Return of a Queen

Lorelei’s POV

I fired a shot from my rifle, aiming at the wolf nearest him. The sound reverberated through the cold forest air and the other two wolves retreated hastily, after hearing the noise and watching their comrade fall. I nudged Calypso forward toward the man on the ground. The wolves would return soon so I needed to act quickly. As I approached I saw his red coat and I stopped. Ugh. I furrowed my brow and wrinkled my nose in disgust. One of the king’s soldiers. What was he doing out here? The king liked to hunt down Gypsies like me and kill them, but wintertime was usually safer and they usually came in groups. I looked around but so no one else nearby.

I gently slid off Calypso and lead her forward towards him. He had clearly fallen down the hill as well as I’m assuming his footprints from the marks in the snow, but no horse was nearby. I would have to look for it. I leaned over him and I took in a sharp breath. He was beautiful. Tall, jet black hair, tanned, and muscular. His face and head were covered in blood and I could see a cut above his brow still oozing. He looked in pretty bad shape, but I wasn’t surprised seeing the fall he clearly had taken. His foot was wedged in a shrub that branched up from the ground and his leg was probably broken from the angle it was in.

I instructed Calypso to lay down beside him. She was beautiful white Belgian, and she was best horse anyone could ask for. I loosened his foot from the branches and grabbed him under the shoulders and heaved him onto Calypso with some difficulty. I was very small at 5 feet and this man felt huge and dead weight. After I managed to get him on Calypso I swung my leg over her and sat behind his body, laying across my horse, and clicked for Calypso to stand up. I looked down at the snow and followed the tracks of his horse. I hoped to find it and bring it back with me before the wolves returned. It didn’t take long to find her. Her reins were caught up on a long hanging branch and she was stuck. I untangled her and held her reins to guide her back with us to my cottage.

I lived in a small little cottage deep in the woods. I had been out hunting this morning when I had heard a ruckus down by the stream. He was lucky I saw and heard him when I did. I usually wasn’t out this early in the morning. The sun was barely up. Again I wondered what he could be doing out here. I saw his sword and pistol on his horse. He must be a ranking officer. Hmmm.

When we reached my cottage I down off Calypso and had her lie down again so I could get the soldier off. I dragged him close to the door and then quickly went to put away both horses in the small barn to the right of the house. I could come back outside to put them away properly and give them food and water.

I walked back to the cottage and looked at him. He was still unconscious which worried me a bit considering the knot he had on his head. I opened the door and dragged him inside. My mother had been a healer for the Gypsies and had taught me everything she knew, so I knew how to tend to his wounds. I dragged him over to the bed and somehow managed to heave him up and into the small bed near the fire. I went and threw some wood on the fire and put some water to heat. I was thankful for snow to melt this time of year so I didn’t have to go all the way to the stream for water. I gathered some of my mother’s herbs and bandages and walked back over to him.

I took off his boots and red coat. I needed to look at his head first. I got my water and washed the blood from his face. He was burning up. I frowned. Not good. The deep gash on his head had finally stopped bleeding heavily and was now just oozing with a nasty goose-egg above it. I cleaned the gash and my supplies and prayed he wouldn’t wake up as a put a few stitches in. He didn’t. I then bandaged his head and moved on. I looked at his leg. I was pretty sure it was broken. I made a splint, cleaned the cuts and scrapes and applied some herbs to the open area before bandaging and splinting his leg. There was also blood on his shirt. I unbuttoned and removed his shirt and undershirt. My breath caught again. He was breathtakingly handsome. His chest and arms bare, you could see the rippled and sinewy muscles. I could feel my cheeks flush. His ribs were bruised and he had a few scrapes that looked like they had stopped bleeding. I pulled his upper half into a sitting position and leaned his body against me as I wrapped his ribs. I could feel his warm body against mine and it made me flush all over again. I didn’t even know this man! What was wrong with me??

I laid him back on the bed and applied cool cloths to his face, neck, and chest. I needed his fever to break. After a few hours it finally did. Thank goodness. He was mumbling something under his breath in his sleep state but showed no signs of waking soon. I decided to tend to the animals and my other chores. When I was done I got nosy. I decided to look through his horses saddle bags and his red coat, but found nothing. The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. I changed his bandages and herbs once and then decided to sleep a few hours after dark. As he was in my bed, I decided to pull my mother’s rocker over by the fire. I rocked with many unanswered questions floating through my mind. Why was he out here? Where did he come from? Who would be looking for him? What would I do when he woke up? Why was he so handsome? And why did he make me feel so weird? Ugh. I drifted off to sleep....

The next morning I woke early to a chilly cottage. Some time during the night my fire went out. I frowned. I needed more wood. I looked over and saw the man on my bed and the events of yesterday came flooding back. I quietly rose and put on boots, a long coat and scarf, and a hat and went outside to get wood.