Wildfire

Sixteen

"Is there anything I can do to help ease his pain while he heals?" There isn't a true need to keep my voice down, the sedative just fed to my Queen having already started to take effect, his head no longer able to support its own weight as he leans onto my shoulder, his bare body curling into mine as Kanaye helps me tug the down-filled blanket up over his shoulder to keep him from catching the chill in the air. 

"Just be patient with him while he heals, his body is going to recover much quicker than his mind, a-and, Prince Emrys... His eyes may not recover at all...Just keep yourself prepared... Maybe consider what you might do if your choice of bride is blind?"Kanaye tries to be kind, his insinuation clear that even though he does not think I would abandon Rayne after such an unfortunate incident.

"The only thing I shall do if his sight does not recover is to be sure to try my best to make it up to him every day for the rest of his life... If he truly forgives me and is willing to stay..." I meant what I said when I told him I would not hold it against him if he were to reject me based off of my failure to assure his safety tonight, and if he eventually decided that he does want to walk away from me over the matter I shall never be cross over the withdrawal of his affection... In fact, I think if he were to allow it I would arrange for a continuance of his care, a staff, estate and title of his own that will ensure that he shall be cared for and protected for the rest of his days if he were to ever walk away from me, the least I can do to repay him for his suffering.

"I was hoping you'd say something like that... " The smile Kanaye gives me is the first genuine one I've seen from him all night, "As far as seeing to his comfort, maybe consider laying as you are now whenever you can? Being skin to skin with a loved one can do wonders to comfort a healing body, and I dare say it might help reinforce the early bond between you and make it easier for him to rest. Keeping yourself a touch warmer than usual may actually relieve the ache in his ribs if you hold him closely and carefully enough."

The advice is appreciated, the mindfulness of my temperature immediately taken to heart, very little effort needed to raise more heat to my surface... a secret delight rushing through me when said extra warmth causes Rayne to settle himself deeper into my hold, his eyes long shut, soft snores making their way through his nearly healed nose as he rests.

Kanaye closing up his bag pulls my attention away from Rayne's bruised visage, a single request to be made of him before letting him slip away, "Please inform the Cloud family that if they feel unsafe they may use my outer bed chambers to rest in until morning, but please ask Akeno to come to see me before he turns in for the night."

"It would be my pleasure, Your Highness." There are many things that we need to discuss... There would have been much to discuss no matter if Rayne had been assaulted tonight, the typical courtship before a royal wedding only a single fortnight, the amount of time it typically takes for the bride to nest and make his or her new home truly their own as well as get used to the presence of their husband... The fourteen days used for them to get used to sharing a bed with each other and bond before the wedding and wedding night where he would make me a true king and not just the ruler of this land. 

Originally the plan had been to come to fetch Rayne away from his family's rooms after discussing the arrangement of his dowry and how long it would take for them to arrange to send for his things as well as any maids he may want to bring with him from their household to be his personal attendant, a rose given from my hand to his before whisking him back here after the proposal so that I might gently sing him to sleep in my arms... If only to show him exactly how cherished he will be here in his new home and appreciate his pale beauty in the moonlight... And while many things have not changed, like the fact that he's sleeping in my arms resting peacefully... The way he had gotten that way had been traumatic instead of tender and sweet, both of us deprived of the memories that should have been the ones we cherish the rest of our lives as our first private moments together.

I try not to let the subject of what should have been, instead focusing my attention on the beautiful young man sleeping so soundly in my arms, his body doing the best it can to try and repair the damage done so unjustly to him, my heart aching for such a loss of the innocence only possessed by those who have never seen violence over being drawn here by my call... Every scratch... every bruise... My hands may not have been the ones that delivered them unto his flesh, but I am the one directly responsible for them... 

I caused this... 

"Your Highness?" Akeno keeps his voice down as he enters, "I knocked but you did not answer... I-Is Rayne going to be alright? I know I have no right to ask after being the one to insist that he stay even though he didn't want to... B-But h-he's m-my youngest.." 

It seems as though I am not the only one this evening who feels he is to blame for what has befallen my starlit diamond, Akeno one step away from his soul shattering over the state of his youngest most vulnerable child. 

"Kanaye says nature should take its course and that he should heal on his own in due time, but that we should know his vision may not return." The words pain me to say aloud, but its something that we all need to start accepting, that way if his vision loss is permanent it will be easier to accept for us all. 

"I am so s-sorry, Prince Emrys... I-I should have requested that you grant him a private audience instead of pushing him to present himself with the other brides...I-" Akeno doesn't stop until I hold my hand up to silence him, the look on his face when he meets my eyes just as devastated as I currently feel. 

Once he quiets down I waive him closer, a gestured invitation for him to sit on the edge of the bed so that he might spy on his son as he nuzzles into my warmth his hand reaching up to brush some of the blood matted hair away from Rayne's face, a raw, "Always in need of a bath, aren't you Rayne..." Leaking from his lips before he withdraws his palm, "He was always in the mud as a child. No matter what we did he would fling himself into puddles to play in them whenever we weren't paying attention... The way it would stain his hair drove his mother insane for the longest time...Though I don't suppose he'll appreciate that I've just told you that. He denies that he ever went through that phase."

Akeno's confession makes my worn face crack what could almost be called a smile as a ragged laugh finds itself halfheartedly flinging itself from my mouth at the mental image of a very small Rayne throwing himself down into a muddy puddle just to spite his Mother's visual aesthetic... The insight it gives me into what he must have been like as a child so appreciated as it softens this horrible evening for us both.

"I promise not to let on that I know of his secret... I was hoping that we might get the rest of the unpleasantness of arranging everything out of the way... Cut all of the infection out at once so that we might start to heal?"

"You want to talk about the dowry?"

"I want to talk about the dowry indeed." And how I might arrange it so the only thing needing to be moved to the castle is the Cloud family themselves so that I might watch over them as well as my bride to ensure that none of the other branch families harm them in retaliation for my choices today.