Beauty and The Cursed

Sickness

Edmond sat in the small chair near the woman's side for most of the night. He only rose to stretch his legs when they began to grow cramped. He was getting closer to the full and was much more agitated than usual. Edmond usually kept his distance from others because of this fact, but the beauty of the large mattress made it difficult. He found that all he wanted to do was be by her side. To help care for her. The sudden change in his emotions left him completely confused.

As Edmond sat down for the fifth time in the last few hours, the woman on the bed began to thrash around in her sleep. It seemed the fever was making her have night terrors. Edmond quickly jumped up to help sooth her. Edmond leaned on the bed and grabbed the woman close to his chest. He could barely make out the muttering coming from between her heart-shaped lips.

"Please, do not toss me over." She spoke. Edmond wondered if that was what truly happened to this poor maiden. Had someone tossed her overboard a ship? If so, what was their reasoning? Could they be the same people who starved her?

There were many questions about where she was concerned. Before Edmond was going to get any answers, he needed to help her heal. Edmond ran a hand over her sweat-dampened brown. He made shushing noises quietly in her ear. "You are alright, my dear. You are safe now." Edmond kept repeating to the girl until she finally calmed down and her body went limp against Edmond once more. Edmond laid the woman back against the pillows. He knew that his own rising body heat would not help to lower her fever.

However, she became delirious a couple more times before the sun finally rose over the ocean outside. Edmond had removed his shirt and kept cold linen against his own skin where the woman's skin touched his own to keep her cool. This is how Rose found her master when she walked into the guest chamber the next morning.

Rose quickly spun around. "Um..hm.. my lord. I am here to take over for you, watching over the girl. Susan has the morning tasks well in hand and will relieve me once she is done." Edmond quickly realized the situation he was in. He untangled the woman from his arms and grabbed his shirt off of the chair that was sitting next to the bed.

"Thank you Rose. She has had a few bouts of delirium during the night. Please let me know if she is unable to calm down and I will assist anyway that I can."

"Yes, my lord." Rose turned around once she heard Edmond slide his shirt back on. Edmond did not worry about tucking in his shirt as he needed rest himself.

"Thank you, Rose." Edmond left the guest room and walked towards his own room. Once inside, he quickly undressed and slid between the sheets of his oversized bed. Edmond kept his room as dark as could be. He tried to block out the daylight inside this room as it used to match his mood.

Edmond found that he was having trouble sleeping. It was not due to the upcoming full moon either. The concern for his guest was eating at him. He groaned out loud. He had just left her. How he was already concerned about her once more he had no idea. Edmond was beginning to grow irritated at himself for his ridiculousness. He had never cared this much for a stranger's well-being. His own family for sure, but for him to be all consumed by a bright-haired woman that lay unconscious at the end of the hall was completely foreign to him. It took some time, but Edmond was finally able to fall asleep. His dreams, of course, were occupied by the woman in the other room.

Edmond felt as though he had only been asleep for a short time before he was woken awake by a gentle hand on his shoulder. "My lord?" Edmond recognized Rose's voice in the darkness.

"Yes?" He asked. His voice sounded raspy from being fast asleep only moments ago.

"The woman's fever is worse. I have not been able to get her to settle down either." Rose said, still in a whisper. Edmond threw his blanket off his body and swung his legs over the side of the bed in such a hurry that Rose had to jump back from the bed. Edmond stalked to the door and threw it open.

Edmond walked down the hall, unaware that he barely had any clothes on. He pushed open the door and was met with an appalling sight. A sheet had been ripped to shreds and the woman's hands and feet had been tied to the four-poster bed. "What is the meaning of this?" Edmond yelled upon seeing the woman tethered.

Rose quickly ran into the room behind him and explained, "We have not been able to get her under control. She has been hitting us as well as herself, my lord." Edmond grunted and walked over to the bed. He put a hand to the woman's forehead. He was not sure how it was possible, but she seemed even hotter than when he had left her earlier.

"Send Timothy to the doctor again," Edmond said as he began to untie the sheet shreds that held her hands and feet. She began to violently thrash around on the bed. Her foot almost connected with Edmond's jaw. He caught the foot and gently played it back down on the bed.

