Branded Mage (15 page)

Thad was at a loss of what to say. What had first been a ruse to still her anger had turned into something completely different. Was he supposed to respond to her? He wasn’t sure
what his feelings were, but he knew he enjoyed her company more than he did many others.

Before he could decide on a course of action
, the soldier who he had asked for food returned with a bowl of some type of soup. At his entrance Eloen jumped away from him, her face back to its normal ruff exterior.

“I’ll take care of that.” Eloen said
, gently taking the soup from the soldier who gave him a sly wink. Eloen noticing the gesture raised her eyebrow. The soldier quickly vacated the tent with a smirk still decorating his face.

“
Schooch,” Eloen said, flicking her hand at him.

Trying his best to obey her command her slid his body slightly
, giving her enough room on the bed to sit down. There were chairs in the room, and he wasn’t sure why she didn’t sit in one of those. Surely, it had to be more comfortable than trying to squeeze awkwardly onto his bed.

When she started trying to feed
him, he tried to protest but soon gave up as it didn’t look like she would back down from the task. It was both weird and oddly nice to have someone feed him in such a manner, but it was also highly embarrassing. Thad was just glad none of the others were there to see it.

His belly full
, he grew tired and had to fight to keep his eyes open, but it was a losing battle. In his dreams he found himself in a large open, richly decorated room. The princess was there, but she looked much older and had filled out well. Next to the princess was Monique who looked as radiant and happy as she had been when he had last seen her. Eloen was there as well, but she stood apart from the other two. Instead of her normal battle leathers, she wore a gown that shimmered like an emerald.

“Dear
, would you like to take a walk with me?” Maria said her, voice much more mature sounding then he remembered.

“Thaddeus won’t you come to di
nner with me?” Monique said, her voice sultry and inviting.

“Wouldn’t you rather spend some time with me
, lover boy?” Eloen said, as she walked over and ran her fingers around his ear.

Thad was at a loss of what to do. They were all three his friends and he enjoyed each of their company
, but he couldn’t decide one over the others. Monique was one of his first real friends and had even given him his name. The princess had kept his secret and given him much needed companionship when he was alone in the capital. Eloen, well it was hard to define what made her special to him, but something about her set his heart racing.

“Well?” A
ll three ladies said in unison.

“I don’t know.” Thad
said, his voice meek and unassuming.

“Of course you do. You are my property and you will go with me.” Maria said
as the softness in her voice replaced with the queens normal stony demeanor.

“No
, he will come with me. We are already family. Come on Thaddeus, let’s go back to Rane where we can live like merchant kings.” Monique said as she pushed the princess back.

“No the little mage is mine. Isn’t that right Thad?” Eloen said grabbing his face hard
in both hands and kissing him.

“Let him go.” Monique said fiercely and
was quickly echoed by Maria, “You harlot.”

“This isn’t our first kiss, and my little lover here quite enjoys entertaining me.
Don’t you sweetling?” Eloen said, laughing at the other two ladies.

“Um…….. Well I…….. It wasn’t……” Thad tried to think of anything to say
, but it was as if someone had sewn his tongue to the roof of his mouth.  Great, even in his dreams he was an idiot when dealing with women.

Maria and Monique both rushed Eloen. Thad was thrown to the ground as the three women rolled on the ground fighting. At first it was Maria and Monique against Eloen but it soon turned into a three way fight. It was a tangled mess with biting
, hair pulling, and punches. It looked as if Eloen was fairing the best, but that didn’t surprise Thad. She had the most training in hand to hand combat.

Thad tried to break them up and soon got caught up in the melee. At first he continued to try and break them apart as they hit at him and each other
, but soon it changed. All three began biting and kicking only him. Thad tried to use magic to put up a shield, but his magic would not heed his command and without it he was soon beat bloody.

As he lay on the ground in immense pain
, the three ladies stood over him with looks of contempt and hate in their eyes. Thad tried to stand, but every time he made an attempt one of the girls would kick him again, sending him crashing back to the ground.

“What
, you think you’re too good for any of us?” Maria said, her voice dripping venom.

“You are supposed to be my family. I gave you my name. How could you do this to me?” Monique asked with a tear streaked face.

“I told you I loved you, I kissed you and you kissed me back. Now you think you can toss me aside for someone else? Were you just playing with me?” Eloen said, now holding a sword that’s tip was uncomfortably close to his throat.

“Chose now or so help me
I’ll end you.” Eloen demanded as she pushed on the tip of the sword into his throat, making a shallow cut.

“I can’t! Thad yelled tears flowing from his eyes freely.

“The lets end this charade.” Eloen said
, drawing her arm back and swinging the blade strait down at his head.  

CHAPTER XII

Thad woke in a cold sweat,
his heart racing. His head felt much better, but his body was still quite weak. As his eyes focused, he saw that Eloen had sat in a chair next to his bed. Her head was resting gently on his mattress and her hand was only a few inches from his own.

His dream still unnerved him. Right now he knew that both the princess and Eloen had feelings for him, but he wasn’t sure what his own
feelings were. Thad wasn’t sure why Monique was in the dream; she had never done anything that would lead him to believe she had any romantic notions about him. Then again it was just a dream, even if a realistic one.

Not wanting to lay in bed any longer
, Thad sat up quietly. He didn’t get light headed, which was a good sign. Standing up, his legs felt a little weak, but they held his weight with only a little shaking.

“Going somewhere?” Eloen asked sleepily.

“I just wanted to get a bit of fresh air.” Thad said softly, silently hoping she would go back to sleep. That hope was quickly squashed as Eloen stood up and grabbed her cloak from the back of the chair and wrapped it around her shoulders.

