Fever
Disclaimer: I love all these charakters and I wish, they where my own but unfortunately I do
not own one of them...
A/N: So, this is my first fanfic so please...read and review and tell me, what to make better... and be honest but merciful, okay? and I'm sorry if I made some mistakes, grammar and stuff, but English is not my native language...
umm...it takes place between Lioness Rampant and Wild Mage, George and Alanna are engaged...
then...read and review, I hope you enjoy!
Eight horses thundered into the courtyard of Sir Myles of Olau´s city house. Two of the rider
hung unconscious in the saddle bound on their mares to stay onto them. Blood stained the
clothes of the men. At the head of the group Alanna of Trebond and Olau reined her mount.
She was pale but sat bolt upright, behind her Coram Smythesson dismounted, wincing as he
stood on an obviously wounded leg.
The doors flew open, giving way to Sir Myles, his fiancée Eleni, George Cooper and Rispah.
They hurried down the stairs, Rispah rushing towards Coram, while Eleni and Myles talked to
the commander, who came with the riders.
George came over to Alanna, looking around concerned.
"Hey lass", he inquired," what happened? Thought this mission was gonna be easy?"
He took another look around waiting for his wife-to-be to dismount. He looked back when he
heard her landing on the ground, just to see her faint. He made a step forward to catch her,
then knelt.
"`Lanna?Love?What is it?"
Suddenly he noticed wetness on his hands. He turned her around carefully and gasped at the
sight of her tunic being soaked with blood.
" MOTHER!", he yelled as he stood, holding her protectively in his strong arms.
Eleni Cooper knew instantly that something was wrong. She looked around and saw her son
kneeling in front of Alanna´s mare, then he rose and yelled. Immediately she excused herself,
not without giving orders to Rispah, to look after the ones injured, and to the maids, to get
another healer and bring her own healer bag, clean linen and boiling water into the room
where she normally looked after the people who came to her for healing, then she hurried
towards her son and told him with a nod to get the young woman inside.
The room smelled after herbs, ointments and tea when George entered and carefully placed
her onto the table. Then he went over to a bench to get her a pillow before returning to the
door nervously.
"MOTER! She's dying!"
Eleni, held up by the scared chambermaid, who brought her bag, took it now and went
through the open door to the table. George closed the door behind her, then came to stand
beside her.
"Her back? Could you please turn her around?", Eleni asked.
Carefully, George sat her up to get rid of her tunic, then laid her back and begun to untie her
shirt. When nothing remained on her upper body than a blood soaked breast band , he turned
her around, then gasped: From her left side to her spine were four deep bloody scratches. He
made a step aside to give way to his mother, without removing a caressing hand from her
coppery curls. His mother took his former place, pressing a white cloth on the scratches, then
started to clean them.
Fortunately for all of them, Alanna stayed unconscious until the stitches where set, healing
ointment on them, her back was bandaged and George had her dressed and placed on a couch
by the window. She had lost plenty of blood and was still terribly pale. George knelt on the
floor beside her, looking her over.
"Lass, c'mon ", he inquired, softly pleading, "C'mon Luv, you've had worse"
Though he couldn't remember at the moment. But she was a strong one – she couldn't be
dying of that, not like that, NOT now!!!
As if his silent prayers were heard her eyelids fluttered open.
"Hey", she whispered, her voice hoarse.
"Hey darlin´girl, how d´ye feel?"
She hesitated a moment, feeling.
„Painful?", she tried to force a weak smile, the winced at the tiniest movement her back could
afford.
"Lie still!", Eleni ordered as she passed by to get a cup of tea. Her son reached up to take it.
"Drink, it´ll ease the pain."
Carefully, he held the cup to her lips to let her sip. When the hot liquid ran down her throat
she already sank back to sleep.
When she awoke, it was already dark outside. George´s head rested next to her, he was asleep,
sitting on the floor beside her couch. Eleni, sitting in a chair by the hearth, saw her moving
slightly in the darkness.
"Don´t wake him up. He just fell asleep."
Her face was smooth, lit by the low burning fire. She stood and walked over.
"D´ye think, ye can fool me? Ye´re ought to know I would wake up anyway.", George
murmured, lifting his head.
"Hi", he softly stroke a curl out of her face and touched her forehead with warm lips. A
moment he hesitated, then asked:
"Alanna? D´ye think, ye could tell us what happened?"
She nodded carefully.
"We were just making our way back through the royal forest. We were attacked by a pack of
bandits. Actually easy done, about twelve, they hadn´t even crossbows. What we didn´t know
was, that one of them had two of those monstrous catlike beasts (A/N: Not very good, I know,
but I couldn´t think of anything else…ideas are welcome) behind the trees. I stood with the
back to it when they set it free. I was just turning to the noise when I felt this terrible pain in
my back. We fought hard, but men get injuries I couldn´t heal right away. I was weak when
we had slaughtered them. I think at least one of them we lost already before we arrived here."
Her voice faded. She obviously felt guilty, because she hadn´t been able to save him.
"One of them was dead. The rest could be saved."
Eleni spoke quietly but her voice was steady and calm. Alanna sighed with relief. She
wouldn´t´ve been able to bear more deaths because of her stupidity.
"I should have known…"
"Lass, you couldn´t!", George met her eyes firmly. "Don´t feel guilty, ´right?I´m sure ye did
all ye could!"
She looked away, a tear ran down her cheek. Her face was hot, she was tired and unhappy.
She bit her lower lip to keep her from crying but she couldn´t help.
"Sweet…", George wept away the tears with a gentle hand. "No need to cry! Lean back and
sleep a bit, ´kay? Tomorrow things´ll look different. Don´t let them bother ye now."
She wanted to protest but then changed her mind – he was probably right – and let him push
her softly back into the pillows. Almost immediately she fell asleep.
By the time she awoke next, it was already midday. The window over her head was open and
she could hear the sounds of the market outside. A blanket covered her, to keep her from
getting cold. She smiled. He knew her well. She noticed a movement and turned slightly to
have a better look. George grinned at her, seeing her awake.
"G´mornin´, Luv"
He said gleefully. She wondered if he was still there or already again. He offered her the plate
he was carrying with a loving smile.
"Hungry?"
She accepted thankfully.
When he left for the bathroom once, she decided, it was worth a try to heal the pain in her
back now, so she would be fit again as soon as possible. The result was a rush of terrible
weakness and a pounding headache , that made her press her hands against her temples, eyes
tighly shut.
"You shouldn´t do that. You lost lots of blood and are too weak, yet. You´ll first
need to recover your strength… but if you ask me, you should leave your healing to me,
you´ll need the bit strength you´ll have at first for walking and breathing."
Eleni had entered without Alanna noticing her. She blinked carefully and looked at the older
woman with a crooked smile.
The days went by, Alanna´s back healing steadily. On the fourth day after her arrival she
stood on the lower balcony for the first time, George´s arms rapped around her. They viewed
the people hurrying by in the afternoon sun. She snuggled closer, shivering.
"Let´s go back inside, please."
"Thought, ye wanted t´take a breath fresh air."
"Yes, but I´m terribly cold."
"Cold? Darlin´ it´s June and damn hot!"
He felt her shivering again.
"Cold. And – my back is aching… so cold" her voice faded, she fainted in his arms.