A BLOOD Oath

The Things He Couldn't Hide

Kael nearly fell down.

It happened fast.

One second he was walking beside them steady like always and the next his hand slammed hard against the stone wall beside the staircase.

Blood spread through his shirt beneath the torn bandages.

There was so much blood.

Arielle felt the pain through the oath before she fully saw it.

The pain was sharp and heavy and just wrong.

Her chest tightened instantly.

She said "Kael."

He said "I'm fine."

Eamon snapped "You are very clearly not fine."

Sera moved toward him quickly grabbing his arm before he could straighten again.

She asked "When were you planning to mention this?"

Kaels breathing was uneven now.

"It's manageable" He said.

Lucien looked genuinely offended and said "That is objectively a lie."

The voices of soldiers echoed faintly deeper in the tunnels.

They were getting closer now.

Always closer.

Arielle stepped toward Kael before thinking about it.

"You need to sit down."

He said "I said I'm—"

Arielle cut in sharply "You're bleeding through three layers of cloth. Stop being difficult for one second."

Kael looked at her.

Really looked at her.

For a moment she saw how exhausted he truly was beneath all the control he carried around like armor.

Then finally he stopped arguing.

Honestly that frightened her more.

Sera guided him toward the edge of the shrine while Eamon kept watch near the tunnel entrance.

Lucien wandered off toward one of the statues like they weren’t currently hiding underground from half the kingdom.

Arielle knelt in front of Kael carefully.

The second her fingers touched the edge of his blood-soaked shirt she felt another wave of pain through the oath.

It was worse than before.

Her stomach twisted.

She asked "How bad is it?" quietly.

Sera answered instead "Bad enough."

That was not what Arielle wanted to hear.

Arielle swallowed hard before unwrapping the ruined bandages around his side.

The second the wound became visible her breath caught.

The cut was deeper than she expected.

Dark blood still flowed steadily from where the tunnel collapse had torn the injury open

Eamon muttered from across the room "That looks terrible."

Sera replied "That's because it is terrible."

Kael leaned back against the stone behind him jaw tight but silent.

Too silent.

Arielle hated that more than the pain itself.

She said "You should’ve said something earlier."

"We had problems."

"That wasn’t your decision to make alone."

The words slipped out before she thought about them.

Kaels eyes lifted toward hers slowly.

Something shifted in his expression for half a second.

Then disappeared again.

Arielle looked away first.

Because suddenly she became very aware of how she was sitting between his knees while trying to stop him from bleeding to death.

That was not ideal.

Not ideal all.

Sera handed her a cloth quietly.

She asked "You know how to stitch wounds?"

Arielle nodded once.

She said "My mother taught me treatment growing up."

Eamon blinked.

He said "Noblewomen learn stitching?"

Arielle glanced at him dryly.

She said "Some of us learned things."

Lucien smiled faintly from across the chamber.

He said "I like her."

Kael muttered without opening his eyes "No you don’t."

Lucien said "That hurt me emotionally."

Arielle almost laughed.

Almost.

Her focus stayed on the wound as she carefully cleaned blood away.

Kael’s muscles tightened immediately beneath her hands.

She asked "That hurts?"

He said "No."

"You are a terrible liar."

A small breath escaped him that almost sounded like a laugh.

Very small.

Very tired.

The sound caught her off guard enough that she looked up at him again.

His head rested back against the stone wall now eyes half-lowered from exhaustion.

Without the armor, without the command, without the mask he usually wore, he looked younger somehow.

Still dangerous.

Still sharp around the edges, but human.

The realization unsettled her more than it should have.

Kael said quietly "You keep staring."

Arielle nearly stabbed him with the needle.

She said "I am literally treating your wound."

"That’s not what I meant" he said.

Heat crept into her face immediately.

Lucien noticed at once. Of course he did.

He sighed dramatically "Oh this is becoming unbearable."

Arielle muttered "Please fall into the river."

Lucien pointed toward her proudly "See she likes me."

Eamon replied "No one likes you."

Sera sat nearby sharpening a dagger calmly.

She said "You’re all loud for fugitives."

That was an important point.

The voices deeper in the tunnels had faded slightly now though nobody relaxed completely.

Arielle focused on stitching the wound. Trying very hard not to think about the warmth of Kael’s skin beneath her hands.

The fact that he kept watching her.

The blood oath reacting every time their eyes met for too long.

That was very inconvenient.

Kael said after a moment "You’re quieter than usual."

Arielle tied another stitch tightly.

"I’m concentrating."

"That’s not the only reason."

He was right. She could feel him through the oath now even when she didn’t want to.

The exhaustion, the pain, the calm that only appeared around her lately.

And beneath all of it something softer he clearly kept trying to bury.

That part frightened her most.

Because she was beginning to feel it

Arielle finished the stitch before wrapping fresh cloth firmly around his side again.

"There" she said.

Kael looked down briefly. "You’re good at this."

Arielle said "My mother believed everyone should know how to save a life."

The words left a silence afterward.

Because both of them were thinking the thing now.

Her mother was gone, killed the night her house burned.

Kael felt the grief through the oath instantly.

Arielle hated that.

Not because of him.

Because grief no longer belonged fully to her anymore.

She stood quickly and stepped back.

She said "I need air."

Eamon pointed out "There is no air underground."

Arielle gave him a look.

"You know what I mean."

Before anyone could stop her she walked toward one of the cracked openings in the chamber wall where cold night air drifted faintly inside from above.

The silence helped a little.

Moonlight spilled faintly through the cracks overhead painting silver lines across the stone floor.

Arielle wrapped her arms around herself tightly.

Everything was becoming too complicated.

Kael was supposed to be the man she hated.

The man responsible for destroying her life.

So why did seeing him hurt feel unbearable?

Why did the thought of losing him suddenly terrify her?

The oath had to be the reason.

It was easier blaming magic than facing anything.

Behind her footsteps approached slowly.

She already knew who it was.

Kael said quietly "You should rest."

Arielle didn’t turn around.

"You should stop dying."

"Fair" Kael said.

Silence settled between them again.

Not uncomfortable exactly just heavy.

Arielle said softly "You never told me if you regretted it."

Kael went still behind her.

She clarified, "The attack on my house do you regret it?"

For a moment he didn’t answer.

Arielle almost thought he wouldn’t.

Then finally he said "Every day."

The honesty hit harder than she expected.

No excuses, no defense, no attempt to soften it. Truth.

Arielle turned slowly toward him.

Kael stood a feet away beneath the dim moonlight filtering into the chamber.

Exhaustion still lined his face. His eyes stayed fixed on hers steadily.

He said quietly "I thought I was protecting the kingdom, by the time I realized what was really happening it was too late."

Something painful moved through the oath again.

Not physical pain. Guilt, deep enough to drown in.

Arielle stared at him silently.

Then suddenly a scream echoed through the tunnels.

Everyone froze instantly.

Not a soldier, one of Lucien’s men.

The sound cut off sharply.

Kael’s hand moved toward his sword immediately.

Sera stood at once.

She said "What happened?"

Nobody answered.

Then footsteps echoed from the darkness, beyond the shrine.

Slow, measured and completely unfamiliar.