Warrior Lover (Draconia Tales) (15 page)

She’d gone from well to ill in under a minute.

She might not have Keara’s healing abilities, but she knew this was not good.

Twigs snapped as Jamie came running, appearing from behind a bush with a rustle of leaves.

“What’s wrong?” He slid to a stop beside Enar, panting like he’d run a great distance.

“Lily can’t breathe. Do you know anything to help her?”

“You’re the adult.”

“You’re the apothecary’s apprentice.”

“Keara never said nothing about what to do when someone almost drowned.”

Enar cursed.

Jamie took a step back. “I can try.”

“Do it. She has the beginnings of a lung fever.”

Enar sat beside her while Jamie rummaged through Keara’s herb bag. Lily leaned into Enar, willing him to give her strength, to heal her. It wouldn’t happen. She knew it. She felt the illness in the swallowed water spreading through her lungs, choking her breath. She’d never see Keara again. She’d never discover what secret about Draconia Enar withheld from her. She’d never leave these woods.

Wasn’t she morbid all of a sudden?

Looking death in the face tended to do that to a person.

She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live with Enar. She wanted to see what life could be like away from superstitious priests and hateful townsfolk.

Maybe Jamie knew more about herbs than he thought. Maybe his concoction would help her.

She could only hope.

****

Enar rubbed his chest. Considering how often and hard he’d been rubbing the thing over the past day, he was surprised his shirt didn’t have a hole in it. Not to mention the skin under the shirt.

Rubbing didn’t help the pains, nor did it do anything to lower the fever coursing through Lily’s body.

Sweat beaded on her forehead as she shook from the fever’s chills. Jamie’s draught the night before had done nothing to help her. Not that he blamed the boy. An apprentice only knew so much. What she needed was one of the healing priestesses.

Who just so happened to be several days from here.

And judging by the wheezing noises Lily made, she wouldn’t make the trip.

Another round of rubbing his chest resulted in nothing happening. The pain remained and Lily still wheezed.

Enar’s hand dropped to his side, fingers drumming against his leg as he paced by Lily’s pallet. Where was Jamie? The boy had administered a tea to Lily and then wandered off. Maybe wandered was the wrong word. Ran out of the woods was more like it. At any other time he’d be chasing the boy, but right now he had more important things to worry about.

Like that wheezing noise Lily made every time she inhaled.

One minute he paced beside Lily and the next he threw himself across her to shield her from the sudden gust of wind that shook the leaves from the trees. Downburst from dragon’s wings.

Enar felt a glimmer of hope.

Jamie’s shout echoed in Enar’s ears. “Fafnir’s here! He came back!”

Enar sat back on his heels as hurried footsteps beat a rhythm in the crack, snap and pop of dry twigs strewn over the ground. One of these days he needed to teach the lad a lesson in walking quietly through the underbrush.

“Fafnir came back! He came back!” Jamie slid to a stop, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Good. Maybe he can take Lily to the Temple.”

“He said to bring her to him since he can’t get under the trees.”

Not a problem. Enar picked up Lily and her blanket and carried her through the trees to where Fafnir sat on the dirt path. Thin light from a just risen moon shone on the dragon’s scales, making them gleam even in the dim light. Fafnir glared at Enar with narrowed eyes, his lip pulled into a snarl.

It appeared someone forgot their happy tea this morning.

Watcher. What did you do to the woman?

“Pulled her out of the water. She has a lung fever.”
Will you help her
? Those words stuck on his tongue.

Hmm.
Fafnir drew in a breath.
She is dying.

This time the words didn’t stick. “Will you help her?”

If she is healed, who is to say you will not injure her again? Perhaps it is better if she journeys to the next world.

Enar opened his mouth to roar, then shut it with a snap. Roar? What did he think he was? A dragon? But everything inside cried out with agony at the thought of losing Lily. His rage-churned grief boiled over, slamming into Fafnir.

The dragon blinked, his eyes widening.

“Will you help her?” Jamie asked, appearing beside Enar. Or maybe he’d been there all along and Enar hadn’t noticed.

