I could hear a few mumbled voices but I couldn't really discern whose voices those were and where exactly I was. I seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness because I kept hearing different voices and tones but I was so out of it,so I fell back into the embrace of darkness.
"Who opened the curtains?" I groaned as a golden ray of Light hit my face, I strained to open my eyes thinking I was still in my bed but the sharp pain in my chest jolted me wide awake as the memories of the battle flashed in my head. "Where the heck am I", I strained to get up but I couldn't,the pain was too overwhelming that my mind went blank for a second. In my panicked frenzy I saw a familiar figure opening up the door and rushing inside "Elaine!!, what're you doing here?" I said, It was then I looked around the room I thought I was supposedly held captive in only to realise that it was no place other than the family's infirmary. It seems that when I fell unconscious Elaine somehow managed to get me to the infirmary for treatment,a feat that was surprising to me as such a frail girl shouldn't have been able to drag me from that spot but I'd get the answer to my curious questions later. "My lord, you're still recovering you shouldn't be straining yourself" Elaine said in that soft ensnaring voice of hers,so much so my body acted on it's own following her instructions without my active effort." She really got me in her palms, doesn't she?" I smirked as I thought to myself. "Okay okay,no need to throw a fuss" I said as I laid back down. Venice was the second person to burst through the door,it was rare to see her not composed and this short of breath but seeing the circumstance it'd have been more of a surprise if she wasn't. "My lord, how're you feeling?", she said as she quickly composed herself as fast as only she knew how to, "I feel like I got stabbed through the heart with a sword,so yhh I'm doing splendid". She made a retired sigh with a half smile before telling me I must be fine if I could make an humorous remark in this situation. She informed me that my father and mother have been notified of my wake and they would arrive as soon as they could,not that I didn't want to see my parents but I dreaded their reaction to their eldest son being at the brink of death and still having the energy to crack jokes. My parents arrived shortly after and their reactions were to be expected, worry,tears from my mother,stern advice from my father but overall it was easier to gets through than I thought it was going to be. It's times like this that makes me grateful for the family I have.
After reassuring my friends and family throughout the day that I was in fact still alive and good, I told Venice that I wouldn't be attending to any guests again for today. After she stepped out,I took a deep sigh before reflecting on the horrid scene I arrived to at the gate,the battle that followed suit, the oddness of the mercenaries at the scene, the man who almost took my life if not for my quick decision making and his stupidity by him gloating, Elaine, how did she get me to the infirmary?, I was pretty sure I was fully armoured by the time I arrived at the garden but those questions didn't plague my mind as much as the appearance of the mercenaries amongst the mob. Someone must have definitely invited the mob's fury and stealthy placed the mercenaries in their midst but why? What could they have hoped to gain? Were they banking on the royal garrison not showing up or was that their exact motive? A battle of that scale would have left a few opening in the city's defenses as the military's might would have been stretched thin in some places. Who could've done so and why? So many possible culprits flashes to my mind but none had any tangible motive to do so. "Haaaaa, all this thinking is not exactly going to change anything", I thought to myself as I gripped the bandage on my chest. I settled on taking things one step at a time and focusing on my recovery.
Now that I thought about it I hadn't seen Elaine since my abrupt awakening in the morning, a wave of second hand embarrassment hit me. I must have scared the poor lady with my antics,I hope she took it in good spirits. The softness but sharpness of her voice earlier still resounding in my head,I let out a quick smirk as I layed back down the stress of the day seemingly starting to catch up to me. I lay awake only briefly before drifting into the arms of slumber.
It's been a couple weeks since I left the infirmary,the greetings and pleasantries seemed to have dried out and everything was back to normal or well,as normal as it could be given the situation. One thing seemed to stand out more, which one I noticed Elaine seemed to start avoiding me. I thought it was probably shock seeing as she saw me take what I thought would be my very last breath but it was apparent that that wasn't the case as it wasn't a horrid or shell shocked look that she had but rather a shy almost embarrassed one. I tried my best severally to start up a conversation but I was hurriedly cut short or given a polite but quick response which I was getting a lot frustrated by but tried my best not to show it. I did my best trying to recall if I'd done anything that could've caused her to start acting that way but I couldn't place it so I just decided to ask her.
Elaine entered my chambers at the break of dawn to wake me up as her duties demand but I was already awake. "Good morning my Lord" she said quite formally and politely,I didn't like that,I much preferred her soft ensnaring voice. "Good morning Elaine, we need to talk", she tensed up immediately I said that but not from shock but rather one you get when you're having a conversation you knew you'd have but dreaded. "May I ask what the problem is my Lord?" She said, "It appears I may have done something unbecoming because you seem restrained in my company" immediately I said that,I noticed her face,skin so radiant It reflects any and all attacks of light,blush. She got even more shy and even tried to deny my claims but I knew I must have spoken the truth based off her reaction. "Was it something I did or said?" I said as I stood up from my bed,not noticing the undone buttons of my night top. She said it wasn't in her place to say what it was as it could be disrespectful to me. I laughed at that remark which startled her, I abruptly apologised "I'm sorry" I said while laughing "It's just that I thought it was I who was being disrespectful to you. You may speak I'll take no offence to whatever you say". That seemed to have calmed her down a little bit as her posture changed to a more relaxed but confident one. She started talking, about how she saw my horse in the garden and what appeared to be a man in armour laying of the flower bed,not moving. She said she looked closer only to see that it was me, bloodied and beaten. Panic set it,she couldn't think of anything else than to rush down to help me. When she got down she could see little movements,which seemed to give her a bit of relief because that meant that I was still alive. She rushed over asking how I got this battered, shouting to see if I was responsive, confused on exactly what she was going to do as it was already night time most of the servants were already in their quarters and I was way too heavy for her to move alone. In her panicked frenzy,she noticed my hands moved so she crept lower to see I was still clinging to life but my will was fading away. Then I suddenly raised my hand to her cheek and she froze, she said she was shocked by the action but as my hand touched her skin she found herself unconsciously relaxing like this wasn't a stranger who she just got acquainted with but someone who she has known for very long. She said after that I mumbled something and fell unconscious but luckily for her a guard happened to be patrolling, she beckoned for him and on looking closer he saw the urgency of the situation and raised the alarm for the other guards to come.
I listened calmly as she narrated the night's events to me,it seemed my question on how she got me to the infirmary was answered but there was something that she said that I couldn't quite recall, "You said something about me mumbling before I fell unconscious,what exactly did I say". She looked at me ,eyes fixed on my before looking out the window as a ray of Light shone on her face, causing them to shine like a thousand gemstones fixed together,"You said " a beautiful fairy shining in the moonlight ".