southernreaper (
southernreaper) wrote in
howlingplayground2024-04-11 01:24 pm
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A King AU... again
It figures. It just figures. The one time he goes out without Josh, Kevin gets stabbed through the side. They're relatively sure that nothing important was damaged, but the knights can't touch him. One's already lost a glove to Kevin's power, and who knows when they'll be able to get to Josh.
"Your Highness, we need to keep moving -" Sir Julian says, scowling as they come upon a village.
"We keep moving and he's going to bleed to death," the heavily helmeted Lady Sooraya points out. "Perhaps this village has a healer?" She suggests, looking around.
Julian snorts. "Healer or not, how are they -"
Kevin falls off his horse, stopping all talking. One of the other knights, smaller than the other two jumps down. "I'm alright." He tries to reassure.
"Julian!" The knight on the ground snaps. "Ride ahead into the village. See if they have someone." He nods and knees his horse heading toward the village. "Sooraya, get over to that house and see if they have a cart. Buy it if you have to." She snaps out orders, her metal gloves holding Kevin still. "Stay still, Your Highness. We'll get you somewhere safe."
He swallows and nods. He knows his side is bleeding again. He knows that he's been losing blood pretty steadily since they had been attacked by the small troupe of bandits. He closes his eyes, only to have his shoulder shaken. "Don't you dare pass out on me." She snaps at him.
"Not trying to." He whispers, as he fights to keep his eyes open. "J, ride for Josh. Soo and Julian got me."
"Not yet. I'm going to get you to a healer first." She says, stubbornly. "Besides, the King will have our heads if we let you die. I like my head." She looks up as someone approaches. "Stand and explain yourself." She says, getting to her feet and resting a hand on her sword.
"Your Highness, we need to keep moving -" Sir Julian says, scowling as they come upon a village.
"We keep moving and he's going to bleed to death," the heavily helmeted Lady Sooraya points out. "Perhaps this village has a healer?" She suggests, looking around.
Julian snorts. "Healer or not, how are they -"
Kevin falls off his horse, stopping all talking. One of the other knights, smaller than the other two jumps down. "I'm alright." He tries to reassure.
"Julian!" The knight on the ground snaps. "Ride ahead into the village. See if they have someone." He nods and knees his horse heading toward the village. "Sooraya, get over to that house and see if they have a cart. Buy it if you have to." She snaps out orders, her metal gloves holding Kevin still. "Stay still, Your Highness. We'll get you somewhere safe."
He swallows and nods. He knows his side is bleeding again. He knows that he's been losing blood pretty steadily since they had been attacked by the small troupe of bandits. He closes his eyes, only to have his shoulder shaken. "Don't you dare pass out on me." She snaps at him.
"Not trying to." He whispers, as he fights to keep his eyes open. "J, ride for Josh. Soo and Julian got me."
"Not yet. I'm going to get you to a healer first." She says, stubbornly. "Besides, the King will have our heads if we let you die. I like my head." She looks up as someone approaches. "Stand and explain yourself." She says, getting to her feet and resting a hand on her sword.
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Once revealed, the pair of wounds - one on his front and one on his back, look much worse. Jubes hisses in a breath, trying to hold some of the blood in his body by shoving his sweat-stained tunic into the wound.
"If we cauterize it, Joshua is -"
"I'm open to better ideas. The bandages won't work." She glances at their unwilling hostess. "What do you think?"
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When she glances back she can't help but look and oh, how she winces. She can definitely see the front wound, not so much the back one but that's enough to have her stomach twisting. She looks up when she feels eyes on her, her cheeks flushing some at being caught here looking at the poor prince. Then she snaps to attention and sort of gestures with her hands animatedly.
"I understand you'd rather not have me touch him but I don't think you've got too much choice. If his powers are whatever or you just don't like the idea of a commoner -- well, whatever it is but I'll take the blame for whatever happens!"
Where is this confidence coming from? Probably from the fact that she doesn't want to stand and watch someone die if she can help.
"If nothing else I ought to be able to stop the bleeding."
She's already rolling up her sleeves here. Either they would let her or she'd have to just ... maybe dodge them and put her hand against his forehead? Just anywhere on his body honestly. That sounds like a good plan.
This might be a situation of her getting into a whole lot of trouble for her own stupid decisions. It wouldn't be the first time that happened of course.
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Julian sighs. "Miss, it's not that we don't want a commoner touching him. That's ridiculous." He takes off his helmet, dark hair falling into his face. "Miss, he could kill you and we won't put him through that."
Jubes looks at the girl. "Nor will we take you from your grandparents." She says softly. "We... when we became his knights, we swore an oath. To not let him kill, except in self-defense."
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"I'm sorry then. I ... personally I don't mind the risk but I get it."
It sounds dumb maybe but Angela is just the kind of person that puts herself at risk for people. Some say it's because she doesn't have a brain in her head but...
