Page 31 of Thorns & Fire
– The Green Apothecary: A Guide to Medicinal Plants
THEY RODE UNTILthe plumes of smoke from the town were no longer visible behind them, until the rush of a river drowned out the screams still ringing in Wren’s ears...until she saw that Torj was sliding from his saddle.
Wren leapt from her own mare just in time to break the Warsword’s fall.She couldn’t catch him completely, but with her body beneath his, she made sure he didn’t hit the ground face first.
A grunt escaped her as the full weight of him hit her.Smoke tangled with that cedar-and-oakmoss scent she had loved as his hair fell across her face.
‘Bear Slayer,’ she wheezed, trying to wriggle out from under him.
He didn’t move.
‘Torj!’she said loudly, shaking his shoulders.
A ragged gasp sounded, and suddenly Torj’s upper half was braced over her, relieving her chest of his weight but not freeing her from the confines of his body completely.
‘Embers...’he murmured, his voice thick with confusion,his sea-blue eyes searching her face.‘What—’ He looked down to where their bodies were pressed together – to where he was cradled between her thighs.
He leapt off her, then stumbled with a wince.
‘You fell off your horse,’ she explained.‘I stupidly tried to catch you.’
‘I don’t fall off my horse,’ he muttered.
Wren got to her feet, dusting off the dirt and grass from her skirts.‘All evidence points to the contrary, Warsword.’
But Torj was resting his brow against the side of his saddle, as though gathering his strength before hoisting himself back up.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ Wren said, snatching his sleeve and leading him to a nearby fallen tree.There, she sat him down and took his wrist in her hand, feeling for his pulse.It was slower than she’d have liked.Next, she placed the back of her hand to his brow.Burning up, as she’d expected.
‘Look at me,’ she ordered, cupping his face and tilting his head to her.His movements were sluggish, and his pupils were huge.
She circled him, pausing at his back where his shirt had been singed off his skin and several burns were blistering.
‘Shit,’ she muttered, searching through her belt for the aloe vera she kept for such injuries.‘I know it’s in here...’How many more scars would he bear because of her?She sorted through various herbs and tinctures, panic rising within her.He was hurt.And he’d been hurt protecting her, yet again.
Torj watched her, swaying.‘The kit you made me,’ he said, voice hoarse.‘It should be in my saddlebag.’
For a moment, Wren simply stared at him.‘You kept it?’
Though his gaze was unfocused, Torj’s throat bobbed.‘Yes.’
Wren didn’t waste another second.She retrieved the kit she’d made him all those months ago and then positioned herself behind him, cutting the rest of his shirt away.
‘Any excuse to take my clothes off...’he muttered.
‘You’re delirious with the pain.’
‘I’ve had worse.’
Wren pushed away the tattered fabric, careful of where it stuck to his burnt skin.‘You will, if you don’t shut up and let me work.’
His rough laugh sounded.‘Always patching me up, aren’t you, Embers?’
‘Don’t call me that,’ Wren told him through gritted teeth.Though she was holding on to her anger, seeing his back blistered like that hurt her.The burns weren’t the worst she’d seen in her time learning the ropes as Farissa’s apprentice back at Thezmarr, but they were gruesome to behold on someone she—
Wren shook her head, taking clean bandages from her own supplies and wetting them with the cold water from the river.She would have preferred clean, boiled water, but that wasn’t an option.She’d have to cleanse the wounds properly with liquor later, but for now, she simply held the cool, wet cloth to Torj’s heated skin.
She heard his breath whistle between his teeth at the contact, but then his shoulders sagged.
