Page 17 of Unravelled
Mirachose cleaned wounds. Her hands moved quickly and efficiently as she worked her way through the injured. She didn’t ask questions. The people were too weary to speak. It wasn’t until she knelt beside a young boy that the silence broke.
"Hi," Mira said gently, her voice soft like the touch of a breeze. She crouched to his level, careful not to loom over him. He couldn’t have been more than seven, his slight frame nearly swallowed by a tattered cloak. He clutched a threadbare doll to his chest, his knuckles white. Dried tears and soot marred his face. "What's your name?"
"Samir," he mumbled, barely audible. He didn’t look up.
"That’s a strong name," she said, her tone light but warm. “My name is Mira, and this is Tharion.” At the mention of his name, Tharion stepped forward, lowering himself into a crouch beside her. He said nothing right away. He just offered a small canteen of water, uncapped and held out with both hands, so the boy wouldn’t feel pressured to take it.
“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” Tharion said softly, his voice roughened by the smoke in the air. “But you should drink something. It helps.” Samir blinked up at him, wary. But after a moment, his fingers uncurled just enough to take the canteen. Tharion didn’t push. He waited as the boy took a slow sip, then another. When Samir looked up again, Tharion managed the faintest smile, not bright or forced, just steady. Reassuring. “That’s it,” he said. “You’re okay.”
She reached for his arm, noticing a fresh scrape running down the length of it, crusted with dirt. "May I?" Samir hesitated but gave a small nod, his grip on the doll tightening. Mira cleaned the wound, working slowly and carefully to avoid causing him pain.
"You’re very brave," she told him as she wrapped a clean bandage around his arm. "Most people I know would have been louder than thunder over me cleaning a scrape like this."
She glanced at Tharion, his gaze was warm as he looked at Samir. "She’s not wrong. I’ve seen knights twice your size whimper like pups over less." Samir looked between them, the hint of a smile ghosting across his soot-streaked face. "You're tougher than half the guard already."
His smile vanished quickly at the mention of guards. "They came at night," Samir said suddenly, his voice barely above a whisper. Mira paused but didn’t interrupt, letting him speak at his own pace. "People with torches and capes. And swords." His wide, brown eyes darted to the tent flap, as if expecting them to burst through it at any moment. "They broke everything. They burned..." He swallowed hard, his small frame shuddering.
Mira’s chest tightened, but she kept her face calm and kind. "That must have been very scary."
He nodded, a tear slipping down his cheek. "Mama told me to hide. She told me not to come out, no matter what. But I saw... I saw it from under the stairs. I saw what they did." Mira's hands stilled for a moment before resuming their work.
"Samir," she said softly, "you did everything your mama asked you to do.”
"But I didn’t help her," he choked out. "I didn’t do anything."
Mira placed a gentle hand on his uninjured arm, her voice firm but kind. "You're here, and I am sure that’s what your Mama wanted most.’
He looked at her, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "Will they come back?" Mira couldn’t lie to the boy. They might come back. And when they did, this town, these people, they wouldn’t be ready. They didn't have the resources or people to defend themselves.
"You’re safe right now," she whispered, brushing a stray lock of hair from his soot-streaked face.
Samir stared at her, his small frame trembling beneath the weight of fear too old for his years. “Will you leave?”
Mira hesitated. The truth was there, quiet, inevitable.“In the morning.” she said gently.
Samir’s lower lip quivered. His voice cracked. “I want to stay with you.”
Mira opened her mouth, but no words came. Her eyes shimmered, and she blinked hard, trying to hold back the tears threatening to fall in front of the boy.
Tharion spoke, his voice calm, grounded. “You won’t be alone, Samir,” he murmured. “Ena will be with you. She’s strong, and she knows how to keep people safe.”
Samir sniffled, nodding slowly, the fear still there but dulled just slightly by Tharion’s presence.
Mira leaned in closer, lowering herself to sit on the stretcher beside him. “We’ll stay,” she said. “Until you fall asleep.”
Samir looked at her, searching her face for any sign she might disappear the moment his eyes closed. She offered a small, soft smile. “Promise.”
Samir’s small shoulders relaxed just a fraction, the weight of exhaustion finally overtaking him. Mira held his trembling form and murmured a few soothing words until his breathing evened out. His grip on the threadbare doll loosened, though he still held it close.
When she rose, her legs felt heavy, as if the weight of his words had settled into her own bones. She turned away, fighting back the sting of tears, but it was no use. They slipped free, streaking silently down her face.
Tharion’s voice, low and steady, spoke from just behind her shoulder.“You did well.”
Mira shook her head once, a bitter breath catching in her throat. “It wasn’t enough.” He didn’t argue. He didn’t offer empty comfort. Instead, his hand came to rest gently on her back, between her shoulders, solid and grounding.
“It was enough for Samir.” he said quietly. When she closed her eyes, all she could see was Samir's face and fear.
For a few breaths, they stood there in silence. The world around them continued. Murmurs of the injured, the soft rustle of fabric in the wind, the distant crackle of fire.
