Hi everyone! Sorry it took me soo long to get this chapter out. I had a
major case of writer's block! But now I should be back in business. I'm
glad all of you are enjoying the story, I'm trying to add some new and
interesting ideas into this one that I hope all of you will like. Please
feel free to read it as many times as you like and review as many times as
you like. Honestly, every review I get makes me want to write more and
more. So keep it coming! Hope all of you have fun reading this chapter!
Lady Hino
When she woke in the morning, her jaw felt stiff and her head pounded. She sat up slowly, her whole face feeling as though it had swollen to ten times its normal size. She tentatively raised a hand to her jaw and winced at the sharp pain that shot through her. In that instant, the entire night came flooding back; her fight to get Jed to lie still, the hit he delivered, and her fall against the wall. Then she remembered warming a brick and finally climbing naked into bed with him.
Oh!
She scrambled from the bed as quickly as she could, her feet tangling in the sheets and causing her to fall on her backside. She clumsily untwisted and unwound the sheets from her legs, stood and grabbed up the gray wool dress that hung on the back of the chair and clutched it to her breasts. "If Mina were to ever find out about this. . ." she whispered as she turned to look at her patient.
He reached out a hand as if to grab her, his fingers clutching at the empty bed beside him. His chest was exposed and shining beautifully with the morning sun. He was dreaming, Rei could see that from the way his smooth brow furrowed gently. In that instant, she wanted to reach out and smooth his golden hair away from his face and take all those fears he possessed away from him. Instead, she skillfully slipped back into the gray gown and buttoned the front as quickly as she could.
When she had finished, she sidled over to the bedside and laid gentle fingers on his brow. It was with a sigh of relief that she fully placed her palm on his cool brow. "Thank the Gods. . ." she whispered.
Suddenly, before she could pull away, she felt a harsh tug on her wrist and looked down in disbelief at the tanned hand gripping her. She let out a small gasp for so shocked was she at the speed this man possessed. She rose surprised eyes to meet those of icy blue then frowned.
"A lovely woman," he said with a rakish grin, "A lovely woman standing beside my bed, her gown hastily thrown on, the buttons askew. . .I wonder what she is doing here."
Rei felt heat flood her face and she tried desperately to tug away from his strong grasp. "If you will. . ." she said haughtily.
"Ah. . .a proud ruffled raven. Tell me, my dear, did you enjoy your night?" he asked. Rei noticed the dark light in his eyes and the grin that laughed at her. "Was my imagination deceiving me or do I not remember a night with such a beauty as you?"
Rei's eyes flared. How dare he? "I'm afraid, sir, that you must have gotten hit over the head harder than I originally thought," she said through clenched teeth. "No one would mistake a night of sickness for one of lust unless he was daft."
Jed raised a blonde brow at her and grinned with such charm, any normal young lady would swoon at his feet. Much to his disgust, the dark-haired girl in front of him merely raised her own brow in return. He snarled slightly and then recovered. He must not be thinking straight. Did he not please her the night before? "Forgive me, my lady," he said with a laugh, "I fear I did not do my duty by you last night. Were you perhaps not satisfied and this is why you look at me with such scorn? I am dreadfully repentant and shamed to the core for not caring tenderly for one as deliciously lovely as yourself."
Rei stifled a laugh and turned her back on the man to get some water from the side table. "You are most definitely daft and I should have left you to die on that beach."
Confusion crossed his features. Beach? "I apologize, but I do not comprehend. . ." he said softly.
She rolled her eyes and turned around to push a glass of water into his palm. "You do not remember even that? You remember how to use that wicked mouth of yours to pour ugly words from it, but you do not remember what passed only a few nights ago?"
Jed furrowed his brow and shifted through his memories. Unfortunately there was nothing there for him to sort through. He closed his eyes briefly and Rei noticed that he was clutching at the sheets he lay in. She saw his eyes fluttering beneath his lids, the rapid movement causing her to believe that he was reliving past moments but not remembering them. Her anger and annoyance began to drift away when she saw that smooth brow furrow again as he tried desperately to cling to one of the racing images in his mind. Though she knew she shouldn't have been using her powers, she wanted desperately to slip into his thoughts and see what he was seeing, she wanted to help him grasp onto a memory and store it into his injured brain.
Jed was swimming in a black pool of images. He could see them; he could almost reach out and touch them, yet he could not hold on to them. Even if he managed to graze the tips of the images, there was no way for him to cling to it long enough to remember it. He didn't know how he managed to be in this black pool. The last thing he could recall was staring at a lovely raven-haired goddess, teasing her about the bed he was currently lying in. But she had said something about a beach and an accident that stirred his thoughts.
Amidst the churning images that he could not see, he finally stumbled upon another smaller pool in which he could finally gaze into. He could see nothing but an expanse of water. He could smell the salty sea air in his nostrils and he breathed in heavily. As he stared at the glistening pool, stared at the smooth waters and smooth clouds, he could feel something niggling in the back of his mind. This was a memory. . .a fresh one that he was given permission to view unhindered.
There was a small wooden object floating in the waters below and he leaned closer to the black pool in order to better his vantage point. But as he leaned further toward the image, he felt himself falling and desperately he struck out a hand to grasp for any support that he could find. The falling stopped. When he opened his eyes he was clutching at a tall mast, the wood smooth beneath his fingers.
"Cap?" someone called out to him. "Are ye well, Cap'in?"
Jed turned in the direction of that voice and espied a shabby looking old man with a missing tooth. He was twining rope around his arms and wearing the brim of his hat up, it flapped in the wind. Jed didn't know who he was looking at, but the skinny old sailor seemed vaguely familiar to him, sadly he could not recall a name. "I'm sorry?" he asked.
"I asked if ye was feelin' a'right," the man said with a smile. "Ye ain't feelin' like ye's gonna lose yer meal, are ye?"
Of a sudden a memory came flooding back to him with so much force he was compelled to fall backward. He was captain of this ship. He looked about him and frowned. He was captain of this dilapidated ship? For some reason he felt as though he should have been captaining a large sleek vessel named The Raven, but that wasn't to be. He shook his head and tried to recall more beside the fact that he had been captaining this ship. . .somewhere. He didn't know where he was going. He wasn't sure if he were sailing to Spain or France, Britain or China. He only knew that he was captain and that was enough to give him hope. "Nay, I'm not ill," he replied softly.
"Then why is ye holdin' on ta dat mast as if yer life was in peril?"
Jed shook his head and walked away from the man. In that instant he knew only the sea and from what he saw to his left, there was a heavy storm approaching. "Man the sails!" he cried when he saw the roiling black clouds racing toward them. There was no way they would be able to steer clear of the clouds. They were going to be sucked into the midst of that dark tempest.
Within moments the wind was howling in their ears, the waves clawing at the aged wood of the ship and the cold air was seeping into their clothing. Rain began to slash down in torrents and was cutting into Jed's face, burning his skin with the knife-like sharpness. He could see his crew hurrying to and fro trying to take down the sails and bring in all the lose equipment. Jed's foggy mind began to weigh him down and he began to see nothing but violet eyes gazing down at him in concern, but he couldn't escape from the memory he had fallen into. As much as he knew it was just a recollection of the past, he was completely trapped.
Shaking his mind free of beautiful violet hued eyes winged with delicate raven brows; he ran toward the scrambling men and began climbing up one of the three masts to loosen the sail where it had been tangled around and around from the fierce winds.
"Watch out, cap'in!" someone called out beneath him. He ignored the fervent plea and continued trying to unwind the sail from the thick mast. He was gritting his teeth against the biting cold, blinking his eyes from the onslaught of rain and praying with all his might that he and his crew would survive, though he already knew the horrible truth.
Before he could fathom what was happening, he was tumbling down, his body racing toward the harsh sea. He could hear shouts and cries from the ship and knew that the sudden wave that struck the ship had not only hit him, but the rest of the men as well. He closed his eyes tightly as he fell and fell.
He hit the water hard, the icy waves lapping him up as if he were some sort of delectable treat that had been tossed to it for dessert. He was coughing and sputtering, water clogged his nose and filled his mouth. He was going to die.