As if she could read his mind
, Eloen stuck her tongue out at him. “You didn’t think I would let you go wondering around alone in your condition did you?”

Thad let out a dramatic sigh. “One can only hope. Shall we?” Thad replied holding out his arm to Eloen.

She took his arm, but she didn’t lightly put her hand on it as was customary. Instead, she linked it with her own. Thad had to admit, he was grateful since his footsteps and balance were still a little unsteady.

Outside
, the sun had already set and from the position of the moon it looked like it wasn’t that long until sunrise. It was still quite early, but the makeshift camp was already busy. All the dead bodies had been moved off the road and placed in a large pile on the wood line. Thad could see where they had cleared a fair sized area for the graves of the fallen soldiers, as well as the beginning of the pyre.

“Where is Darryl at?”

Eloen didn’t answer him, but steered him toward a large tent in the middle of the camp. The strong scent of herbs and alcohol hit Thad as he ungracefully stumbled through the tent flap. Inside the tent, a little over a dozen beds held wounded soldiers. Some of which were far worse off than others. The sight struck a heavy cord within Thad, who once again began to silently berate himself for his own ability to protect them.

“Don’t make me beat you.” Eloen said a slight snarl in her voice.

Thad had no clue how she could tell what he was thinking about, but didn’t find it prudent to ask. Doing his best to drive the self-loathing from his mind, Thad looked around the room to see if he recognized any of the soldiers who lay abed. He noticed that Darryl was in one of the cots close to the middle of the room. His face was slightly flushed, but he looked healthy otherwise.

“We shouldn’t wake him. Let’s go back outside and enjoy the rest of our walk.” Thad said glad his friend looked ok.

“No, he sleeps most the day and he has been asking for you whenever he is awake. Last I heard, Captain Morris had to threaten to tie him to the cot, and put him in one of his wife’s pink nightgowns before he agreed to stay in his bed.” Eloen said, laughing slightly at her own story.

Thad had to admit
, seeing the lithe little man in a pink nightgown would be a sight to see. Though Thad was sure he would have to pluck his eyes out with a sharp stick if he ever did see such a sight.

The two quietly made their way through the maze of cots until they reached Darryl’s. With a slight tug on the man’s arm his eyes shot wide open and he bolted into a sitting position. The action startled Thad more than a little
.

“Thad, is that you?” Darryl said squinting in the dim torchlight.

“Yea, it’s me. Heard you were still lounging around and milking your injury for all its worth, so I thought I would come see for myself.”

“Milking it my ass.
Captain Morris won’t let me so much as go to the latrine until my fever goes down. From what I’ve heard, you have been sleeping the day away in your own little private tent, and from what Jensen told me, our little captain there has been hand feeding you.” Darryl said giving him a slight wink.

Thad blushed deeply
, getting a chuckle from Darryl. His laugh was short lived and costly when Eloen slapped him in the back of the head.

“Don’t you know captain you’re supposed to be gentle with the sick?” Darryl said jokingly.

“That was gentle. If you would have been up to it I would have beaten you with a cane pole until you needed to be in a sick bed.” Eloen replied her voice far from joking.

While Eloen and Darryl traded barbs
, Thad concentrated on Darryl’s body. His head throbbed lightly so he pushed it a little farther. He could see the problem Darryl’s body looked as if it was attacking something that was glowing a bright red in his leg. Thad wasn’t sure what it was, but he could tell it was what was keeping him sick. It took a lot less effort to help Darryl’s body fight its foe than it did to allow him to heal his leg, and Thad only felt the briefest moment of lightheadedness when he finished.

“Well I’m sure your fever can’t last too much longer. If it does we will just have to get Captain Morris to get you that pink nightgown.” Thad said getting a
groan from Darryl.

“I don’t think he was joking about that. He swore that if I didn’t obey orders
, as soon as I was up and around, that would be my new uniform. Whether Captain Eloen agreed or not.” Darryl said, his head shaking slightly and his shoulders coming up as if he was cold.

“Oh
, I wouldn’t have minded a bit. It would be nice to have someone to do my hair and nails with.” Eloen said mockingly.

The three chatted until the sun peeked over the horizon and the others began to stir. Captain Morris was the first one in the field hospital and he was none too happy to see there had been late night visitors.

“How in the blazes do you expect him to get any better if you won’t let him get some decent rest?” Morris said frowning.

Captain Morris wasn’t what Thad had in mind when he pictured a soldier. He was thin, even to the point Darryl looked heavy next to him. His face was sunken in and his arms were so small Thad could easily touch his thumb and index finger with room to spare if he grabbed it. His skin was also a pale white as if the man hid from the sun. It made Thad think of the stories he had heard about creatures of the night that feasted on the blood of its victims. He knew that wasn’t the case with Captain Morris. He had seen the man riding in the sun many times, but the sight of him still unnerved him a little.

The Captain placed the back of his hand to Darryl’s forehead and stood there silently for an agonizing amount of time. “Looks like your fevers gone, so
I’ll allow you to get up, but you still need to take it easy for a few days and make sure to drink plenty of water. If I catch you out sparring or trying to run a marathon I’ll stick you right back in bed. Am I understood?”

“Yes sir.” Darryl rep
lied crisply.

The three companions walked out of the tent arm in arm laughing and joking merrily. After they were outside Thad promised himself that once his strength was a bit more stable he would return to see what aid he could give the other injured soldiers. Eloen was right about one thing
, if he pushed himself too far he was of no use, but if worked in moderation without stressing his body too much, he would heal faster and be better prepared in the future.