This is just what I wished would have happened. It's about Alyss.
Her eyes slowly opened, encrusted with dirt and filth. Her head ached and her throat scratched. She wondered where she was, why she hurt so much, who she was. Her eyelids finished raising and she looked around, just moving her eyes. When she moved her head, it felt as if a hundred hammers struck on it.
A door flew open, letting in a stream of painfully bright light. A shadow walked through the open door and she groaned, closing her eyes. Footsteps came towards her prone form and a cool, dry hand was laid on her forehead. "She's alive. Though how she survived, I'll never know. Her body was terribly burned." The voice was also cool and dry, but vaguely worried. Her head spun as she tried to move. As she tried to ask where she was, if the little girl had survived, where Will was.
The voice continued on, changing tones from cool and dry to kind and soft. "Now, dear, don't move around. You are still healing."
Her voice croaked out of her sore and burning throat. "The little girl..." She paused, letting the inflamed tissue of her throat relax for a moment. "The little girl... did she... survive?"
"Yes. She did, without a scratch or a bruise, though she did have a sore throat for a while." Bandages were gently unwrapped from around her body, let a breeze caress her chafed and slowly healing skin. "Now dear, don't move." A chilled paste was spread on her burns, soothing and comforting her scorched flesh. The bandages were replaced and she sighed in contentment.
Finally, with her pain gone, she remembered who she was. She was Alyss, Courier, beloved of Will, friend of Cassandra and Horace. Her mentor was, and is, Lady Pauline, the graceful and elegant. Darkness closed around her, mixing up the words spoken to her. The voice sounded familar, but, her thoughts escaped into oblivion, leaving her for a while. Letting her rest.
"Alyss, Alyss, wake up. Someone is here to see you." She peeled her eyes open, and gazed at the speaker, finally realizing who he was. It was Malcolm, the healer. But why was he here, wasn't he too old to make the journey?
He tapped her shoulder again. "Wake up." She mumbled incoherently and turned away, wincing with that movement. "Good. You're awake. Should I send for Will?"
The name sparked her awake. "Will, he's here?" Her voice rasped, chaffing her throat. It didn't hurt quite as much as yesterday, though.
Malcolm nodded gently, and teased her. "If you really don't want to see him, I can send him away..."
Alyss, understanding his jest, shook and then nodded her head. "I really want to see him. Is he alright?" Her voice rasped more, but she continued talking all the same. "Did he catch the evil man who set the inn on fire?"
Malcolm shrugged. "I have no idea. Why don't you ask him yourself?" At those words, footsteps echoed again through the doorway.
A short, dark figure, with a cowl and a cloaked walked quickly to her side. "Alyss, are you well?" He shoved off his cowl, revealing himself. "Alyss, I missed you so much." Will's voice shook slightly. He quickly cleared his throat and dashed his overly bright eyes.
Alyss smiled the best she could, tugging at her mostly healed skin. "Will, I love you." Her voice trembled with happiness and excitement. "Are you all right? What happened to you while I was asleep? How long have I been asleep?" She remembered nothing of her slumber, or even how long it lasted. "Did I wake up at all?"
Will sighed and began speaking, avoiding her last two questions, for a little while. He skillfully wove his tale of Maddie, as his apprentice, and hunting down the man who set the inn on fire. "And, as you can see, I am unharmed." He dashed the tears away from his eyes and gently kissed his wife. "Alyss, you've been asleep for twenty months."
She gasped, forgetting her wounds. Her head lifted from the pillow and she looked at Malcolm. "I've been asleep for twenty months?! Why didn't you wake me?" She was furious, but rightly so. Her head dropped back to the pillow, pain from her wounds flaring up.
Malcolm looked into her deep blue and pain filled eyes and spoke simply. "I did not wake you, because I was afraid that if I did, you would not have survived. You needed time to regenerate your burnt skin and heal your wounded mind." He glanced over at Will and back to her eyes again. "Will did not know you were alive until two weeks ago, when I was certain you would live."
It's a cliffhanger. I'd love a really critical reader to point out all of my errors. Please don't be afraid of hurting my feelings on this. It would be amazing!