Lorlai woke with a start, kicking at the covers, trying to get away from some unseen horror. Slowly, though, she realized that she was no longer dreaming. Then the pain hit. Lorlai clutched her shoulder, squinted her eyes shut, and lied back down in the bed. Once most of the pain disappeared, Lorlai began to think about what had happened in the forest. She remembered the mountain lion's attack, and then Basta rescuing her. She remembered the way he carried her out of the woods, whispering to her until they got to the village. Everything was fuzzy after that.
"Basta, she's awake." Lorlai heard a woman, most likely one of the other maids call out. Lorlai sat up, this time slowly, so as to avoid more pain. Basta came in and sat down beside her, but avoided her eyes.
"How are you feeling?" he asked emotionlessly. Lorlai shrugged, then cried out in pain. 'Okay, that was stupid. Note to self, do not shrug.' Basta looked up suddenly, worry in his eyes, but once he saw she was okay, he went back to his cool demeanor.
"Okay I suppose."
"That's good."
"Why do you ask?" Looking out the window on the other side of the room he answered,
"Capricorn wanted to know."
"Not very talkative, are you?" Lorlai asked sarcastically. Basta stood up.
"I only came to get a report for Capricorn on your condition. Not to talk." He then turned and made way for the door, but Lorlai called out to him.
"Why did you save me, Basta?" Without turning around, he replied,
"Because if I hadn't, Capricorn would've killed me." And with that, he walked out, slamming the door behind him.