Chapter 38: Out Of The Goodness Of Your Heart
SOPHIA
I woke up in a room I didn’t recognize. No, wait. It was a cabin. I was in a bed on one side. In the middle, a stone fireplace with a large, crackling fire. Table with chairs. Beyond that, a kitchen. It smelled like toasted cinnamon. Warm. Comforting.
The front door opened and a tall man stepped inside. He stomped his boots and shook off raindrops. Then he went to the fireplace and dropped a pile of wood next to it.
His clothing was that of a commoner. Boots, pants, shirt, a long coat, and ... oh, a mask?
It was a black half-mask that covered the top part of his face. I found myself squishing back against the wall and holding the thin blanket that covered me up to my chin.
"You’re safe," he said. "My name’s Max."
"Sophia."
"Nice to meet you, Sophia." He pulled a rickety chair out from the table, flipped it backwards, and sat down. He leaned against the chair’s backrest, his dark hair sparkling with raindrops. "I found you in the forest. You took quite a tumble down the hillside and hit your head on a rock."
I reached up and felt a bandage around my head. I touched the tender part behind my temple and grimaced.
"Not your first crack on your skull. Saw the healing wound when I was wrapping your head."
"Unfortunately, this is the second disaster I’ve survived in the last week or so."
"What was the first?"
"Apparently, an airship crash."
"Apparently?"
I shrugged, unwilling to share more information with this stranger.
Max seemed like someone without bad intentions. But despite his clothing that indicated he was a villager, his speech was more like a nobleman’s. His hands were too smooth, his nails too clean to belonged to someone in the working class.
Why would he cover his face?
He must’ve seen my gaze on the mask. He touched the top of it and said, "I have scars. It makes people uncomfortable, so I wear this."
I nodded in acknowledgement. Then I sat straight up. Oh, no! Hannah. The driver.
"My people! Where are they?"
"Your people?"
"The carriage driver. My house maid."
"You were in that carriage when the brace broke?"
"Yes. Wait. How did you know that?"
"I know about the carriage crash because people from Amaranth Manor were all over the place. Went and checked it out. Everyone else is okay. Even the horse is okay. But..."
"But what?"
"Seems it wasn’t an accident. Someone sabotaged your carriage. My guess is that they did enough damage for the wood to give away nearer to the cliffs. You would surely gone over them. But the storm slowed you down. The brace broke too early." He paused. "Do you have enemies?"
I sank against the wall. The blanket dropped from my limp hands. "I have no idea," I said. "I don’t know who would want to hurt me."
"Could be they wanted revenge on anyone from Amaranth Manor. Jace Willowmarch isn’t known for his kindness."
I looked up at him, and frowned. "What do you mean?"
"He’s a rat bastard," muttered the man. "I bet you’re hungry. Let’s get you something to eat."
***|***|***
SOPHIA
After a filling bowl of stew and bread, I felt better. I leaned back in the chair and rubbed my belly. "That’s the best thing I’ve eaten since I came back to Amaranth Manor. Thank you."
"Little pig," he said, chuckling. He reached over and brushed the side of my mouth. His thumb came away with sauce.
It was such an intimate contact, one only shared by those who were very familiar with each other, that I stared at him. My heart turned over in my chest, and then start pounding a mile a minute. Heat flushed my face.
He put his thumb into his mouth and licked it clean.
Then he smiled. Smiled. And ... and ... did I know him? Why was his brilliant, beautiful smile making my heart sing?
I felt the room spin, my head explode with pain. I cried out, clutching at my skull.
"Sophia! What’s wrong?" He left his chair so quickly, it screeched backwards and fell to the floor. He gripped my shoulders. "Are you all right?"
"You got cake crumbs on your mouth again, Soph." Little boy brushes my lips. Smiles. Brilliant. Beautiful. My heart tingles with joy.
"Why do you always share yours with me?"
"Because I want my little pig to eat well."
He holds out the final piece of the sweet, red cake, but I shake my head.
"You eat it, brother."
"Don’t be polite. You know you want this." He circles his hand in the air coming closer and closer to my face. "Open your mouth."
I do as he says and he gently places the cake between my lips.
I eat it, and then dance around. "Thank you, brother. You’re the best!"
"Still want to marry me?" he asks, grinning.
"Yes! I will only marry you."
***|***|***
SOPHIA
When I awoke, I felt like my eyes were glued shut. I was tired, so tired. And my head hurt so much. While I drifted in the twilight between sleep and awake, I heard voices.
"Don’t worry so much. The skull is designed to protect the brain. Even with the second injury, she’ll be fine."
Why did that sound like Dr. Rhine?
"Are you sure? She had such a bad headache."
Max’s voice.
"Have her take the pills I brought. They’ll work just as well as the tonic prescription I wrote for her. And use the salve on her wounds. They’ll heal a lot faster."
"What about her memory?"
"All in due time, dear boy. The brain has a great capacity for recovery. I believe Sophia will get her memories back."
"When?"
"Hard to say. I’m sorry. It could be three days, three months, three years. I think there are things her mind simple doesn’t want to remember. Some traumas run deep."
"She already lost her memories once before, as a child. She got really sick."
"Cardigill Ick. I know. I treated it in the Capital. Nasty stuff."
I couldn’t stay awake any longer, despite wanting to hear more of their conversation. I had questions. How did Max know about my childhood illness? I didn’t remember having the Cardigill Ick, but if the sickness took my memories as a child, it would be no wonder I had no memories of it.
The rest of my thoughts floated away.
And I sank into the deep quietude of sleep.
