I collapse outside of the small village. Everything is starting to go black. "Can you hear me?" a kind voice asks. I nod my head.
"You can put her in my home," a woman says. Strong hands pick me up and I stop existing.
I wake up with a jerk, covered in a cold sweat. "Are you feeling better?" a woman asks from behind me. I turn around and look up at the woman. She is very kind in appearance.
"Who are you? Where am I?" I ask in confusion. Her expression softens a little.
"My name is Hunith, and you collapsed on the edge of Ealdor. It is a small village on the outskirts of Cenred's kingdom," she explains. I nod my head at her words, and look around. I am resting in a simple bed, in a small and welcoming cottage. It is all one room with a few curtains up for privacy. At some point there was another person living with her, that was not allowed in the same bed as her.
"My name is Raven. Thank you for letting me stay in your home while I recover," I thank her as I slowly sit up.
"Please it is no trouble at all. It is nice to be able to care for someone again. My son left awhile ago, and I miss him," she says with a sigh. I lift up my shirt to look at the bandage. Hunith is very good at wrapping bandages. I lightly touch the area around the wound through the bandage. For now it will be fine, but if I do not put my herbs on it soon it will quickly become infected.
"Have you seen my bag?" I ask her. She smiles, and hands me a bag off the floor. "Thank you. I don't suppose that you also have some water?" I ask her.
"Of course. Let me go grab some for you," she grabs a bucket and leaves. I pull out a bowl and the herbs that I need. While I wait for her to return, I get out of the bed, and hobble over to the table. She comes back just as I sit down. "Are you alright? You should be resting," she says. Sounding every bit the loving mother I never had. I smile sadly at her.
"I have to put a paste on the wound so that it does not become infected. Like you said it is rather deep," I explain. She looks at the bowl in my hands and the herbs inside of it. She nods her head and places the bucket of water on the floor next to me. I scoop some water into the bowl and start grinding them into the paste I need. Once that is done I remove my shirt. Thankfully my breast wrap is still in place, and the stab is low enough to have avoided all the vital organs. Unfortunately I will need to stitch it closed. "Can you help me with the bandages?" I ask her. She nods her head wordlessly and comes closer to unwrap the bandages.
I can tell she did not fully remove my shirt when she applied the bandages, because she is staring with wide eyes at the druid symbol tattooed on my collarbone. I smirk a little. She would go buggy if she knew that I was not just a druid. I am proud to wear the mark. She does not know the differences between marks and how each is personalized to represent the person wearing it. If she did, then she would know that I am a shifter. The druid man that gave it to me was freaking out and hoping that I just wanted to scare people. Too bad it is who I really am.
Once she gets the last of the bandages off, I place a piece of tough leather between my teeth, and apply the paste. I whimper a little at the burn, but make sure it is covered. Once I have all of the paste in the wound, I pull out my needle and thread, and start stitching it closed. Hunith is watching in wide-eyed fascination. When I finish I spit the leather out and rest my head on top of the table. "Do you need a drink?" she asks softly. I nod my head. I will have to rewrap the bandages so the nothing rubs against the stitches too much.
A cup plops next to my head, and I reach for it. "Do you have magic?" she asks me softly. I drain the cup of water, and nod my head again. "Are you dangerous?" she asks.
I look up at her face and see a small glint of fear. "No Hunith, I am not a danger. Once I am fully healed I will be on my way again," I tell her. She nods, and helps me rewrap the bandages. "Thank you again, Hunith. There are not many in this day and age that are as accepting of magic as you appear to be," I tell her simply.
"The two most important men in my life have magic, and I would never be able to deny them my love and caring," she tells me. I nod my head.
"Love is the best emotion I have ever seen. Though I must admit I have never felt it," I tell her.
"I am sure that you will one day," she says sweetly.
"Not likely. There are so few of my kind left that the chances of finding one, let alone loving him is very low," I tell her.
"What do you mean your kind?" she questions.
"Sorry, but I would rather not tell you," I say softly. She thinks about it very hard, but nods her head anyways. Outside I hear a bunch of horses, and lots of shouting. "What is that?" I ask. She goes outside to look, while I put a shirt back on.
"HUNITH!" a man shouts, and I race to the door on shaky legs. Hunith is on the ground, and a group of bandits rides away. A man is lying dead a few feet away from Hunith with an arrow in his chest. I grimace, and hear the low growl emitting from my throat.
What kind of monster hits a woman? Hunith was probably doing nothing wrong. I cannot imagine her doing something that could harm others. I stay in the doorway, and wait while she talks with a few of the other villagers. She hurries back towards me, and I can see determination shining in her eyes. "What happened?" I ask her. Her eye is already turning black, and swelling. Rage fills my chest, and my skin gets tight with the urge to shift and chase down the man that hit her. But I only just met her. Why do I feel this way?
"That was Canen, he has been plaguing this village for a few months now. Our king cares little for us, and so refuses to help us. I am going to go to Camelot and seek the help of Uther Pendragon. Do you want to come with me?" she asks.
"I am very sorry. I am not fit enough to go to Camelot right now, and if Uther found out who or what I was, he would sentence me to death," I tell her. She nods as if she thought about all of these things already.
"You are welcome to stay here until I return if you would like. I know it is not much, but it is something," she offers.
"I would like that very much. It has been a long time since I could sleep in a house. Thank you Hunith, how can I repay you for your kindness?" I ask her.
"Let me think about it alright?" she asks. I nod in acceptance. She bustles around the small house, packing a bag for the trip. It must not be very far from here to Camelot, because she is not packing a lot of food. Either that or she plans to walk non-stop. Once she is done she turns to me. "Will you be here when I return in a few days?" she asks.
