Wulfric sat at his desk, anxiously working on paperwork. Once they had gotten to the estate, the woman was carried off to a guest bedroom with Markus in tow. Markus stayed to watch over her while Wulfric handled official matters that needed taken care of. Plus, Markus was going to look over her injuries, and he had told Wulfric that he did not want him in there in the way.
Wulfric was worried about her. She is the one, but what do I do? She is so young. What if Markus is right about her not understanding the concept of Imprinting? Her lack of knowledge could be deadly to both of us. Plus, I want to know who harmed her. From the injuries I could see, she had been going through whatever it was for some time. Someone really wanted her to feel pain. But WHY?
"Your Grace?"
Wulfric looked up to see a slender man in his mid-forties, with bits of gray in his brown hair, looking at him curiously.
"What is it Kranston?"
"You slammed your fist on the desk. I wanted to make sure everything is okay."
"Did I? I did not even realize it… I guess my mind is in its own little world right now."
"That is possible, your Grace. Is there anything I can get you?"
"Have you heard any news from Markus?"
"No, but it should not be long now, your Grace."
Wulfric nodded.
"Your Grace, may I ask you something? I may be overstepping, but as your advisor I think it is important for me to know."
Wulfric looked at Kranston curiously before saying, "Proceed."
Kranston took a deep breath and asked, "Who is this young woman to you? Why has she been brought under your care?"
Wulfric glared at Kranston. "You are right Kranston, you are overstepping, though you do have the right to some sort of explanation as my advisor. I do not know who she is, at least not who she was in her past. But from the moment we touched I knew who she was to my future."
Kranston's eyes widened. "You Imprinted?" He whispered.
Wulfric nodded.
"Understood. Is there anything I should do to make her more comfortable? Or to properly welcome her?"
"No. For now she is just my ward. Do not speak of what I have said, not even to her. We need to be very delicate about this matter.
"Yes, your Grace."
There was a knock at the door.
"Enter."
The door opened and a middle-aged, brown-haired woman entered.
"Ah, Ellen, what is the news?"
"Markus says you are welcome in her room now, your Grace. He gave her medicine to help her sleep a little longer. He says it would be a good idea if you were there when she wakes up."
Instantly Wulfric stood up, "then lead the way, Ellen."
~~~~~~~~~~
After Ellen had left, Markus was sitting at the woman's bedside, contemplating what to do next. He had done a perusal of her larger injuries, most of which seemed relatively fresh. Probably from running through the woods for so long. Her feet were the worst injury he could see. He figured she had been barefoot the entire way. There were cuts and bruises that were fresh as well. What really caught his attention were the older bruises, the scars, and the older marks that he had found while treating her. Around her wrists and ankles, he found marks and bruises that looked like she had been restrained. There were burn marks on different parts of her body. Whip marks and scars on her back. There were also other scars that he was not sure of. On top of all that she was malnourished, and it looked like it had been going on for some time. There was a quiet knock at the bedroom door. Markus walked over to the door, opened it, and with a finger to his lips he let in Wulfric, Ellen, and Kranston. Ellen and Kranston gathered more chairs to put by the bed, while Wulfric walked to the side of the bed.
"How is she?" he whispered.
"I was able to dress her worst injuries. However…"
"What is it?"
"I… I think whoever had her before we found her was abusing her… possibly even torturing her. In fact, I do not believe she was with them willingly. She has marks on her wrists and ankles that would imply that she was restrained. When she wakes up, I would like to ask her permission to document all her injuries and scars. If we do ever find out who did this to her, we can use the documentation against them."
"If that is what you think is best."
"It is, but only if she is up to it. If her physical injuries are this bad, I can only imagine the injuries mentally and emotionally."
"Poor thing," whispered Ellen.
"Yes, poor thing," murmured Kranston. "Your Grace, what is the plan for when she wakes up?"
"I believe Markus should lead the way for this. We do not want to startle her."
They all looked to Markus.
~~~~~~~~~~
She stood in the haze, watching a dark form approach her. As the form got closer, she saw bright red eyes staring intently at her. The figure sped up, and once it was directly in front of her, grabbed her by the throat whispering, "Forever mine…"
~~~~~~~~~~
She jolted awake and found herself in a comfortable bedroom, surrounded by worried faces. She had a vague recollection of two of the faces: one was the kind man who said he wanted to help her, and the other… the other was the one she had felt that intense connection with when he touched her arm and their eyes met. The other two faces she had never seen before.
"Wh-Wh-" she tried talking, but a coughing fit took over.
"Shh. It's okay. Let's get you some water," said the kind man. He nodded at the only other woman in the room, who brought over a glass of water, gently handing it to her.
"Drink it slowly," the woman stated.
She nodded as she took the cup. At her first sip she started coughing again. The woman gently took the cup from her as her coughing fit continued. When she finally stopped, she had an apologetic look on her face.
"There is no need to feel sorry, miss. This was expected. You were running for a long time, were you not?" asked the kind man.
She nodded.
"You are definitely dehydrated, but you need to take things slowly for now. Same with your food. We will have some soup brought to you shortly, and that will need to be eaten slowly. We don't want you to get sick. Now go ahead and drink up as we introduce ourselves to you."
She nodded as the woman handed her back the cup.
"I am Markus Loter, I am a Shaman and a Healer," said the kind man. "I will oversee your recovery. This," He gestured at the other man she recognized, "is Duke Wulfric Igor Bertram. He is the Duke of this estate, and while you remain here, you will be a ward under his care."