She chews her lip a moment. "Well ... you could sew up the wounds but I'm not sure that would be any better than cauterizing them, would it? Certainly not less painful." She perks then though, "We do have some things for pain -- mostly for my grandparents' aches and pains."
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"Josh -"
"On his way, your Highness." Jubes murmurs, smoothing a gauntleted hand gently over his head.
Julian catches on to what she's saying. "You thinking maybe with Josh?" He asks.
Jubes nods. "Would you be willing to work with the Royal Healer?" Jubes asks, nodding to the knife in the fire.
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"Of course. Anything to help."
She might not be friends with the prince or any such but she's not one to sit and watch others be hurt or suffer or anything like that.
"Is it something like combining our powers together? I've done that before."
On smaller projects with the healer in the nearest town. Her healing potency wasn't predictable but sometimes that little bit was enough.
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"So, we just have to keep him alive until then." Jubes says grimly.
"Mimsy... get... Josh." Kevin mumbles on the bed.
"I'm sure Soo will bring Mimsy back too." Jubes says, just holding his hand.
In about half an hour, a huge black Rottweiler comes bounding up the front drive and stops, looking at the older people on the porch. Behind her comes Sooraya, the knight, and a man in a heavy cloak, his face hidden. They get off their horses, and Sooraya bows to the older couple. "Where is the Prince?"
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That seems to snap her grandmother out of what fear the dog brings out in her as she huffs. "Go on in, we'll see to your horses." Horses she likes, huge dogs not so much. All the other horses she's already gathered up near the side of the house, under shade where they can graze to their heart's content.
Angel must hear the voices because she trots out in time to open the door. She's not much use to the poor prince in her bed so she might as well let people in. "Come in, come in, I --"
Oh! The dog! For a moment Angela blinks at him and then she beams! "I think he might be waiting on you particularly. Come on~."
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A man walks in behind the dog. He's completely covered from head to toe. "Jubes." He says, grabbing her attention immediately. She twists and gets to her feet. "Julian." The other knight looks away from the window. "Out." He jerks his head. The hood moves a bit, showing a flash of gold behind the hood.
Once Jubes and Julian have left them alone in the room, he pulls the hood back, revealing a golden haired, golden skinned man. "Can you heal or are you an herbalist?" He asks, looking at Angela with bright blue eyes.
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"I can heal! It's a little unreliable sometimes but I work really well with others. Um ... if our chemistry is right I'm really good so -- I'm an herbalist too!"
At least a little. Here she offers her hands out to him, not quite pleading but definitely ready to help. Folks sensitive to magic might feel something dampening her magic. With the right people her magic mixes, mingles and what dampens it for others peeled away. Then she's honestly impressive in what she can do for those people ... but just them. She terms it 'chemistry' and maybe it is like some form of magical chemistry? She sure doesn't know.
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"Move, Mimsy." He says, nudging the dog out of the way. Gently, he touches the Prince's head. "I told you not to go." He mutters in Kevin's ear, making the Prince mutter something unintelligible.
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Since he's touching the Prince's head she reaches to take his other hand. Angel is the sort of person who inevitably helps others and it's little wonder her magic works in kind. Whatever healing Josh does or doesn't have it blends well at least.
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He tsks at the wounds on Kevin's body and shakes his head. His idiot of an ex-boyfriend, now dear friend, is not going to die because of this, but he has lost a lot of blood and Josh can feel the infection beginning. "Alright, here we -" He stops, when Kevin's eyes shoot open. "Sleep, Kevin." He says, gently. "We'll be alright." Josh promises.
But Kevin's green eyes latch onto Angela, fever-bright and not quite lucid. His one bare hand reaches out. Josh goes to grab his wrist, but doesn't move quite fast enough. "Look out!" Josh hisses.
"Angel." Kevin whispers.
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She's got one of Josh's hands in her own, nibbling on her lower lip in what feels like anticipation. Either this would work really well or it might just be a dud and she wasn't quite sure what she would do if it was the latter. They might be relative strangers but Angela had seen death more than once in her life ... she wasn't keen on seeing it again with anybody.
The moment of anticipation turns to tension, a hissed command and a hand grabbing onto her wrist. She blinks down at it and it takes a moment to realize it's the prince's hand. Then she blinks several more times before she makes a quick "oh!" and then abandons Josh's hand to lay over Kevin's one against her wrist.
The sigh of relief she gives is deep. She almost wants to droop where she stands, laughing a little at how weak her knees feel all of a sudden.
"What was all the fuss about? Gosh, you all should have let me do this a good hour ago!"
She closes her eyes, tilts her head and tries to focus on this skin to skin connection with the prince. There is something of a tingle where they touch but otherwise she's as hail and hearty as ever -- maybe more so as she can feel their magic mingling between them.
"I'll have to hold onto him for a bit but it feels like we're pretty well in sync He's got some pretty strong magic though."
