I buried my face in his shoulder. "I thought you were dead."
His arms tightened and I cried out as my arm pressed against my side.
He stepped back instantly. "You're hurt!"
I looked down. My whole side was covered with dark that reflected in the firelight.
His hands moved over me, trying to find the source of the blood.
"Lilya..."
"My arm. And side." I slid to the ground. Blood stained Raön's shirt. I looked at it curiously. The world seemed to twist, hold still. So much blood. Blood, blood, blood.
A sharp pain in my arm jerked the world back into its place.
Raön had bound my arm up, and was holding my face. "You have to stay awake."
I tried to focus on his face. "I'm awake. How bad is it?"
He didn't answer or let go, but pressed his forehead to mine. I felt more tears prick my eyes, and drew a shuddering breath.
Then he drew back. "We need to leave. I can't stitch your wounds here. We'll go back to the cabin; I have thread there. Then we need to leave. Go back to the castle."
I nodded, and he slid his arms under me, picking me up gently. I hesitated, then wrapped my arms around his neck.
He walked away from the camp, and I watched from over his shoulder as the fire slowly faded from view. Every move he made shifted the skin on my side until the stinging was unbearable. I stared up. The trees reached high up to the sky, pointing to the blaze of stars above. They were scattered everywhere, shining red and blue and gold, so far away, though they seemed close enough for the army of trees to reach them.
I gazed on them in wonder. They seemed to move, to swirl and dance, stepping to a song only heard in the heavens.
........
Raön lengthened his strides. Lilya was staring up at the stars, her dark eyes wide. He pushed away the thoughts that still haunted him, of finding her dead, throat cut, eyes empty, brilliant red spread around her.
She was alive. Why he cared, he wasn't going to think about that now. Her being dead would have made lots of things more easier.
His hand supporting her side was becoming slippery with blood, and he held her closer. He could feel more of it coming from a gash along her ribs. It ran over his fingers, coating them. All the men who had kidnapped her were dead, so he had no one else to exact revenge on. Rage still burned inside his chest. He had seen them kick her, hit her, try to kill her. When he had cut the ropes from her wrists, they were raw and red.
They were lucky he had killed them quickly.
He moved faster, ducking under branches and stepping over roots. He hadn't had to travel far before he'd smelled the smoke from the fire, and seen it flickering through the trees. So it wasn't long before he saw the lake and the cabin.
He sprinted the last stint along the shore, then raced up the steps and kicked the door open. Setting her on the bed, he ran and brought his pack into the room.
Lilya was pale. So pale, it felt like his heart stopped. He pulled out a pair of scissors, and started working.
......
Red misted over my eyes. My left side was on fire, and it seemed hot coals burned in my left arm. I shivered suddenly, as cold air rushed over my chest. Someone was bending over me, someone with eyes like jewels. They burned into my eyes, thwarting every move I made to look away. Breath sank into my lungs, filling them with ice. Those eyes. Bluer than the sky, than sapphires, than the jewel of the deep. The fire in my side burned, biting deep into my skin, filling my veins with molten flame.
I closed my eyes.
.....
When I woke, the eyes were gone.
Soft pillows were under my head, a sweet smell drifting through the air. I blinked and looked around. The familiar woodwork of my room met my gaze. I sat up. Too fast. My side and arm screamed in protest. But I wasn't dreaming. This was my old room. But it was strange. Too neat, too clean, too much like the person I had left behind.
Where was Raön?
Something like panic pushed at my chest. Had he been hurt? I couldn't remember anything but fire, and blood. Blood everywhere.
I pushed off the covers, and swung my feet over the edge. "Raön?" My feet touched cold stone. "Raön!!" I cried.
The door to the room opened, and Raön was there.
For a moment, we stared at each other.
Then I ran to him.
Or rather, I tried.
My legs gave way halfway across the room, and as they crumpled, he leapt forward, falling to his knees, catching me. His arms wrapped around me, but lightly. My side burned, and I dug my hands into his shirt, pain making my vision blur.
He said nothing, until the pain faded to a dull throb and my hands unclenched. Then, "Don't do that again."
I looked up, up into those eyes. That was what I remembered from the fire and darkness that had swallowed me. Blue. He wasn't looking at me, but at something over my head.
"You've been unconscious for days. I wasn't sure if you would wake up." He looked down, his eyes meeting mine. "I had to stitch your ribs and arm."
I looked down. Someone had dressed me in a long sleeveless robe. A pristine white cloth bound my upper arm. I touched my chest, and felt another bandage wrapped around my waist.
He smiled slightly, but his eyes were weary. "As soon as I finished, I left with you. We got here two days ago."
Pain flared in my arm, and I wrapped a hand around it, blinking through tears that rose.
He gently pried my hand away from my arm. "Try not to touch that one. It..." He paused, and I saw a flash of memory in his eyes. "It's bad."
In a moment, I was back in the forest, black eyes, the fire, blood, sweat trickling down my back from fear. Darkness gathered at the corners of my vision.
"They killed most of our guards."
I focused on his voice, clinging to it like a rock in a raging river.
"Only the Aeair and two others were alive."
"Raön, a...the man who was trying to kill me..." Had his eyes been my imagination? Couldn't be. I wasn't that nonsensical. "He was a Twisted One."
He went still. When I looked up, his eyes were flint. "There's something I didn't want to tell you." He swept an arm under my legs and stood up, carrying me to the bed. He set me down, and sat beside me. "Do you remember that parchment we found in the saddlebag?"
"The one with the words neither of us could understand?"
He met my eyes, and the light I saw there made my heart sink.
"Actually, I could understand it." He rubbed his eyes. "It was a blood oath."
Blood oath. "What?"
"An oath that will never be satisfied until the blood of the one they swear to kill is shed."
"Who did they swear to kill?"
"The names of those who took the oath were written there. Seven names."
"Who did they swear to kill??"
He dropped his eyes, his jaw tight. "You."