Rei watched nervously. She had been staring at him continuously for the past few moments, her breathing shallow for fear that he would become lost in his thoughts. She had sadly witnessed a soldier a few years ago drown in his own mind. He had been so consumed by memories of his times at war that he could not be made to believe that he was now safe and secure on the moon. Instead, he had relived battles and old injuries so many times that he had finally succumbed to their deadly aims. She had been of the few senshi in the room allowed to tend to him for he was a cousin to the Princess Makoto. She had sat by his bed, her mind drifting in and out of his, her eyes tearing with the pain she knew he felt every time he reentered that world.
Now she watched helplessly as this stranger did the same. She looked at his bruised eyes and tried to discount the rapid movement she saw for it was the same as that of the soldier. She looked over his body, the bandages and the cuts, the scrapes and the purple discoloration that marred his tan skin. "Please," she pleaded quietly, "Don't let them consume you. . .that was the past. . .and this is the future." She closed her eyes briefly, tempted to quickly force her way into his active mind and try and extract him, but in the next instant he had shot up in the small bed, causing Rei to stumble back in shocked surprise.
She looked closely at him, her heart thumping in her chest. "Jed. . ." she whispered not wanting to startle him.
He was breathing hard, as if he had just run hundreds of miles with soldiers chasing mercilessly after him. He turned slowly to look at her, haunted eyes gleaming with pain. "The ship. . ." he said.
Rei's hopes rose. "Yes. . .the ship," she repeated.
"I remember being on the ship. . ."
"A memory! Your memory has returned itself?" she asked eagerly.
Jed painfully raised a hand to his brow and pressed his pounding head into the palm. He cringed as he recalled the storm, the slashing icicles that had slammed into his body. "Nay. . ." he said and Rei heard the dropping of his heart in that one word. "I. . .I can only recall being on a ship. . .a ship that I captained. . ."
Rei tried to suppress the brow she knew was beginning to rise in question. "You're a captain, then. . ." she said softly. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had hoped that this bruised and battered stranger would turn out to be a prince who had come to rescue her from this isolated island.
Jed shook his head and heaved an exhausted sigh. "There were many men on the ship. . .and I can't begin to think of any of their names. I can't recollect why I was even sailing in the first place. I can only see myself on that ship, trying hopelessly to save my men and myself."
She didn't know what to say to him. He was still as lost in his memories, as he had been a few moments before. "You are Captain Jed," she stated with a slight smile.
He shook his head again. "For some odd reason it does not seem accurate." He pressed the palm of his hand hard into his bruised eye and winced. "I cannot remember," he said angrily.
Rei sat on the edge of the mattress and tentatively reached out a hand to pat his bare shoulder. "All is well. . ." she said gently, "You need time to heal. Your body is broken, Jed, and you need to give it time to mend itself. With the mending, the memories will return."
The blonde head turned slowly to face her and through bruised and swollen eyes, deep blue orbs shone with pain and emptiness, such as Rei had never seen before. "I can only offer my gratitude to you, fair lady, for there is no one on this meager planet that I can imagine would ever take a strange captain into her home and tend to his wounds with such care as you have." He closed his pained eyes and leaned back his throbbing head into the comfort of the bed.
Rei felt tears filling her eyes but refused to let them fall as she went down the ladder and began to make breakfast.
Rei stood outside the small cottage with her mind focused on her home planet. She could not see the shining red planet in the day lit sky, but had only to close her eyes to remember the beauty of her homeland. The red sands and tall trees, the streams and brooks and smiling people; and yet the smiling people did not bring her joy, but merely sadness for the simple fact that she could remember and her patient could not.
It had been nearly a week since she had rescued the injured man with no past. She had spent two days by his bed after his fever had broken and after the dreadful viewing of him losing himself in the terrible memory of his ship's sinking before she had been hurriedly called to the cliff to care for her friend and fellow prisoner of the coastline. She had left Jed in the very capable hands of Rohan while she ran swiftly to the blonde beauty's home. Once there she had spent days nursing her sick friend back to health. She had contracted a slight head cold from the cool sea breezes and Rei silently scoffed at that fact. If not for the fact that Mina was so spoiled by warm suns and gossamer clothing, perhaps sickness would not fall so readily upon her slim shoulders.
"Are you still caring for that strange man?" Mina had asked when she finally was well enough to spend a few hours outside of the cottage for tea over looking the ocean.
Rei set her teacup on the rough table they had fashioned out of old logs and draped with a yellow cloth before answering. "His name is Jed. . .Captain Jed if his memory is correct."
Mina sipped delicately from her cup then tugged the gray woolen blanket closer to her. "His memory is in full force?" she asked hopefully. When she turned to look at her friend she noticed that Rei was pointedly staring out into the ocean.
"Nay. . .he has a difficult time with his memory. It is still a blur to him, a black void of endless images that he cannot reach," she whispered.
"He told you this?"
Rei turned away, a sheepish grin lifting the corners of her mouth. "I must admit. . .I had to find that bit of information for myself."
Mina shook her head slightly and again took a sip from her teacup. "If any of our friends or family were to find out about this, Rei. . ."
"I know too well what would happen, Mina, but I cannot let him out of my cottage knowing that he has no memory besides a sinking ship and his name. T'would get him no where in this foreign place we find ourselves in."
Mina bit her lip and set the cup and saucer on the table beside Rei's. "I pray you know what you are about," she said, "I am inclined to distrust the man."
"Merely because he is a man?" Rei asked with a spurt of anger.
"Nay. . .because of the threat against your life," she said before standing and making her way back into the cottage.
Rei sat outside for a few moments more, alone with her thoughts. She had completely forgotten about that small detail, the reason why she was on this island in the first place, because someone was trying to kill her.
Now, as she stood before her own cottage, she thought briefly about Mina's comment. She knew that she should be fearful for her life, seeing as how someone had tried to steal it from her, but she trusted this stranger with blonde hair. She didn't know why she trusted him so completely, but she did. There was a glimmer in his blue eyes that made her own grow alight and there was a quirk about his grin that made her smile. In the two days she had spent with him she had discovered a real fear for his survival. Despite the odd fact that his wounds healed with rapid speed while he slept, she feared that his loss of memory would be his ultimate downfall. How would he survive when he was physically healed if he was still searching for his own name?
"You are healing quite quickly," she remembered saying to him the day she had gotten her summons from Rohan. "I'm inclined to believe there is a touch of magic in your bones that causes your bruises to advance to green so early and your wounds to seal without putrefaction."
She had seen something flicker in those blue depths for a brief second, but as quickly as it had come it fled and he merely grinned at her. "I know not what causes me to heal so speedily. Perchance it has something to do with the beautiful nurse who tends me," he said softly.
Rei raised a dark brow at him and shook her head. "You are a shameless flirt, sir," she said as she tied the bandage around his leg. She suppressed the frown that was wont to furrow her brow when she thought of the rapidity of his healing. The ugly gash that had been there only days before was shrinking and already the crusting of blood was beginning to flake away, leaving a red line where she knew a puckered scar would remain. "Do you think you can eat more for me this day?" she asked.
Jed turned his head to the side briefly and looked out the small window. She knew what—or who—he searched for. The hawk that had fluttered through the window the first day of his arrival had not returned since departing that night. "Perhaps he is merely searching for his next meal," she tried.
Jed shook his head on the pillow. "When I think about him, I can only see the two of us in a field of clover. . .that is the only reason why I can remember him. . ."
Rei smiled gently, "It is progress, is it not?"
He sighed heavily and turned his head to the side. "I'm dreadfully weary," he said before falling into a healing sleep. And healing Rei knew it was for he has slept the majority of the last few days and his wounds looked as though they had been healing for over a week.
She heaved a sigh and strode up to the door of her cottage with that thought running through her mind. If he healed so quickly, what had happened to him in the several days she had been on the cliff? Had he remembered anything new? Was he becoming what he once was and remembering everything about his past that made him get on that ship and sail it to her coast? There were so many unanswered questions that she wanted to know the answers to. Why had he been the only one saved from the many men she knew was on that ship? What was in that trunk on the beach that she could not move? She had refrained from going back to the beach and trying to remove the wooden chest herself for fear of what would happen should she leave her patient alone in the loft. Now that she had time to think about what she was doing, she wondered if there was anything in that chest that could help to provoke Jed's memory into returning.
Bracing herself for the changes that she was sure had taken place since she had left; she opened the door to her cottage and looked about the bottom floor. Nothing had changed in the several days since her departure. The fireplace still had a fire crackling in the hearth only this time the pot that had been empty alongside it was sitting over the hot flames steaming. She could tell from the smell that it was only hot water boiling over the bright flames, but it was still enough to tell her that the two occupants had been progressive in making tea at least.
