The man was awake, although he could not seem to bring himself to open his eyes or speak. He felt ill, hot and achy, too much so to bother with things about him that was in direct contrast with the way he had felt the last time he had woken. The woman he had held tended him, and he was aware of her ministrations. He felt her cool touch as she felt his forehead and a while later he felt her bathing him with warm water. She had a gentle touch, and he wished he could gather up enough energy to tell her how grateful he was for her attention.
He did not wake, so Aura heated water and sponged his body down, for he was sweating quite freely with fever. She heated more water and washed the blood out of his hair, as well as ridding him of any other unwelcome inhabitants, should he have any. When she had finished she made a broth and fed him as best as she could, when he was restless, When she had managed to feed him a full bowl of the clear fluid she left the cave to wash and clean herself. She returned to the cave to find her patient even more feverish and racked with shivers than he had been. Her patient, it seemed, was intent on testing her skills as a physician. Considering that she had none to speak of, she was not overly taken with the idea of being put in this position.
For the next seventy-two hours Aura got little to no sleep, while her patient tossed about and muttered incoherently in his fevered state. The only clear words he spoke were in Latin. Aura believed this meant that he was an educated man for she had not heard many of the people she had met using it. Only those in the higher classes spoke Latin. She sponged him down with cool water collected from the stream outdoors and continued to pour broths and liquids into him, until the fever broke and he slept naturally. When she was sure of her patient's state of health she laid back down next to him again in a sheer state of exhaustion and she slept. She woke to find herself cradled in his arms.
Aura blinked as if to clear both mind and sight, all the while feeling that she could use more rest. It was, however, something that she knew she would be ill advised to do. The fire needed tending, as did her patient. She slipped away from his side, and moved about the cave, getting some wood to build up her fire with. When she was satisfied with the heat it was throwing out, she turned to check on her waking patient.
He was watching, studying her every move, and she felt a sudden unease. She did not like feeling like some germ under a microscope. Trying to avoid his steady gaze she took his temperature and pulse. The first was almost normal, and the second strong and steady. When she had determined that he was over the worst, she left his side, to go outside to make them both something to eat. When it was done she took the cooked food to him.
The first thing Aura noticed as she entered the cave was the empty bed that announced his absence. Her eyes flicked from the moss that had served as his mattress, to the fire, and she saw him, crouching down as he placed new dry wood on to the low flames. He was weaving slightly as he sought to be careful not to smother the coals while he tended his chore. Despite his obvious weakness Aura gave a swallow. She felt intimidated by his size. She placed their food on a boulder then sought out Roger, in an unconscious way of using him as an equalizing factor. The man took one look at the snake as it wound itself about her then reached for his sword, which he had gathered from his belongings during her absence. It now hung from his hip as if it was a part of him.
Aura took one look at the weapon as it flashed from his scabbard, and she screamed as she backed against the cave wall. "No!" He did not seem to listen as he swung the weapon at the snake and missed as she dodged. He stared at her, confused by her attempts to protect the creature, along with the docility of the snake itself, and she suddenly lost all fear of the man as she realized that he was no different than anyone else. She took Roger to the mouth of the cave, where he uncoiled himself from about her, and slithered off to go hunting. She returned to the interior of the cave to face his questions.
"Who are you?" His tone of voice and accent echoed his wonder, as well as his educational and social status.
Aura, not understanding his language very well, replied in Latin, as she remembered him using it during his moments of delirium. "I am a woman. I have raised Roger since he was little more than two feet long. He trusts me, and we are used to each other, nothing more, or out of the ordinary."
"You tamed the wolf in the same way?" He replied, also in Latin.
She nodded then turned the subject away from herself. "I want to check your wounds."
He grunted and motioned at the roasted rabbit and the other oddities, which she had brought in to eat, and gave an alternative suggestion. "Perhaps we should eat first, while the food is still hot. Then we can get to know each other better at our leisure."
She nodded, taking the statement at face value then brought her homemade platter filled with food over to the side of the fire where she set it down as she sat closer to the flames, to catch some of the heat. The man tore a quarter of the rabbit from the spit and began to eat, while she sat and watched for a few moments before pouring water into a wooden cup for him. She poured another for herself, then settled down to enjoy her meal.
"How long have you lived here?" He asked between mouthfuls.
"A while," she answered evasively. She was still wary of the man, and still tired from the days that she had spent nursing him.
"You cook well. You have put something into the meat," he observed.
Aura shrugged a shoulder and changed the subject. "You have removed the bandages from your arm. Why?"
"It got in the way. Besides the arm will heal quicker. Who taught you to set bones?"
"Nobody," Aura admitted then shrugged the matter off. "Generally I believe common sense comes into it a lot."
"So the people who know how to do it properly have told me. What is your name?" He asked, but received no answer.
