Akazan grumbled a curse as he pulled himself into a sitting position, pushing back the pile of furs covering him, and grimaced at the aching pain in his body. Without even thinking about it he reached out his mind for his dragon's, but froze as he felt another presence. This one was completely unwarded and he could feel her fear and determination. Just as he was about to reach into the unprotected mind and investigate the strage connection further a voice startled him.
"Sire, you're awake" a familiar voice exclaimed in surprise and drew his attention to the man walking towards him. He recognized the man as Telian, one of the best royal healers he had brought from the capital.
"What's..." he trailed off as he heard a soft whimper from across the tent and spotted the woman lying on a cot shivering.
He was extremely confused about what a woman doing here because his culture did not allow women to accompany men into battle and they were in dangerous territory that most people stayed far away from. Then he felt pulled by something deep within himself as she cried out in her restless sleep. He started to crawl to his feet, ignoring the pain in his chest and the healer's protests.
Akazan limped over to the woman with his heavy furs in hand as he stared at her and realized it was her thoughts he heard.
She lay there under thin blankets that did little to protect her for the cold chill of mountain air, her face ghostly pale and her body trembling with cold. He sighed and drapped several furs over her trembling form.
"Leave her be..." the healer started, but trailed off as the prince turned on him with a cold look.
"Who is she?" he growled as he studied her beautiful face for a long moment and the healer hesitated before answering, "she is the only reason you are even alive. Her name is Captain Illyria Winters. She is a Kaldari healer and she used Kaldarian..." Prince Akazan turned back to the smaller man with narrowed eyes and the healer frowned in confusion. Then the prince noticed the silver band of runes on his arm and let out a slow breath.
"Go find some fresh clothes for me and a wash basin. From this point on, no one but you and I are to enter this tent. Not even my little brother is permitted to enter and you will treat her as if you were treating me. Also get me some damn coffee and something to eat" Akazan growled icily as he gently caught the woman's hand, pushing back the furs to reveal the inky black marks encircling her wrist.
"What's going on?" Telian asked curiously, but Prince Akazan glared at him and pointed to the doorway. The healer scowled as he hurried out of the tent and the prince cursed softly.
"Xagen, do you know what she is to us?" he growled through the mental link to his dragon and Xagen chuffed, "I do, but do you?"
"I am processing it, but I'm going to wait until we are in Sarvalon to say anything to anyone. I want to be sure of this before I make any moves" Akazan answered calmly as he realized he was still holding the woman's wrist and blinked. He could feel her magic pulsing through him and he felt how drained she was. She shifted in her sleep with a sigh as she stilled in his grasp and he blinked.
"She has no wards so I can hear everything she's thinking. That'll be the first thing we teach her because as charming as her thoughts are now, they'll be distracting in battle." Xagen mused as he listened to the jumbled stream of thoughts and his rider grinned.
"As soon as I have regained some strength, we will fly to Sarvalon" Akazan muttered as he tried to pull away from the unconscious woman, but froze as he realized she reached for him.
"I guess the legends are true" he muttered as he looked at the woman with a sigh and settled himself on the cot beside her head. She immediately snuggled into his lap and he blinked as he felt tingles running through his body.
"She needs to be taken to the Silver City soon, she needs their healers to help heal her, the Kaldarian took too much from her" the dragon murmured as he settled himself in front of the tent in a protective manner and his rider nodded in agreement.
"At least she's beautiful and from the look of admiration on Telian's face she has to be highly intelligent" Akazan mused as he brushed the woman's dark hair out of her face and felt the heat of her skin.
"She needs feverbane to help break her fever. She's burning up" he growled as he dragged himself to his feet and looked around for the healer's bag of herbs. His eyes landed on a large pack at the foot of the cot and he grabbed it. His eyes widened as he rummaged through it, realizing that it belonged to the woman on the cot. It was packed with perfectly labeled jars of herbs, curved needles, thread, and various other things he did not recognize, but one thing drew his attention. There was a small leather bound book tucked in the bottom, but Telian entered before he could rummage it out.
"Sire, what are you doing?" the older man inquired as he held a wash basin in his arms and Akazan scowled.
"Looking for feverbane" he lied and the healer set the basin on the ground by the prince's cot as he walked over to where his own satchel lay.
"I see. Well, let me handle her and you can get yourself cleaned up and eat. You need to get your strength back" the man mused as he pulled out a jar of black paste and the prince limped to his own cot.
"I know what you suspect is going on, healer. why have you said nothing?" The warrior prince grunted as he picked up the wash cloth soaking in the basin and glanced at the older man. Telian hesitated for a moment before finally answering, "well, I wanted to be sure before I said anything."
"We both know there is no other explanation, but make her comfortable. I can feel her fear and pain. It is highly distracting and has me on edge" the prince sighed as he started to wipe away the blood and grim from his chest revealing the fresh skin where the wound had been.
"I should be dead" he marveled as he brushed the tender skin of the scar with his hand and shook his head.
"I know. What this woman did is beyond what I believed possible in this age" the healer muttered in agreement as he mixed herbs in a bowl and the prince sighed, "we need to take her to Sarvalon. I want her looked after by the Kaldari. I want to leave before dawn tomorrow."
The healer went rigid as his head snapped towards the Prince and he looked at him in frustrated annoyance.
"my Lord, you need to be resting..." Akazan cut him off as he glared at him.
"no, give me dragon's breath to help me regain my magic. I can work through pain, but I want her looked after immediately" The massive Warrior snarled, leaving no room for argument and the healer huffed, "you can be so stubborn, but I will obey. However, fair warning about Lady winters. She is very overbearing about her patients and I have a feeling she will be quite frustrated with you that you put all of her hard work at risk. I will let you take the brunt of her anger for that."
"what do you mean overbearing?" the Prince inquired and the Royal healer looked at him with a smirk.
"she yelled at your brother to get out because he was being distracting and she couldn't focus with him standing over her shoulder like a child. She also ordered everyone in the tent around like she was the Queen herself common but her methods worked extraordinarily well so I couldn't complain much. However, she is very passionate about healing and refused to leave your side until the job was done even though she could barely stay upright because she was so exhausted." Telian explained and the prince raised an eyebrow at the man.
"how did my brother take being ordered around? Especially by someone like her? I hope he wasn't too rough with her..." The healer cut him off with a snort and the Crown Prince looked at him curiously.
"she had your brother running within the 1st 5 minutes. She had us all doing her bidding. She just had an air of command about her that actually reminded me a lot of you. From what your brother has ascertained about her she seems to be a Warrior in the Silver City as well as a Kaldari" the man laughed and Akazan shook his head in amusement at the thought of this tiny woman ordering his brother around.