She walked slowly to the ladder that fell from the opening in the ceiling and glanced up. She heard deep hearty laughter drift down to her and for some reason that laughter made her smile and warmth flooded her body. She didn't know what it was about the laughter, but it seemed fresh and full of energy.
Biting her bottom lip, she reached up and began to climb the old ladder. She called out, "Is anyone here?" as she got to the top so that she wouldn't alarm the two men. What she saw when she was standing on the top rung was something she hadn't expected to see. She had wondered what would happen while she was away, but never did she expect to see what she was seeing now. "Jed?" she whispered.
The blonde man smiled at her and shakily pushed himself up in the bed to lean against the back wall. He was smiling, bright white teeth that were straight and perfect glinting in the afternoon sun. His chest was still bare, but seemed larger and stronger that she had remembered. His body looked well, but it was his face that stunned her. No longer did he have dark purple bruises swelling his eyes shut, he had healed completely and what was left for her to see took her breath away for he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen; a living god with golden hair that fell over his brow and a rakish grin. "Rei. . .it is good to see you," he said softly.
Rohan looked at the pair. Rei, with her dark and mysterious stare, would be a definitely beautiful companion to the lighthearted captain. Since she and Mina had arrived, he had wondered at these lovely creatures. They could rival any woman on earth as though they were some sort of mystical fairies from another land. "Sorry, Miss Jillian, but did dis bloke jus call ya Rei?" he asked with a frown.
Rei's mouth fell open and a blush began to creep across her cheeks. "Well. . ." she began.
"She reminds me of the sun," Jed said swiftly. "Rays of light cascading down from the brilliant orb shining in the sky; it is reminiscent of Jillian's loveliness. She lit up this dank loft with her presence."
Rei felt the full effect of a blush now.
Rohan nodded in serious agreement, his mouth set. "She is dat, cap'in," he said resolutely. "Well, now dat yer back, Miss Jillian, I best be goin' home to me missus."
"Yes, of course. . ." Rei replied softly. She didn't watch as Rohan gathered his meager belongings and made his way down the ladder with a bright smile. "Jed, you look—that is, you've changed. . .you've. . ."
"I've healed remarkably fast, have I not? I do not understand it myself. It's as if I sleep and heal all at once. The more I sleep, the more the bruises heal and the stronger I begin to feel," he said with a radiant smile. Rei had never seen a man who looked as this one had. He was beautiful beyond words, if she could call a man beautiful.
"You are stronger?" was the only thing she could manage to say.
Jed shrugged his broad shoulders slightly, "Well, I like to believe it. I haven't yet left this bed, I fear that wound on my thigh aches dreadfully whenever I try and move it. Not to mention my head pounds at the slightest turn. It feels as though the world has fallen on my skull and will cease to let me rise."
Rei licked her lips, a nervous gesture to indicate her unease. Jed inwardly smiled and mentally shook himself. He had never really seen her when he was within the throes of his fever. Of course he had managed to discover her beauty in an instant, but he had never looked at her as he was now. He saw not only a lovely girl but a tenderhearted angel who had rescued him from death's grasp. He was indebted to her and would do anything he could to help her on this shore. Perhaps if his head stopped aching excruciatingly and his memory returned he would be more of help for at this moment he could not think of one thing he knew how to do. "Perhaps you can help me to maneuver the leg. Rohan left a set of clothing for me to put on when I am able to walk."
"I will do just that, sir."
Jed cocked his head to the side, trying with difficulty to suppress the grimace that the motion caused, and smiled. "I would like to try and walk around the room today, if that suits you," he whispered.
Rei blinked and then returned his smile with one of her own. And a smile it was! Jed felt his innards quake with lust. Her smile brightened her face and made her even more astonishing than she had been but a moment before. He watched as she gathered the clothing that was draped over a chair and then smooth it out on the foot of the bed. "I shall help you to stand, granted you hold that sheet closely to your body, then I will leave the room while you change into your clothing," she said.
Jed nodded and took in a breath as he slowly began to swing his legs over the side of the bed, mindful of keeping the sheet firmly in place for her own state of mind. His eyes closed frequently as he tried to ignore the pounding at his temples, he did not want to distress the lovely creature. When she turned around he eagerly accepted the arm she tentatively placed around his back and braced lightly against her, his legs shaking from the effort. He had not stood in over a week and the feeling of standing sent his heart soaring. He was healing and almost completely well. Once he knew that he could walk down the shore, run through the forest and jump across logs, he would know that he could lend all his assistance to the beauty at his side. "Thank you," he said softly.
Rei smiled and began to take her arm away from him, but just as she did, his shaking legs collapsed and he began to fall forward. She didn't know what else to do besides grab him and haul him against her as best she could before he had time to embarrass himself and fall to the floor.
Too late for that, Jed felt like an utter fool for falling forward. His head hurt almost as much as pride and he could feel heat creeping up his collarbone. In that instant he did not want the angel's arms on him, he wanted merely to prove to her that he could walk without her help. Shaking off her arm unintentionally, he grasped onto the nightstand with one hand and held the sheet to his waist with the other. "I am well," he fairly snapped.
Rei ignored the outburst, "You are not. Perhaps your legs are too weak from not being used these past several days," she tried warmly.
"I said I am well," he said with teeth gritted.
"You are not. You are shaking."
"Leave me be!" he regretted snapping at her when he felt her tense beside him and watched her move from his side to stand before him with her arms crossed over her breasts.
"You stand yet topple, am I to conclude that that behavior is normal and I should allow you to roam around my cottage without assistance? What if you were to fall again?" she asked sharply.
She sounded like a displeased parent and Jed did not want to feel like a child in her presence. He didn't know where this streak of pride and arrogance came from, but he knew he would not tolerate a girl helping him walk! To diminish his status to that of a toddler was beyond anything he could accept. "If you would leave ere your virgin eyes become awash with images they should not, I will prove to you that I am capable of maneuvering on my own."
Rei looked down her elegant nose at him. He was much taller than she had thought. Because she had never seen him standing up, only lying in a bed or on the sands of the shore, she had never known how tall her really was. She felt dwarfed by him for he stood over a head taller than her. She noticed that she could just reach his shoulder with the top of her head when she had helped him to stand. Now, however, that muscular tall frame was wobbling where it stood as though it were an errant twig in a storm. "You do not seem capable," she said with a brow arched.
Jed felt that stab at his manly pride and tilted his head just as she had done so he could look down his nose at her. This was no angel who had nursed him to health. Certainly she had played at it, cajoling him through his fever, pressing cups of water to his lips and stroking the hair from his head, but this was no angel. More like a strong-willed nymph. "I shall prove to you that I do not need a child's help," he said loftily.
The lovely nymph's mouth dropped. "I am no child!" she said. "I am ten and nine, you dolt!"
"A child with a mouth," Jed replied.
"Cad."
"Wayward chit."
Rei groaned and spun on a dainty foot to make her way to the ladder. "I will not succumb to name calling," she said as she fairly flew down the ladder. "The miserable sod. I spend the many nights I was away worrying about him and I get nothing when I return but insults and taunts," she said as she slammed pots around in an effort to clean up what did not need cleaning. "I am a Princess! I do not need to take this behavior from a mere captain. How dare he treat me like some. . .naïve child!"
She glanced briefly toward the hearth and noticed the water that was still on, boiling. She turned to look up at the ladder that led to the loft and knew without a doubt in her mind that Jed would not be down anytime soon. With a smile in her eyes, she skipped over to the corner of the room where a tub stood pressed against the wall. She managed to pull the tub away, dragging it purposefully toward the center of the room so that it stood just in front of the fireplace. With a small flick of her wrist, she had the entire contents of the large boiling pot of water poured into the wooden tub. She knew she should not be using her magic, but that man upstairs vexed her to no end. She needed a hot bath to release the tension in her body and mind. She used two large pots of cool rain water to lower the temperature of the scalding water then took one more brief glance at the ladder.
"He's probably gone back to bed," she said. She fervently hoped that was the case as she grabbed a white linen cloth from a small wardrobe that contained all her extra blankets and clothing. She draped it across the back of a chair that stood close to the fire so that it would warm, just as her maid Grace did on Mars, then grabbed the jasmine scented soap that rested inside the same wardrobe.
