The Dog began to plan for the chaos that will envelop the lower city with a man like Flain in charge, however briefly. She should be monitoring the crowd to determine the likelihood of a brawl. But she couldn't look away, and her mind still protested:
Rosto always gets up.
Flain attacked with a vicious lower thrust and Rosto sprang to one side with an agility the challenger did not think the Rogue was still capable of. Flain's jab drove the blade deep into the wood of the wall. In the split-second that the blade was immobilized, Rosto had him. With two well-aimed strikes it was over: kidney, throat. Unconsciousness was rapid, death would follow in minutes.
"And that," Rosto cried to his Court triumphantly, "concludes your entertainment for the evening." Raucous laughter filled the hall and Beka closed her eyes in relief, leaning back against the table as she struggled to control her pounding heart.
Rosto always gets up.
Rosto returned to the dais as rushers cleaned up the hall. Aniki hastily tied a bandage around the worst wound, Kora's healing charms keeping him steady for the moment. Beka felt sick. She was no stranger to violence, but the Dogs primary weapons were designed to incapacitate, not kill, unless absolutely necessary. She knew that if it hadn't been the challenger lying dead on the floor, it would have been Rosto. Still, she struggled to settle her stomach. She turned her focus to Rosto instead. Kora still held her arm. "Kora, we have to get him out of here."
"Not yet. Leaving immediately after a challenge shows weakness, he can't open himself up to another right now." She continued rapidly, "Follow him out when he leaves, I've left supplies in his rooms. Aniki and I will come when we are sure that all is well here."
Aniki had helped Rosto into a dark colored tunic, so now the bandage was hidden from obvious view. He lounged on the dais easily, looking for all the world like it was just another night. He glanced in Beka's direction once, smiling a half-smile that was supposed to be reassuring. It wasn't reassuring; she had seen the wound and was close enough to see he swayed slightly when he stood. After a while he sauntered in her direction. He put his arm around her flirtatiously. At least, that's how it looked, but he leaned heavily. He flirted more loudly than usual and she responded venomously as always. She told him that just because Rogues' challenges were immune, it didn't mean she wouldn't come up with a reason to hobble him one day.
"You'll have to catch me first," he teased, making a sudden break for the door. Well, he's certainly not going for the subtle exit.
"Maji," Achoo sprinted after Rosto with Beka only a few steps behind. Where would he go, why would he run? Once they reached the street she watched as Rosto entered the boarding house on the other side. Of course, he wasn't really running. "tunggu," she called and Achoo waited obediently at the door whimpering softly in her desire to go through.
Once inside and safe from prying eyes Rosto leaned against the wall of the boarding house wearily. He was running on adrenaline alone and his hands shook as he tried to stop the bleeding which had intensified during the short sprint. As Beka entered she found him that way, one hand pressing his shoulder tightly, blood seeping around his fingers.
"We have to stop meeting like this..." he murmured slowly. As she approached he crumpled, sliding down the wall, his eyes glassy.
She dove to catch him and his head lolled onto her shoulder. "No, no, no, Rosto, don't you dare pass out on me out here." Putting his good arm around her she dragged him to his feet. "Rosto, come on, we can't stay here. Just a few steps more."
As she helped Rosto onto the bed, she leaned him against the wall to keep his shoulder raised. "About time you got me into bed," he said, now slurring his words so badly she could barely understand them. Still, she hoped the teasing meant things weren't as bad as they seemed.
"That was a terrible idea, Rosto," she chided.
He paused; it was taking him a while to process her words. "Probably. I have an open wound. You still didn't catch me."
"I wasn't try..." Beka sighed. "Never mind, Hold the bandage down," she instructed as she cut away the dark tunic on top and the blood stained one underneath. She didn't think, just allowed her training to take over. Aniki's bandage had long since soaked through, but Beka knew better than to remove it. Placing the fresh bandage on top she warned him, "This is going to hurt."
"Then I guess you'll..." He stopped mid sentence, groaning as she pressed the bandage down and wrapped it firmly into place.
Dark spots filled his vision and her face blurred in front of him. Rosto was pale normally, now he was deathly white.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered "but I have to stop the bleeding." His eyes were half-open, but she didn't think he could hear her. His head had dropped back against the wall with a thud as he fought for consciousness.
Kora had left water next to the bed; she thought of everything. He needed fluids but Beka didn't think he was awake enough to drink.
Rosto was still for a few minutes fighting the nausea and feeling very much like he was loosing his balance despite his seated position. Beka placed cool hands on the sides of his neck and the slight chill seemed to subdue the nausea. She could feel his heart racing, attempting to compensate for the blood loss.
"...have to... kiss it... better" he finally finished through clenched teeth.
To Rosto's surprise he felt a warm sensation against his cool skin, right next to the bandage wrappings. Without opening his eyes he smiled.
"Do you think you can drink this, just a small amount?" He nodded, opening his eyes to take the water from her. Things looked strange to him. Like the color of the room was slightly off. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what was different, but it was unsettling.
The shoulder wound was by far the most dangerous, but he was covered with wounds of varying severities. She cleaned each one and covered them. Most of them were too small to be any real danger but cleaning them made Beka feel like she was doing something productive. Then she returned to his shoulder, which had soaked through another set of bandages. Why isn't the bleeding slowing down? Beka worried.
Rosto watched her as she worked with a mildly astonished look on his face. She glared at him after a while; "What, did you think I was gunna send you to the cages or somat?" He didn't answer, still watching her intently. Her ice eyes were thawing, how long before it froze over again?
