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Chapter 39. A Bed of Leaves
Back to: Chapter 38. Eskil is worried. Next: Chapter 40. Moonlight
Thorundur was thirstier than he had ever been before and his chest hurt. That was strange! He would have thought that he wouldn’t feel pain anymore. It was a huge effort to open the eyes but when they finally were open he found that it had been worth the effort.


He was looking into the depth of Roe’s yellow eyes. Was she too dead? He felt happy that she was here too but he didn’t know if it was right to be happy when someone had died. But there was something that was wrong. Roe was mortal so she shouldn’t be here if he was dead. Obviously he must still be alive. That would explain the pain and the thirst that he felt. His head was resting in Roe’s lap. Her skin was warm and suddenly everything felt right. He studied the pattern that surrounded her eyes and the red stone on her forehead. He knew her so well that he would have been able to see every detail of her face even with his eyes closed. She was beautiful beyond comparison. Her smiled seemed so sad. He tried to tell her to not be sad but no sound would leave his lips.


“Don’t worry, just rest,” she said and stroke the hair from his forehead. It felt soothing and good. He tried to smile but didn’t know if he succeeded. She stopped stroking his hair and he tried to tell her to continue but still no sound would leave his lips. Roe lifted his head carefully and put a bowl with water to his lips.

“I thought I was dead,” he said and finally he managed to get the sound to leave his lips.

“You were not far from it when I found you,” she replied. She stroke his forehead tenderly and looked at him with a sad smile. “Don’t talk more now. You need to rest.”

But he didn’t want to be quiet. “How could you find me?” he said.

She smiled and he could see a hint of the glimpse in her eyes that she always had when she teased him. “That was easy enough. The track that you left would have been easy for a baby to follow. Don’t you know that you should never follow your own track when you go back? For once I’m glad that you did though, because it saved me a lot of time. ”

“I’m so glad that you found me. It was stupid of me to go after the human with a sword”.

Roe’s face hardened “I hate that human for hurting you.”


The words made him feel warm, but after all it wasn’t the human who had hurt him. He had been a total failure and even managed to get seriously injured without actually being hit by a weapon at all. What a lousy warrior he would be have been if he’d been alive during the time of the war. He considered the possibility to let Roe believe that he was a brave warrior who had been hurt in fight. But no, this was Roe, his best friend. There shouldn’t be any secrets between them. He wanted her to know everything about him. Embarrassed he told her how he had fallen off the horse and that the branch must have penetrated the old and rusty chainmail.

She stroke his forehead again and looked down into his eyes. “I’m glad that I found you in time. If you had died I would never have been happy again.”

Carefully Roe put his head down from her lap. He realized that he was lying on a bed of leaves that Roe had made over a skin that she had spread on the ground. Obviously she had also removed his tunic and put some green leaves under a bandage on his chest while he was unconscious. Instead of the silk tunic he was wearing a leather loin cloth like the Forest people.


Roe hesitated before she started to talk, “I have to get us some food because we have to stay here for a while until you get your strength back. I will be back soon. Don’t you dare die on me while I’m away!” She started to walk away but then she stopped, turned her head and looked at him. “Stupid elf,” she said and smiled tenderly.


He looked at her as she walked away. She moved gracefully and the slender muscles were tight under her dark skin. He had never seen anyone who could move like Roe.


Thorundur smiled and closed his eyes. Everything was fine now.

Click Next: Chapter 40. Moonlight to continue...

 
Back to: Chapter 38. Eskil is worried. Next: Chapter 40. Moonlight
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