He sees my seething acknowledgment of the delay that I myself had caused him and takes the opportunity to use the moment I need to steady myself and choke down the lava trying to rise up out of my belly in his direction to quickly set his bag down on the edge of the bed before approaching the two of us, the sleeves of his robes getting rolled up in the process. 

It takes effort to keep myself still when he reaches for Rayne and causes him to flinch, the gut reaction to flee from any unknown hands coming near him now so deeply engrained. Luckily I am here to comfort him, my sole focus at the moment keeping him calm enough to be looked over without being caused any excess pain. 

"Your Highness, with your permission, of course, I'll need to examine you to ensure there is nothing that needs to be set or receive stitches in order for you to heal yourself properly." It takes a moment for my Sweetheart to realize that Kanaye is referring to him and not me, my mind having already settled around the gifting of his title of Queen, one that seems to suit him so well with his delicate nature... But when he does manage to understand it with an added, "Your Highness?" from Kanaye spurring his attention when he leans in a little closer, his hands flexing toward us again, his already purple face gains a new shade of pink as its undertone over the Doctor giving him the proper respect he deserves, something that he will need in enormous amounts to help him recover from being so violated. 

"You can examine me... But.. Please...Touch me no more than you have to."