Did the Watcher hurt the woman?

Jamie shook his head. “Nuh-huh. He wouldn’t do that. She fell in the stream and he pulled her out. Now she’s sick and I can’t fix her.”

“Will you help her?” Enar wanted to shake the aide out of Fafnir, wanted to scream and fight until he secured help. But his hands were a little busy holding Lily and something told him in a fight with Fafnir, he might not be the winner.

Watcher. You never cease to astound me. You would not physically harm that woman, would you?

Never.
“No, I wouldn’t. Are you able to take her to the Temple?”

The Temple cannot help her. She would not last until then.
Enar felt the words like a hard punch to the chest, painful and breath-stealing.
But the females in my family were healers and I learned a bit from them. If you will place her on the ground, I’ll try to remember my lessons.

At least his breath returned. Although Fafnir’s words didn’t install a lot of confidence. What choice did he have?

Enar placed Lily on the ground, straightening the blanket around her. She stirred a little, her eyes fluttering open.

“What?”

“Shh. Fafnir’s back. He’s going to help you.” Enar stroked the hair from her face.

“Hmm.” Lily’s eyes closed.

Step back, Watcher.
Fafnir’s breath puffed against Enar’s cheek, a touch of fetid air. Had the dragon ever heard of mint leaves?

Not funny Watcher. Cells don’t come with tooth-cleaning sticks.

“I didn’t say a word.”

Enar didn’t see well in this light, but he got the impression the dragon was puzzled. It seemed Thoren wasn’t the only Draconi to hear Enar’s thoughts. He needed to remember that wonderful fact.

No, you didn’t, did you? You are an enigma, Watcher, one that I will puzzle over later. Now, step away from Lily.

Enar took a step back, followed by another at the waving of Fafnir’s forelimb. A couple of steps later and he stood next to Jamie, watching as Fafnir nuzzled Lily with his snout. Then he took a step back, lifted his foreleg and placed it on Lily’s chest.

“Hey!” Enar tried to rush forward, tried to save his woman from being squashed, but Jamie grabbed his arm.

“No! He’s not hurting her. See he’s barely touching her.”

Blinking the anger away, Enar saw Jamie was correct. Fafnir’s foot barely touched Lily’s chest. But still. If the dragon lost his balance, Lily was done for.

“To heal, you have to touch them, but touching her with his snout didn’t work, and since he don’t got no hands, he has to use his foot.”

“How do you know that?”

“That’s what he told me when I asked him to heal Lily. He didn’t know if his snout would work. He didn’t know if he could heal her at all, but the Temple was too far and he had to try. You know? Hey, look-it! See how his leg’s glowing? That means it’s working!”

Sure enough, Fafnir’s foot and up to the wrist joint of the forelimb throbbed a dim pinkish light that bathed Lily in its glow. Enar released a breath he had no memory of holding. The ache formerly known as his chest eased. It seemed like the bloody pain had a relationship with Lily. An unwelcome thought he refused to process at the moment.

Time passed in a series of breaths, his, Jamie’s, Lily’s wheezing ones. Or he should say, no longer wheezing ones. Fafnir removed his foot from Lily’s chest and she drew in a soundless deep breath.

Praise the Goddess.

Enar hurried to Lily’s side and knelt, running his fingers down her arm. Her eyelids fluttered.

The illness is gone from her lungs. Endeavor to keep her away from bodies of water until she knows how to swim.

“Thank you.” Enar touched Lily’s arm, watching her take an easy breath, one that went in and out without making a sound.

Lily chose that moment to open her eyes. “Wha—? Where am I?” She tried to push herself up and Enar helped her. Holding her close sounded like a wonderful idea. If he held her, she couldn’t do something stupid like fall in a stream and drown.

Enar touched her cheek. “Fafnir healed you. You were sick.”

“I can breathe better now.” She turned to Fafnir. “Thank you, Fafnir. Whatever you did, I really appreciate it.”

