Roxane winced, her hand immediately going up to her abdomen where the bandages were wrapped around.
"How do you feel?" Thatcher's worried expression appeared in front of her face as she struggled to sit upright on Thatcher's horse. He hovers one of his hands above her back just in case she needed support.
"Like sh*t." Roxane grimaces again but bites back a groan. The soreness extended from her abdominal area to her shoulder and whenever she moved even just a little, sharp pains would wreck through her body as if punishing her.
Thatcher nodded as if he understood her pain. Then he mounted his horse, settling behind Roxane.
She could feel Thatcher's presence directly behind her and the sound of his steady heartbeats filled her ears. Roxane had been close to males before, but for some reason, she felt super aware of Thatcher and of every time his breath tickled her neck. Roxane felt embarrassed but didn't let it show on her face.
"Are you all right riding on your own?" Thatcher turned his head to ask the silver-headed woman to his right. Roxane had to look away from the sight of her friend holding onto her horse's reins as she sat confidently on top. She felt her heart be pierced with an invisible dagger.
"Yes. I think I got the hang of this." She heard Diana reply. It might have been a simple response, but to Roxane, it was equivalent to saying Diana didn't need her. She could have easily ridden by herself throughout their trip so far. Roxane felt the pain as another invisible dagger struck her heart.
Thatcher nodded, "Good. We are crossing the border, then we'll take a rest at one of the inns at one of the villages there. We'll be resting at inns from here on out as I don't think it would be good for Roxane's recovery to sleep on the cold hard ground."
"I'm fine with anything." Roxane heard herself say.
"No," straightaway her claim was denied by Thatcher, "you'll heal faster if we let you rest in better conditions. "Besides, I'm sick of sleeping on the ground. It's been bad on my back."
She knew Thatcher was only saying that because of her injury, but she clamped her mouth shut. She wasn't really in the mood to be her usual stubborn self.
On her left, she could sense the presence of the wizard. His figure stood silently on top of his own horse, reminding her of a statue.
Lately, the atmosphere between them has been different. He has been more cold recently even though he still checked up on her shoulder and her stomach, giving her a potion every three hours or so, saying that it was for her recovery. He would rarely respond to her with words whenever she thanked the wizard.
"We should set off if we're all ready." Getting no responses from neither Diana nor Kian, Thatcher spurred his horse and they began moving.
The hours of riding seemed to endlessly drag on, as there was little to no conversation between the four. Roxane didn't utter a single word to any of them. Instead, she focused on the sights around them as they rode on. She let herself wallow in the pain from her wounds, which would suddenly manifest with more intensity every couple of minutes.
They arrived at one of the sleepy villages in the night. Lamps lined the streets outside, having been recently lit up by the lamplighter. As far as they could tell, there was only one inn in the village and they headed straight there.
While Thatcher went inside to speak to the innkeeper, Roxane struggled to get off the horse.
A hand appeared next to her belonging to the wizard. He stared at her with the same stone cold expression she has gotten used to. She accepted his hand, not knowing why she craved to get a little closer to him when it was clear he didn't feel the same way.
"Thank you." She said when she safely got down from the horse with his help.
"You're welcome." The words left his mouth in the usual detached tone. His blank face stared back at her for a moment more until Thatcher reappeared.
"I rented two rooms. Do you need help getting upstairs?" His last question was directed at her but she shook her head.
"No, I can manage it on my own."
Thatcher searched her face with his grey eyes. Seeing if she was telling the truth, and having decided that she was not lying, he nodded and lead them all upstairs.
"Kian and I are going to put the horses in the stables. You two go on in and sleep. We'll start up again in the morning." He told the two women before Diana gently closed the door to their shared room.
Although Roxane could tell Diana was still cross with her, she still cared for her.
"Would you like to take a bath? I'll ask the innkeeper if somebody can bring us up some hot water and a bath."
"I don't think I can take a bath."
"I'll help you." Diana offered without any hesitation. Roxane didn't have any reason to refuse so she accepted her friend's help.
Once the bath was prepared and the water was poured into the wooden structure, Roxane let Diana undress her and help her enter the steamy bath.
Diana wasted no time, grabbing a washcloth she began scrubbing down Roxane's body. She started with her arm, gently washing away any dirt on Roxane.
"I'll ask for some bath salts, I heard they were good for injuries." Diana sprang up from the floor, going quickly out the door before Roxane could persuade her out of the idea.
Roxane cupped some of the hot water in her hands, absentmindedly pouring it over the front of her body, basking in the warmth she got as it washed down her skin. She found it odd when she heard a knock from outside the room when Diana came back.
Thinking her friend was just being overly polite like she usually was, she called her in and poured water over herself again.
Who appeared in the room was not her friend, but the figure of a man. Roxane's golden eyes widened in horror as she looked up, seeing herself reflected in the violet irises of the wizard.
He froze immediately upon seeing her in the bath, his hand still on the doorknob as he watched Roxane wildly try to cover up her body with her hands. Her entire body seemed to heat up as she hunched her shoulders, covering as much of her breasts with her hands.
"Leave!" Her face flush with embarrassment, she exclaimed to the still dazed wizard. Her voice seemed to shake him out of it and he rushed out of the room, closing the door with a thud.
Roxane tried to calm her thundering heart. Her entire face seemed to have gone up in flames and it seemed like it would take a long time for her body temperature to go back to normal. When the door to the room opened again, Diana appeared holding onto a small container of bath salt.
She looked at the red faced Roxane as she hugged her body. Diana tilted her head to the side, her face full of confusion.
"What happened?"