Chapter Twenty-Two – Medicines Shouldn't Taste Nice
When Alennia next woke, it was early morning. A pale daylight crept in through the window above her bed, sending a shaft of light across the room. Alennia stirred, cursing softly as she discovered aches and bruises she had forgotten about, and pulled herself up into something resembling a sitting position.
Tristran was asleep in a chair beside her bed, his usually fierce face relaxing slightly in sleep. As if he was aware of being watched, he blinked sleepily, smiling at Alennia when he realised she was awake.
"Good morning sleepy," Alennia greeted him teasingly.
Tristran smiled hazily at her, shaking his head slightly as he pulled himself up from where he had slid down the chair.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
Alennia shrugged, and then immediately regretted the action. "As if that damn mare of yours has trampled me…Have you still got her?"
"Bretena? Yes. I'd never give up that mare. What about that old nag you had?"
"Died of exhaustion within a few weeks," Alennia admitted sheepishly.
"You need a good Sarmatian horse," Tristran told her. "Not one of those ponies that pass for horses here."
"Maybe," Alennia admitted grudgingly.
At that moment there was a soft tap at the door and Dagonet entered. He smiled down at Alennia when he saw she was awake, and came to sit in the empty chair beside her.
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked.
"I'll live," Alennia said offhandedly.
Dagonet grinned. "An improvement then. Did you sleep well?"
Alennia shook her head. "Every time I moved I discovered a fresh bruise," she admitted.
Dagonet nodded. "I'll make you a drink that will help you sleep for tonight," he said, inspecting the various cuts and bruises on her body. "You'll be up and about within four, maybe five days."
"Five days!" Alennia said in horror. "I can't stay here that long!"
"And why not?"
"I have never stayed in bed for five days after some pathetic battle. I don't see why I should start now."
"Obviously being more likely to die and live for three days isn't a justifiable excuse," Dagonet commented to Tristran, and Alennia shot dark looks at both men.
"I can't!" she protested.
"You will," Tristran told her in a voice that gave no room for arguments.
Alennia pretended to pout, but soon gave up when she saw the expression on Tristran's face, and instead laughed, another bad idea, she realised, when every bone in her body hurt like hell.
"Time is the best healer," Dagonet told her gently. "So I will give you some things to make you sleep through most of it. Your body needs time to recover without you getting in the way."
He set a cup down beside her bed, and mixed a few herbs into the water. Alennia bent forwards, sniffing it warily, and then swore fiercely when she smelt it.
"You expect me to drink that?" she exclaimed angrily. "It smells foul!"
"Medicines shouldn't taste nice," Dagonet told her in an infuriatingly level tone. "It would encourage the patients to stay ill."
Alennia swore at him again, and then turned to look at Tristran, who was watching with a faintly amused expression on his face.
"Well?" she demanded of him.
"I wasn't going to say anything!" he objected.
Alennia narrowed her eyes and scowled at him, before turning back to Dagonet.
"Do I have to drink it?" she asked in a wheedling tone, changing tack rapidly as she realised defiance wasn't going to work.
"Yes," Dagonet told her bluntly. "You'll sleep for a day, maybe a bit more."
"I've done nothing but sleep these last two days!" Alennia complained.
"Five days, actually," Tristran told her. "You slept for four days straight from when we found you until when you woke."
Alennia paled slightly, realising that she was three days behind, but recovered her shock and swung back to Dagonet. "So you see, I've slept plenty!"
"I am not going to argue with you every minute that you are in bed. Drink it, and when you wake, I'll let you get up," he said, finally giving in.
"Alright," Alennia immediately agreed, picking the cup up. She sniffed at it suspiciously once more. "Are you sure it's safe?"
The expression on Dagonet's face spoke volumes.
"Alright! Alright!" And Alennia tipped it back into her mouth. She swallowed it, grimacing and then sputtered and cursed a bit for effect. But she almost immediately felt the drink set to work, and laid back on her pillows, trying to swear at Dagonet for making her drink such a foul brew, but then the world began to get fuzzier and fuzzier, and eventually she disappeared into a world of blissful oblivion.
Dagonet looked across at Tristran and raised his eyebrows slightly.
"I wish you luck with her. She'll fight you to the very end."
Tristran shrugged, "Perhaps." He looked at Dagonet, and then narrowed his eyes. "You were going to let her get up in a day from the beginning."
Dagonet grinned slightly.
"You old dog!" Tristran exclaimed.
Dagonet laughed out loud as he pulled the blankets up over the oblivious form of Alennia. "You have to admit, it was amusing," he grinned sideways at Tristran, who was shaking his head in amazement.
A/N - Well guys, here you go. Sorry it's going a bit slow at the moment – there won't be much action until Alennia is mobile again, but that won't be too long!