Movement out of the corner of her eye drew Lily's attention from the sky slowly turning gold, and she turned her head. There was Rhydar, on a bench just a few feet away and-
Lily was on her feet before she could even think about it, face drawing down into a frown. She'd had and seen enough split lips to spot one from a distance. "Rhydar?" She spoke softly, her steps oddly silent as she approached him with concern.
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He jerked, his eyes flying open and landing on Lily. He groaned and cursed under his breath, dropping his head with a mixture of shame, relief, and regret. He had promised her he'd try to stay out of trouble, and then immediately went looking for trouble. "Yeah…" he said softly, avoiding her gaze.
Her brows drew together, steps faltering for only a second. She shook off the impulse to immediately back off, instead carefully sitting down on the bench next to him, her legs pulled up to allow her to face him. "What happened?"
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He ran a hand through his hair, then winced and dropped it, covering his split knuckles with his other hand—which didn't look any better. "I might've picked a fight not worth the trouble," he said vaguely, risking a quick glance in Lily's direction.
She shook her head, sighing. "Why doesn't that surprise me." She muttered, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Her hand was already reaching for his when she paused, her eyes flickering up to his split lip, and then his eyes. "Can I?" Still quiet, and worried she's hurt him somehow.
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He swallowed and dropped his eyes, nodding. He didn't like Lily seeing him like this. He had broken his promise while making it, and now she saw the evidence of his selfishness. His stomach hurt like a mother, but she didn't need to know that.
She gently took his hand, lifting it towards herself to study the damage. There was absolutely no trace of judgement anywhere on her face, or in her tone when she spoke. "Where all were you hit, Rhydar?"
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He clenched his jaw—mistake, judging by the shooting pain the action caused—before answering. "It's nothing I can't handle," he insisted with a shrug, not answering her question. I never wanted you to see this side of me, Lily…
She bit her lip, nodding. None of your business. Everyone has their things. You know that. She didn't let go of his hand though, just wrapped her own hands carefully around it. "If you're sure, then. You-are you alright, though?"
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He sighed and curled his fingers around her hands, his body unconsciously leaning towards her slightly. His comfort, he realized. Lily was his comfort. She deserved to know. "I took a hit to my jaw and mouth and a few to my stomach. I got in a few hits as well, but they were built like walking brick walls," he finally conceded quietly.
She winced, feeling the blows as though they'd hit her instead. "Are you sure nothing's broken? Does it hurt when you breathe? Move? How bad is the pain?" The words tumbled out quickly, worry lacing them as she leaned a bit closer, her eyes scanning him for any visible signs of injury beyond what she already could see.
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"Lily," he said softly, his eyes looking directly into hers the first time that night, "I'm alright. Just a few bruises, I'm sure." Nothing felt broken, and it only really hurt when he moved too much. Didn't help that he had run most of the way before grabbing a horse to "borrow" for the rest of the way.
"Right. Sorry." She nodded, glad he was finally looking at her. Her thumbs rubbed small circles into Rhydar's wrist, without her even realizing she was doing it. "Are you sure? I'm sorry if it's annoying for me to ask, I'm just-worried."
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His gaze flickered down to where she was running circles on his wrists before snapping back up to her eyes, not wanting her to notice and stop. "If it makes you feel better, you can check for yourself," he said quietly, "And you're not annoying," he reassured her.
"Are you sure?" She asked softly, repeating the question she felt like she'd asked a million times already. She wasn't quite sure what she was asking if he was sure about, but she was going to pretend it was solely the injuries. "It…honestly would."
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"I'm sure," Rhydar said just as softly, looking into her eyes to show her he meant it. He added a sprinkle of humor in the hopes that it would let her loosen up. "Knock yourself out."
It worked, somewhat, and Lily huffed a laugh, shaking her head. "If you're sure the only other place is your stomach, that's the only place I need to check. Just to make sure."
