A Sitter For The General

Chapter Two

She came out of nowhere! There wasn't enough time to slow down the horse or divert it's path. If not for my time control powers that enbled him move her out of the way, the impact would have been fatal.

Dylan stared down at the unconscious girl and frowned as his men gathered around him. He knelt on one knee to check for serious injuries. She seemed fine aside from the bruises on her lip and a slight cut on her forehead. The bread suffered the blunt of it.

“Is she alright sir?" asked Kuna, his second in command. His fatherly face wore a look of concern.

“Aye." Dylan replied picking up the injured girl.

“I'll have Saido the physician look at her”.

Dylan had already mounted his horse with the girl cupped on his chest.

“Do that as soon as we get to the castle. Nevertheless, we best get moving our guests we will be arriving soon. Have one of the men announce about a missing girl in the village.”

“Of course sir." Kuna quickly signaled one of the men and passed the instructions while Dylan urged his horse forward.

When they arrived at the palace, Dylan dismounted and gently handed the reigns of his horse to Malcolm, the head of the stable boys. Malcolm was a good friend of his since they were boys so he didn't bother to hide his look of horror when he saw the dangling body of an unconscious girl in Dylan's hand.

“I thought this sitter thing was willingly. Are we now clubbing the girls in the head to bring them here?”.

Kuna let out a chuckle but immediately repented on seeing the annoyance on Dylan's face. ”It was merely an accident".

“Some accident!” snorted Malcolm.

Dylan turned away and headed for the doors with his teeth clenched. Malcolm was the only one in the castle who was not afraid of him, so his could speak freely with him without fearing consequences.

“Have the maid prepare one of the bed chambers and send for Saido immediately". He spoke to no one in particular but everyone except of Malcolm scrabbled about to meet his demand. Dylan was not known for his patience, usually losing his temper when his orders when were not carried out on time or explicitly.

He stepped into the prepared chambers and moved to lie the girl gently on the bed. Unconsciously, he smelled the sweet scent of flowers on her hair and paused for a moment, finding himself inhaling deeply. Up close, he found nothing remarkable about her face, yet his hands of their own accord moved a pull a strand of hair that had gotten on her face. He immediately pulled away, shocked at his own behaviour. As he did so, the maids stepped forward to clean her up, so he quickly stepped out of the room.

I must be tired. He thought to himself and hurriedly walked to his chambers. His guests would be arriving soon so he had best rest a little before they do.

As his washed his hair in the bed chambers pot, his mind wondered back to the girl. He found himself worrying about her. This felt strange to him because for a long time no one had caught his attention like she did, even unconscious. His next sitter would be arriving in a days time. He frowned. Would she be the one to break his curse? He was getting tired of the whole routine.

Again his mind wondered back to the sleeping girl in the chambers next to his. And he shook the thought away. Something about being close to her gave up him hope. But he could not lay his finger on it. His mind switched to a picture of a fair blonde hair woman dancing with a smirk at him. His frown deepened.

He wiped his face with his towel and stared at the tall, dark haired man staring back at him through the mirror. Never again. He said quietly to himself. Never again let hope get the best of you.

With that, he grabbed his tunic and walked out the door.