"Yes. I will be here until you tell me how to repay you," I tell her. She nods with a smile, and walks out of the door. I look around the house, and sigh. I need some sleep now. I lie down on the bed, and fall asleep quickly.
When I wake up again, the sun is shining once more, and there are several roosters crowing. I sit up and rub my eyes. With a quick glance around I decide that I will clean her house today. It does not take long before I finish and head out for water at the well. A lot of people stop to stare at me, but no one tries to talk to me. On my way back to Hunith's house a man stops me. His hair is shoulder length and a light brown color that matches his full beard. He has a very kind face, and a quiet disposition.
"Excuse me, but are you the girl we found on the outskirts of the village?" he asks.
"Yes that was I. is there something you needed?" I ask him in return. He blushes a little.
"My name is ," he introduces himself. I smile at him, and shake the hand he offered.
"My name is Raven. It is a pleasure to meet you," I tell him sweetly.
"I was wondering if you like to eat dinner with my wife and me?" he asks politely.
"I would love to. Hunith left last night to get help, and it feels weird to be alone in someone else's house," I tell him.
"Where is your home?" he asks.
"I don't have one. Once Hunith returns, I will be on my way. I do not usually return to places," I tell him. He nods, and smiles.
"I will come to get you later tonight," he excuses himself. I smile to myself. His wife is very lucky. Not many guys are as sweet as that. I head back into Hunith's home, and sleep for a little bit. I wake up after a few hours, and change into proper clothes. I leave my bodice loose so it does not irritate my stitches. Just as I finish, there is a knock at my door. Perfect timing.
I hurry to answer it, and see standing there, and looking at the ground. He must be a bundle of nerves. When he looks up at me, his face turns red, and his mouth opens and closes. "So dinner right? Will this be okay?" I ask. He nods his head vigorously. I smile at him, and follow when he turns and walks away. And these are not even my best clothes. When we get to his house, his wife is very nice to me. The longer I stay though the more upset she becomes. She is not fool enough to be blind to the effect I have on men.
I leave as soon as convention allows, and thank them for a pleasant meal. I walk back to Hunith's house alone. The next few days are filled with men flirting and women scowling. This is the main reason why I do not stay in one place for too long. I always end up causing problems, and at some point the woman, while getting called a whore, usually chases me out of town. Things do not get a chance to go that far though, because Hunith returns at the same time as the bandits. I am beating one man with a broom when a fair-haired man swoops in and beats the man.
I just stare at him like he is nuts. Why would he help me, and why does he have on such heavy looking clothes? I watch as the bandits leave. But not before threatening to return and make everyone pay for this. I feel my core tug me toward a dark haired boy, but I resist. I can feel his magic, and I would rather not get too close. As it is I am putting a lot of stress on my magic by keeping it close to home.
Hunith comes up to me, with a smile. "How have you been healing?" she asks.
"Excellent. I am completely healed, thank you for asking. Who are these people?" I ask. I see that besides the two men that came with Hunith there are also two women. One is beautiful, with long raven colored hair and pale skin. The other has darker skin, but is just as pretty. They are both wearing breeches and tunics and I smile in delight. I hate wearing silly dresses. They are so useless, and restricting.
"Come back to the house and I will introduce you to them," she says. I have no choice but to follow her. Even though it means I will be forced into an enclosed area with the warlock. It will be impossible for me to avoid bonding with him in such close quarters. I walk into the house last, and suck in a deep breathe as my magic locks onto the warlock. He looks at me with wide eyes, and I know he can feel it.
"Raven this is Gwen, the lady Morgana, Prince Arthur, and my son Merlin," Hunith introduces. I nod to each one as she says their names. So the blonde is a prince huh? No wonder his clothes look so heavy. Surely he could wear something lighter?
"Hello my name is Raven. Thank you all so much for coming to help with the bandits," I tell them. The prince blushes and nods his head. Merlin just narrows his eyes, and watches me closely. My magic is still wrapped around him, but I am stopping it from doing what it wants to do.
"How long have you been staying with my mother?" Merlin asks.
"She was just letting me stay here until I was fully healed. I will probably leaving in the morning," I tell him.
"Why?" Gwen asks.
"Because I do not feel comfortable in large groups of people. I feel safest in the woods. I am healed and Hunith has returned, so there is nothing keeping me here," I tell her. She nods, but looks a little sad. Why? She knows nothing about me. My skin itches all over as my magic boils. It wants to bond me to Merlin and I will not let it. "If you will excuse me, I will go get some water," I tell them as I grab the bucket.
"I'm coming with you," Hunith says. I sigh, and nod. There is no way for me to tell her no. We walk in silence all the way to the well. "What kind of magic do you have?" she asks. So that is how she wants to start huh?
"I have magic, is there a particular type you wanted?" I ask her.
"I know what I want you to do to repay me," she says lightly. I pour the water I just hauled up into the bucket.
"And what would that be?" I ask her.
"I want you to look after my son. I worry about him, and I think perhaps if he had you looking after him he would be safer than he is now," she says. My stomach drops, and my magic crackles. I told her I would do anything, but I did not want to bond to a wizard or witch. They are so much trouble.
"Alright Hunith, I will keep him safe, but I cannot do it like this. I will leave, but return as an animal. That way he will not know that I am protecting him," I tell her. She nods happily, and we head back to her house. I let my magic do what come naturally to it. My entire being stretches and changes to match Merlin. It is a very odd feeling, and I grimace as I feel him try to fight against it. Even someone as strong as he cannot fight this though. In no time at all it is done, and nothing could ever make me leave Merlin alone. Not after this. We walk inside the house, and Merlin glares at me. I ignore him, and help Hunith prepare some food. It is going to be a long night. The sooner I can get away and shift the happier I will be.