25 - Infirmary

  “I cannot believe this is working,” Bran murmured under his breath.

  Garrick grunted, just as surprised. Luka - Garrick had largely given up on not using the name - had done surprisingly well on the walk here. Every twitch, every huff and fidget, caused them all to tense every time. Their nervous anticipation heightened especially when the monster would stumble, snapping at those hands which reached out to steady him. But a simple “behave” from Garrick was all it took to get him to stop. A far cry from the monster on the battlefield, whose eyes would burn behind the black mask as he rained destruction with his magic. Garrick could tell it unnerved the knights. Hell, it unnerved him. His fingers twitched towards his blade. His shoulders felt bare without the weight of his armor.

  But they made it without incident.

  “That’s the first step done,” Garrick said to Maeve as they watched Bran and Tamsin escort Luka to the back of the room.

  The chains rattled as they sat him down a stool. The healers hovered nearby, their knuckles white as they clutched their arms. Luka squirmed. He flinched, twitched, and fidgeted, good eye roving warily.

  “Now onto the second,” Maeve breathed.

  Garrick glanced down at her. Something in her voice sounded nervous.

  “What happened to all the confidence and insistence from before?” he asked, amused.

  “I wasn’t actually looking at him when I said it,” she admitted. “He’s…tall. I couldn’t tell before. He was always lying down or curled up in a corner. Maybe not as tall as you, you giant,” she teased, looking up at him. “But he’s as tall as me. And strong. He’s only getting stronger since we started feeding him properly, too.”

  “We’re right here,” Garrick told her, placing a hand on her back.

  Maeve nodded several times and took a deep breath.

  “Right.”

  She stepped forward as Bran and Tamsin stepped back. Luka’s eye locked on her hands. She held them up and smiled.

  “Hey, Luka! I’m going to look you over again. Just like before, okay?”

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  He huffed. The knights tensed, hands on weapons. But Maeve reached into a jar, pulled out five sugar fruits, and placed them within sight of the monster. He immediately stilled, eye now locked on them. When he didn’t move for several beats, everyone let out a breath.

  “Let’s do this carefully,” Maeve told the others.

  They got to work. Garrick barely registered the time passing, too intent as he was to watch the exchange. But it eased after a while. Maeve was the only one who touched him, the only one trusted enough to be near him. If anyone else moved too quickly or got too close, he’d growl or snarl. But Maeve would simply stop moving and pause just long enough to make sure he would settle before beginning again.

  “She’s good,” Garrick murmured to Bran.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “She’s got good instincts, too. Knows when she can push and when she should stand still.”

  “That she does, sir,” Bran agreed. “It comes from raising animals. The church back in our village raised their own flocks. Maeve had a good hand with them.”

  Garrick glanced at him. “Church?”

  Bran nodded. “Yes, sir. Same church where we were raised. Every time I looked at the geese funny, they’d squawk and peck, but she’d slap a beak or two and be just fine.”

  Garrick nodded quietly. For a moment, he simply watched as Maeve unbandaged another section of his arm, checked it over in the light, then murmured something to one of the healers who scratched a note in the parchment.

  “I didn’t know you two were raised by the church,” he said finally.

  Bran only shrugged. “Not that big of a deal. Lots of orphans in the army, sir. Hardly any other place to go. But you find family along the way.”

  “You know, she’s not technically part of the military. There would be no conflict of interest if you were to pursue a relationship with her,” Garrick said.

  Bran blushed and whispered, “Was I that obvious?”

  “I think the better question to ask is if you were that obvious to her. She’s no fool,” Garrick chuckled.

  “That she is not,” Bran agreed. “But…I don’t think it’d be all that welcome right now.”

  “Oh?” Garrick asked. “I’m sorry for assuming.”

  “Not at all, sir,” Bran said. “It’s just that…I think she’s mad at me. Not too long ago, I asked her to step down from the position of the monster’s healer. I was worried about her. But I couldn’t live with myself if I just watched her put herself in danger, you know? I put my foot in it.”

  Garrick shrugged. “I don’t see too much of a problem with that, actually. You were worried. You made your case. If she doesn’t listen, that’s her business.”

  Bran nodded. “I know. And that’s all I wanted - for her to be certain about it. But she hasn’t talked to me since.”

  Garrick looked at him sideways, attention momentarily taken off Luka. “And did you tell her that? That you respect her decision.”

  “I…no,” Bran said.

  “Young blood,” Garrick muttered. “Just talk to her again. She’s probably more ready to listen to you than you think.”

  Bran thought about that for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something -

  Crash!