Love and Vengeance

Lucy Rae Kenton & Ryley Hayden Lane

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Constance Aimee Lane & Robert Chapland

"Come on, Ryley. We have to keep moving," she said as she held the satchel on her should as she held onto her brother. Her arm around his waist as she walked as best she could on this terrain. If it hadn't been for the stable keep they would have surely met the same fate as their parents.

"Stop rushing me, I have an arrow through my leg you can't expect me to walk that fast," he whined a little as he limped beside her.

I leaned against the tree, doing my best not to fall over in the darkness. All I wanted was to finish collecting the herbs I needed and get to sleep. I couldn't go out earlier, Robert was called out and I had to stay and watch the house. There was so much chaos he also didn't want me leaving either.

I stood upright, not wanting to make any more sounds to alert the people approaching me. Not that I couldn't defend myself, I'd just rather not have to. One of them clearly injured, I just watched them for a second until I recognized them.

"You'll need his leg wrapped up... Or else it'll get infected." I said quietly, keeping in the shadows in case they became hostile.

@ musicalpanda
She stopped and looked at the girl for a moment, she didn't know anything about that kind of stuff, she knew minimal first aid mostly dealing with poisions but she hadn't gotten that far yet. "We have no where to go," she told her,"And the arrow is still in his leg, I didn't want to remove it wrong," she told he softly as she looked at her.

"Neither of us know much about what we're doing, we could use some help," he said softly as he looked at the girl in front of them hopefully.

I took a deep breath and put a hand to my forehead. Robert would kill me, but it was obvious they had been walking a while, hadn't eaten or had water. The boy was chalk white and had probably lost a lot of blood. "Follow me," I said, stepping closer to them. I was more than capable of taking care of myself, but in their condition, I wouldn't need to.

She nodded a little as she followed her,"Thank you so much," she said to her softly as she helped her brother to follow the girl. "We can pay you," she said to her,"We don't have money but we have other ways of paying you back for your help,"

Her brother nodded,"Yes, yes we can dot hat we appreciate the help immensely,"

I walked slowly enough for them to follow easily behind until we got to the house. While we weren't terribly poor, we had enough to live comfortably. I opened the door for them and shut it, making sure we weren't followed.

Turning to them I took a deep breath. "Let me check you first, you probably feel worse than you look." I said, checking to see if she was dehydrated. She was, and I let the man sit on a chair and lead her to the kitchen. "I want you to eat this, and drink all of this by the time I come back, alright?" I told her, going to the cupboard and getting out alcohol.

"How well do you tolerate alcohol?" I asked the man, trying to decide how many bottles to grab. I grabbed four, and set them in the room I'd let him use, and went back for him. I went over to him and bent so he could lean on me. "We need to get you off your feet."

Constance nodded as she took the water then drank it thirstily, she had never realized how much she'd needed it til now. They had a lot to learn before they were out of the woods though. They were days away from their castle and she was surprised her brother hadn't fallen ill with blood poisoning or worse.

"I think I can take alcohol fairly well," he said to her with a weak laugh as he looked down at the arrow in his leg, "Will it be a clean healing?" he asked her curiously.

I shrugged as I supported him to the room, letting him get onto the bed. "It should be, but I won't know until I can really look at it." I said honestly, handing him a bottle of vodka. "Drink up, I need you drunk." I said seriously. "It'll help with the pain. And I'll need some cloves too." I said, going to a cupboard to get them and some cups. If they had been traveling for days, he might have the beginnings of blood poisoning, but leeches or a venesectomy would only make it worse. I took a knife and cut his pants leg, moving the fabric away to see how bad it was.

The arrow had gone into a muscle, but it wasn't as deep as it could be. Which meant while he'd have a full recovery, he'd need a lot of time to recover then exercise to get the muscle back. I got up and went to my wardrobe, finding a plain dress and heading out to Constance. "Put this on, you stand out. I'll find clothes for your brother as well."

She nodded and took the dress then walked into a small room where she could change, she slowly began to unlace her corset and set it on the floor then removed her dress before putting on this one,

He downed the alcohol and closed his eyes as he continued to drink it.

I left the room while she changed and went to check on her brother. I didn't want to ask their names, because I knew knowing names made you feel for the person more, and I was sure Robert would want them out as soon as possible. Though I knew who they were, I chose not to pay attention to the royals of the country. I knew we had a King and Queen, but I was sure now we had a Republic of some sort. "How are you feeling?" I asked, going to wrap a tourniquet around this thigh to lessen the amount of blood coming to his leg.

"Alright," he murmured softly as he hiccuped,"You..you're really pretty," he said to her his words starting to slur together.

She finished her water and took a seat crossing her legs.

I stopped for a second, not knowing how to respond. His words caught me off guard, even though I knew it was the alcohol talking. "Just... keep drinking." I muttered, looking at the wound and sitting on the edge of the bed.

I stood up and went to his sister. "Do you know what the head of the arrow looked like? Was it flat or in the shape of a star?" I asked curiously.

"It was a high end weapons so probably the latter," she told her softly as she looked at her then sighed a little,"How bad is it?" she asked her.

---

He nodded a little and drank a large gulp of the alcohol.

I sighed a little. "It's in his calf muscle so there will be damage. He has the beginnings of blood poisoning, but it isn't severe, so it isn't an issue. I just have to take the arrow out, and raise the poisoned blood to the surface. There isnt' that much so it'll be simple. It will be a while before he can run and be active again, but he should be walking soon, but it will be painful for him." I said seriously.

She nodded a little as she looked at her,"Alright, just do what it takes to make him better, we can pay for everything you use," she told her.

I nodded a little and sighed, going back into the room to check on him. He had finished another bottle, and was drunk enough that I could work on him. I looked at him and sighed, knowing I had to take the arrow out first. "This is going to hurt, alright?" I said, looking at the placement of the arrow. I broke off the top, and did my best to remove it without damaging his muscle further. I got it out and immediately cleaned it off, lighting a cup on fire to heat it up so it would raise the blood. When It did I finished up and got the metal rod I had been heating earlier. Stitches would cause another infection, so unfortunately for him, I'd need to burn the wound closed. "Take a deep breath, this is the last thing I need to do. When I'm finished, you can sleep."

@ musicalpanda
Constance heard her brother scream and chewed on her bottom lip lightly, she knew it was necessary but she didn't like the sound of her babu brother in pain. She sat down and rubbed her face a little then let her hair out of the bun. She began pulling leaves and stickers out of her hair til she could see her brother.

I finished and sighed, putting a wet towel on his forehead. "All done," I said softly, taking a deep breath. I got up and called the girl. "He's finished, you can see him now." I said softly, hearing the door. "Shit." I muttered, mentally preparing myself for Robert's reaction.

---

Robert walked in the house exhausted and wanting food. "Lucy?" He called loudly, wondering if she had fallen asleep already. He saw an empty plate lying out and a dress and became extremely suspicious.

She came down and sighed. "Yes? Are you hungry? There's food.." She said, looking tired.

She walked into the room and looked at him, "Hey," she said softly as she smoothed his hair lightly, "Grandfather would be proud," she said to him softly as she looked at him. She had never been close to her parent,s they weren;t the best parents to begin with.

Her brother snorted a little as he looked at the ceiling, "You should sleep," she told him as she sat next to him, "You'll need the rest,"