Chapter 10: The Wetlands (Part 3)
Cordelia finally made her way back through the dense swamp and into the central canal. The thick vegetation opened up to the expansive canal. The dark sky was clear, and the breeze of the wind felt cool on her skin. Exhaustion clung to her, and the thought of having to walk the rest of the distance back to Ville Marais felt impossible. Suddenly, in the darkness, she spotted a small boat rowing towards her. Relief washed over her.
"There she is! Faster!" She heard a familiar voice reach her ears, but she was so tired she felt like she could barely stand up.
Cordelia could hear them call out to her, but their words did not reach her ears. After using so much energy walking on the murky water, carrying a giant dead alligator an unknown distance with her magic, along with her encounter with the wetlands goddess, Cordelia was thoroughly exhausted.
Her feet refused to move, and she stumbled sluggishly towards them. In her exhaustion, her eyes grew heavy, and her feet started slipping beneath the water. She felt her leather boots and the hem of her dress soak up water, becoming saturated and heavy. The added weight pulled her deeper, and she felt the river water reach her waist. The coolness on her skin felt comforting and relaxing. She wanted to fall into it completely, succumbing to the feeling as consciousness slipped from her.
…
Lyonis watched as Cordelia entered the main canal from the swampy treeline. She was still a good distance from them, but he could tell she was walking slower. Her steps looked weak as she shuffled towards them. He caught her glance in their direction, and relief washed over her face. Her eyes closed, and she started slipping slowly beneath the water.
"There she is" He pointed in her direction.
"Faster!" He yelled out to the men in the boat behind him, and the small boat picked up speed. "She's losing consciousness!"
To his fear, he saw her slip beneath the water - he dove in and swam. He could reach her faster than the boat would. In just a moment's breath, he reached the spot she had fallen beneath the water. He took a deep breath and dove underneath.
He spotted her form in the murky water and reached for her, grabbing onto her arm and pulling her towards him. He wrapped an arm quickly around her waist and kicked hard, breaching the surface in no time. He flipped her over onto her back and carried her body in the water, easily supporting her head as she floated on the surface. She had passed out, and her body was limp and lifeless. Lyonis placed two fingers on her neck. There was a pulse, but it was faint, and she wasn't breathing.
"Cordelia… Cordelia, wake up!" He whispered in her ear as he swam backwards towards the boat that was finally reaching them. The men on the boat pulled her out of the water, and Lyonis climbed inside, rushing to her side.
"We need to get her back as soon as possible!" He turned to face her lifeless body and placed his ear over her mouth. Still not breathing. The men wasted no time rowing back towards the city. Sweat poured from their faces.
Lyonis needed to do something quickly. "Forgive me…" He thought to himself as he grabbed ahold of the front of her dress and tore it open, popping the buttons off their stitches, exposing her chest. Her thin chemise was soaked through and clung to her skin. He noticed a thick pink band of scarring around her neck but thought nothing of it.
He laid her flat on the floor of the boat and straddled her legs in the cramped space. Lyonis placed his palms over the center of her chest and pumped his hands hard into it a few times. He leaned over, pinched her nose closed with one hand, tilted her chin up, and placed his lips over hers, blowing a large breath, slow and steady, into her lungs. He repeated the process a few more times, and after the fourth iteration Cordelia spit up a bunch of water, coughing and sitting up.
Lyonis backed away from her and turned to grab a blanket they had packed on the boat. He turned back toward her and, while avoiding looking directly at her, threw the blanket around her shoulders, covering her completely.
"Cordelia… Cordelia? Can you hear me?" He patted her back as she continued to cough up water. Her loose black hair clung to her wet face, and large dark circles had grown under her grey-green eyes, which had a slightly sunken appearance.
"Lyonis?..." Her tired eyes met his, and he felt relief wash over him. That was until she fainted once more. He bundled her up in his arms, pulling the blanket up over her head to try and prevent her from catching a chill.
"Please hurry, men. We need to get her back as soon as possible." The two men who were rowing nodded and tried to pick up speed.
….
Cordelia's eyes fluttered open. Her head was pounding. She had dreamt Lyonis had pulled her from dark water. His soft lips pushed against hers. It was a strange dream. She was wrapped in a blanket that was covering her face, and she sat up; pulling the thick sheet off her head, she noticed she was wrapped up in the arms of a man on a boat being rowed by two other men.
She turned around to see Lyonis's face uncomfortable close to hers, her body engulfed in his body as his arms wrapped around her. She jumped and shot backward away from him. Her head throbbed, her throat was dry and hoarse, and she rubbed her temples with her fingers.
"Ouchh…."
"Careful, Cordelia…" The was concern in Lyonis's voice. He spoke to her no louder than a whisper. "Don't move too fast. Here drink some water. Take small sips."
He handed her a canteen, which she weakly took from him. Her hands shook violently. She took a few sips and looked at him. He had his head turned away from her, not looking directly at her, which she found odd.
