For the next few days, the unnamed knight continued to tend to Ezekiel. He would bring her meals twice a day and change her bandages every two days, carefully cleaning her wounds with fresh water beforehand. Each time, he endured the sting of her nails raking across his skin in retaliation, yet never once did a frown cross his face while treating her.
"What do you plan on doing after leaving this place?" the knight started the conversation as he did each day, settling beside the low fire. "For me, I want to retire from being a knight, find myself a wife, and settle down on some peaceful stretch of farmland." He chuckled quietly. "Pathetic, right? Unlike me, you must have something grand as your retirement plan."
"Wanting a peaceful life isn't pathetic," Ezekiel said.
The knight stilled. It was the first time she had actually answered him. Her eyes were fixed on something beyond the dark ceiling of the cave, her voice dropping to just above a murmur.
