Thank you for reviewing the story, Nicholai Jones, it makes me feel happy! So now, we will continue the king's ill fated journey. Enjoy!

The first thing he noticed was the pain. His head throbbed, and his chest burned. He tried to open his eyes, but the light in the room sent lightning bolts of pain through his head everytime he opened them, so he settled for laying with his eyes closed. A few minutes later, a door opened and someone walked softly across the floor. It was a woman, she spoke softly in a language he didn't understand. "Il ne pourrait pas même se réveiller, une blessure de tête comme cela devrait être assez pour le tuer."

He slowly cracked open one eye, but shut it immediately, as it was still too bright. He heard a sigh, then the world got considerably darker from beneath his eyelids, and when he opened his eyes again, he could keep them that way. As he looked around the room, his eyes landed on a young woman, about twenty five. Her hair was dirty blonde, and her eyes were a pale green-blue. She was pretty, he thought. Then, she noticed him looking at her, and came to the side of the bed. "Comment vous sentez-vous?"

He stared at her for a moment, then replyed "What?"

Recognizing the language, she asked again in Araluen, "How do you feel?"

Now that understood, he replyed weakly, "Painful. My head hurts." At that, she nodded and started making a drink, putting in various herbs and oils. A few minutes later, she handed him a cup and said, "Drink this, it will help the pain." After that, she pulled out more herbs and started grinding them into a fine paste. When that was done, she came over to him and started to cut away the bandages from his chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Tending to you wounds. You were attacked about five days ago, remember?"

He frowned at that, thinking hard, then replyed "No, I don't."

She looked at him for a moment, then said, "That's all right, you will eventually. But for now, can you tell me your name?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it, realizing he didn't know his name. He thought hard for a moment or two, then looked up at her, a little worried. "I can't remember that either." He frowned, trying to remember something, anything. When his mind came up blank, he looked up again and said, "I can't remember a thing."

The woman said, "That's all right. You do have a pretty bad head wound. You should start remembering soon enough. But for now, just focus on resting and healing. Now, if you could try to sit up for me, I need to re-bandage your chest." He slowly sat up, expecting to fall back, but found he could sit up all right. After his chest was wrapped, she laid him back against a mound of pillows so he was partially upright. She then started to unwrap his head, which had stopped throbbing. In fact, he couldn't really feel anything on his head.

"What did you give me?" he inquired, slightly worried.

"Its to numb your skin. Without it, cleaning your wounds would be a more painful experience." She smiled at him, saying "Don't worry, it will wear off in an hour or so."

After that, he simply laid there, letting her clean and bind his head, then his neck, and finally his arm. Before she left the room, she said, "My name is Lacey, by the way. I will be back in about two hours with some food for you. Stay in bed and try to get some sleep."

He nodded to himself, suddenly very drowsy. Sleep sounded good. About ten minutes later, he was asleep.

Downstairs, Lacey was talking with the innkeeper's wife, who was really the one in charge of the building. Her husband had his name on the deed, but like most men of the world, ultimately answered to his wife. "I'm surprised, I didn't expect him to wake up for at least another week, if he woke at all."

"Well, that must be a good sign. How is he?"

"He can't remember a thing, which is only to be expected. That blow to the head was a bad one, it nearly broke his skull." Gathering up dishes left behind from customers, she said, "Thank you again for letting me keep him here."

To that, she replyed "It's my pleasure. It's my way of thinking you. Not only do you help our village greatly with your care, but you also attract many customers setting up in here." Moving to take the dishes from her hands, she added, "You don't have to clean up, dear. I can take care of that."

But Lacey kept on cleaning, saying "It's really no bother. I feel it's the least I can do, seeing as you let me stay here for free. I actually find it enjoyable, though that might be a different story if I had to do it for a living."

"Allright, but how long will you be staying? Surely it will be for awhile, that man is in no condition to travel."

"Depends on how long it takes for him to heal. It should be for at least another two or three weeks."

Claire nodded, and said "Might as well send the news to the next towns on your list, they will be disapointed if you don't. Not many healers will provide their services for free."

Lacey nodded her agreement. "Yes, that is certainly true. I was thinking the same thing. What about young Aubrey? She's always wanted to travel."

Claire frowned, saying "Don't you think she's a little young? She's only sixteen, after all."

"Oh, loosen up." Lacey said, "I didn't mean alone. Do you honestly think I'd propose sending your daughter alone for her first time? I thought she could go with Louis. They seem to get along fine."

"Yes, they certainly do." Claire smiled, saying "I'm just a little protective. She's my only daughter, you know. The youngest of five, all older brothers. I do like Louis, he's a fine young man."

"Then it's settled. They can leave in a few days, tomorrow it might rain, and we want it nice and sunny for her first time seeing the country side."

Allright, let me know what you think.