Turning her back to the ladder, she stripped free of her garments, mentally giving a sigh of relief as the woolen gown fell to the grown. Though she was loath to admit to spoiled ness, she was becoming annoyed with the scratchy wool dresses she had to wear on a day-to-day basis. If she could only have one silk gown from home, she would be more than happy. If she could snuggle deep into the satin of her sheets, then she would sleep without waking in the midst of a cold night scratching her back from the itchiness of the cotton sheets away.
Daintily, she stepped into the hot water and sunk down into the bath with a languid sigh. She hadn't had many times to luxuriate in a hot bath, having to use a wash cloth and basin of water to do most of the work, so she took care in her bath. She soaped her hair twice and used the pot of water that had just been laid on the fire to rinse it out. She washed her body twice, scrubbing at her limbs to take away all the dust and dirt that was wont to float around in the very air she breathed. After finishing with her bathing, she leaned her head back against the rim of the tub and closed her eyes in bliss. The last time she had been able to linger in her bath and bask in the warmth around her seemed like an eternity ago when she was on the Moon and trying to scour away the grim she felt had permanently attached itself to her body after being ogled by some old and weathered man that no one had known or invited.
Rei sighed heavily and turned to drape an arm gracefully over the rim of the tub and rested her chin on top of her hand, which lay along the rim. She stared deeply into the flames that danced wildly in the fireplace and tried to search through them for her answer. Instead, she began searching through her own mind, the strange attempts on her life, the assassin who had climbed into her room. If she hadn't been in the garden arguing with Serenity about some strange Earthling that the fair-haired princess wanted to marry, she may have gotten injured. She would not have died; she knew that for her fate was not to die. She was thankful that Mina had strayed to her room in search of her and discovered the dark shadow looming over the bed in search of the princess. If she has not then he would have gotten away without punishment. As it was, he escaped, but not without knowing the full sting of Mina's wrath.
She closed her eyes briefly, trying to recall exactly what she had done in her life to cause someone to come after her with a knife in hand. Had she tread on someone's foot? Did she kill someone's spouse? None of it made sense for she could not recall making any of those mistakes. She could not even think of a possibility of death, let alone murder.
A loud thud came from the loft upstairs and Rei opened her eyes wide with surprise. She had almost forgotten the stranger who lived above. She glanced quickly toward the ladder and when she saw a foot descend from the opening, she fairly jumped from the water and grabbed the linen cloth that had been warming by the fire. She wrapped it around her body and held it tightly between her breasts as she watched a body then a head come through the opening. She sent an angry glower in the direction of the blonde head and almost faltered when he turned to her with a wide grin. "I did it!" he exclaimed like an excited boy who had climbed atop his first horse. "I stuck my weak legs into these breeches, I grimaced as I pulled the shirt over my head, and I nearly fell on myself as I came down this ladder, but I did it!"
Rei continued to glare at him, but there was a smile threatening her through her anger. She was strangely proud of him for not giving up and trying to heal himself. "You intruded on my bath, sir," she said. As soon as the words slipped from her mouth she regretted them, for instead of the excited enthusiasm she had viewed when he first came down that ladder, the irises had turned a dark blue and the innocent, little boy face had turned into one of a man, and a potentially dangerous one at that.
He stared at her, his eyes fairly burning the makeshift towel off her body. "My apologies," he managed to choke out. She was even lovelier than he had first thought. Water dripped down her shoulder and his eyes followed it unabashedly. "I was not aware. . ." he said softly.
Rei bit her lip, turned her face to the side and Jed was granted the chance to view her lovely profile. Her cheeks were becoming flushed with color and her eyes were closed in embarrassment. "If you wouldn't mind," she said quietly.
Jed nodded hurriedly and turned his back to her so that she could change into her gown. His memory was still fresh with the vision of loveliness he had just witnessed. He could almost feel his hand slipping over her shoulder, taking the path that the errant droplet of water had taken. He could almost smell the jasmine fragrance of her as he leaned closer to kiss her brow. He could hear the nervous beat of her heart as he smoothed a hand over her hair and down to the small of her back.
"All right, you may turn around," she said gently.
Jed was jolted from his daydream and turned just as abruptly. "I did not mean to intrude," he said with that smooth baritone voice that sent chills through Rei's spine. "I merely wanted to test out my strength and prove to you that I was healing."
"I can see that you are healing very well, sir," she responded.
Jed momentarily forgot his discomfort and smiled. "I did not believe that I would make it down that ladder. My legs were shaking like twigs on a stormy day."
Rei flipped a wet strand of hair out of her face and smoothed a hand over the gray wool gown she had donned quickly. "You are healing miraculously fast, sir. Are you hungry?"
Jed looked up toward the ladder and then back at the beauty before he smiled a smile so genuine and lovely that Rei had to bite her tongue. That was probably the smile he used to grab all women's attention, not just her own. "I'm famished, my lady," he said.
Rei smiled tentatively and moved toward the cabinet she used as a prep station and prepared a handful of fresh vegetables to throw into the stew pot.
Jed moved awkwardly around the small room, his healing leg limping as he went. He went to stare unblinking through one of the windows that overlooked the ocean. He gazed at the waves and closed his eyes against the sudden rocking of his brain. He could feel the sea swaying from side to side, could hear seagulls crashing into the water as they pulled further and further from land. He was venturing out in the ship, the broken and battered ship that was not his own. He was leaving the dock, looking out to sea just as he was now only he couldn't grasp what he was leaving or why. He couldn't make himself turn around to look at the land that he was traveling from. He couldn't fathom why he was leaving or where he was leaving from.
He opened his eyes and sighed heavily. What was that invisible hand that kept him from turning around and viewing everything his mind refused to show him? Why could he not venture away from the sea and onto dry land? He pressed a finger to his temple and then turned back to look out toward the sea. He saw something flying toward him; a bird with agile wings and dark brown feathers descending on the cottage like a bolt of energy racing toward its target. He paused at that. . .where had that image come from? A bolt of energy?
But as quickly as it had come, it disappeared for the bird was flapping against the glass, it's claws scrapping against the wooden frame. "Eos?" he whispered.
Rei had come running toward him. "Pesky birds that have no sense in their meager brains!" she shouted trying to shoo the crazed bird away.
"Nay, 'tis all right," Jed said gently. "It is my hawk."
Rei turned to look at him and raised one of her elegant brows. "Your bird?" she asked, a knife still clutched in her hand.
"Hawk, lady, hawk. And he wants to come inside," Jed said as he limped slowly toward the door. As soon as he was able to push the barrier open, the hawk soared through the portal, an elegant and majestic beast that slowly descended onto the back of a chair. He screeched loudly and flapped his wings impatiently. "Do you perhaps have innards of a rabbit that you do not care for?" he asked.
Rei huffed and moved toward the cabinet to grab up the plate of scraps she had cleaned from a small rabbit. "Here you are," she said softly as she placed the plate on the seat of the chair. She was momentarily softened when the hawk seemed to bow its head in thanks before it swooped on the food.
Jed made his way awkwardly toward the hawk and bent his head to look at the small piece of parchment that was tied to his leg. "He has a note tied to his leg," he said.
Rei walked behind Jed and leaned over to see the paper tied to the bird. "A note for you," Rei stated.
"Why can it not be for yourself?"
Rei rolled her eyes and pointed toward the hawk, "Why would I be getting messages from a hawk that I do not even know?"
Jed grinned slightly before reaching over to untie the small message.
J – Wherever you are, I hope you are in good health. Eos flew at me like a bat out of hell with his eyes wide with fright. I can only assume that something has become of you. I pray that you are well for Eos would not return to you unless you were alive. I am traveling out with my men to find you and return you home. I know that Eos will not linger much longer and will fly away as soon as I tie this message to him, therefore my men and I will have to track you down the old-fashioned way. I have not seen you in many months and thus my worry for you is paramount. Please keep yourself healthy, my friend, I shall find you as soon as I can. – E
Jed read over the letter with a confused frown etched onto his brow. "E. . .," he read over again.
"Who is 'E'?" Rei asked curiously. She turned thoughtful eyes toward the blonde man and cocked her head to the side.
He merely shook his head and pressed an empty palm to his eye. "I do not know," he said and Rei heard the frustration that laced his words. "I cannot remember. I cannot even recall what 'E' stands for."
