Leyla grabbed her discarded belt and ran after him with as much calm as she could muster. With her knife pressing against her back once more, she felt more centred, but relief at overcoming the trial was quickly being replaced by confusion. Not comfortable with the feeling, Leyla chose to be angry instead. The jerk had shot several dozen arrows at her and wasn't even giving her a moment to catch her breath!
"Colonel, I have urgent business-"
"Follow, Lieutenant." Alec cut her off without breaking his stride.
Of all the high-handed brutes! Leyla pressed her lips together to stop herself from swearing. Just bare with it. The pounding in her chest slowed as they headed up the second set of stairs. Her muscles ached with the wariness caused by the skirmish this morning and Alecs little archery display. Where in Gaia was he leading her anyway?
"Ding. Ding. Ding." The sound of the marking-bell reached them from the outside courtyard. It was the signal for guards to change shifts. The trainees would be heading out for an endurance run, while officers took a break and the princess had her daily audience with the King. At the next bell, Leyla had to oversee new-guard training at the armoury and she needed time before then to debrief Captain Leo. Bloody Diyu.
Servants bobbed curtsies and giggled behind cupped hands as they walked down the corridors. Court ladies dressed head to toe in fine silks angled their heads in dramatic poses while pretending to be busy with the most innocuous things. Where had they all come from? It was as if someone had blown a trumpet and announced that Colonel Alec was passing through.
As they approached a turn in the path, a lady in an emerald green dress dropped her handkerchief. Following the dubious example of Princess Mira, she had drawn pink circles on her cheeks with quartz powder and tinted her lips red with berry juice. Leyla snorted, then squeezed her eyes shut, hoping Alec hadn't heard the sound. He gave no indication either way, and just bent to retrieve the lady's handkerchief with great flourish.
"Thank you, Colonel." The woman simpered, her fingertips grazing his hand as she took back her belonging.
"My pleasure, Lady Hera. Good day." Alec gave a short bow and Leyla was grateful to be on the move again. After yet another lady accidentally dropped her handkerchief, they turned down a blissfully empty hallway.
"Women can be so foolish." Leyla heard Alec mutter.
"And men can't?" The comment was out of her mouth before she could think better of it.
Alec stopped to look over his shoulder. She felt an odd sense of confusion as she often did when their eyes met. Why was he the only one who could look at her that way? No flinching, no disgust, no pity...it was as if he didn't see her scar, as if he was impervious to the colour of her hair and the strangeness of her eyes.
His expression gave none of his thoughts away, but there was amusement in his voice. "Is there a reason why you keep walking behind me, Lieutenant?"
Leyla gave him a tight lipped smile, "You haven't seen fit to tell me where we are going, Sir." She knew he would detect the sarcasm. She also knew she should be more respectful, but heck, he had just shot dozens of arrows at her, surely she was allowed this much defiance?
Alec stared at her for another moment before a boyish grin lit his face, "Point taken, Lieutenant. Please do accept my apologies for keeping you in the dark." He pointed at the door to their left, then gave her a mock bow. "We have arrived."
"I didn't mean to -" Flustered at his mocking bow, Leyla began to protest, when she suddenly took note of the blue door he was pointing to. "The Healing rooms? Why are we here?"
"Lieutenant," Alec nudged her towards the door. "This is precisely why I kept you in the dark. You have a very bad habit of ignoring your injuries."
"What injury?" Leyla stopped short. He couldn't possibly mean the scrape on her arm? "Colonel, I really don't have time for this..."
"Lieutenant." Alec's tone changed in an instant. Gone was the man who had just worn a blinding smile and in his place was the Colonel of the Warrior Kingdom whose orders were never to be questioned.
Leyla swallowed an angry retort and followed him through the blue door. The short hallway that led into the main room of the Healing quarters smelled of herbs and brewed potions. Cabinets full of medicines with unfamiliar ingredients and shelves laden with medical tools she couldn't name lined the unoccupied room.
"Walem?" Alec spoke the Healer greeting while looking from the empty sick bed at the far end of the room towards the three closed doors that led into recovery chambers. The door on the left opened and a tired looking Healer stepped out.
As tall as a Warrior, but far slimmer, the Healer wore the long green garbs of her people. Her hair was covered by intricately twisted materials of the same colour, long gold hoops hung from her ear lobes and healing stones dangled from her wrists. "Walem Warrior. I apologise for the wait, the other Healers have stepped out to make medicine and I did not hear your approach." She lifted both palms to cover her face in greeting, then lowered them once more. Large brown eyes rimmed with black coal smiled at Alec, then she spotted Leyla standing behind him. "Ah Lieutenant, have you come back to check on Warrior Berk? I've put him into a sleep state and his wound is closed. I just need to work on him for a little while longer and he shall be as good as new."
"Then don't let us keep you, Healer." Leyla spoke before Alec could get a word in. From the look on his face, it was obvious that he was full of questions.
