Bound to the Rogue King

Malakai's POV “Where the hell am I?” I groaned as I opened my eyes, only to shut them again as light pierced them. I wasn't sure if it was the voices growing louder by the second or the pungent smell of herbs in the room that woke me up. I winced as I tried to sit up. Perhaps it was the hammering in my head. A crash came from outside. The last straw in my already overstimulated mind. I would chew Devon out for allowing this sort of commotion in camp. If his men were this unruly, then they needed some lashing. And who the hell thought it was a good idea to boil medicine where I slept? I opened the door only to duck as something flew at me and crashed against the wall. Two men…no…two groups of men stood on opposite sides, shouting at each other. On the right side, I recognised the blue colours of my kingdom's military. Halveth's men. The other side had the green colours of…Norwayne? Slowly, it started to come to me as I looked around and noticed the bandages covering most of the men. What was I doing at an infirmary? “Excuse me! Move away!” My attention was drawn away from the commotion to two women trying to get through the bodies of men. One walked in front, pushing with her hands to get through, while the other followed, holding a bowl tightly to keep its contents from spilling. When she eventually pushed through the final blockade, her lips tightened in a grunt as she stepped out into the open; she opened her mouth to yell. “Listen!” But no one did. In fact, two men got closer to each other, raising their hands. Seeing this, she fearlessly got between them, using her hands to push them further apart. She was stupid. Those men could hurt her. But when she turned to one of the men with a glare, he surprisingly stopped spewing the profanities from his mouth. Then she swerved to face the other too with the same fierceness in her eyes, but he was already settling into silence. No sane person would dare speak to angry soldiers that way. I couldn't tear my eyes away. “What is all this about?!” She asked in a raised voice. The man in green looked away, breathing hard before he responded. “None of them should be here. They caused this war. They do not deserve any of our help. Their bloodthirsty King can provide them aid if they need it. Don't you agree, my lady?” She looked him in the eye and deadpanned. “No, I do not!” His brows came together, confused at her answer. I was confused too. Halveth and Norwayne have been at conflict for years. The animosity between the two kingdoms would take generations to mend. I needed to hear her answer. “You have taken as much life as they have in this war.” She pointed a hand at the group in red. “As a healer, I cannot turn away anyone who needs help. Their deaths will not be in my hands.” She turned. “If any of you have an issue with that, I suggest you find another infirmary. But as long as you remain here, you will put aside all hostilities. Once you are healed and gone, you may return to killing each other.” When the soldiers from Halveth nodded docilely, she turned to those from Norwayne and raised a brow. He clenched his jaw before responding with a stubborn nod and left. Her back was still turned to me, but I saw her shoulders drop once the crowd dispersed and some semblance of quiet was restored. She turned and walked till she stood close enough that her scent surrounded me. She smelt of herbs and something else I could not name. I was of the mind to move closer to sniff when I realised she was talking to me. “You should not be out of bed. The medicine will take time to wear off.” As if on cue, the hammering in my head resumed with renewed force. I groaned, resting on the door to steady myself. She grabbed my arm to support me and led me inside and back to the bed. I fought the urge to look at her or the hand that guided me. It was unusual for anyone to approach me without fear. “Where is this place? Who are you?” She gave a small smile. “Forgive me. I'm a healer here. You were brought in badly injured by some of your men. Don't you remember what happened?” Pain increased in my head, and I winced as memories began to flood in. She put a hand on my back, and I went still. “Don't force it. It will come in time. You must rest more. Your men know where you are. They will come to you once they can.” There was no room for disagreement in her tone. I was even more curious. If I had been brought here, she must have seen my uniform. She would know I was from Halveth, and she was obviously from Norwayne. “What you said earlier… you treat anyone regardless of the kingdom they serve?” She gave a stare that would have made anyone look away. Instead, I held her gaze like her eyes held the answer. “Healers do not pick sides. We have a duty to help anyone who needs our help. Besides, both sides have suffered heavily for a war no one remembers the cause for.” She guided me gently but firmly to the bed. “Sleep now. Someone will come to you soon.” I'd meant to close my eyes to feign sleep till she left. After all, how could I be relaxed in an unfamiliar place? The next I opened my eyes, she was gone. A figure stood at the edge of the bed. I recognised him immediately as Devon, my most trusted commander and the only one I could dare call ‘friend’. “Took your sweet time.” He said in greeting. I would send him an icy glare, but it was too much effort while lying down. “What do you want? I'm meant to be resting.” “You shouldn't get too comfortable, Your Majesty.” He said the title almost mockingly. “We are in enemy territory. No matter how welcoming it feels.” I looked away, knowing he was right. But there was hardly much I could do when I could not even stand without falling over. And for some reason, I did not feel so terrible about being helpless. It was still a long way from feeling safe, but a calm belief that there was no imminent danger. At least not from the seemingly altruistic lady. “You were asleep for days. But we were able to find one of the traitors.“ My head shot back to him. “Are you certain?” His voice dropped low. “Without a doubt. He could not have done it alone. But he definitely had a hand in the ambush. He betrayed you.” I laid my head back against the soft pillow and closed my eyes. “Send word to camp then. Let him come to us. I want to see for myself.“