The man assessed the woman before him. Somehow he knew she did not fit in the lifestyle she was living. Her accent was wrong. She had the manners and bearing of a lady, and who knew what else she hid behind that mask that she wore. He had to admit, she was rather attractive, and there was something about her that his instincts told him, was familiar. Something that he should recognize, and he frowned at the thoughts going through his mind. She wasn’t the only fair maiden he had ever been attracted to, and he already had too many women throwing themselves at him.
After a while of watching her he wished that she would say something, anything to dispel the air of mystery that seemed to cloak her. It was not to be. She remained quiet, choosing to shroud herself in obscurity. For the first time in his life he had the feeling that he was with a woman he could trust. He was having a hard time justifying the feeling with his mind and he was surprised he was even trying. After all, she was just another woman.
Aura was less bold about her examination of the man, as she sat across the boulder from him. He asked her name, she had no intention of telling him. Something instinctive told her it would be a mistake. She didn’t want to know him. She would help him and he would go, they would never meet again, that was for the best. They would never be more than memories with no names, no labels. It would be easier to forget that they had ever met, easier to pretend that the attraction she felt to this stranger had been no more than a fanciful dream.
She snuck little glances at him from under her eyelashes. He felt huge to her and he made her feel inadequate. That was something that should have irritated her, but failed to. Instead she felt drawn to him in ways that made her feel warm all over. She was very uncomfortable with the sensation. She accepted the fact that she knew nothing about men. She knew that without her back up team, Roger and Wolf, she would have been terrified of him.
She licked her dry lips to wet them as she considered the man before her. His hair hung past his shoulders in an unruly riot of waves and curls, which she thought would look better with another wash. She noted her own odor and decided she could use a proper bath as well. Despite that thought she wrinkled her nose in distaste at the smell of him. She finished her meal, got up, wiped
her fingers and mouth on a makeshift napkin, and approached the man.
"If you have finished eating I will tend to your wounds now."
He nodded as he scowled up at her, and reluctantly removed his tunic. She bit at her lip as she examined his cuts, his muscles twitched as her fingers seemed to play over the surface of his skin with a feathery touch. The role she played as doctor gave her a more secure feeling. It tended to distance her mind from her body’s reactions to his presence.
The man was not so removed from his feelings. He felt his blood heat, and his hands itched to touch her. After being celibate for so long he was surprised that his more basic instincts had chosen this time to surface. But then again, why not, she seemed a likely candidate for his attentions. A smile spread across his face as an unlikely thought crossed his mind. Perhaps she even wanted his attentions. He had to know.
"You afraid to touch me, or do you wish to invite me closer?" He half growled, half taunted. He was unsure of what type of reaction he wanted from her. His mind and body were battling it out and he fought a growing sensation of lust that burned hot through his veins and made him grow hard. No woman had ever made him feel this way before and he sought to suppress it by sheer will.
The question took Aura by surprise, and she felt a searing surge of anger at the implication. She tossed him a clipped laugh and snapped off a snarky reply. "You are not that irresistible mister. If you are looking for a good time, go find yourself a red light zone. In the meantime, you seem to be healing well. In another couple of days we will take the stitches out and you can go home."
"I cannot wait that long, I should have left already." Came his reply.
"That might be so," Aura shrugged an indifferent shoulder as she answered him. "But your injuries are not ready, so make the best of it. This might also be the perfect opportunity for you to take a bath. I will even supply the soap if you do. I made it myself and it really is quite good."
"A bath?" The man asked as if he had never heard the word before.
Aura gave a groan of exasperation and rolled her eyes upwards as she snipped. "Do not tell me, you have never heard of a bath or a bar of soap before. No wonder you could be smelled from a dozen paces when I found you."
The man looked at her in disbelief as she spoke. He could not believe she was speaking to him in such a manner. Had she no respect for him? No idea who or what he was? She wanted him to bathe? Here? She could not be serious. What was he to bathe in? She had nothing large enough to hold the amount of water it would take him to have a proper bath. Or did she?
He frowned as he watched her, deep in thought. Perhaps it would not be so bad, especially if she joined him. She was rather attractive, if somewhat plainly presented. It was a thought that made him watch her even closer in his continued speculation before deciding that she probably was not his type. There was something about her that told him that she would be the kind to be very uncooperative.
Aura noted his frown and sighed in misunderstanding. Did that mean that they did not bathe here? She was not going to let that stop her from getting clean. The water in the pond outside of the cave was beginning to get very cold with the coming of winter, but it still would serve for more baths for a while. Believing in a definite order to things Aura decided to straighten up the cave first, then she brought in some wood, this time with the man's help. He was feeling stiff, sore and weak, but he was dammed if he was going to let a mere slip of a maid see to him like some mewling babe. When she was finished with the wood she bundled up the moss that had served as their mattress and, much to his surprise, she burned it. As the fire reduced the mass to cinders she spread some fresh moss, picked up a bar of soap and a large towel. She then turned to the man to give a few last minute instructions as he fed the fire.