Duke Bertram nodded at her, though he avoided meeting her eyes. What was that intense connection I felt to him earlier, she wondered. Whatever it was could it have guided me to him? Could it have been that tugging feeling in my chest?
"This is Kranston Antar, the Duke's advisor."
Kranston bowed to her.
"And this is Ellen Lente, the housekeeper. She will be looking after you and your needs while you are here."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady. Please let me know if there is anything I can get for you."
"Th-Thank you. It is a-a pleasure to m-m-meet all of you." She rasped out.
Markus smiled at her.
"Markus, I think we should move along," the Duke chimed in.
Markus looked back at the Duke, nodded, and proceeded, "There are some questions we would like to ask you. Is that okay? We can stop at any time."
She nodded.
"Well, first things first. Can you tell us your name, my dear?"
"Lyra."
"That is a lovely name. Do you have a last name, Lyra?"
"I-I-I…" she trailed off.
Ellen and Markus looked at her with concern, while Kranston and the Duke's expressions remained impassive.
"It's alright, my dear, you can tell us." Markus soothed.
"I am not sure. I grew up with people I believed were my parents until I was fifteen, but they eventually told me that they were not my real parents. That someone had paid them to raise me, … but they never told me who…" Lyra looked down at her hands. I don't know why I am telling them this. How will it help me?
"It's okay. We do not have to talk about that anymore if you do not want to."
Lyra nodded while still looking down at her hands.
"Lyra, I know this might be hard, but can you tell us where your injuries came from?"
Lyra immediately pulled her knees up to her chest and started rocking back and forth. Markus was quickly by her side, "Shh-Shh-Shh. It's alright. You're safe here. I can ask the others to leave and we can talk privately. Will that be okay with you?"
Lyra hesistantly nodded. Ellen and Kranston immediately headed out the door. Though the Duke remained where he was seated.
Markus did not look away from Lyra, "Your Grace, please."
"No, she is my ward now, it's important I this hear from her."
Lyra glanced at the Duke, who was staring back at her with silver-grey eyes. She looked away while there was a slight pause.
"Lyra, would it be okay if I stayed?" asked Wulfric, almost tenderly.
"Y-yes," she stammered.
Markus noticeably relaxed.
"Lyra, we'll take this as slowly as you want. All right?"
Lyra nodded.
"Do you know who did this to you?"
Lyra shook her head, "Th-they n-never told me their names."
"Do you know how long you were with them?"
"I'm n-n-not sure. I-I-I was f-f-fifteen when they t-took me. Does that help?"
"Yes, it does, Lyra. What do you remember about when they took you?"
Lyra closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and began: "I was living with my caretakers. It was an evening in the middle of the summer. I had just turned fifteen so that would have been the summer of 1293. I was out at the barn feeding the animals when I heard shouts. I ran back to the house to find men restraining my caretakers. They told me to run, but one of the men got ahold of me before I could get away. They then set the house, the barn, and the crops on fire. They forced me to my knees and-and made me w-w-watch as they killed my caretakers. After that they dragged me to a wagon, and I was taken to the place where they kept me." Throughout her story, tears started cascading down Lyra's face. When she finished talking, the three of them sat there in silence for a moment. Lyra did not want to look at either of them. She did not want to see the pity on their faces.
"Lyra, it is now the fall of 1297… That was four years ago."
~~~~~~~~~~
"F-f-four years ago?"
Markus turned, glaring at Wulfric. What is he thinking?
With a sigh Markus turned back to Lyra, "Yes, Lyra, it's been four years since that summer. I didn't mean for you to find out in that manner."
"Four years… I was trapped there for four years…" She was looking down at her hands with wide eyes filled with tears.
"Lyra, would you be up to telling us some of what happened during those four years?"
"It was a living hell," she said quietly.
Markus nodded, waiting for her to continue.
"I was locked in room with no windows. My-my wrists and ankles were chained to a bed in the middle of the room. That was the room they kept me in when they weren't experimenting on me… I-I'm sorry I don't think I want to talk about this anymore."
Markus looked at her, wanting to press on. Experimenting? She must know what they were hoping to find.
"My dear, perhaps you could tell us a bit m—"
"I think that's enough, Markus," interjected Wulfric. "You said we'd stop if she wanted to."
"You're right. I 'm sorry. How about we get you that soup I spoke of. Would you like that?"
Lyra nodded. Wulfric reached for a pull rope next to the bed. Within moments there was a gentle knock at the door.
"Enter," said Wulfric.
Ellen entered, and said, "You rang, your Grace."
"Yes, can we her soup brought up."
"I will bring it up right away, your Grace," Ellen stated before exiting the room.
Markus looked hesitantly at Wulfric, before asking, "My dear, after you've enjoyed your soup and before we get you cleaned up, would you be up to me documenting your injuries? Including your bruises and scars? I believe it will be important for your long-term care."
Lyra paused before saying, "I think I'll be up to that, but I only want you" she said looking at Markus before glancing at Wulfric, "and Ellen there for it."
Wulfric nodded his assent.
"So be it. When Ellen returns with your soup, I'll have her prepare a bath. I'll do the documentation in the washroom so you can get in when we're done."
Lyra nodded, and they sat there in silence once again.
"Lyra, do you have any questions for us?" asked Wulfric, breaking the silence.
Markus watched Lyra look intently at Wulfric.
"Y-yes. I do."
"Then ask away."
"Who am I to you?"