She can feel it even through this small bit of skin to skin contact. Whatever they were so frightened of does seem fairly powerful, she's got to admit. And she's a country bumpkin without any formal magic training.
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She... Hell, this is bad. Josh is quiet and lets her work, and when she is as done as she can be - the wound isn't fully healed, but Kevin will be able to get home.
"You will have to come with us." Josh says, when she's finished. He pulls over a chair for her. "Kevin will want to thank you, as will the King." The Queen died when Kevin was a boy, and the King, having his heir, never remarried.
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When Josh mentions all the talk of thanks a flush grows on her face even as she smiles. "It's not that big of a deal. I mean ... I don't mind coming with you but it wasn't any problem."
She's just glad the poor prince isn't going to die in her bed. Glance over to him she takes note that he even looks better. The healing must have tackled the infection setting in first and that was why the wound wasn't fully healed.
She considers a moment and then leans a little to actually feel his forehead with her wrist. He certainly seems a lot cooler!
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"The Prince's power is deep, uncontrollable and something that no one understands." He begins, sitting on the bed next to Kevin, Mimsy coming over to nudge Kevin's hand again. "There are three, now four, who are unaffected by it. Me, Mimsy, a noblewoman, and now you. Everyone else, Kevin can and has killed, with just a touch."
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She falls silent a moment, watching Mimsy nose at Kevin's hand. Then she bites at her lower lip, looking sad herself as she considers the way that must affect the prince's life.
"How lonely."
Before her grandparents had taken her in she hadn't had anyone and that was a lonely enough feeling. Having people but no way to touch them ...
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"You see now, why I am asking you to come with us." He says, gently. "Not only can you touch him, but your healing power works, where mine does not." He has no problem admitting that. He knows how desperate it is to have a healer that can work with Kevin.
"I cannot say how long you will be gone. I can say that I can make the case for your grandparents to come too, as I assume they are your only family?"
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When Josh mentions her grandparents she brightens back up. "Mm, they are. They took me in when I was a child." She doesn't delve into how technically they aren't blood related, just good people who found a runaway slave in the woods and pitied her.
She perks her brows then. "Do you need me right away? I don't mind, it's not like I have that much but it might be easier to convince them if I can send for them later." She makes a little face there, a forceful sort of frown. "My grandfather is a stubborn old man so he may take some working on." Mostly by her grandmother of course.
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"How soon do you want to leave?" He asks. "Once Kevin is on his feet, we'll have to leave."
"You talk too much." Kevin whispers, weakly from the bed. Mimsy woofs and puts her front legs on the bed, licking his face. "Where...?" He's not sure where he is.
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Still she smiles at the man. He's just trying to warn her up front. He has a good heart if nothing else and for that she is immensely thankful. "Don't worry, I'll do my best. If it gets to be too much I promise I won't just vanish without saying something to any of you."
That said she looks back to the bed a moment as she muses. "I supposed if my healing can keep up with him it would be better if I went now, yes? There's plenty of bandits around here ... but I guess I don't need to say that. We're just far enough from the capital where --"
Ah she's cut off. She glanced back Josh's way but now her eyes turn to the bed again and more over to Mimsy. She considers whether she ought to pull the dog back but decides it's probably for the best she be as hands off as possible until the prince can decide how he feels about her. Or until she's needed.
It's still a sweet enough thing to see how enthusiastic the dog is so forgive her for smiling over it. She does look to Josh though. "Should I leave you alone with him?" They're obviously good friends after all, she doesn't want to intrude.
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"No, that's not necessary." Josh says at exactly the same time. He stands. "Now that Kevin is awake, we should prepare to leave. I'll tell the knights." He puts a hand on Angela's shoulder. "Thank you, for your help. Please prepare to leave."
"Josh." Kevin growls, only to be completely ignored. He huffs out a break and falls back against the bed, luckily none of the clothing shifted under him.
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That's exactly what she begins doing. She goes to a chest near the foot of the bed so she can rifle through it for a bag, then to the dresser to begin packing things away. She doesn't have much frankly -- a few dresses, a few tunics and pants. Her grandparents aren't rich and she's definitely never been able to bring in a huge amount of money. Maybe that would change with this? If she earned anything she could always send it back to her grandparents.
She plops her back on the chair she had been sitting in so she can move to gather a few other things too. She does take a moment though to look to Kevin and address him as she works. Par usual there's a gentle little smile on her face. "Sorry, I'll be done in just a moment. Then I can leave until your knights come back -- well, leave until we all go anyhow, I guess."
She'll have to go tell her grandparents what was going on too.
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"We'll be leaving shortly, if you've a horse to ride. If not, you'll ride with Josh." Josh being the healer. He's not arguing about her coming at least.
"Mimsy, sit." He orders the dog who whimpers and sits next to him, her paw on his leg as he swings his legs over the side of the bed. "I'm sorry we intruded and that Josh seems to think that separating you from family is a good idea."
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