"I have to stop the bleeding, Rosto," she repeated. Rosto nodded tersely. She replaced the outer bandages, this time pressing down with a firm pressure instead of trying to tie it. With a gasp Rosto cried out sharply before clenching his jaw and cutting off the sound abruptly. For a moment Rosto's muscles remained tense as Beka pressed the bandage tightly to his injury but eventually his body relaxed as he lost consciousness. Beka wasn't sure if she should be concerned or relieved. She had to keep pressure on the wound but watching him fight against the pain was almost unbearable.
For a long time Beka stared blankly, trying to think of nothing at all. Simply holding the bandage tight and waiting to see if the bleeding would stop or Rosto would wake. She didn't want to think. She didn't want to close her eyes and see the blood of the dead challenger soaking the floor. She couldn't watch Rosto sinking down the wall of the boarding house and listen to him moan in pain. It all played in a loop in her head. Not thinking did not protect her. She tried to remember what the chances were of fatal bleeding from this kind of wound. Worse if it hit an artery, she remembered that, but she had no idea if that were the case here. She didn't want to remember that she had seen men die from wounds that looked far less severe than what she was seeing. And Rosto did not have a healer.
The bleeding finally slowed but Rosto didn't wake. Beka checked his pulse frequently, fearing that the bleeding would stop only when his heart gave out. His heart raced, shallow and uneven, like it could fail at any moment. She should call a healer. He had told her not to but surely there was someone that Rosto trusted to see him in this condition. She stood up, determined to get help, but Pounce appeared in the doorway.
I wouldn't do that, Beka.
"He needs help, I can't just sit here."
You'd leave him here alone and unconscious?
"Achoo will guard the room. You stay here, get Kora if anything changes."
As far as the rest of the court knows he's off giving merry chase to the Terrier and will probably spend the night in the cages. You alert a healer and the whole city knows he's too badly hurt to defend himself.
She sank back onto the bed as she realized that Pounce was right. "Jaga," she told Achoo who immediately went to the door. And she waited, holding the bandage tight as Rosto teetered in and out of consciousness.
The Dove pulsed with a manic sort of energy. This happened sometimes after a challenge when alcohol flowed freely and the fight injected adrenaline into the onlookers. Passions soared and minor skirmishes broke out over the most ridiculous of things. Aniki and Kora were visibly enjoying themselves dancing and drinking with the best of them. They knew that people would look to them to set the mood for the evening. If they looked worried it meant more than a bad party. It meant the next few days and weeks were going to be rough for Rosto. It was not honorable to challenge a Rogue in the aftermath of another challenge but it had happened before. Only the most desperate would try that route, simply because starting your career as a known coward shortened your life expectancy dramatically. But not all Rogues were killed by official challenges. Assassination attempts or intrigues like Flain's became more common when people thought fighting for an empty throne would be easier than fighting the Rogue himself.
So Aniki and Kora played their part and did their best to forget that Rosto might be fighting for his life at this very moment.
Finally the mania broke and people started to stumble back to their rooms or out into the night. Kora and Aniki left the dove through different exits making their way back to their old lodgings. When they arrived they saw a pool of blood on the floor against the wall of the entryway, which stood out brightly even in the dim light. It looked like Rosto had collapsed there against the wall. The boarding house was silent as they walked toward the cracked door of Rosto's room.
Rosto was unconscious on the bed, and Beka sat next to him, looking somewhat lost, his blood still covering her hands. Achoo growled as they entered hackles raised and teeth bared. Kora flinched away, not used to seeing this side of the friendly hound, but Beka had told her to guard the room, and she would do so regardless of who entered. "Kawan, Achoo." Beka mumbled and Achoo sat again tail wagging happily. Kora hurried to Rosto's side.
"I think it's slowed, but I didn't clean the shoulder yet. There was too much blood." Beka said not really looking at Kora, or anything else.
Kora nodded. "You were right not to risk it." Beka still didn't move. "Beka?" Kora called gently.
"Get up, Beka," Aniki ordered and Beka's eyes snapped back into focus as she stood. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."
They helped her wash the blood from her hands and arms then gathered the linens. Kora insisted that Beka and Aniki get a few hours of sleep while she waited up with Rosto. Beka returned to her room in a daze. Pulling out her braid she brushed her hair out of habit before sitting down on the bed. She stared at nothing for a few moments before it became obvious that even trying to sleep was a waste of time. She got up and returned to Rosto's room. Kora smiled knowingly at her, she hadn't really expected Beka to stay away for long. Kora stayed for about an hour before Beka sent her off to sleep instead. She and Aniki were going to need their wits about them to keep the Dove running smoothly.
Rosto was still pale, but Beka thought he didn't look quite as white as he had when they had first arrived at the boarding house. She placed a hand on his neck. His skin was cold and his pulse still raced, but was it steadier, less erratic than before? Maybe she was fooling herself. Her mind raced, images still flooding her eyes when she closed them. She saw the look on Rosto's face as the knife pierced his shoulder, watched him sway on the dais. She heard the cracking of the challenger's hand and watched Rosto leaning against the wall clutching his wound. And she watched him fall, again and again. Letting her head drop into her hands on the edge of the bed she felt tears threaten to come as the numbness shattered around her.
She felt a slight pressure as Rosto pushed her hair behind her ear. He was awake, had he seen? She hastily repaired her walls before looking up. "It looks nice this way," he murmured, his hand touching loosened hair.
"How do you feel?"
"I love you, how do you feel?" He said smirking.
Better apparently, Beka sighed. "I meant..."
"I know what you meant," He said.
"Do you need anything, can you drink some more?" Beka asked.
"Sure," Rosto replied distractedly.
He drank a little, and it did seem to help.
Without a word she laid down next to him, carefully avoiding the neat bandages. Rosto stayed very still, trying not to spook her. After she settled, he lowered his good arm around her then opened his mouth to speak.
"Not a word," she interrupted. So he said nothing.