The Queen and her Wolf

Chapter Eleven

"Set her down on the bed." I commanded Sebastian curtly.

A crease formed between his brows at my clipped tone but he set Alana down as I'd asked, making sure that she looked comfortable before stepping away to the edge of the infirmary room. Giving him an apologetic smile I went to sit beside Alana on the cot.

She looked so fragile as she lay there. So still. So vulnerable. Even with her full armour shining beneath the candlelight I couldn't help the concern that bubbled up, it formed a lump in my throat. What was wrong with her? Was she rejecting the bond? Could that even happen?

"Where are you, little wolf?" I whispered to myself, watching her eyes dance beneath their lids.

"Please try not to worry, my Queen. I'm sure it was just the stress of the ceremony, it was probably too much for her." Sebastian interjected softly.

My eyes pricked with the threat of tears once more and it was all I could do to nod in reply. Perhaps he was right. Maybe this was all too much for her. It felt as if it had been too much for myself as well. At the end of the ceremony, all the feelings I'd been keeping down had rushed to the surface and overwhelmed me. Alana was lying unconscious in the infirmary because of me, because I'd been selfish and claimed her before taking the time to think about the consequences.

Brushing a few loose strands of hair away from her face I thought back to the night Eric had brought her to my hall. Alana had only caught my attention because she'd fought Eric and he'd hurt her in an attempt to put her in her place. The sound of his hand connecting with her face was like a slap to my own, it had snapped me out of my indifference. Anger had flooded through me and I wanted to put Eric ten feet in the ground and even now I couldn't explain exactly why I'd felt so strongly about it. Maybe it took seeing the basic instinct of self preservation from one so small to snap me out of the fog I'd been living in.

Alana had a fire inside of her that I couldn't help but admire. It wasn't a fire that raged and destroyed everything in its path, no, it was more like a blacksmiths forge. Always burning. Always hot. If you were to use the bellows to fan the coals it's heat would roar to life and be capable of almost anything. Looking down at her now though, so still, I wondered if I'd suffocated those flames like trying to put a candle in an air tight jar.

"Sebastian, could you go and find the Physician," I asked quietly, refusing to take my eyes off of my guardian.

"Of course, my Queen."

Ignoring his formal use of my title I heard him bow respectfully and exit the infirmary, shutting the door behind him as he went. I let out a shaky breath and began removing Alana's armour so that she could be more comfortable. Trying my best not to disturb the she-wolf too much, I removed everything, one piece at a time, and laid them gently on the neighbouring cot. Navine had truly outdone himself with the adjustments to this armour, I couldn't even tell he'd changed it at all. I made a note to myself to thank him again for his years of service.

Turning back to my guardian I froze.

The sword.

I'd avoided removing it on a subconscious level, I think, as the nightmare from the previous day now flooded my mind. My stomach twisted as the guilt surfaced all over again. Everything that Alana would experience would be because of me. It would be my fault, and she would probably never forgive me. With shaking hands I removed the sword from her side and laid it with the rest of her armour.

A knock on the door startled me, "yes?"

It was Samuel. Great, just the face I wanted to see.