"Temha," the Healer nodded, the flower patterned dot tattoos on her cheekbones stretched as she smiled. She was turning back to the recovery room when she hesitated. "I'm afraid we could not pry his fingers from your coat, Lieutenant. He is clutching it even in his sleep."
"Let him keep it," Leyla said briskly. Once delirious, Berk had clung to her blood soaked jacket as if it were his life line. From the moment they rode into the fight until the moment he passed out from blood loss, he had shown no other signs of fear. He had done well.
"Report," was all Alec said the moment the door to the recovery room was shut once more.
"There was an ambush during early delivery," Leyla explained quickly. "Several dozen No-Landers attacked the single wagon before it left the forest."
Alec was silent, likely trying to make sense of the nonsensical. He would be aware that the early delivery contained no medicines or food.
"This is not No-Lander stupidity," she interjected quickly. Most Warriors believed firmly in the irrationality of the tribes that occupied the middle territories of the Four Kingdoms. Almost everything could be reasoned away by the false assumption.
Alec's eyes held hers for a moment, then he turned to the cabinets behind him. "You have a theory?" He asked over his shoulder.
"Yes."
There was a silence as he sifted through some jars on the shelves. "Why didn't you tell me about the jacket?"
Leyla blinked at the sudden change of topic. Why was he talking about the jacket now? "It didn't seem necessary."
"You were reprimanded due to no fault of your own, but it didn't seem necessary?" Alec turned back with a frown. He had a bottle of clear liquid and some cotton in his hand.
"Yes." Leyla said, trying hard not to let her annoyance seep into her tone. Why was he wasting time with unimportant things?
Alec acted as if he hadn't heard, pointing instead to the empty sick bed. "Sit over there." Seeing that she was about to protest he raised a sharp brow. "This is an order, Lieutenant. Sit. And pull your shirt to the side."
Leyla moved stiffly. He wanted to tend to a superficial wound rather than hear about the ambush? He must have decided it was just No Landers being wild and stupid. He didn't even want to hear what she had to say! Fine. Unbuttoning her shirt with clipped movements, Leyla threw the offensive material on the end of the bed and sat down. Left with only a leather corset, the cold travelled over her exposed skin, sending goosebumps over her toned arms. She couldn't have cared less, she just wanted this out of character act of benevolence done with.
"Stubborn." Alec muttered as he inspected the cut on her arm. "It's not too deep." His eyes flicked to hers, then he poured the liquid onto some cotton. "I'll just clean it for now."
Leyla watched as he began dabbing at the wound. The cut burned, but wasn't half as disturbing as Alec's gaze which flitted up to her with concern. Looking away, Leyla clenched her jaw and tried to ignore the strange feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.
"Do you do that often?" Alec asked softly, his eyes now firmly on her wound.
"Do what?" Leyla was finding it hard to concentrate. Why was he being so confounding? Didn't he love torturing her? And what was that earlier with complementing her in front of the recruits?
"Accept blame when you've done nothing wrong." He hesitated when he noticed her flinch. The eyes that met hers now were full of concern.
That was the last straw.
Grabbing the bottle from his hand, Leyla doused her arm, relieved when the shock of pain kicked her mind back into gear. She put the bottle down, avoiding looking at Alec as she shook off the excess liquid and jabbed her arms back into her shirt.
Doing up the last button, she took a step away before facing him. "Are we done now, Sir?"
Alec leaned back against the bed and considered her. "Do I make you nervous, Lieutenant?"
Leyla gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowing. "No, Sir."
He raised an amused brow, then sighed. "Alright, you may leave..."
Leyla clicked her feet together and swirled towards the door.
"...to get your spare jacket."
"Sir?" She turned, confusion reflected in her eyes.
Alec pushed off from the bed lazily. "Unless you want to appear in front of the Council like that?"
The council? What did he mean?
"You weren't meant to be doing delivery escort this morning and yet you happened to go and there happened to be an ambush." Having reached her side, Alec crossed his arms over his broad chest. "You obviously expected it to happen, which means you have a pretty good idea why No-Lander tactics seem to have deviated from the norm."
"You noticed it too?" Leyla said, then bit her lip. This was Colonel Alec of the House of Steel, one of the most exceptional warriors that had ever lived, of course he had noticed.
"Your distraction on the training field, plus your urgent desire to leave..." He bent down until their eyes were level, their faces only a hairsbreadth apart. "Was I wrong in assuming you are ready to tell the Council your theory?"
Leyla couldn't move. She couldn't breath. How could he know all of that and why...why was he so damn close? She fought the urge to cover her scar.
"I'll convene the Council, Lieutenant." Alec chuckled, as he rightened himself. "So get yourself a jacket and come to the Council's meeting room."
Stuck between indignation and gratitude, Leyla gave a brisk nod and walked out of the room.