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“What’s the matter? I thought you knew all about wounds?” I said.
“Not all, but quite a bit.”
“Then what is it? I’m certain a young soldier like you has seen plenty of women’s legs before.”
He cleared his throat. Then he finally leaned over, his face hovering close to mine.
Brows drawn together, he looked at my wound from all angles, then he swiftly turned around and walked back to his horse.
“It’s not very deep and is already healing. But a little moss won’t hurt. A little sunshine would do those snow-white legs good, too.”
“Excuse me?” I huffed as I quickly hid my leg under my skirt again.
“Everybody knows the sun is healthy. Not too much, of course, but a bit would do you good.”
I heard my own teeth grind in my ears. Who did this man think he was?
“How dare you! You were granted the honor to be the only person besides my maids to have ever laid eyes on my leg, and that is all you have to say?”
Surprised, he looked at me. “What else did you want me to say?”
Yes, good question. What elsedidI want him to say? I had no idea, but to just brush this incident off as if my exposed legs were nothing angered me, to say the least. It made me feel unimportant. Just like it had when he’d turned down my father’s offer of my hand. Which, now that I thought about it, may have simply been a ruse, a part of their scheme all along.
I almost asked but stopped myself before I could. If it had been a real offer, and Alrick had turned it down, it would anger me even more to hear him confirm it.
“N-nothing,” I said, looking away.
His gaze lingered on me, then he turned to see Henrike returning with her hands full of moss.
“Well, let’s do her first, then you, shall we?” she said.
Both Alrick and I nodded as Henrike dismounted. She kneeled right in front of me and pulled my skirt all the way up to the wound.
“Not that I like you any better,” she said quietly so only I could hear, “but...thank you. I was worried about his wound. He’s so stubborn.”
Her blue eyes found mine. They looked soft for the first time. I nodded, then watched curiously as she placed the moss onto my wound, then grabbed the bottom of my silk dress to tear some fabric off.
“What are you doing? This dress was designed by Hutdubinli Dinglindong,” I barked at her.
Henrike laughed. “Hutdubinli Dinglindong? There can’t possibly be a seamstress with a name that ridiculous.”
“There isn’t. Hutdubinli Dinglindong is a man.”
We both looked at each other. This time, I was the first to break out into laughter. Now that I thought of it, it was indeed the most absurd name I’d ever heard.
“His name doesn’t do his dresses justice,” I chuckled.
Henrike coughed from her own laughter. “Well, I hope he doesn’t mind if I take a bit more for Alrick.” She tore another piece off my skirt’s bottom, this one even longer. At this point, I didn’t care.
“Not at all. He was paid his outrageous fees in full for this dress. And gold is all he cares about.”
Just like myself, I almost added as a joke but was able to hold that one back. It was too close to the truth to be funny. In Henrike’s eyes, that’s all I was. A spoiled, selfish woman hungry for riches. And looking back, it certainly seemed that way. But something strange was happening to me. I was starting to care about others. From the beggars on the side of the road to Henrike and Alrick. Even if they had lied to me, I still cared for them, which was more than my old self, the famous Night Queen, could say. As the Night Queen, I had hidden my feelings and emotions behind a protective wall. And rightfully so. It was terrifying to care. It made me vulnerable. Yet, it also made me feel alive again, as if I had woken up from a long, deep sleep.
“In that case, can I take a bit more of your dress, then?” Henrike asked. “I didn’t want to say anything, but I have a scratch on my arm, and my dress barely covers my knees to begin with. These Southern farmer dresses are ridiculous, not much left to tear off for wounds.”
I smiled at her. “Have at it. I’m not planning on attending a ball tonight, and it will make riding easier, anyway.”
Henrike smiled back at me.
“Not that I dislike you any less,” I added jokingly.
“Splendid,” she said and winked at me. “The feeling is mutual.”