"Shhhh. It is alright. I am going to untie you and we are going to take a cool bath." Edmond turned his attention to Rose, who stood near the door twisting her hands together. She was preparing for a tongue lashing from Edmond. Instead, all he said was, "Ready a wash tub. Do not worry about bringing it up here. I will take her down to the kitchen. We need to try and reduce her fever. Make sure the water is cold from the well." Rose nodded and fled from the room to do as she was instructed.

Edmond continued to untie the woman's hands. Since he had spoken to her, the woman seemed to calm down slightly. How could his servants tie her up? He knew that everyone was on high alert due to having a sick stranger in the house, especially when it had only been the six of them for some time. Edmond knew all too well how it felt to be chained up. He had to chain himself every full moon.

He silently prayed that the woman's fever would break before the next full moon. He would be gone for the entire night; it would not do for one of the house servants not be able to find him if something were to happen. Edmond had found a deserted mausoleum is the cemetery nearby that he was able to put chains into the walls. It helped him well enough during the full moon. He had yet to see anyone around the cemetery at that hour, so his secret was safe for now.

Some minutes later, Edmond had the woman untied and he was placing a cool washcloth on her forehead until he could get her into the wash tub. Just then, Rose opened the door and let him know that it was ready. Edmond picked the woman up with no problem and carried her down to the kitchen. The copper wash tub had been placed in the kitchen near the fireplace.

"The water is still cold, we just thought about placing it by the fire in case she needed to be warmed quickly," Rose said as she came to stand behind Edmond. He nodded once and walked over to the wash tub. It was large enough for her size, but in her current state she would not be able to keep herself above the water. Edmond didn't hesitate. He stepped into the ash tub, still holding the woman in his arms. As he lowered himself into the cool water, he positioned the woman so that she lay across his body. He would be able to hold her above the water better.

As her body submerged, she began to whimper. "It is alright. We are trying to reduce your fever. We will only be in the cold tub for a short time and then we will get you back to bed. I promise." The woman began to relax against his body as he spoke gently into her ear. Rose and cookie stood on the other side of the room in awe at what they were witnessing.

Cookie raised her brows at Rose, who shrugged slightly. This behavior was new for everyone from the lord. Rose watched as the girl's body relaxed under the water. She had no idea how Edmond was able to bear it. When Rose had tested the water with her hand, it felt as though it had returned like an icicle. Edmond did not even seem bothered.

Edmond sat in the wash tub, the woman lying across his body. The shift that she wore was now transparent and Edmond was able to see her entire body. Luckily, the cold was able to stop any unwanted movement of his own anatomy. The cold water helped to lower Edmond's body heat as well. He was one day closer to the full moon. Only a few more days and then he would have to make his way to the cemetery. He turned his attention back to the girl. He did not want to think about what awaited him in the coming days.

Edmond allowed s thumb to rub small circles on the woman's hand that sat on the edge of the wash tub. It wasn't long before the woman began to shiver in the tub. Edmond stood up and waited for Rose to drape a few towels over their drenched bodies. Edmond knew that cookie was watching his every move. Edmond clung to his towel with one hand and picked the woman up bridal style and carried her back to her room with a towel covering her entire body to make sure that her modesty was still in check.

Edmond got back to the guest room. Thankfully, Susan had changed the sweat-dampened sheets while they had been in the kitchen. Edmond laid the woman back on the bed. He stopped himself from grabbing her wet shift from her naked body. Rose rushed in and took his place.

Edmond walked back to his own room to change his wet clothes. He was not gone long, but long enough for Rose and Susan to change the woman and get her back into bed.

"How was she while you changed her?" Edmond asked Rose.

"She did not throw herself around this time. We were able to get it done without issues," Rose said. She gathered all the dirty sheets and the wet shift and left the room.

Edmond was left alone with the stranger once more. Edmond sat in the chair near the side of the bed and took the woman's hand in his own. "Please, we can only do so much out here. You must fight as well inside. What ever happened to you before, I will not let it happen again." Edmond would be damned if he let anyone harm this beauty ever again.