A subtle breeze blew over her skin and sent shivers down her spine. It dawned on her that she felt exposed and looked down only to find that her dress had been torn right down the middle front, exposing her chest and chemise. She felt her ears grow hot, and she pulled the blanket back over her head. She left her face, barely peeking out so she could look at him. The sudden movement and thumping of her heart pulsated in her head, and she groaned at the pain.
"Don't move so fast…." Lyonis had turned back to face her, unable to help himself from getting close to her. His eyes scanned her face worryingly.
"Lyonis… why is my dress torn?" She spoke quietly and looked him dead in the eyes. There had better be a good reason why she was so exposed to three grown men.
Lyonis looked apologetic and scratched the back of his neck, "Well… you had drowned, and your dress was too constricting. I tried to be careful and leave your chemise intact. I promise I didn't see anything. I was too busy trying to get you breathing again…" there was a pause, and she noticed his ears turn red. "I covered you in the blanket as soon as you started breathing again."
Cordelia sighed. So it wasn't a dream after all. She touched her lips with her fingers.
"Did you… did you kiss me?" She asked involuntarily. A gasp left her lips. She hadn't planned on verifying her dream.
"Ahh… well… I had to get you breathing again… the only way to do that was to breathe air back into your lungs… myself." Lyonis stared at her apologetically.
She nodded. It wasn't a real kiss. He had only done that to save her life. There were times in her life she was forced to do similar things in order to save herself or someone else.
She remembered being a child and having to strip down naked in a cave with five other kids having to lay skin-to-skin with them to avoid freezing to death on top of a frozen mountain. Sometimes such uncomfortable things were inevitable for survival.
She sat there for a while as she replayed her experiences over the last few hours in her mind. She was grateful he had been there to catch her. But she couldn't understand why she was feeling so awfully tired and why she had fainted in the first place. She had only been gone perhaps a few hours, and she hardly used any magical energy at all. There was no reason why she was so exhausted.
After a while, she looked up at Lyonis with a smile, his amber eyes full of worry. "Thank you, Lyonis, for saving me. I guess we're even now."
He chuckled and rubbed his eyes in relief, seeing that she wasn't angry with him for destroying her dress or placing his lips on hers. "I suppose we are…."
…
The boat arrived back at Ville Marais as bright white sunlight began to peek over the horizon. The crowd wasn't as large as when she had left that night, but a sizeable group still surrounded the dock when they arrived. Large bouquets, fresh meat, lit candles, and people praying on their knees covered the length of the pier. Small paper boats floated on the water in front of the pier. The locals had already begun their offerings to the great alligator they had mistakenly brought back, unknowingly angering the wetlands goddess.
She noticed a flame of red hair sitting on the edge of the embankment, head in her hands. A young man sat next to her. He had an arm draped over her shoulders.
"LOOK! There they are!!" A voice yelled out from the crowd. Noise erupted from the onlookers. It took the boat some time to reach the shore. Lyonis helped her out of the boat onto the dock, careful to keep the blanket wrapped around her.
As soon as her boot heels touched the cobblestone, Gabrielle rushed over and threw thin arms around her. Damas and Mauve were close behind her.
"Madame! I was so worried! I'm so glad you're safe." Tears spilled down her freckled cheeks, "The storm was so bad! It was raining so hard. When they came back, and you weren't with them, everyone was so worried. I was so so worried! And then the storm suddenly disappeared, and you hadn't returned!"
Cordelia placed her head against the top of Gabrielle's red mane, returning her embrace. "It was nothing—no need to worry. Everything is fine. I am fine."
Benoni had been sitting next to Gabrielle on the dock. He slinked over and sat in front of her. He sniffed her and looked up, unblinking. He said nothing to her, only stared inquisitively.
"Madame, what happened?! You look terrible!!!" Tears fell down Gabrielle's freckled cheeks. Her eyes were swollen and red, as if she had been crying for days.
A small chuckle left Cordelia's lips. "Nothing, nothing happened. I just returned the creature to her final resting place. All is well." Gabrielle and the crowd around her gazed at her apprehensively. Worry and shock filled their eyes.
"What's with these tears? I was gone only a single night."
"No, Madame! You were gone for three whole days! How is everything alright?!" The crowd around Cordelia murmured in agreeance. "The men were about to send out a larger search team. Sir Lyonis had been out searching for you ever since the storm died down."
The crowd waited for her response.
"Oh… Well, I must've traveled further than I thought." This was news to Cordelia, who could've sworn she had only been gone one night. She hadn't even noticed the change in days. Just how far into the wetlands did she travel? But it made sense why she felt so weak, dehydrated, and absolutely exhausted.
"No matter, I am here and well. Please, everyone, go about your business. I really must go rest. I'm quite tired." She smiled and laughed, hoping to ease the crowd.
"You heard her! Leave her be! Let her pass!" Lyonis spoke up from behind her spoke out over the crowd, and a path in front of her quickly parted.
Cordelia suddenly felt uneasy on her feet. Fatigue was quickly catching up to her. Damas peeled Gabrielle from Cordelia, and much to her dissatisfaction, Lyonis scooped her up in his arms. Too tired to protest, Cordelia didn't say anything. Instead, she fell asleep in his arms as he walked gently towards the apothecary.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
deserttrash
deserttrash Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
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