The Girl in the Red Cloak Ch. 04

"You're in shock," he said. "It'll be alright." he drew her into his arms, his warm embrace soothing her as the tears continued to roll. Her sobs were muffled by his sturdy chest, and she buried her face and cried. "Shh," he said, his hand stroking the back of her head. "You're safe now. I'm here, I'll protect you."

"Oh, Lukas," she sobbed. "It was horrible!" she was sniffling and rubbing her eyes, his shirt growing damp beneath her tears, but he didn't seem to mind.

"I know, little Healer, I know. But now I'm here. I've got you."

"I thought you said men in Maharia respected women!" she shoved away from him, her words tinged with anger. "That is not respecting women!" she gestured wildly at the carnage behind her.

"We do, on the whole, but there are a few bad apples in every barrel, Red. Those two were part of King Otto's personal guard, and they'd long ago let the power go to their head. They are the exception, not the rule, though I shudder to think what might happen if Otto does end up winning this war. That's why the work I'm doing is so important."

Clara heaved a long shuddery sigh into his shoulder in response.

"You don't have to come. It's not too late to back out, Red." His words were gentle, as his hand rubbed her back, still comforting her. "There could be more danger, like this or worse on our journey. I would never, ever, let anything happen to you if I could prevent it, but I won't always be right there and able to protect you." He sighed. "I never should have agreed to let you come in the first place. This is no life for a girl like you." She sat back and considered his words.

She'd known it wouldn't be easy, but getting off to such a terrible start seemed a bad omen. Of course, not everyone they met would be an agent of King Otto, but she hadn't even considered that as a risk before. Her main concerns had been King Roderick and the possibility of being accused of treason. Now she had an entirely different set of concerns from a different country. The life of a healer wasn't easy, but rarely were they fighting for their life. If she continued this course with Lukas, she might well be, and on a regular basis. Was she strong enough for that?

She was distracted from her thoughts by the realization that her right arm was drenched in something sticky and liquid. Lifting it, she saw it was blood, and remembered Lukas' bleeding arm. Without a word, she reached up and felt, pouring a trickle of energy into the wound and encouraging it to knit itself closed. She could feel the tear in his flesh becoming one again, the two sides bonding together. As Maharia and Lotharis might one day do, if the rift between the countries could be healed. Who knew more about healing than a Healer?

"I'm going." Her words were determined, brooking no argument. She made sure his wound closed properly and cleanly, chasing out any trace of lingering dirt or debris. Her eyes rose to meet his and he sighed again.

"I was afraid of that."

"You need me." She indicated his arm.

And I need you.

The thought was on her mind, but she held it in. This wasn't about feelings right now, this was about the simple truth of the matter. "Healers are always welcome. If all else fails, you can be my mute assistant, or bodyguard. We'll be able to move freely, instead of hiding out in forests. I know you haven't told me the details of your plans, but surely you must agree we'll get more accomplished if we're not hiding under cover all the time. What happened today," she suppressed a little shudder, "Only serves to strengthen my resolve. I don't want to live in a country at war, where women can become the spoils. I'm going with you and that's final." She stuck out her chin.

"The gods only know why I'm agreeing to this now, especially after that idiotic attempt of yours to go after Keifer yourself, but I can't think of a sensible argument against you, nor can I find it in my heart to tell you that you can't take action to fight for what you believe in. It's one of the ideals Princess Kasimira holds dear, and she'd have my guts for garters if she knew I denied someone that right, particularly if she knew it was a woman, and a Healer at that." He met her eyes and held her gaze. "To be honest, it'll be nice to have the company. I spend too much time on these missions alone."

Clara felt a hollow sense of satisfaction. She was getting what she wanted, what she'd demanded, but was that all she was to him? Company? It must get very lonely sometimes out on the road, but didn't they have more of a connection than that? She dismissed the thought, focusing instead on the matter at hand.

"We'll need to find my haversack. Bimi - one of my fellow healers - stocked me full of herbs before I left and we may yet need them. I dropped it when I was being... chased."

"You go back and look for that. I'm going to hide these bodies, just in case an overzealous woodcutter decides to explore too fat into the woods or a royal patrol comes by again."

"Do you need help?" she asked, praying the answer was no. She'd seen enough of the two men and wanted nothing more to do with them. Even laying hands on their cold corpses was likely to nauseate her.

"No, Red. I can handle this. Go get your bag, and maybe see if there are any other herbs you need in the woods. I might be a bit." He smiled at her.

Clara nodded and rose.

"Hey Red," he called after her as she began to retrace her steps. "Did you even feel the urge to heal these two?" She thought about it, and realized that it had never even occurred to her. The healing instinct had always been such a strong, driving force of her psyche that she had never considered she might one day see a dying person and not feel the urge to help them. Yet Keifer and Singzer had aroused no such urges in her, in fact she had been glad to see them die.

"No," she said. "Not at all."

"Well," he cast a grin in her direction, "Maybe there's hope for you yet.

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