Ileus: The Dark Prince

The panic that she felt just before leaving Gavran, washed away under the waterfall. Lovac walked out of the small pool that was fed by the fall. A few meters ahead she saw sand so yellow that it shimmered like gold. Past that, was a field of blood red wildflowers growing in a sea of tall grass. 

Anastasia was stunned to see so much beauty. It spread warmth in her and suddenly she felt relaxed. She felt so pleased that she wanted to ignore all her problems out of a desire to hold onto the feeling. Right after the cold and damp snow-clad forest, they had come to a place that was beautiful like heaven. "And these are Virgine Falls?" she asked in a voice laced with wonder and contentment. 

"Yes!" He replied in a strained voice. "Once again remember that these are also a part of Sgiath Biò and so these are also heavily charmed. Be careful and do not fall into traps." 

As the horses drew near the field, the intoxicating aroma of the wildflowers surrounded her. The scent reminded her of amusement, love, and… arousal, and all that was luxurious and… more arousal. She bit her lip hard. This couldn't be. She was sitting behind a sex bomb, lusting after him with every step the horse took towards the wild field. And the sex bomb was… injured.

Her voice was husky when she said, "We should soon find a place to rest." 

The sun had started ascending in the sky and fluffy clouds played hide and seek with it every now and then. A painful grunt from Ileus drew her attention back. "Ileus! You must stop now." 

Kaizan and Aidan rushed towards them. Kaizan held Lovac's reins and Ileus slumped over Lovac. 

"No!" she said as panic drove its sharp edge in her chest. She looked at Kaizan with big eyes. "We need to stop!" Kaizan nodded. 

With Kaizan and Guarhal's help, Ileus got down. They walked the horses till they found a small clearing nearby. Immediately, Aidan rushed with a fur and laid it on the soft grass. They helped Ileus to lie down on his belly as others started to remove saddlebags and gather things in one place.

Anastasia realized that they had chosen a place that was away from the red wildflowers and was covered with an overhead canopy of dense trees. 

Despite their injuries, the team erected one tent on the ground and the other over a mesh of thick and strong branches of trees that had intertwined with each other above the surface about two meters high. 

Kaizan had taken out the herbs from the saddlebag of Lovac. He asked Anastasia to sit and keep pressing the sweater on his back till he came back with the healing potion. She looked at the stab wounds and felt nausea. He had closed his eyes and his breath was shallow. She turned her gaze to Kaizan and said, "Hurry up, he is losing consciousness!"

Kaizan gritted his teeth. "Those wounds will close soon Anastasia, so don't panic." 

"How will they close unless you have applied medicine on it?" she chided. "And you are delaying!" 

"Calm down princess," he replied angrily. "This is not the first time this has happened. Remember, he was tortured by Maple at Vilinski?" 

A shudder passed through her body and she clenched her fist. "I don't want to talk about that. I wasn't there to heal him, but now I am!" She was so furious about all that Maple had done to him that she wanted to kill her cousin sister like yesterday. "For now, get the damn medicine!" 

Kaizan let out a nervous laughter. "You are so infuriating!"

"And you are so slow!" Her anxiety increased by the minute. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Zlu helping Carrick to sit on the ground and chiding him for being reckless and careless. 

Kaizan grounded the medicine and came to Ileus as soon as possible. The shirt he was wearing was a mess, so Kaizan tore it and threw it aside. He applied the medicine on his stab wounds liberally. Ileus grunted as a sharp sensation jabbed the wounds. Once Kaizan had wrapped clean bandages over his wounds, he helped him to lie in the tent that was on the branches. He gave him some tincture to drink so that he would sleep.

"That will help him sleep. You are going to stay with him, princess," he said firmly. "And don't even think of going away from here, okay? Those passion flowers are beautiful, but from a distance.

"I won't!" she rasped. Anastasia's attention was on Ileus. She took out his boots, threw them on the ground and then with shaky hands covered him with fur. Nervousness was apparent in her quivering lips and restlessness. Now that she was alone with him, the fleeting pleasant feel evaporated. It was replaced with an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. She blinked away the tingly sensation of tears in her eyes and asked, "How soon will he recover?" 

"At least two to three hours," Kaizan replied quietly as he watched her fidgeting around. "Those are just flesh wounds and he should heal fast. But we are going to stay here for a day and will start for Óraid tomorrow morning on a condition that he becomes fine." He had to tend to others too.

"What do you mean 'on a condition'? You just said that he would heal in a day!" Anastasia asked with wide eyes. 

Kaizan gazed deeply in her sapphire blue eyes. "Anastasia, I have an urgent request. Do not go anywhere. Stay here. If you have to go anywhere, ask one of us to accompany you. Is that clear?" 

"But—" 

"Is that clear?" 

Anastasia became angry because he was avoiding her question but seeing the way he stared at her so coldly, she gulped her anger and nodded. "It is. I won't go anywhere." Although at the back of her mind she knew that she should have helped all others.

Kaizan jumped out of the tent on that assurance.