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"Warriors should suffer their pain silently"

-Herumor, Lord and Krigsherre of Harad

Chapter 13

Upon looking at his side, it became abundantly clear what the problem was and how the wound had originated...

(Jakira POV) "His stitches have ripped open," I called to Fariza. Nearly all of them, I thought in disbelief as I stared at his side which was split open as before, weeping blood and crossed with jagged lengths of silk, all torn. My stitching job was clearly ruined. It looked distressingly painful but he had yet to let out a whimper.

"Original wound," she fired back at me, seeing no need to ask useless questions such as what stitches or how. That was one of the many things that I liked about Fariza.

"Warg claws, shoulder to hip, deep, relatively recent," I rattled off the important information as the Rikajir are taught.

"Did you use any herbs to prevent it from becoming infected and to cleanse any filth that would be on those claws," she asked. "I cleaned it but I have no herbs or salve and precious little water," I replied.

Fariza tossed me the medicine bag and a water skin, signalling that it would be my duty to treat him and keep him alive. Fariza knew the training that was given to all Rikajir members but I had learned under my friend and thus knew more.

I was no healer for I carried no love for the art within my heart. But my hands brought peace and my friend had told me once that was a rare gift I could choose to do with what I willed. I rarely used it for it drained me and I always preferred fighting. Healing was for women and weak hearted men, my father had always said. I wanted nothing to do with anything weak. But now, I needed to heal.

I ripped up the remainder of Glorfindel's tunic to use for bandages before wetting it and pressing it firmly to his side. I reached for the medicine bag, rifled around until I had found the jar I was looking for, and then smeared some ointment onto the bandages as well. The ointment was made from a foreign plant that would, hopefully, help lessen the blood flow. It was expensive but this was a Rikajir medicine pouch and they could easily pay for thousands of expensive medicines (though, this being Fariza's, I suspected that it had been stolen, not bought. She enjoyed practising such skills for the thrill of it).

As I let his side soak and the blood slow, I mixed the salve that would hopefully cleanse the wound and prevent it from becoming infected because of the filth on the wargs' claws. I could already see that it was beginning to grow red around the edges which was the first sign of infection and a bad sign when alone in the desert and having precious little to prevent it. Thank the Valar I had the Rikajir pouch.

After Fariza had passed the knife through the fire to clean it, I picked out the last of what remained of the stitches, ignoring his shallow breaths. His face was tight and sweat rolled down it, glistening in the firelight. Though no cry of pain had made its way past his lips I could tell it was taking him almost inhuman effort to keep this so.

Taking from the bag a thin needle, I threaded it with silk and, carefully, began stitching. I concentrated hard on the wound and on easing his pain while silently vowing not to let him become injured again and trying not to focus on what exactly his side currently resembled and how I was sewing it, pulling the needle and length of silk through his skin.

These last few days had given me an excellent reminder on why I was not a healer and how much I disliked being forced to be one. If he managed to injure himself again, I was going to refuse to heal him, I thought, though I did not really mean it.

At the first bite of the needle applied to reddened, sensitive skin, Glorfindel had breathed in deeply and now he let it out, the air trickling through his lips. He let pass not a whimper, nor a moan, nor a single gasp of pain. This was an elf at his most resolute and he was clearly not going to show any weakness. Instead, in a remarkable display of mental fortitude, he forced his features to relax and even managed to smile.

"What are we having for supper," he asked Fariza calmly, as if I wasn't stitching up his side, and he hadn't lost a dangerous amount of blood and he wouldn't be unconscious if he didn't have an incredibly high pain tolerance and equally strong will.

He smiled as I worked; not wincing and only the way his muscles were trembling gave away the fact that he was feeling any pain. Had you glanced merely at his features, you would have thought he was perfectly relaxed, holding a normal conversation. But I was still stitching.

"We will be killing than eating the fool of an elf who insists on being stubborn and not acknowledging the pain in his clearly burning and extremely painful side," said Fariza as scathingly as she currently could- but I could see the admiration she held for his pain threshold.

"How unfortunate for said elf," he replied, now even managing to summon amusement to his eyes. "But, if it does not overtly inconvenience you, I must beg for another supper. I do not wish to become a cannibal".

Were he not injured, I would hit him. For some reason, his flippancy and refusal to admit to the severity of his injury was infuriating me, particularly because I had been so-. Wait, I had been so what? Not worried, certainly. I couldn't have been worried about the health of a possible threat to my country, could I? But I had given him his sword back which showed I trusted him… But why had I done that when he was still possibly a threat to Harad?

The needle jabbed into him and I decided to think about these confusing thoughts later, when I wasn't stitching up his side. For now, I needed to concentrate on healing him so that I didn't have to dispose of a dead elf. That wouldn't help anyone, or anything.

A few moments later (as I was tying the 27th stitch) he said seriously and somewhat darkly, "I have experienced worse at the hands of my enemies".

Respect burned in Fariza's gaze but she said only, "that does not diminish the current pain".

"No, it certainly does not," he agreed. But his tone was almost cheerful and his expression showed no pain, there was still a smile playing on his lips for goodness sake! I held back a growl as I pushed the needle through his skin again.

"What other pain have you experienced," Fariza inquired casually. I understood the logic in distracting him from what was currently occurring but how on earth she could think that discussing past pain was a good change of subject escaped me. She could be rather tactless at times.

Glorfindel's quiet voice cut through the silence, his tone blank as if he was reciting a memorized list and not past experiences that must have touched him, changed him.

"I have nearly frozen to death on shifting ice where the bite of the air was akin to the stabbing of knives. I have been scorched by fell fire that does not belong on this earth and have tumbled far from atop great heights. I have felt darkness so deep and bleak that it causes physical pain. I have been tortured and whipped by enemies as they tried without success to break me. I have shattered or broken many bones, as has any warrior, and I have been pierced by arrows and sliced by swords, poisoned by foes and crushed by stones. Trust me, young one, when I say I am no stranger to pain".

I desperately wanted to protest the young one which I suspected was for me as much as Fariza but something in his voice convinced me not to. I was abruptly glad I hadn't seen his eyes as he spoke for I knew with sudden certainty that they would have been haunted by the memories of the pain which he described- and that was merely some of the physical pain he had suffered. I did not want to know what mental anguish he had been forced to endure over the long years he had spent on this earth.

Fariza looked like she wanted to question him about what he had said. She looked utterly fascinated by what she had heard but I did not want to hear any more so I said pointedly, "we will need supper". She stood and reluctantly went out to catch something.

Here's the next chapter, hope you all enjoyed. I was absolutely blown away by the responses to my story that I have received in the last few days. The reviews that came tumbling in were absolutely amazing and they brought a huge smile to my face, cheering me up on a day that, before then, had been going terribly. I am so, so grateful for al the reviews I have received which is why I worked as fast as I could to get this newest chapter out quickly. Thank you all so much much for your praise, encouragement, suggestions and ideas for improvement. Toraach and blackunicorne, thank you so much for your numerous reviews! Hearing from you again, blackunicorne, was great and Toraach, your advice, suggestions and commentary were invaluable. Thank you all so much for this, I truly cannot express how grateful I am! I hope you all enjoyed this. Please review this chapter if you get a chance. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed or favourited, your support is outstanding. Have a wonderful day,

Sam