"I am going to the pond, you are to rest. You look as if you could use it. I will return to make you some dinner." Then she left.
To say that he was bewildered would have been putting it lightly, as once more he felt that she had no respect for him. He could not see how. She gave no exceptions for his status. Had she lived alone so long that she did not recognize him for what he was? Then again, perhaps she did not even care. It was a matter that he was determined to bring up with her later. In the meantime; he admitted, she had been right about how he felt, he was very tired. Then again, maybe not as tired as he thought, he considered while his eyes followed the hypnotic sway of her hips as she walked away from him.
Perhaps she had been right before, he smiled to himself. Perhaps a bath was just what he needed. It would make him feel much more refreshed, and he had to admit he did feel dirtier than usual. His smile widened as he picked up another bar of soap, as she had done, and a towel, before following her to the outside pool.
By the time he reached the edge of the water Aura had already finished washing. She had soaped down her hair to clean it, and when she heard his approach, she dove into the depths of the pond, to swim under the surface to the deeper most center part of the basin. Her head broke the water as she floated for a few moments, and she watched as he pulled off his shirt, and tossed her a smile. She slipped back under the water, like a seal headed for safer waters.
The man gritted his teeth against the cold of the water as he entered the water. How could she seem so nonchalant about the temperature, it was freezing! He looked about for her as he reached chest deep in the pool, following the direction she had taken earlier, and frowned as he saw her wrapped in her towel. She had her clothing in her arms and was heading for the entrance of the cave.
Oh well, he sighed. He was wet anyway, so he might as well take advantage of the opportunity. He had to admit that he had felt very disappointed to see her leave. He chided himself as he accepted her decision. What had he expected anyway? She was obviously still a maiden, though she was old enough to have had a few children by now. He wondered why she had remained alone. He pushed the thought aside as he tended to his own needs. It was past time he quit daydreaming about someone who obviously wanted nothing to do with him in an intimate way.
By the time the man returned to the cave Aura was dressed and was sitting by the fire, combing her hair out as it dried. She glanced at him as she wondered how much he had seen, and blushed. He stood near the entrance then, slowly walked to the side of the fire to warm his body as he continued his perusal. She looked different with her hair loose and hanging down, and he stared at her as if he was mesmerized.
Damn but she was beautiful, he thought. Why did she hide it? Half the women he knew at court would kill to look half as well as she did. He felt a heat rising within his body as he continued to watch her, and without realizing it, he was striding swiftly around the fire.
Aura had watched him warily as he had entered the cave. He looked as if he was feeling better and completely refreshed, the bath had done him a lot of good in that respect. It had also loaned him an air of danger, giving her the impression that she was trapped, which was ridiculous as she was very well protected with Roger and Wolf as allies. She watched how he looked at her and she felt, and saw his change of mood, which was reflected in his eyes. He could rape her in his present state of mind. She was not about to let that happen. She sprinted to the other side of the fire as he stalked her and called to her wolf for help.
Wolf, hearing his mistress scream his name in panic, ran to her side. He could sense her fear and determined it was the man who was to blame for it. He gave a deep throaty growl of warning at him and bared his teeth at the perceived danger.
The man's attention immediately shifted from the woman to the wolf. Under the circumstances the wolf was not an adversary that the man was prepared to face at the moment. He was neither dressed, armed, or in any condition for a confrontation. At another time he might have considered it, but not in the shape his body was in, even if the woman looked as if she might be worth it. He backed off and she retreated into a different corner of the cave, where she finished combing her hair then braided it in her usual style. He frowned his disapprov
al, as he watched her.
When Aura felt safe again, she came out of her corner to make a stew, which they shared in silence. She, however, continued to watch him. There was no trust left between them. He had tried to force himself on her. She was afraid to have him nearby. What if he came after her again? Wolf might not be close enough to save her the next time. Her mind filtered though all the possibilities. The bottom line, however, was that she thought he wasn’t strong enough to travel on his own. It was a problem she would have to do some serious thinking about. So when they finished eating she cleaned up, and spent the rest of her day divided between Wolf and Roger as she decided what she was going to do.
The man could only stare and wonder at her manner as she played with her pets. She was, he was sure, trying to ignore him and keep him at a distance. She was different than any woman he had known. He wondered what it was that made her seem so special. He knew that tonight he would sleep alone and he sighed in regret. She had been nice to wake up to, with her curled up next to him, even if he knew she had done it to keep him warm in the night, while she had sought to break his fever. She had smelled so fresh and clean, and the scent in her hair had reminded him of a field of fragrant wild flowers. He would miss her by his side, strange to think he could grow to need her so quickly. He had never felt so dependent on another human being before.
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