Chapter 43: (Tarak)

Staring down at her, I saw the fire and determination in her that I had seen in her eyes back in the woods on our first meeting. That day she had tried to pull her sword out on me, ready to defend herself. I couldn’t help but see her as that feisty lynx kitten trying to immediate me with her claws out, once again. It was hard to resist the temptation to tease her.

“Ara, I asked Helana to come with me because I need to go outside the encampment, and I know you would argue if I told you that.” I stopped walking as soon as we were out of earshot of everyone.

“I could see you plotting something. Every time you want to say something that hides the truth your nose scrunches up.” I tapped her on the nose making her swat at me. “Now tell me what is so desirable out there that my Queen would leave the safety of the encampment walls to go get it.” I inquired, crossing my arms and cocking my eyebrow up to emphasize my point.

“Marigold.” she said matter of factly. Nothing more than that

“A flower, a flower is so important that you feel like you need to go out of your way to get it?” I asked, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

“Yes, it is not just any flower though. It is a flower that fights infections and will help Sir Claus heal faster.” she countered, her voice taking on the same tone mine had.

Chuckling I couldn’t argue with that reasoning. I continued to walk, towards the main gate so I could escort her myself.

“That’s it? You're not going to tell me it's unnecessary?” she trailed behind me as she was not sure what I was thinking.

“Well is it unnecessary, it didn’t seem that way to me when you explained why you needed it. I told you once my Nareh I will never be there to stop you on your path, only help kindle your desires as you walk down it." I turned back to her, talking with her small shoulders in my hands to stop her from walking.

“I see.” was all she could say, as she started blushing as I touched her.

We stopped to grab a basket to help us hold the flowers and made our way past the safety of the main gate. My senses seemed to heighten the minute we left the camp. Anything that could cause my Nareh harm I would kill if need be. We walked up the dirt trail we had rode in the other day and it didn’t take long for Nareh to find the flower she was looking for. After collecting what seemed to be all of the flowers in the area, Nareh seemed satisfied and made her way back towards the safety of the main gate. We made one more stop into the kitchen to see if they had one more herb she needed, a small bowl, a small bottle of alcohol and what she called a mortar and pestle .

Taking everything we needed in my arms so she could carry the flowers I couldn't help but watch her. She seemed so determined, the entire time she only talked to me to tell me what she needed me to do, and I loved it. I loved watching her in her element, the way she took charge. We headed back to the medical wing with all of our supplies, she had me place them on a table across from Sir Claus. She proceeded to mush the flower and herb together until it made a paste. When she was satisfied with that she set that aside grabbing a small needle and some type of thread from the doctor's station she threaded it, setting it aside as well.

I leaned back on the table she was working on just watching her, the determination of her face made it hard for me to look away. She proceeded to cut the extra bandages into small pieces and doused them in some of the alcohol. When she seemed to be done with all that she silently scooped her up her supplies off the table and headed over to Sir Claus.

“You might want to drink the rest of this.” She handed the rest of the alcohol to Sir Claus. He looked at me with his concern written all over his face.

Without any argument though he downed the potent liquid in one gulp, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Once he placed the bottle down Nareh peeled back the old bandage and proceeded to cut away at the old stitches. When she was done with that she took one of the alcohol soaked bandages and without warning pressed it against the open wound and wiped it.

I had never heard Sir Claus yelp the way he did as she did that. She just swatted at him and told him to suck it up. Helana jumped in gently holding Sir Claus down so Nareh could finish up what she was doing. I could feel all eyes on her after the commotion Sir Claus's yelling had stirred. Some of the men could not take their eyes off her as their curiosity took hold of them. The attending doctors watched closely as she worked worried for their patient.

“Sir Claus it is necessary to clean the wound correctly so it will heal well.” She instructed him, as she took another alcohol soaked bandage and continued her work.

Once she was satisfied with her cleaning job she grabbed the small needle and pierced his skin with it. With small quick movements she had him sewn up, his stitches looked better than his old ones. Without stopping she continued smearing the green paste on the wound, never looking up from her work, even with all eyes on her.

The instant relief on Sir Claus’s face was evident as the cool paste hit his feverish skin. She continued on quickly as she rewrapped his paste smeared wound in a clean bandage. As she finished she leaned back looking at her work smiling at what she had just done. At that point she seemed to come back to reality. The proud smile she looked up at me with almost made my heart stop, she looked beautiful.

She went on to instruct the doctors on how to care for it from there. Some of the younger physicians eyed her suspiciously, not knowing how to handle this situation. She was their Queen, but Sir Claus was their patient who they needed to care for. It wasn’t till Myles, the oldest physician in the practice, came up to My Nareh that the others began to question what she had just done.

“Your Majesty, Im Dr. Myles, royal physician to the Andal Kingdom may I inquire where you learned that technique?” Myles inquired.

“I’m sorry for taking over Sir Claus’s care but I’ve handled too many wounds like this from my knights back at the annex. I learned it from an older servant in the annex, she would read old medical books from her homeland to me.” her nose scrunched up again telling me she was only telling the half truth.

“Mmmm, I see.” Myles inspected Sir Claus’s wrapping one more time. “Your Majesty, I don't know if you realize this, but this technique was lost over twenty years ago after Saralia fell to King Emerson. We lost all of the medical books and records from that nation. This is one of the few techniques that I have seen in my younger years during my studies in Saralia.”: His eyes seemed to shine with new admiration for My Nareh.

“We lost those books in the ambush on the way here, but I do have more than half of them memorized. I would be more than happy to tell you the practices I do remember.” she offered, as if she was inviting an old friend to tea, and not advancing my royal physician's medical knowledge.

Myles almost jumped at the chance to talk to her before she could finish her invitation. The younger doctors who had eyed her suspiciously up until this point now looked at her with the same admiration Myles did. I had a feeling she would be busy in the next few days answering many different questions.

I hadn’t told her, because I wanted to surprise her later but I had actually saved those books in all the chaos. I had remembered Rupert's warning about how precious they were to her and made it a point to ensure their safety. After all she had sacrificed so much to get my men safely back to the encampment I was not going to let her sacrifice more than what was necessary.

“Nareh, I have something I would love to show you.” I grabbed for her hand, so I could lead her out of the medical wing. “You’ll have to excuse us Dr. Myles but I require my wife's attention at this moment.” I called back as I whisked her away from the doctors eager to talk to her.

“Where are we going Ara, I wanted to tell them a little more and check on the other patients too.” she pouted.

“I believe you will love this surprise. I had Roland set it up while we were away this morning.” I told her, trying not to ruin the surprise.