"Hey," I croaked, trying my best not to cough.
Zoey, Cadenza, and Emmalyn turned to me in shock. I hadn't spoken since before I collapsed on the cobblestone of the square.
"Can I see Aaron?"
Their gazes softened and Emmalyn spoke up. "Aph, you should save your voice. . . It could be detrimental to-"
"Please," I wheezed.
They glanced at each other with small sighs before standing to leave.
Cadenza put her hand on my arm where it wasn't injured, giving me a soft smile I could barely return.
It was only a few seconds before Aaron peeked his head through the door, seeing me laying neck deep in the red water.
My hair was now back in a ponytail, courtesy of the girls after they had helped me wash it clean of blood — thankfully none of it was actually burnt as I had thought.
The purple of my vision had faded once a lot of the pain was numbed with ice, but the color remained in the corners of my sight. That is until Aaron came in.
"Hey," he said quietly, probably guessing that my senses were most likely on overdrive. He wasn't wrong, but he wasn't right either.
My ears still rang dully which half blocked my hearing abilities. My eyesight was still slightly off, and I noticed that everything was slightly pink. Closing my eye told me it was only in my left eye, probably caused by a burst blood vessel.
"Hey," I wheezed, eyelids only half open.
He came closer and sat beside me outside the wooden tub.
"Y'know, I think right now is the only time anyone could beat you at an arm wrestle."
I coughed out a laugh, holding my palm over my sternum.
"Ok, ok, I won't make you laugh," he chuckled.
We continued talking while he held up to his promise - I didn't laugh hard enough for it to hurt. After a few minutes of this, however, he began to help me bandage my wounds.
"Ow," I groaned quietly. His fingers had brushed over the wound on my arm while bandaging it.
He had to bandage my whole right arm and blood was already soaking through.
Next he helped with a few smaller places he could get to while in the water, but all the while he didn't mention or look at my undergarments. He was either hyper-focused, concerned for my well being, or generally uninterested.
I highly doubt the last one. Not that I let him see much, even now when I could barely think about it.
"You think you can stand?" He asked me quietly, breaking the silence that had stretched for a few minutes now.
"I think I can try," I responded curtly.
Aaron nodded, putting my bandaged arm around his shoulder and I used my other less-wounded limb to lift myself up slowly.
I didn't get far before flinching, but he helped me distribute the pain onto him. Thankfully, I didn't fall thanks to my own will-power and his help.
After a few minutes, I was on the other side of the room while sitting atop the stone counter. Aaron was busying himself cleaning the bloodied rags for reuse. He quickly got to my right leg and wiped away the bloody water from my skin as well as the fresh blood from a large burn.
Looking around, I distracted myself from the pain by reaching for a shred of my old clothes and biting down on it. My fangs were exposed, out in the open for everyone to see.
The sharp bones jutting from my jaw pierced the fabric and kept it in place, while the black scrap also muffled my moaning and hissing when he used alcohol to clean the wound of infection. The prince apologized every time, and I shook my head just as much. The pain is a good thing.
He went to cleaning the towel again and wrung the water out before standing fully in front of me and pouring alcohol into it. "This might hurt."
I simply nodded, still biting onto the cloth.
He pressed it to the wide burn on my hip and I gasped in pain, leaning my head down and gripping the counter side. The cloth fell from my mouth and onto the floor when my jaw widened.
The pain dulled and I opened my eyes to see that I was a mere inch away from Aaron's face.
He continued cleaning my side and I bit my tongue so I could watch his face through the sting of alcohol. If he noticed me staring, he didn't do anything until the wound was dry again.
Once it was, he looked up at me ready to speak. When I didn't look away he abandoned his comment and leaned in.
I followed suit and our lips locked; unlike last time, this wasn't rushed or anxiety-induced. It was soft, slow. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew he tasted the blood that swam in my saliva from biting my tongue —
My groan broke the kiss, and I chuckled at the alcohol-soaked cloth on my hip. He'd distracted me from the pain and continued to clean the large burn.
"Bitch move, Lycan."
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I was laid in bed once my wounds were dealt with and the girls helped me into someone's white nightgown. It was slightly loose on me, and the fabric was cotton.
Two or three people were near my side at all times, while one of the guards stood on the inside of the front door and the others tried to be useful.
I probably wasn't supposed to know what was going on outside, but my hearing was returning and I could hear everyone's conversations in the other room. The king — Aaron's father; great introduction by the way — hadn't sent out a hunt-to-kill party, saying that my healing was a false hope.
He wasn't wrong, and I understood his thinking, even if everyone else didn't want to say it. I could heal from this, but the second I go back outside I'll only run into the same issue. They won't stop trying to kill me because of one failed attempt, they won't stop until they succeed.
While on forced bedrest, I watched the sky past my curtains darken. It was night, and everyone tried to stay awake for my sake; ultimately failing as I heard snores from the couch.
"Why aren't you healing?" Zoey murmured, dabbing a cloth on my forehead. I was sweating, no matter how little blankets I wore.
Kawaii~Chan tilted her head in confusion from my feet where she rested on the sheets. Her eyelids were heavy and her ears sagged in exhaustion. I'd told her to sleep, and she'd refused thoroughly.
Cadenza joined the spectacle, turning around on one side of the couch where her brother was clearly asleep on the other.
I didn't respond. Idiot, I thought angrily, of course they would notice.
My eyes fluttered and I nearly lost a battle of consciousness before Aaron spoke up from the hall.
"She needs blood."
My mind jerked and I blinked roughly to stay awake.
Everyone was turned to him, but he only looked at me, staring me in the eye with his arms crossed.
"Aphmau isn't healing because she needs blood and she can't leave the walls like she always does, so she needs human blood — which will also make her stronger and sustain her longer."
Damnit, Aaron. Stop helping.
I didn't look anyone in the eye and chewed my lip as I stared at the windowsill.
"Well, that's easy! Aphmau, just drink someone's blood and you'll be fine!" Zoey exclaimed, sharply twisting back to me with an air of relief that there was a simple solution.
"No."
"But —"
"I said no."
An argument ensued with their continual demand for me to drink someone's blood, and my just-as-repetitive refusal.
"Well then, we'll make you."
I chuckled lightly, finishing with a small cough. "You can't. It doesn't work that way. I have to decide to drink it, and if I don't then the wound will just bleed. It'll be useless."
"Then you have to! Aphmau, this is stup—"
"No!" I explained out of pure frustration and anxiety.
The room went silent, and they all watched as I stared away from them at the wall above my piano, tears in my eyes. "I don't care if it sustains me longer or makes me stronger - I won't hurt anyone. . . I won't." Some of the tears spilled.
It was quiet for a while until someone came barging into the house.
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