Fafnir bobbed his head.
I am glad you’re pleased. Where are Thoren and Keara?

Enar slammed mental barriers around his thoughts. He refused to tell Fafnir what happened.

“She got sick,” Jamie said.

“And Thoren flew her to the Temple,” Lily finished.

Enar gathered Lily into his arms and stood. When he turned to face Fafnir, he took a step back. Not that he was scared of the dragon. But a male Draconi with steam coming out his ears and mouth was not something you wanted to cozy up to if you liked your arse covered with skin. He took another step back, trying to get out of range of a fire-blast.

Draconi and their overactive sense of caring for their females.

“I’m sure Thoren made it to the Temple with her. The priestesses will care for her.”

Steam stopped wisping from Fafnir’s mouth, which Enar took as a good sign. So he continued speaking.

“Thoren’s fast. He’s probably already at the Temple. She’s getting the help she needs.” He felt the push of Fafnir’s thoughts against his own, trying to push through his barriers, trying to determine the truth of his words. He poured more energy into his mental barriers and tried to look like he believed his words.

She appeared to be fine. Perhaps the young Draconi harmed her.

More than you know.
A thought best left to himself. “Thoren said she was ill and he would fly her to the Temple.” Paraphrase, paraphrase. “We’ll see them when we get there.”

Fafnir threw back his head, releasing a roar that shook leaves from the trees. Lily clasped her hands over her ears, pressing her face against Enar’s chest.

“Fafnir! We’ll see them soon. It’ll be all right.” Jamie ran to Fafnir.

“Jamie! No!” Enar took a step forward, but Jamie had already reached Fafnir. Instead of blasting the boy into oblivion, Fafnir’s roar ended on a wisp of steam and a snuffle.

Jamie’s arms tried to surround the massive chest and failed. But he managed to calm Fafnir. Point for the boy. A point that came nowhere close to making up for the lack of obeying Jamie had exhibited on this journey.

“You can put me down,” Lily whispered. “I’m feeling better.”

Enar glanced at Lily. Did his woman actually think he would rather put her on her feet as opposed to holding her? Or was she insinuating he wasn’t man enough to hold her for a long time? Either way, she was right where she needed to be.

“What? Think I can’t hold you?”

“I might be heavy.”

What a jester, his woman. “Woman, sopping wet, you aren’t heavy.”

She chuckled.

“Jamie, I’m taking Lily back to our bedroll.”
Where I will ensure she doesn’t want to leave it for some time.
“Think you can stay out of trouble for awhile?”

Jamie harrumphed as he dropped his arms from the dragon’s chest and turned to Enar, nose wrinkled. “Grown-ups. Yuck. I’ll sleep with Fafnir.”

Uh-huh, Fafnir undoubtedly loved that idea.

Jamie is welcome to stay with me.

The glare Fafnir turned on him, spoke volumes: you
are not welcome to sleep near me.

Likewise.
What was it with the Draconi? Enar got along with Draconi better than he did his own race of Watchers, yet Fafnir seemed to have some grudge against him.
Who cares about the grumpy dragon.
For now he held a willing woman in his arms and soon to be in his bedroll.

“Thank you, Fafnir. Try not to let him run off. He’s good at it.”

Try not to harm the woman. Watchers are good at it.

This one isn’t.

Was that a bit of respect in Fafnir’s eyes? In the tilt of his head?

Enar turned, carrying Lily back to their campsite. Fafnir’s behavior belonged in the category of thoughts for another day. Did he really care about whether or not his traveling companion disliked him when he had a willing woman in his arms?

A woman it was high time he marked.

And where did that thought come from? He wasn’t Draconi, who marked their females with a bite. Clearly he was having an identity crisis brought on by excessive time with the Draconi. As soon as he returned, met up with Thoren and gave his report to the Council, he would take Lily back to his village to show her off. To prove to the Watchers he was every bit as good as they were. To show his father he found the Watchers’ ideal woman.

Enar shuddered. And then he’d lose any chance he ever had of Lily caring for him.