Rei reached out a hand and gently touched his wrist. "It is all right," she whispered. She looked at the message that he clutched in his right hand and sighed. She vowed then and there to help the broken mind that stood beside her if it meant she had to stay on Earth longer that she needed. She would return his mind to him and send him home, with this mysterious 'E', hale and hearty. She would not let him give up.
When she woke in the morning, her jaw felt stiff and her head pounded. She sat up slowly, her whole face feeling as though it had swollen to ten times its normal size. She tentatively raised a hand to her jaw and winced at the sharp pain that shot through her. In that instant, the entire night came flooding back; her fight to get Jed to lie still, the hit he delivered, and her fall against the wall. Then she remembered warming a brick and finally climbing naked into bed with him.
Oh!
She scrambled from the bed as quickly as she could, her feet tangling in the sheets and causing her to fall on her backside. She clumsily untwisted and unwound the sheets from her legs, stood and grabbed up the gray wool dress that hung on the back of the chair and clutched it to her breasts. "If Mina were to ever find out about this. . ." she whispered as she turned to look at her patient.
He reached out a hand as if to grab her, his fingers clutching at the empty bed beside him. His chest was exposed and shining beautifully with the morning sun. He was dreaming, Rei could see that from the way his smooth brow furrowed gently. In that instant, she wanted to reach out and smooth his golden hair away from his face and take all those fears he possessed away from him. Instead, she skillfully slipped back into the gray gown and buttoned the front as quickly as she could.
When she had finished, she sidled over to the bedside and laid gentle fingers on his brow. It was with a sigh of relief that she fully placed her palm on his cool brow. "Thank the Gods. . ." she whispered.
Suddenly, before she could pull away, she felt a harsh tug on her wrist and looked down in disbelief at the tanned hand gripping her. She let out a small gasp for so shocked was she at the speed this man possessed. She rose surprised eyes to meet those of icy blue then frowned.
"A lovely woman," he said with a rakish grin, "A lovely woman standing beside my bed, her gown hastily thrown on, the buttons askew. . .I wonder what she is doing here."
Rei felt heat flood her face and she tried desperately to tug away from his strong grasp. "If you will. . ." she said haughtily.
"Ah. . .a proud ruffled raven. Tell me, my dear, did you enjoy your night?" he asked. Rei noticed the dark light in his eyes and the grin that laughed at her. "Was my imagination deceiving me or do I not remember a night with such a beauty as you?"
Rei's eyes flared. How dare he? "I'm afraid, sir, that you must have gotten hit over the head harder than I originally thought," she said through clenched teeth. "No one would mistake a night of sickness for one of lust unless he was daft."
Jed raised a blonde brow at her and grinned with such charm, any normal young lady would swoon at his feet. Much to his disgust, the dark-haired girl in front of him merely raised her own brow in return. He snarled slightly and then recovered. He must not be thinking straight. Did he not please her the night before? "Forgive me, my lady," he said with a laugh, "I fear I did not do my duty by you last night. Were you perhaps not satisfied and this is why you look at me with such scorn? I am dreadfully repentant and shamed to the core for not caring tenderly for one as deliciously lovely as yourself."
Rei stifled a laugh and turned her back on the man to get some water from the side table. "You are most definitely daft and I should have left you to die on that beach."
Confusion crossed his features. Beach? "I apologize, but I do not comprehend. . ." he said softly.
She rolled her eyes and turned around to push a glass of water into his palm. "You do not remember even that? You remember how to use that wicked mouth of yours to pour ugly words from it, but you do not remember what passed only a few nights ago?"
Jed furrowed his brow and shifted through his memories. Unfortunately there was nothing there for him to sort through. He closed his eyes briefly and Rei noticed that he was clutching at the sheets he lay in. She saw his eyes fluttering beneath his lids, the rapid movement causing her to believe that he was reliving past moments but not remembering them. Her anger and annoyance began to drift away when she saw that smooth brow furrow again as he tried desperately to cling to one of the racing images in his mind. Though she knew she shouldn't have been using her powers, she wanted desperately to slip into his thoughts and see what he was seeing, she wanted to help him grasp onto a memory and store it into his injured brain.
Jed was swimming in a black pool of images. He could see them; he could almost reach out and touch them, yet he could not hold on to them. Even if he managed to graze the tips of the images, there was no way for him to cling to it long enough to remember it. He didn't know how he managed to be in this black pool. The last thing he could recall was staring at a lovely raven-haired goddess, teasing her about the bed he was currently lying in. But she had said something about a beach and an accident that stirred his thoughts.
Amidst the churning images that he could not see, he finally stumbled upon another smaller pool in which he could finally gaze into. He could see nothing but an expanse of water. He could smell the salty sea air in his nostrils and he breathed in heavily. As he stared at the glistening pool, stared at the smooth waters and smooth clouds, he could feel something niggling in the back of his mind. This was a memory. . .a fresh one that he was given permission to view unhindered.
There was a small wooden object floating in the waters below and he leaned closer to the black pool in order to better his vantage point. But as he leaned further toward the image, he felt himself falling and desperately he struck out a hand to grasp for any support that he could find. The falling stopped. When he opened his eyes he was clutching at a tall mast, the wood smooth beneath his fingers.
"Cap?" someone called out to him. "Are ye well, Cap'in?"
Jed turned in the direction of that voice and espied a shabby looking old man with a missing tooth. He was twining rope around his arms and wearing the brim of his hat up, it flapped in the wind. Jed didn't know who he was looking at, but the skinny old sailor seemed vaguely familiar to him, sadly he could not recall a name. "I'm sorry?" he asked.
"I asked if ye was feelin' a'right," the man said with a smile. "Ye ain't feelin' like ye's gonna lose yer meal, are ye?"
Of a sudden a memory came flooding back to him with so much force he was compelled to fall backward. He was captain of this ship. He looked about him and frowned. He was captain of this dilapidated ship? For some reason he felt as though he should have been captaining a large sleek vessel named The Raven, but that wasn't to be. He shook his head and tried to recall more beside the fact that he had been captaining this ship. . .somewhere. He didn't know where he was going. He wasn't sure if he were sailing to Spain or France, Britain or China. He only knew that he was captain and that was enough to give him hope. "Nay, I'm not ill," he replied softly.
"Then why is ye holdin' on ta dat mast as if yer life was in peril?"
Jed shook his head and walked away from the man. In that instant he knew only the sea and from what he saw to his left, there was a heavy storm approaching. "Man the sails!" he cried when he saw the roiling black clouds racing toward them. There was no way they would be able to steer clear of the clouds. They were going to be sucked into the midst of that dark tempest.
Within moments the wind was howling in their ears, the waves clawing at the aged wood of the ship and the cold air was seeping into their clothing. Rain began to slash down in torrents and was cutting into Jed's face, burning his skin with the knife-like sharpness. He could see his crew hurrying to and fro trying to take down the sails and bring in all the lose equipment. Jed's foggy mind began to weigh him down and he began to see nothing but violet eyes gazing down at him in concern, but he couldn't escape from the memory he had fallen into. As much as he knew it was just a recollection of the past, he was completely trapped.
Shaking his mind free of beautiful violet hued eyes winged with delicate raven brows; he ran toward the scrambling men and began climbing up one of the three masts to loosen the sail where it had been tangled around and around from the fierce winds.
"Watch out, cap'in!" someone called out beneath him. He ignored the fervent plea and continued trying to unwind the sail from the thick mast. He was gritting his teeth against the biting cold, blinking his eyes from the onslaught of rain and praying with all his might that he and his crew would survive, though he already knew the horrible truth.
Before he could fathom what was happening, he was tumbling down, his body racing toward the harsh sea. He could hear shouts and cries from the ship and knew that the sudden wave that struck the ship had not only hit him, but the rest of the men as well. He closed his eyes tightly as he fell and fell.
He hit the water hard, the icy waves lapping him up as if he were some sort of delectable treat that had been tossed to it for dessert. He was coughing and sputtering, water clogged his nose and filled his mouth. He was going to die.
Rei watched nervously. She had been staring at him continuously for the past few moments, her breathing shallow for fear that he would become lost in his thoughts. She had sadly witnessed a soldier a few years ago drown in his own mind. He had been so consumed by memories of his times at war that he could not be made to believe that he was now safe and secure on the moon. Instead, he had relived battles and old injuries so many times that he had finally succumbed to their deadly aims. She had been of the few senshi in the room allowed to tend to him for he was a cousin to the Princess Makoto. She had sat by his bed, her mind drifting in and out of his, her eyes tearing with the pain she knew he felt every time he reentered that world.
