Chapter 1

Maya sighed deeply as she sat down at her bed, folding her legs below her, running a hand over the freshly cleaned sheets. She held a book in her hands which she was planning on finishing today so it could be returned to her friend, Aisha. It had been raining the entire morning and she had done her chores already. She assumed the weather wouldn't change in one afternoon suddenly, so she had decided to pull herself back for awhile and have some alone time.
Maya was lucky; she let a good life. Her father worked hard and her mother was a loyal wife, dedicated her life to her family. They were in love; her father and mother, and this was the reason why Maya was 20 and yet to be married. They believed in love, her family had build their whole foundation on it and she was supposed to marry someone she loved. Sure they pressured her in finding someone, sure her father worried about her from time to time, but she was alright with her life as it was now, even when everyone around her seemed to be getting married.
She took her light yellow veil off of her hair, letting the light brown curls fall freely on her back. She was made to wear a veil by her mother; she didn't want her to be in danger. Men from around here would quickly think differently of a woman without her veil and they could take advantage of her. She still remembered the look on her mother's face when she pressed her very first veil against her chest, warning her about the dangers. Her mother worried quickly, frightening her with stories, some untrue, but anything to keep her only daughter save.
Maya knew about her mother's wish for a large family but she never had carried children full term and she remembered vividly the prematurely birth of her younger siblings which they all had to say their goodbyes to.

Out of nowhere a loud thumb echoed outside her balcony doors and it made her drop her book to the side of her bed; a man, judging by his broad shoulders as he tried to push himself up, the rain completely drenching him and he seemed hurt, having a hard time to get to his feet. He gave up then and his face connected harshly to the stones.
Her kind character; always wanting to help those in need, made her get up quickly, she pushed the doors from the balcony open, they turned inward. As she did this she could heard the man cough and she quickly bended through her knees next to him. "Sir?" she asked quietly not wanting to touch him without permission. He said nothing in response though and Maya choose to step out into the rain, her hair quickly becoming wet and sticking to the skin on her face and neck, as she tried to heave him up the best she could. "Sir, I want to help you, but you need to help me lifting you" this seemed to get his attention and he scrambled up with her help, she took his arm and tried to lift the best she could, but was incredibly heavy. She threw his arm over her shoulder and quickly took him inside, directing him towards the bed and he dropped onto the freshly cleaned sheets.
She quickly turned around, closing the balcony doors and locking them, closing the curtains quickly, doing the same to the window across from her bed. And then she turned towards the man on her bed, he wasn't passed out yet; but he seemed exhausted and it seemed as if he could care less about what happened to him. "Sir, are you wounded?" she asked quietly touching his shoulder. He suddenly breathed in sharply and stood up in less than a few seconds, his eyes darting through the room; even though Maya could barely see them. "I mean no harm" She quickly spoke holding up her hands. He looked her over, his mouth a serious line, and just as fast as he had stood he suddenly collapsed, and Maya barely caught his arm, but it was no use; she was not strong enough to hold him up and she heard his knees connect with the floor hard. She was happy her mother had gone out this morning and had not returned; probably because of the constant thunder storms, otherwise she surely would've scolded her for helping a strange man. Especially one that carried so many weapons; Maya suddenly noted. But she pushed the thought away quickly. He rose to his feet again but it took much effort and she quickly helped him sit on the bed.
"I'm going to unclothe you now" she quietly said not even thinking about seeing a man undressed; this man was in need, so there was nothing wrong with seeing his bare chest. He was in dire need of help. The man looked up and seemed to contemplate his option; perhaps doubting if he could trust her but she knew he had little choice, and he seemed to catch up to that conclusion as well.
His hands shook as he starting opening his belt, and Maya quickly sat down next to him to help him, pushing his hands away towards his lap.
With care she took her hands over his shoulders and pushed the robes them to the ground, after she had gently placed every part of his weaponry on her desk. She pushed the wet robes across the room while he leant his large hands on her shoulders to keep himself steady. She gasped at the sight of the large gash on his side, it was unbelievable huge, and with wide eyes she looked up at him, but his eyes spun in his caskets and he closed them when he decided he couldn't control them. She felt around on the bed and took of the first layers of sheets to make sure it was dry, then ordered him to sit down again. "Just don't fall asleep just yet, I'll get you clean, comfortable pants from my father" she quickly said and ran towards her parents room before she even had finished the sentence.
Her father's pants were very wide and comfortable; especially for the man as he was a lot smaller than her father, who's belly was rounded with the riches they could afford themselves.

As soon as the man had put on her father's trousers by himself; she refused to help him with such a thing, he had fell back onto the bed, unconscious. She had meanwhile gotten a bowl of warm, clean water, she had boiled, clean cloths and bandages, even stitching; she wondered if she could do it neatly, she had sown before. She at first had offered to call a doctor but he had shook his head wildly at that so she assumed he must have something to hide but she didn't ponder long enough on it.
Drastic times meant she had to go to drastic measures and even though the thought of sewing up flesh sickened her; in order to help him, she had to.
He lay on his beck, his tummy still going up and down slowly, and it comforted her; knowing he was still alive. She softly pushed the cloth against his wound with a disinfection salve her mother had once bought from an herbalist. It had helped Maya once with a large gash on her leg; even though it was nothing compared to this.
His breath shook lightly she noted as the cloth made contact with the reddened and angered skin but he didn't move and she continued on. She pushed another cloth against his forehead as beats of sweat started to form and she felt sympathy for the handsome man. She placed the needle against the skin, took a deep breath and pushed it through the flesh; she could only hope she was doing a good job, or at least good enough to keep the infection out for at least this night.
It took her a lot of energy and she, herself, was sweating excessively as she finally had knotted her string, putting extra salve on the wound to make sure it disinfected right. A few brown drops fell on her white sheets but she disregarded it; the comfort of her guest was more important than her white sheets right now.
She bandaged him, it took even more of her as she constantly had to life his midsection and push the bandage underneath him. But the time she was done, she was satisfied, yet completely exhausted.