Chapter 10

Two weeks later

Mary arranged for her to have a bath that morning and Carolyn asked for a mirror so that she could see her injuries all at once.

She had shooed everyone out of her chambers afterwards, assuring Mary that she could handle getting dressed in a simple bed gown. Mary had looked at her sadly for a moment before nodding her head and leaving Carolyn to herself.

Carolyn now knew why Mary had looked the way she had. Her body was a mess. While most of the bruising had died down to ugly shades of browns and greens and most of Lord Johns fingerprints had blended in with the rest, the cuts and gashes were still very red and puckered. She was actually impressed that Mary had been able to pull her through the fever that was surely caused by mass infection. A tiny sob escaped before she clamped her mouth shut, biting her lips. A jagged cut ran up the side of one leg from ankle to knee, the other covered in scratches but nothing that should leave any noticeable scars. On one arm, stitches from wrist to shoulder in three places where a set of talons had raked. On the other side, another set of stitches ran from just above her breast to over her shoulder. The worst injuries were to her waist where the creature had picked her up. She reached out to steady herself as she swayed for a moment. Her crowning glory was the scar that would run from temple to cheek. Touching her lips with her fingertips all she could think of was Williams' comments about how no one would want a scarred piece of garbage like her in their bed. Curling her hand into a fist, she slammed it into the mirror causing the fragile material to shatter which brought Mary and Agnes bursting through the door. "Get out!" She screamed at them, "Get out!"

"Aye, Lassie," Mary whispered backing out of the room that Agnes had already fled. Taking a deep breath, Mary made a beeline for Riddick.

Walking through the glass, heedless of her bare feet, Carolyn slipped her gown on, crawling into bed, leaving smears of blood on the sheets. She fell into a restless sleep until lunch when she was woke by knocking at her door, which she ignored.

No one bothered her the rest of the day, the keep eventually going silent for the night.

Riddick was in the stables when Mary came running in, wringing her hands, upset over the events of the morning. Riddick took her outside where no one else could hear their conversation. He had sent her on her way, telling her to report back to him at lunch and stood staring up at Carolyn's window. He knew exactly what had brought this on and the damaged that could be caused if nothing was done. He vowed to kill William Johns.

By supper time the situation hadn't changed, so Riddick sat in his chair surrounded by conversation as he planned out his next move. He made arraignments for a late dinner in his chambers and then instructed James to put the place to bed early tonight. It had been a long week and everyone could use the extra rest.

Looking at him with a puzzled expression, James had finally cocked his head. "Of course," he replied watching as Riddick took the stairs two at a time. Shaking his head he pulled Isolaude onto his lap as she walked by.

He was sitting at the desk in his chambers going over some paperwork and correspondence that he had put off since his return from the Senate when there was a knock at his door.

Opening it, he found one of the maids straining under the weight of a food laden tray. Taking the tray, he thanked her, sending her on her way. Setting the tray on his bed, he rummaged through a chest next to it, grabbing a clay pot.

Without knocking, he entered Carolyn's chambers placing the tray on a table near the fireplace. Placing the food on the table he glanced over his shoulder at her laying in the bed. "I imagine you're probably hungry since you missed both lunch and supper." When she didn't answer he tried again. "I know you're awake."

With a beleaguered sigh, Carolyn sat up and slid to the edge of the bed. "What do you want from me, Riddick?"

Walking over to stand in front of her he stared at her blood encrusted feet for a moment before holding out a hand.

"A little conversation over dinner?"

Carolyn studied his face before placing her hand in his. He didn't say anything as she winced her way over to the table, simply helped her into her chair.

"How did you know I haven't eaten today?"

"Mary said something about it in passing," he casually replied trying to put her at ease. "I was working late and thought it would be nice to share dinner with someone."

"Sir James wasn't available?"

Richard smirked. "No, James has found himself occupied in the evenings."

"Yes, Agnes has regaled me with tales of James and Isolaude."

Riddick simply chuckled as he poured them a drink. Taking a sip, Carolyn relaxed into her chair and began to eat.

Once they had finished, Riddick walked behind the clothing stand where he poured water into a basin. Grabbing cloths from the shelf below it, he set them in front of the padded bench that had not been moved. Scooping Carolyn up out of her chair he deposited her on the bench and proceeded to wash and bandage her feet. She seemed to know this was not the time to argue with him. He stood when he finished, simply looking down at her.

"Riddick?" She asked looking up at him, her brows knitted together in confusion.

Slowly reaching up, he pulled off his patch revealing his sightless eye. The eye had gone milky white; a scar running diagonal across the lid into his brow.

"Where you aware that James and I were professional Soldiers?" He asked as he threw the eyepatch on the bench beside her.

"No." Carolyn answered softly, watching the cloth as it came to rest beside her.

"Much to our parents' displeasure," he replied with a mirthless chuckle, "However, we were very, very good at it. I was only captured once," he said tapping the corner of his sightless eye before turning towards the fireplace.

Reaching down, he grabbed the hem of his shirt pulling it over his head, revealing not only the line of stitches from his rescue of her but also a multitude of other scars, ones that had not been tended to. "It was nighttime when I made my escape. I had no idea where I was and my sight was gone. I took refuge in a forest as I attempted to make my way to my men. The forest was the dividing line between us and the opposing force. No one bothered to tell us that it was very similar to our own Black Forest. The soldiers that found me barely alive the next morning dubbed me "The Dragon Slayer." They had supposedly found the bodies of no less than ten dragons beside me and I had nothing more than a knife."

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked.

Riddick hoped that his plan didn't backfire on him as he slowly turned to face her.

While she didn't gasp, the breath that she took when she saw his chest seemed incredibly loud in the quiet room.

Walking to the table he picked up the jar that he had brought from his room before moving to stand in front of her.

Without conscious thought Carolyn reached out to run her fingers over the scar. "How many stitches?"

"Sixty-four. And James is proud of every one of them."

"Are you?" Carolyn asked looking into his face, her hand still resting upon his stomach; cool against the warmth of his skin.

"I've never really thought of it that way. Do you think any less of me for them? Have they made me any less of a man because of their existence?' he asked of her.

"I haven't known you very long, but my opinion of you has not changed."

"I've found in the years that have passed, that it wasn't me that changed when I lost the use of my eye. It was other people's opinions and perceptions that had changed. When I drug myself out of my self-pity I realized that the people who truly cared about me had never changed how they treated me or acted around me. I was still Riddick. No more, no less.

He straddled the bench and patted the top, motioning her to swing her legs up between his. He opened the jar and held it out for her to smell.

He placed a calloused hand on her bare ankle and she sucked in a breath. "Do you trust me?"

Nodding, she blew out a breath and leaned back as he pushed her gown up to her knees and drew her legs one at a time over his thigh as he dipped his fingers into the jar and proceeded to massage the salve into her healing wounds.