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"As I said," Rhydar said as he gestured to himself, "knock yourself out. I won't stop you." With her next to him, he felt a little better—emotionally, that is. He was less exhausted, and the blow to his self-esteem didn't hurt as much.
Lily released his hand, if a bit reluctantly. She bit her lip, motioning for him to move to face her. "Your…shirt?" She said, scrunching up her nose at her own awkwardness with something as simple as checking his injuries. She'd need him to lift his shirt though, and she figured he'd rather do that himself.
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He followed her instructions, turning to face her before reaching to peel off his shirt. Easier, in his opinion, to just take it off and let her get where she needed to see without the hassle of holding up the cloth. The movement caused him to wince some, and the growing bruises along his stomach and ribs looked a little nasty.
"Either that was way more than a few hits, or those guys were literal bricks." She murmured, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of the bruising. She reached out once his shirt was fully off, taking a deep breath to steel the churning in her gut, courtesy of the touch aversion that she was working on, and gently touched one of the larger bruises, to judge his reaction and whether or not there actually was nothing broken.
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"It may or may not be a combination of the two," Rhydar admitted sheepishly, biting his lip softly as he felt a slight twinge of pain—and his reaction to her touching him. He didn't mention it, however, and kept talking. "There were two of 'em. They were taller and bigger than me, which isn't hard to accomplish, but still. They called this masterpiece a warning." He lazily gestured to himself.
"A warning." Lily closed her eyes, taking in another deep breath. "Then I'd call you lucky. The men I've known to give 'warnings' were never quite as kind with them." A small slip, a hint towards everything she tried to keep tightly wrapped and buried deep in her mind. She moved her hand along the bruises, pressing gently to feel for anything too concerning.
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Rhydar winced when she pressed on the one over his ribs, but the others were just slightly painful. He didn't acknowledge it, though, as he turned over her words. He doubted she had meant to give him that sliver of an offering, but he was going to take it anyway. "Lily…" he said softly, slowly, as his eyes darted around her face. He didn't know if he should ask or not. He had never asked before, but he couldn't stand the thoughts running through his mind about what had been done to his sweet Lily. "What did they do to you?"
The words were out before he knew it.
Lily blinked, keeping her gaze on the bruises. "Possible fracture or two." She murmured, apparently not planning on answering. She was mulling over his question though, and what all she was willing to give. "A lot of things." Her voice was quiet, quiet enough that even right there, anyone would have issues picking it up.
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He kept his mouth shut, taking the hint that she didn't want to talk about it. He couldn't make out most of her words, but he had read her lips. A lot of things. That didn't help ease his heart, but it wasn't his secret to pry into. So he stayed silent, letting Lily do her thing.
She bit her lip, withdrawing her hand after a moment. "For eight years, I belonged to anyone but myself." That was about the extent of what she could get out, evident by her fingers digging into her wrist. "I think my abilities only heal plants, I've never tried on a human. I'm sorry." A plea for a subject change, at least until she wasn't worried about his injuries on top of her own issues.
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He nodded in acknowledgment of her first admission, then rubbed at his sore jaw. "It's alright. I know pretty much all of our healers by name at this point, I go there so often. Man, those two packed one helluva punch." He made a noise in the back of his throat, then dug into his pocket. He brought out a gorgeous ruby necklace that had five real gems on the golden chain. A matching ring sat in his palm. "But at least I got something out of it."
"More treasure for that collection of yours." She said with a nod, leaning against the back of the bench. The relief at his willingness to accept that as an answer, and how easily he'd allowed her to change the subject, was almost overwhelming, and showed in her eyes. "At least you got something out of that, however worrying the situation is."
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He shook his head and eyed the jewelry. "The papers said these beauts belonged to a Ms. Nia Tudor." He cast a glance Lily's way as he turned around again and leaned against the bench as well. "That strikes me as something odd, considering the mansion belonged to an unmarried, childless merchant by the name of Nour Gaber."
