Rin fell within his arms and he caught her with great care. Her golden armor vanished and the tattered robes became visible again. The first thing he did was kneel in the ground and inspect the wounds in her neck and arms, only to be surprised when he found just a little redness in the fair skin. The only mark visible was that of the scarlet flower in her red shoulder that signaled she was still a virgin. She seemed to be breathing well so he took care to cast the spell that changed his real face back to the plain version.
-My Lord, we deserve punishment-they kneeled and trembled-We dared attack the Phoenix Warrior
His 3 guards came to help and could not believe what their eyes saw. A lady lay in his arms and he was willingly tending to her with care, the likes he had never shown to anyone before. They were in deeper trouble than they thought at first sight because this lady turned out to be a legendary warrior, mentioned in many prophecies and lands as a promised saviour.
-All of us do, we attacked the new Princess in haste and unjustly-he said and the guards felt pressure in their backs with those words- But now is not the time or place to receive punishment. We found a treasure beyond imagination and were blind to recognize it but we know better now-One of the guards surrendered his winter coat and gave it to Prince Lyn so he could better cover the Princess body as her arms were exposed to the cold when they damaged her clothes. Lyn stood up with her in arms after tucking her in and started towards the direction of his own estate grounds. His guards followed on a protective formation and soon they were flying over trees and the hills at high speeds that made cold wind even more cutting and uncomfortable but at this speed, it would take less time to reach his own estate grounds and safety with it.
The moment the group of men reached the estate borders, more guards saw them and their faces could not help but be surprised when they saw their Prince was carrying someone. Everyone in the estate knew their Lord avoided contact as if the rest of the world had the plague. By the time they reached his quarters within the compound, his 30 guards had taken care of the gossip and even the servants were whispering with excitement.
His most trusted steward was waiting by the entrance of his quarters sporting a worried face that lighted up at the sight of him and sank again when he noticed the shape in his arms only to beam again when he saw a woman´s face tucked against his chest.
-My Lord, a bath has been drawn for you and security has been tightened after we received word of the attemp yesterday-
-Good, I will take care of Lady Rin for now but she will need at least two servants to help, and...-he realized just how ignorant he was about the things women needed on their regular lifes.
-Lady Rin?-Steward Lan asked after sending the servants on their way. He was a widower and still remembered the basics of caring for a lady such as toiletries, dresses and shoes so he procured those first.
-Look at the family records and send word to Mother Empress that I married Lady Rin Coesen today. If she is well enough, we will be leaving this place tomorrow as planned-he ordered curtly before sliding the doors to his quarters shut.
He set her body on the bed carefuly, rags and all. She had to be made comfortable enough so she could recover fast from their earlier scuffle as he knew those guards of his would take care to inform Steward Lan about the things they had seen and the man would beat them into utter silence because the fact that he had found and married the Phoenix Warrior could not be repeated until much later when they were very far from these lands and the Coesen family could not take her back. He had vowed to protect her as their deal and he would have to really work on it because so many powers would want to snatch away the treasure he found.
Sure enough, she started to come awake soon after her body was tucked inside the thick warm quilt. It made sense that with her weak body and lack of knowledge in the use of magick, an outburst like the one she just had would deplet her. The cold of winter did not help either since her magick was of a complete opposite nature. He was sure he had seen her bleed when the guards had used the frozen whips.
-What the hell happened-she complained while holding her head in pain. Lyn noticed she spoke as one of his soldiers did, not with the flowery and cultivated speech noble ladies used.
-It was my mistake- he began- My apologies, I did a cruel thing to you...
-Cut it-she said- I offered to be tested, not tortured. You went too far-
-I know... But when our blood mixed, yours did something to me and I overreacted-
-It must have been the effect of the nanos entering your body-she explained- I did not know that could happen, nanos usually have to pass from one person to another with direct permission of the recipient and programming- Prince Lyn understood little about that but Rin refused to elaborate more- Figure it out yourself, that´s your punishment for attacking me-
-Maybe the permission for that was implied when we signed the marriage contract?-that piece of parchment was a magical object with real life repercutions, these nanos that she kept mentioning could also have that ability.
