Page 6 of A Winter Awakening
“I’m Orteo.” He knelt in front of the man.
“Orteo.” The human said the name as if tasting and savouring it. “You saved me and Daisy, Orteo. Thank you.” Tears glistened in the man’s eyes. “You saved us.”
“I just wanted to help.” Orteo looked away, unnerved by the intensity of gratitude. “And what is your name?”
“I’m Gael, and this is Daisy.” Gael gestured to the magnificent horse. “See, Daisy, I told you it would be all right. Orteo saved us, and now everything is all right.” Gael gazed at Orteo. “Isn’t he wonderful?” Brown hair tumbled messily across Gael’s forehead and fell into his eyes.
“I can never thank you enough.” Gael reached out to take Orteo’s hands, but the man flinched and grabbed at his ankle. He hissed.
“What’s wrong?” Orteo asked.
“I hurt my ankle earlier. I leaned on it just then.” Gingerly, Gael stretched out his leg in front of him. “It was a stupid mistake. I jumped off Daisy. I didn’t realise a rock was under the snow, and I twisted it.” He laughed. “So stupid. I’m such a silly bumble-head.”
“May I?” Orteo asked, reaching for the boots.
Gael nodded, face twisted in pain.
As carefully as he could, Orteo undid the boot and removed it. Gael bit his lip, clearly in great pain. Orteo pulled down the stocking.
He frowned. The ankle looked angry, red, and swollen. He didn’t dare try to move it.
“I’ll go get a healer.” Orteo placed the foot down and stood. He needed to get someone competent and who knew what they were doing. “There is an oread healer who lives in Ores. I’ll go get him.” He took a step towards the cave entrance.
“No!” the human cried.
Orteo paused.
“Please don’t leave me. Please,” Gael said, clearly panicking.
“I’ll only be gone a short while,” Orteo said. “You’ve got the fire and Daisy. You’ll be fine until I get back.”
The human’s eyes darted out into the darkness.
“Surely it can wait until morning.” Gael gave a weak smile. “It’s not so bad. Really.” He swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Please don’t leave me alone. Please.”
Orteo really should go get help. Gael was injured and needed to be cared for by someone who knew what they were doing. Not Orteo.
But the vulnerability and fear in Gael’s eyes kept him firmly in place.
“All right,” Orteo said and returned to Gael’s side.
ChapterFour
Relief flooded Gael’s body as Orteo sat beside him.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Gael laughed. “I’ve just realised today that I’ve never really been alone before. In Castle Evermore there is always someone around. Except when I’m sleeping, of course. And I’ve never been out of Castle Evermore by myself. And never at night.” His eyes flicked to the darkness outside. “It’s a little overwhelming.” He tried to smile.
Gael swallowed as a wave of panic threatened to overwhelm him. But Orteo hadn’t left. He sat right here next to Gael.
Gael might be a little hungry, and his ankle hurt terribly. For some reason, his lips felt a little numb. But as Gael gazed into Orteo’s silver eyes, he knew he’d be all right.
“Thank you.” Gael took Orteo’s hand. “Thank you.” He frowned. “Your hands are very rough.” He turned over Orteo’s hand. He ran his finger along the surprisingly textured dark-grey skin, different from the rest of Orteo. Gael snapped his hand back.
“Sorry. That was rude! I don’t know what came over me. You’ve done so much for me, and then I behave so rudely.” He laughed. Everything seemed to float around him. “I’m just so grateful, you see. I hope I didn’t offend you.”
Orteo shook his head, smiling. “It’s fine. It’s an oread trait.” He opened and closed his palm. “It helps us grip when we climb.”
“Oh. I think I saw an oread climbing earlier! I thought it was a human. Then I realised humans can’t climb like that.” His words rushed out of him. Like he was babbling. But he couldn’t stop. “Now I know it was probably an oread.”