Now she watched helplessly as this stranger did the same. She looked at his bruised eyes and tried to discount the rapid movement she saw for it was the same as that of the soldier. She looked over his body, the bandages and the cuts, the scrapes and the purple discoloration that marred his tan skin. "Please," she pleaded quietly, "Don't let them consume you. . .that was the past. . .and this is the future." She closed her eyes briefly, tempted to quickly force her way into his active mind and try and extract him, but in the next instant he had shot up in the small bed, causing Rei to stumble back in shocked surprise.
She looked closely at him, her heart thumping in her chest. "Jed. . ." she whispered not wanting to startle him.
He was breathing hard, as if he had just run hundreds of miles with soldiers chasing mercilessly after him. He turned slowly to look at her, haunted eyes gleaming with pain. "The ship. . ." he said.
Rei's hopes rose. "Yes. . .the ship," she repeated.
"I remember being on the ship. . ."
"A memory! Your memory has returned itself?" she asked eagerly.
Jed painfully raised a hand to his brow and pressed his pounding head into the palm. He cringed as he recalled the storm, the slashing icicles that had slammed into his body. "Nay. . ." he said and Rei heard the dropping of his heart in that one word. "I. . .I can only recall being on a ship. . .a ship that I captained. . ."
Rei tried to suppress the brow she knew was beginning to rise in question. "You're a captain, then. . ." she said softly. Somewhere in the back of her mind she had hoped that this bruised and battered stranger would turn out to be a prince who had come to rescue her from this isolated island.
Jed shook his head and heaved an exhausted sigh. "There were many men on the ship. . .and I can't begin to think of any of their names. I can't recollect why I was even sailing in the first place. I can only see myself on that ship, trying hopelessly to save my men and myself."
She didn't know what to say to him. He was still as lost in his memories, as he had been a few moments before. "You are Captain Jed," she stated with a slight smile.
He shook his head again. "For some odd reason it does not seem accurate." He pressed the palm of his hand hard into his bruised eye and winced. "I cannot remember," he said angrily.
Rei sat on the edge of the mattress and tentatively reached out a hand to pat his bare shoulder. "All is well. . ." she said gently, "You need time to heal. Your body is broken, Jed, and you need to give it time to mend itself. With the mending, the memories will return."
The blonde head turned slowly to face her and through bruised and swollen eyes, deep blue orbs shone with pain and emptiness, such as Rei had never seen before. "I can only offer my gratitude to you, fair lady, for there is no one on this meager planet that I can imagine would ever take a strange captain into her home and tend to his wounds with such care as you have." He closed his pained eyes and leaned back his throbbing head into the comfort of the bed.
Rei felt tears filling her eyes but refused to let them fall as she went down the ladder and began to make breakfast.
Rei stood outside the small cottage with her mind focused on her home planet. She could not see the shining red planet in the day lit sky, but had only to close her eyes to remember the beauty of her homeland. The red sands and tall trees, the streams and brooks and smiling people; and yet the smiling people did not bring her joy, but merely sadness for the simple fact that she could remember and her patient could not.
It had been nearly a week since she had rescued the injured man with no past. She had spent two days by his bed after his fever had broken and after the dreadful viewing of him losing himself in the terrible memory of his ship's sinking before she had been hurriedly called to the cliff to care for her friend and fellow prisoner of the coastline. She had left Jed in the very capable hands of Rohan while she ran swiftly to the blonde beauty's home. Once there she had spent days nursing her sick friend back to health. She had contracted a slight head cold from the cool sea breezes and Rei silently scoffed at that fact. If not for the fact that Mina was so spoiled by warm suns and gossamer clothing, perhaps sickness would not fall so readily upon her slim shoulders.
"Are you still caring for that strange man?" Mina had asked when she finally was well enough to spend a few hours outside of the cottage for tea over looking the ocean.
Rei set her teacup on the rough table they had fashioned out of old logs and draped with a yellow cloth before answering. "His name is Jed. . .Captain Jed if his memory is correct."
Mina sipped delicately from her cup then tugged the gray woolen blanket closer to her. "His memory is in full force?" she asked hopefully. When she turned to look at her friend she noticed that Rei was pointedly staring out into the ocean.
"Nay. . .he has a difficult time with his memory. It is still a blur to him, a black void of endless images that he cannot reach," she whispered.
"He told you this?"
Rei turned away, a sheepish grin lifting the corners of her mouth. "I must admit. . .I had to find that bit of information for myself."
Mina shook her head slightly and again took a sip from her teacup. "If any of our friends or family were to find out about this, Rei. . ."
"I know too well what would happen, Mina, but I cannot let him out of my cottage knowing that he has no memory besides a sinking ship and his name. T'would get him no where in this foreign place we find ourselves in."
Mina bit her lip and set the cup and saucer on the table beside Rei's. "I pray you know what you are about," she said, "I am inclined to distrust the man."
"Merely because he is a man?" Rei asked with a spurt of anger.
"Nay. . .because of the threat against your life," she said before standing and making her way back into the cottage.
Rei sat outside for a few moments more, alone with her thoughts. She had completely forgotten about that small detail, the reason why she was on this island in the first place, because someone was trying to kill her.
Now, as she stood before her own cottage, she thought briefly about Mina's comment. She knew that she should be fearful for her life, seeing as how someone had tried to steal it from her, but she trusted this stranger with blonde hair. She didn't know why she trusted him so completely, but she did. There was a glimmer in his blue eyes that made her own grow alight and there was a quirk about his grin that made her smile. In the two days she had spent with him she had discovered a real fear for his survival. Despite the odd fact that his wounds healed with rapid speed while he slept, she feared that his loss of memory would be his ultimate downfall. How would he survive when he was physically healed if he was still searching for his own name?
"You are healing quite quickly," she remembered saying to him the day she had gotten her summons from Rohan. "I'm inclined to believe there is a touch of magic in your bones that causes your bruises to advance to green so early and your wounds to seal without putrefaction."
She had seen something flicker in those blue depths for a brief second, but as quickly as it had come it fled and he merely grinned at her. "I know not what causes me to heal so speedily. Perchance it has something to do with the beautiful nurse who tends me," he said softly.
Rei raised a dark brow at him and shook her head. "You are a shameless flirt, sir," she said as she tied the bandage around his leg. She suppressed the frown that was wont to furrow her brow when she thought of the rapidity of his healing. The ugly gash that had been there only days before was shrinking and already the crusting of blood was beginning to flake away, leaving a red line where she knew a puckered scar would remain. "Do you think you can eat more for me this day?" she asked.
Jed turned his head to the side briefly and looked out the small window. She knew what—or who—he searched for. The hawk that had fluttered through the window the first day of his arrival had not returned since departing that night. "Perhaps he is merely searching for his next meal," she tried.
Jed shook his head on the pillow. "When I think about him, I can only see the two of us in a field of clover. . .that is the only reason why I can remember him. . ."
Rei smiled gently, "It is progress, is it not?"
He sighed heavily and turned his head to the side. "I'm dreadfully weary," he said before falling into a healing sleep. And healing Rei knew it was for he has slept the majority of the last few days and his wounds looked as though they had been healing for over a week.
She heaved a sigh and strode up to the door of her cottage with that thought running through her mind. If he healed so quickly, what had happened to him in the several days she had been on the cliff? Had he remembered anything new? Was he becoming what he once was and remembering everything about his past that made him get on that ship and sail it to her coast? There were so many unanswered questions that she wanted to know the answers to. Why had he been the only one saved from the many men she knew was on that ship? What was in that trunk on the beach that she could not move? She had refrained from going back to the beach and trying to remove the wooden chest herself for fear of what would happen should she leave her patient alone in the loft. Now that she had time to think about what she was doing, she wondered if there was anything in that chest that could help to provoke Jed's memory into returning.
Bracing herself for the changes that she was sure had taken place since she had left; she opened the door to her cottage and looked about the bottom floor. Nothing had changed in the several days since her departure. The fireplace still had a fire crackling in the hearth only this time the pot that had been empty alongside it was sitting over the hot flames steaming. She could tell from the smell that it was only hot water boiling over the bright flames, but it was still enough to tell her that the two occupants had been progressive in making tea at least.