-You got a good deal, you were very strong already but if you learn to use them, you will grow to be even more powerful because of the nanos- she paused and really hoped she had not married a sociopath or that power could spell the doom of so many people and she really did not want to have to live fighting it out with him-If you saw the truth about my world, know that I will kill you if you ever do something like that again without my permission- he assented, he expected nothing else from a proud warrior such as her.
Rin sat up in the bed and stared resentfully at him. This was the face she had first seen, not the one right after the blood pact.
-That is not your real face-she said- I was not the only one with secrets... Where are we?-
-My personal quarters in the Hekili Manor-he explained while taking a seat in a chair to better converse with her- I had to perform a soul merge without your permission but I will not apologize for that because that was necessary to show you I meant you no further harm. I made a deal with you before the blood pact and I was the first to mess up so I pledged my sincere loyalty to you for the rest of my life as reparation. You felt it and that was why you calmed down, it seems it was just in time or the Phoenix Force within you may have consummed you if you had stayed in that form.
He spoke clearly and slowly while looking at her in the eye. Suddenly in the silence, a mighty growl was heard. Prince Lyn blushed but Rin simply acknowledged the need to eat and looked around the room until she found the table Steward Lan had prepared and the bathtub nearby.
-I am famished-she said and started to get up from the bed. She did not request his help but he extended his hand nonetheless and she took it as she still felt weak and did not want to end up close and personal with the floor.
When she sat, she saw a bowl of water nearby and proceeded to wash her hands carefully without spilling a single droplet. Lyn observed and thought she seemed to know what to do but not to perform many actions naturally. For example, the way she tasted every food on the table slowly without really taking more than the bare minimum. When he clearly saw she meant to take only half and leave the rest for him, he intervened.
-Do not measure your appetite, you need to eat more-he said- Steward Lan will bring more food for me and new clothes for you-
He began to prepare a cup of tea for her. When Rin sipped on it, some color returned to her cheeks and her red hair seemed to become more shinny. She had an affinity for warm things and that was a good thing for their move back to his country. These lands had a harsh, colder climate in comparison.
She was almost finished with the whole food when Steward Lan knocked on the door requesting permission to enter. The clothes and maidservants had been brought in as well as more food. Rin saw a smiling middle aged man directing the whole entourage and guessed this was the person he had just mentioned.
-Help the Princess to take a bath and change into warmer clothes- he instructed the maids directly. None of them dared look at him in the eye, much less talk to him so they just curtsied and got straight to the task at hand. He then got up from his place at the table and left the room with Steward Lan and the other male servants.
Rin had to concentrate a lot to look the part of a pampered lady, used to be waited by others. It felt weird to be helped out of her clothes by complete strangers and despite it all, she drew the line at letting them touch her body, kindly rejecting their advances and requesting a soap bar as well as a washcloth to just do the cleaning job herself. Just the mere thought of sinking in a bathtub filled with hot water felt strange and luxurious given that her people valued water, air and food so much. One of the maids helped her wash her hair since it was so much longer than the practical bowlcut she had before and needed to be handled carefully. The other two busied themselves arranging a suitable set of stockings, inner robes and outer pieces that would look good on her. To Rin, having so many layers on felt weird, she had been uncomfortable before, but the cold was not the worst she had endured in life and she just soldiered on.
When the maids put warm socks on her feet and boots lined with fur on the inside, she understood that the order to keep her warm was a serious one. They were certainly taking great care to dry, unknot and comb her hair as gently as they could, they were clear that the consequences of offending this particular princess would surely be heavy so they kept quiet despite their great curiosity. Just as they were finishing, Prince Lyn reentered the room alone and sat on the chair beside the bed where the maids had left her. He had taken the time to get news about Prince Ken and the Coesen family and also to arrange the preparation of a carriage for her and the maidservants for their long trip back to the Meric Empire.