Alexis was laying in bed with Elias in her arms. Her worry and fear had taken over and she was uncaring who might come in and see them. From her vantage point she could look at his wound and see the door in case she needed to. She had closed her eyes for a moment replaying the fight in her mind and what had happened afterwards.
How had a manticore gotten into the area? It was not common for them to be in cities. The creature had been huge and Alexis was surprised that it's mate had not been there. It was unusual for a female to be without the male nearby and the males had wings but no poisonous spines. It never ceased to amaze her at how ugly some of the creatures were. Manticore male and female both resembled large insects in the face. Neither appeared to be human looking in the face at all. The thoughts of the creature and it's mate made her shiver involuntarily. Hearing Elias moan she looked down and saw the pain across his face as he tried to talk.
Alexis smiled as he smiled softly at her promise not to argue with him.
"I take it you don't believe me." She grinned and spoke softly so that no one near the door could hear if there was anyone listening.
"It was a female Manticore. Males are usually a little smaller and have wings with no poisonous spines." Worry flitted across her features.
"How are you feeling?" Reaching over she lifted the bandages and saw that the poison had receded back and that he appeared to be healing. She let out a ragged breath and she lay her head gently on his forehead. Tears sprung up and she wiped them quickly. She hadn't realized that her body was that stressed.
Alexis' voice quivered a little as she spoke to him.
"It appears that we have an ally. A female wesen as a matter of fact. She gave me a cure for the poison. After the doctor finished up I poured it in. It appears to be working but my aunt's lady's maid Sophie saved your life."Sophie opened the door quietly and she saw Alexis speaking to an awake Elias. She smiled and shut the door locking it behind her. The last thing she wanted was to have someone walk in when she had work to do. She walked towards the pair and she watched Alexis hurriedly sit up protectively covering Elias with the blanket folded at the bottom of the bed.
Sophie glanced at Elias and nodded in relief.
"Miss Alexis, I brought some salve to heal your back. I saw the cuts all over it when I dressed you before. Come, I need to be quick." Looking around the room realizing that there was no screen to hide her behind for privacy she frowned.
Alexis knew that she needed some doctoring herself but hadn't given it a second thought while Elias was in danger. Realizing what Sophie was concerned about she limped across the room towards the window. There was a chair near there and she turned away from Elias' eyes and she pulled the dress over the skirts and dropped it onto the ground by the chair. Her underclothes consisted of the heavy skirts and slip that she wore. When her slip was shown it was bloody over most of her back. Alexis knew it was from when she was hurled into the bushes. It would have to have been a large thorn bush. She lifted the bloody slip over her shoulders and covered her ample breasts with it.
Leaning forward she exposed her back to Sophie who examined the wounds and cleaned them out and then put a salve on them. Alexis bit her lip as the alcohol stung and flinched at the cold salve. Once finished Sophie put the slip into her pocket and gave Alexis a smile and murmured that she would be right back. Sophie pushed a candlestick over and tugged on a hidden handle on the shelf behind the chair and she walked into a spare guestroom.
Alexis was holding her dress over herself and she turned towards Elias who was staring at her. A moment later Sophie arrived with a clean slip for Alexis as the wall closed back up. She turned away from Elias and sat down maximizing the privacy the chair gave her and she put on the slip and her dress. Glancing at her appearance in the mirror she looked at the Wesen without suspicion.
"Thank you for your help. I have so many questions but I think we should let Elias heal first."Alexis climbed back onto the bed with Elias on his uninjured side. She laid her head into his crook of his good shoulder and made sure that he was covered. Sophie locked the door and left the pair to their rest. Alexis breathed a sigh of relief as the pain from the cuts felt less intense as the salve worked it's wonders.
Sophie went back to her mistresses rooms and tidied up. She had to be careful so that she would not get caught. Her mistress was a kind woman but she was completely focussed on her own dalliances and her own fun and games. Jean had not slept with her own, much older, husband in quite a long while. Sophie thought to herself at how different in personalities Jean was to her niece. Sophie rather liked the young lady. She certainly hoped that she could get her and Mr. Elias to listen to her when they were better.
@December