Kapitel 604: Setting It and Setting Out
Aurora was growing less coherent by the moment, but she heard Brinn's words, "Hold still," loud and clear. She wondered at what they meant.
Where would she possibly be able to go with her broken leg? The thought was laughable.
But then she felt two nimble hands grasp her leg and a searing pain gripped her very soul. A pain that would only intensify a moment later. The Empress screamed, clawing blindly at the perceived enemy who was attacking her.
Why would anyone try to cause her such pain?!
But her hands never caught the perpetrator. Alvar and Devrim pinned her arms.
"Are you sure you know what you are doing?" Devrim didn't like how Brinn had just dove into the situation without warning.
"Just hold Rory down. I don't want to do this twice!" Brinn snapped. Her ears were as red as her fiery hair.
With a sigh, Devrim sat across his wife's stomach and held down her shoulders. "I'm so sorry," he told Aurora. "We have to do something."
But the Empress did not seem to comprehend his words. Her eyes looked wild and frantic.
"No, no. Please!" She begged when her effort to escape was abandoned.
"I have to do it now or she will keep losing blood." Brinn gritted her teeth.
Devrim looked for the healer that had yet to arrive. Had she been one of the people hurt by the sandwolves and sent home?
The Emperor could feel the heat of his wife's body and see the paleness of her skin.
"Do it," he told the elven princess.
Brinn did not wait for him to confirm his words. She began pressing against Aurora's leg, manipulating both sides of the bone back into place. The Empress convulsed in every possible manner trying to get free of the grey-eyed man's grasp.
Alvar grunted. He had moved to hold down Aurora's uninjured leg and received a kick in the face in response.
"Don't let her get the better of you," Brinn chided her husband. "I'm almost done!"
The process was far more intense and long than Brinn had originally thought. The leg was broken in more than one place, and the torn up skin only made it harder to discern what was actually going on.
When Brinn was finally done, her golden skin was glistening with perspiration.
No one knew exactly when during the process Aurora had passed out. After her initial outburst, her cries became increasingly feeble until she had released her consciousness to sleep.
At some point Nurlan had returned with the healer in tow. But as Brinn was in the middle of the process, the healer merely assisted.
"Can you stitch her up, Sav?" Brinn asked the healer. The woman in uniform pushed her braid back over her shoulder and nodded. "Good, because I never learned to sew properly and I don't intend for Rory to be my first real try."
Stepping back, Brinn looked down at her hands. She seemed in a bit of a daze herself. Sensing the elf's lack of focus, the healer spoke words of comfort.
"You did well, Your Highness. You are much stronger than I. I am not sure I would have been able to do any of that quite so easily. Her Majesty was lucky to have you close by."
The elven princess gave the healer a lopsided grin. "Anything for Rory."
Alvar passed his wife a cloth to clean her crimson hands. Then he moved to rub her shoulders and kissed the back of her neck.
Devrim shifted to Aurora's side and gripped her limp hand. He could feel her weak but steady pulse. It was a comfort to him.
"Where did you learn to do that?" The Emperor asked over his shoulder.
Brinn chewed her lip. "I might have broken a bone or two of my own while out scouting. I will say it is a lot easier to do it on someone else's body than your own."
Devrim wanted to ask more, but he knew that he would be unable to give the story his full attention. He would have to ask for that campfire story another day.
There was so much blood. How had the woman survived up until this point without bleeding out?
It seemed that in stepping back when she reached the top of the ledge, something new had been cut open in Aurora's leg. It was only Devrim's firm hold around the blanket as they traveled which slowed the constant flow.
Thankfully the stream was lessening with each passing moment. Sav's stitching was mesmerizing. If not for the hideous nature of her work, the picture would have been almost beautiful.
When the healed was finished, she tied off the thread, cut it, and began dressing the wound. Her face was somber.
The young woman checked the rest of The Empress's body for wounds and treated the less minor scrapes and bruises. Aurora groaned slightly against the touches, but did not awaken.
The healer sighed. "I washed out as much dirt as I could from the wound before I stitched it up, but I fear that it is already infected. Her Majesty has a fever, which is both good and bad. It is good that her body still has so much fight in it after all the blood loss, but a problem because it means there is something for her body to fight."
"What do we do?" Devrim could not keep his voice from shaking.
Monsters and villains he would battle in a heartbeat to save the woman he loved. But no amount of sword work would fight an infection.
After wiping her hands, Sav brought some herbs from her pack. "I already applied this to her bandages, but I'll make a wrap for her head as well. To make extra sure, I will place a little of these two herbs in her mouth to see if she will swallow it. That will bring down the fever."
The Emperor motioned his agreement and the healer pressed a pinch of the two different herbs under the Empress's tongue and pressed her mouth shut. Aurora pulled her head away, but her eyes remained closed.
Devrim could sense a little of the tension ease in his wife's body. He hoped she was not in too much pain.
"We should get her into some clean clothes," Devrim told Brinn. She nodded and went to work to help her friend preserve what was left of her modesty.
"If I may, Your Majesty." The healer held her long braid nervously with both hands. Sensing her hesitation to speak freely, the Emperor walked with her a short distance away from the group.
"What is on your mind?" He asked as calmly as he could.
Sav looked at the ground, unwilling to meet the Emperor's eye. "I am trained for battle wounds, but I am not a doctor. I do think Her Majesty needs real medical attention as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the less a physician will be able to help us. I am sorry I am not more useful."
"Thank you for your honesty. And you have been very useful. You closed the wound in my wife's leg and lowered her pain. The Empire is proud to have you in its service." Devrim turned away with a nod and hurried to take action.
"Elxan, Chief Zan, General Nurlan! I need your council, now!"
The three men met their ruler instantly and bowed.
"We need to get to the closest doctor. Where is the city we had planned as a stopping point for today?" Devrim looked between the two men for answers.
They obviously couldn't go backwards. It was just a matter of setting the course the correct way forward.
Nurlan furrowed his brow. "My latest information states that the city you mentioned is merely a village. The chances of them having anything more than a local healer are almost none."
Devrim considered taking his chances. Perhaps this healer was trained to deal with fever more than Sav.
Zan squashed that hope quickly. "The last time I was there--a hundred years ago--they did have a healer. The bigger issue is the distance."
Exlan nodded. "Our detour to cross the gap and our mad dash just now have put us more than a half-day's journey away. The closest settlement is Secluse on the other side of the dessert."
The scout pointed.
The dessert they had been walking alongside had taken a turn and now stretched before them.
They had reached the Crossing. The only way to the southern ocean was across the strip of sand.
"How long will it take?" Devrim chewed his lip.
He didn't like the idea of taking Aurora through the territory of the sand wolves while she was in her current state.
"Eight hours, possibly a little more. Less if we really push it." Exlan tried to be realistic. "But close to half the time than if we try for the village."
"Secluse has a doctor?" Devrim rubbed his neck anxiously.
"It is large enough that wouldn't be surprised if it has two at least." Exlan had never been there, but he had heard tales of the grandeur of Secluse.
Devrim looked at the sinking sun. They would have to travel in the dark. The last time they had been attacked by the wolves, it was broad daylight. Maybe this would be safer.
The Emperor nodded. "I will get Aurora. We ride immediately."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein