Below the Peak (Sola)(99)

Nara rubbed over her arms once and moved toward the bed. She perched on edge before sliding beneath the bedcover. The lines were crisp and fresh beneath her as she scooted and adjusted the pillow and slipped the dagger under then rested her head on the pillow. Nara closed her eyes and listened as he silently walked toward the lamp and blew the flame out, then closed the curtains of the window, plunging them into darkness. She opened her eyes when the other side of the bed dipped under Calemir’s weight. Her body tensed when he laid down and pulled the bedcovers over himself. It wasn’t until much later did she fall asleep when she gave up listening to his rhythmic breathing. She knew he wasn’t fully asleep.





Chapter Forty-seven


Sunlight hit her face. Groggily Nara sat up. Stretching, she yawned and dropped her hands to her side. It took her a moment to remember where she was, who she had slept with and what had happened. Calemir wasn’t in the room. Tucking black strands of hair behind her ears, she jumped from the bed and hurried to her room. The boy. She should find out his name. Anyway, when she got in her bedroom, she found the boy still sleeping. Nara assessed him, listened to his breathing. She gently placed her hand on his forehead and frowned. He was still burning up, his skin clammy. Withdrawing her hand, she strode to the window and pushed it open. Perhaps cool and fresh air would do. A bath too would help and change of sheets. He won’t get better from sleeping on sheets damp with sick sweat. Making up her mind, Nara quickly bathed and changed into proper clothes before hurrying downstairs and asked Izza if she could prepare broth soup. Once doing that, she quickly got to the stairs and back in her room. She rummaged through her closet and took a towel, clean undergarment pants and a tunic. The clothes were certainly big for the boy but would have to do. She put them on the table.

“Hey” Nara called softly. “Wake up.”

“Wake up” Nara repeated, shaking his covered shoulder gently. The boy let out a small moan, burrowing his head into the pillow with a clogged sniff. She rolled the bedcover down his front, exposing his clammy chest. He stirred and opened his eyes. His eyes were swollen and red from crying.

“You need to bath and eat,” she said with concern. Wúlf stared vacantly, as the cruel reality greeted him. His lips trembled, and tears as fresh as a river fell. He had woken up in the middle of the from a nightmare. A bad dream that had happened and killed his father. He had struggled to go back to sleep, but eventually, he did after crying for what seemed to be an eternity. Here he was again, when he thought he had no more tears, he silently cried.

“I’m sorry about your father,” Nara said sadly. “May his soul find rest.”

Wúlf sniffed and roughly wiped his face before sitting up, causing the bedcover to slide down further and bunch on his waist. She glanced at his wound. Her brows furrowed. The skin around his wound was darkish grey, like a sort of infection. The boy looked down too and assessed his injury and looked back at her. “What’s wrong?”

Looking at the boy, Nara kept a neutral face. “We just need to clean your wound. Now please get up so you can bath.”

“You think you can do that?” she asked, keeping her tone light.

Wúlf nodded.

Her lips curled tightly. “Good, let’s do that then.”

Nara assisted the boy to the bathroom and relenting to let him clean himself when he insisted to the point he shouted at her. Seeing he wanted to be alone, she cautioned him to not stay long and be careful with his wound and not wet it. She refused to close the door. She wanted to keep an eye on him as she changed the bed linens.

“I’m not wearing that” Wúlf made a face as he looked at the clothes in her hands.

“They are the only options,” Nara said.

“I’ll wear my own clothes.” He argued.

“No, your clothes are dirty. Wear this” Nara pushed the clothes to him. Grumbling Wúlf took the white underpants and tunic.

“Excuse me, I’ll be back in a few” Nara said, before leaving the room. She was going to get Izza have a look at his wound and see if they could get rid of the infection. On the other hand, Wúlf pulled the underpants up, folding on his waist so they wouldn’t fall. The tunic was an oversized dress on his body. He rolled the sleeves up to his armpits then sat on the edge of the bed. A minute after, the door to the room opened, and Nara and Izza stepped in. Nara walked with the tray of soup and bread toward the table while Izza kept the healing tools on the chair beside the bed. Wúlf’s eyes remained fixed on the elf as she stood near him.

“Show her your wound.” Nara requested gently. Cautiously, he drew the hem up, exposing his wounded side.

“Is it serious?” Nara asked Izza when Izza’s eyes narrowed at the wound, a graveness entering her eyes. Izza shook her head and said in elvish. “I cannot say” then switched to Nyr. “I will try to clean it though.”

Nara nodded somberly. “He should eat first.” And brought the tray and sat it on the bed. She watched as the boy ate three bites of the loaf and few spoons of the soup before casting the food aside. “You need to eat more” Nara insisted.

He shook his head, “I can’t eat when she’s about to poke my wound” he glanced at the lady elf with fearful eyes.

Sighing, Nara returned the tray back to the table and then returned to the bed.