She walked slowly to the ladder that fell from the opening in the ceiling and glanced up. She heard deep hearty laughter drift down to her and for some reason that laughter made her smile and warmth flooded her body. She didn't know what it was about the laughter, but it seemed fresh and full of energy.
Biting her bottom lip, she reached up and began to climb the old ladder. She called out, "Is anyone here?" as she got to the top so that she wouldn't alarm the two men. What she saw when she was standing on the top rung was something she hadn't expected to see. She had wondered what would happen while she was away, but never did she expect to see what she was seeing now. "Jed?" she whispered.
The blonde man smiled at her and shakily pushed himself up in the bed to lean against the back wall. He was smiling, bright white teeth that were straight and perfect glinting in the afternoon sun. His chest was still bare, but seemed larger and stronger that she had remembered. His body looked well, but it was his face that stunned her. No longer did he have dark purple bruises swelling his eyes shut, he had healed completely and what was left for her to see took her breath away for he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen; a living god with golden hair that fell over his brow and a rakish grin. "Rei. . .it is good to see you," he said softly.
Rohan looked at the pair. Rei, with her dark and mysterious stare, would be a definitely beautiful companion to the lighthearted captain. Since she and Mina had arrived, he had wondered at these lovely creatures. They could rival any woman on earth as though they were some sort of mystical fairies from another land. "Sorry, Miss Jillian, but did dis bloke jus call ya Rei?" he asked with a frown.
Rei's mouth fell open and a blush began to creep across her cheeks. "Well. . ." she began.
"She reminds me of the sun," Jed said swiftly. "Rays of light cascading down from the brilliant orb shining in the sky; it is reminiscent of Jillian's loveliness. She lit up this dank loft with her presence."
Rei felt the full effect of a blush now.
Rohan nodded in serious agreement, his mouth set. "She is dat, cap'in," he said resolutely. "Well, now dat yer back, Miss Jillian, I best be goin' home to me missus."
"Yes, of course. . ." Rei replied softly. She didn't watch as Rohan gathered his meager belongings and made his way down the ladder with a bright smile. "Jed, you look—that is, you've changed. . .you've. . ."
"I've healed remarkably fast, have I not? I do not understand it myself. It's as if I sleep and heal all at once. The more I sleep, the more the bruises heal and the stronger I begin to feel," he said with a radiant smile. Rei had never seen a man who looked as this one had. He was beautiful beyond words, if she could call a man beautiful.
"You are stronger?" was the only thing she could manage to say.
Jed shrugged his broad shoulders slightly, "Well, I like to believe it. I haven't yet left this bed, I fear that wound on my thigh aches dreadfully whenever I try and move it. Not to mention my head pounds at the slightest turn. It feels as though the world has fallen on my skull and will cease to let me rise."
Rei licked her lips, a nervous gesture to indicate her unease. Jed inwardly smiled and mentally shook himself. He had never really seen her when he was within the throes of his fever. Of course he had managed to discover her beauty in an instant, but he had never looked at her as he was now. He saw not only a lovely girl but a tenderhearted angel who had rescued him from death's grasp. He was indebted to her and would do anything he could to help her on this shore. Perhaps if his head stopped aching excruciatingly and his memory returned he would be more of help for at this moment he could not think of one thing he knew how to do. "Perhaps you can help me to maneuver the leg. Rohan left a set of clothing for me to put on when I am able to walk."
"I will do just that, sir."
Jed cocked his head to the side, trying with difficulty to suppress the grimace that the motion caused, and smiled. "I would like to try and walk around the room today, if that suits you," he whispered.
Rei blinked and then returned his smile with one of her own. And a smile it was! Jed felt his innards quake with lust. Her smile brightened her face and made her even more astonishing than she had been but a moment before. He watched as she gathered the clothing that was draped over a chair and then smooth it out on the foot of the bed. "I shall help you to stand, granted you hold that sheet closely to your body, then I will leave the room while you change into your clothing," she said.
Jed nodded and took in a breath as he slowly began to swing his legs over the side of the bed, mindful of keeping the sheet firmly in place for her own state of mind. His eyes closed frequently as he tried to ignore the pounding at his temples, he did not want to distress the lovely creature. When she turned around he eagerly accepted the arm she tentatively placed around his back and braced lightly against her, his legs shaking from the effort. He had not stood in over a week and the feeling of standing sent his heart soaring. He was healing and almost completely well. Once he knew that he could walk down the shore, run through the forest and jump across logs, he would know that he could lend all his assistance to the beauty at his side. "Thank you," he said softly.
Rei smiled and began to take her arm away from him, but just as she did, his shaking legs collapsed and he began to fall forward. She didn't know what else to do besides grab him and haul him against her as best she could before he had time to embarrass himself and fall to the floor.
Too late for that, Jed felt like an utter fool for falling forward. His head hurt almost as much as pride and he could feel heat creeping up his collarbone. In that instant he did not want the angel's arms on him, he wanted merely to prove to her that he could walk without her help. Shaking off her arm unintentionally, he grasped onto the nightstand with one hand and held the sheet to his waist with the other. "I am well," he fairly snapped.
Rei ignored the outburst, "You are not. Perhaps your legs are too weak from not being used these past several days," she tried warmly.
"I said I am well," he said with teeth gritted.
"You are not. You are shaking."
"Leave me be!" he regretted snapping at her when he felt her tense beside him and watched her move from his side to stand before him with her arms crossed over her breasts.
"You stand yet topple, am I to conclude that that behavior is normal and I should allow you to roam around my cottage without assistance? What if you were to fall again?" she asked sharply.
She sounded like a displeased parent and Jed did not want to feel like a child in her presence. He didn't know where this streak of pride and arrogance came from, but he knew he would not tolerate a girl helping him walk! To diminish his status to that of a toddler was beyond anything he could accept. "If you would leave ere your virgin eyes become awash with images they should not, I will prove to you that I am capable of maneuvering on my own."
Rei looked down her elegant nose at him. He was much taller than she had thought. Because she had never seen him standing up, only lying in a bed or on the sands of the shore, she had never known how tall her really was. She felt dwarfed by him for he stood over a head taller than her. She noticed that she could just reach his shoulder with the top of her head when she had helped him to stand. Now, however, that muscular tall frame was wobbling where it stood as though it were an errant twig in a storm. "You do not seem capable," she said with a brow arched.
Jed felt that stab at his manly pride and tilted his head just as she had done so he could look down his nose at her. This was no angel who had nursed him to health. Certainly she had played at it, cajoling him through his fever, pressing cups of water to his lips and stroking the hair from his head, but this was no angel. More like a strong-willed nymph. "I shall prove to you that I do not need a child's help," he said loftily.
The lovely nymph's mouth dropped. "I am no child!" she said. "I am ten and nine, you dolt!"
"A child with a mouth," Jed replied.
"Cad."
"Wayward chit."
Rei groaned and spun on a dainty foot to make her way to the ladder. "I will not succumb to name calling," she said as she fairly flew down the ladder. "The miserable sod. I spend the many nights I was away worrying about him and I get nothing when I return but insults and taunts," she said as she slammed pots around in an effort to clean up what did not need cleaning. "I am a Princess! I do not need to take this behavior from a mere captain. How dare he treat me like some. . .naïve child!"
She glanced briefly toward the hearth and noticed the water that was still on, boiling. She turned to look up at the ladder that led to the loft and knew without a doubt in her mind that Jed would not be down anytime soon. With a smile in her eyes, she skipped over to the corner of the room where a tub stood pressed against the wall. She managed to pull the tub away, dragging it purposefully toward the center of the room so that it stood just in front of the fireplace. With a small flick of her wrist, she had the entire contents of the large boiling pot of water poured into the wooden tub. She knew she should not be using her magic, but that man upstairs vexed her to no end. She needed a hot bath to release the tension in her body and mind. She used two large pots of cool rain water to lower the temperature of the scalding water then took one more brief glance at the ladder.
"He's probably gone back to bed," she said. She fervently hoped that was the case as she grabbed a white linen cloth from a small wardrobe that contained all her extra blankets and clothing. She draped it across the back of a chair that stood close to the fire so that it would warm, just as her maid Grace did on Mars, then grabbed the jasmine scented soap that rested inside the same wardrobe.
Turning her back to the ladder, she stripped free of her garments, mentally giving a sigh of relief as the woolen gown fell to the grown. Though she was loath to admit to spoiled ness, she was becoming annoyed with the scratchy wool dresses she had to wear on a day-to-day basis. If she could only have one silk gown from home, she would be more than happy. If she could snuggle deep into the satin of her sheets, then she would sleep without waking in the midst of a cold night scratching her back from the itchiness of the cotton sheets away.
Daintily, she stepped into the hot water and sunk down into the bath with a languid sigh. She hadn't had many times to luxuriate in a hot bath, having to use a wash cloth and basin of water to do most of the work, so she took care in her bath. She soaped her hair twice and used the pot of water that had just been laid on the fire to rinse it out. She washed her body twice, scrubbing at her limbs to take away all the dust and dirt that was wont to float around in the very air she breathed. After finishing with her bathing, she leaned her head back against the rim of the tub and closed her eyes in bliss. The last time she had been able to linger in her bath and bask in the warmth around her seemed like an eternity ago when she was on the Moon and trying to scour away the grim she felt had permanently attached itself to her body after being ogled by some old and weathered man that no one had known or invited.
Rei sighed heavily and turned to drape an arm gracefully over the rim of the tub and rested her chin on top of her hand, which lay along the rim. She stared deeply into the flames that danced wildly in the fireplace and tried to search through them for her answer. Instead, she began searching through her own mind, the strange attempts on her life, the assassin who had climbed into her room. If she hadn't been in the garden arguing with Serenity about some strange Earthling that the fair-haired princess wanted to marry, she may have gotten injured. She would not have died; she knew that for her fate was not to die. She was thankful that Mina had strayed to her room in search of her and discovered the dark shadow looming over the bed in search of the princess. If she has not then he would have gotten away without punishment. As it was, he escaped, but not without knowing the full sting of Mina's wrath.
She closed her eyes briefly, trying to recall exactly what she had done in her life to cause someone to come after her with a knife in hand. Had she tread on someone's foot? Did she kill someone's spouse? None of it made sense for she could not recall making any of those mistakes. She could not even think of a possibility of death, let alone murder.
A loud thud came from the loft upstairs and Rei opened her eyes wide with surprise. She had almost forgotten the stranger who lived above. She glanced quickly toward the ladder and when she saw a foot descend from the opening, she fairly jumped from the water and grabbed the linen cloth that had been warming by the fire. She wrapped it around her body and held it tightly between her breasts as she watched a body then a head come through the opening. She sent an angry glower in the direction of the blonde head and almost faltered when he turned to her with a wide grin. "I did it!" he exclaimed like an excited boy who had climbed atop his first horse. "I stuck my weak legs into these breeches, I grimaced as I pulled the shirt over my head, and I nearly fell on myself as I came down this ladder, but I did it!"
Rei continued to glare at him, but there was a smile threatening her through her anger. She was strangely proud of him for not giving up and trying to heal himself. "You intruded on my bath, sir," she said. As soon as the words slipped from her mouth she regretted them, for instead of the excited enthusiasm she had viewed when he first came down that ladder, the irises had turned a dark blue and the innocent, little boy face had turned into one of a man, and a potentially dangerous one at that.
He stared at her, his eyes fairly burning the makeshift towel off her body. "My apologies," he managed to choke out. She was even lovelier than he had first thought. Water dripped down her shoulder and his eyes followed it unabashedly. "I was not aware. . ." he said softly.
Rei bit her lip, turned her face to the side and Jed was granted the chance to view her lovely profile. Her cheeks were becoming flushed with color and her eyes were closed in embarrassment. "If you wouldn't mind," she said quietly.
Jed nodded hurriedly and turned his back to her so that she could change into her gown. His memory was still fresh with the vision of loveliness he had just witnessed. He could almost feel his hand slipping over her shoulder, taking the path that the errant droplet of water had taken. He could almost smell the jasmine fragrance of her as he leaned closer to kiss her brow. He could hear the nervous beat of her heart as he smoothed a hand over her hair and down to the small of her back.
"All right, you may turn around," she said gently.
Jed was jolted from his daydream and turned just as abruptly. "I did not mean to intrude," he said with that smooth baritone voice that sent chills through Rei's spine. "I merely wanted to test out my strength and prove to you that I was healing."
"I can see that you are healing very well, sir," she responded.
Jed momentarily forgot his discomfort and smiled. "I did not believe that I would make it down that ladder. My legs were shaking like twigs on a stormy day."
Rei flipped a wet strand of hair out of her face and smoothed a hand over the gray wool gown she had donned quickly. "You are healing miraculously fast, sir. Are you hungry?"
Jed looked up toward the ladder and then back at the beauty before he smiled a smile so genuine and lovely that Rei had to bite her tongue. That was probably the smile he used to grab all women's attention, not just her own. "I'm famished, my lady," he said.
Rei smiled tentatively and moved toward the cabinet she used as a prep station and prepared a handful of fresh vegetables to throw into the stew pot.
Jed moved awkwardly around the small room, his healing leg limping as he went. He went to stare unblinking through one of the windows that overlooked the ocean. He gazed at the waves and closed his eyes against the sudden rocking of his brain. He could feel the sea swaying from side to side, could hear seagulls crashing into the water as they pulled further and further from land. He was venturing out in the ship, the broken and battered ship that was not his own. He was leaving the dock, looking out to sea just as he was now only he couldn't grasp what he was leaving or why. He couldn't make himself turn around to look at the land that he was traveling from. He couldn't fathom why he was leaving or where he was leaving from.
He opened his eyes and sighed heavily. What was that invisible hand that kept him from turning around and viewing everything his mind refused to show him? Why could he not venture away from the sea and onto dry land? He pressed a finger to his temple and then turned back to look out toward the sea. He saw something flying toward him; a bird with agile wings and dark brown feathers descending on the cottage like a bolt of energy racing toward its target. He paused at that. . .where had that image come from? A bolt of energy?
But as quickly as it had come, it disappeared for the bird was flapping against the glass, it's claws scrapping against the wooden frame. "Eos?" he whispered.
Rei had come running toward him. "Pesky birds that have no sense in their meager brains!" she shouted trying to shoo the crazed bird away.
"Nay, 'tis all right," Jed said gently. "It is my hawk."
Rei turned to look at him and raised one of her elegant brows. "Your bird?" she asked, a knife still clutched in her hand.
"Hawk, lady, hawk. And he wants to come inside," Jed said as he limped slowly toward the door. As soon as he was able to push the barrier open, the hawk soared through the portal, an elegant and majestic beast that slowly descended onto the back of a chair. He screeched loudly and flapped his wings impatiently. "Do you perhaps have innards of a rabbit that you do not care for?" he asked.
Rei huffed and moved toward the cabinet to grab up the plate of scraps she had cleaned from a small rabbit. "Here you are," she said softly as she placed the plate on the seat of the chair. She was momentarily softened when the hawk seemed to bow its head in thanks before it swooped on the food.
Jed made his way awkwardly toward the hawk and bent his head to look at the small piece of parchment that was tied to his leg. "He has a note tied to his leg," he said.
Rei walked behind Jed and leaned over to see the paper tied to the bird. "A note for you," Rei stated.
"Why can it not be for yourself?"
Rei rolled her eyes and pointed toward the hawk, "Why would I be getting messages from a hawk that I do not even know?"
Jed grinned slightly before reaching over to untie the small message.
J – Wherever you are, I hope you are in good health. Eos flew at me like a bat out of hell with his eyes wide with fright. I can only assume that something has become of you. I pray that you are well for Eos would not return to you unless you were alive. I am traveling out with my men to find you and return you home. I know that Eos will not linger much longer and will fly away as soon as I tie this message to him, therefore my men and I will have to track you down the old-fashioned way. I have not seen you in many months and thus my worry for you is paramount. Please keep yourself healthy, my friend, I shall find you as soon as I can. – E
Jed read over the letter with a confused frown etched onto his brow. "E. . .," he read over again.
"Who is 'E'?" Rei asked curiously. She turned thoughtful eyes toward the blonde man and cocked her head to the side.
He merely shook his head and pressed an empty palm to his eye. "I do not know," he said and Rei heard the frustration that laced his words. "I cannot remember. I cannot even recall what 'E' stands for."
Rei reached out a hand and gently touched his wrist. "It is all right," she whispered. She looked at the message that he clutched in his right hand and sighed. She vowed then and there to help the broken mind that stood beside her if it meant she had to stay on Earth longer that she needed. She would return his mind to him and send him home, with this mysterious 'E', hale and hearty. She would not let him give up.