Tigger warning: this chapter mentions rape. Nothing graphic, but fair warning!
Aida
“Can you tell me your name?”
The young man was staring at her. He blinked at her, and didn’t speak. Aida silently cursed again.
This guy must have been in worse shape than she realized, Aida thought. Usually her magic left her patients completely healed and back to normal in a matter of a few hours. This guy, however, had been asleep for almost a full day. And he was STILL pretty out of it from the looks of things.
She squinted at his face as she asked his name, trying to see if his eyes were focusing correctly. She hadn’t been kidding when she told him she had had a hell of a time putting his head back together. There had been some pretty severe damage to his skull, and it had taken a lot of hard and delicate work to get the swelling and injuries his brain had suffered resolved. Hopefully she hadn’t missed anything.
Just as she was starting to think she’d have to go back in again, he answered.
“Toma”
His voice was rough and hoarse, which seemed to surprise him. Aida, on the other hand, wasn’t the least surprised. She had seen the rope burns on his neck as she had cleaned off the blood. Someone had taken great pleasure in choking him. Repeatedly. He frowned and cleared his throat.
“I’m…Toma”
Aida picked up the small dish of water she had collected at the window of the cell, and held it to his lips. “Try drinking something” she said softly. “Who knows how long it has been since you’ve had anything.” Toma hesitated for a moment, then obediently took a sip, never taking his eyes from her face.
“Not too much now,” Aida cautioned him, taking the dish away. “You need to take it easy, remember?”
Toma swallowed, then took a breath.
“Who… are… you?” he asked, haltingly.
“I’m Aida. The person who saved your ass. Not that it will probably make a lot of difference, considering.” She gestured around the small cell.
Toma blinked again, and seemed to recognize where their surroundings for the first time.
“Where… are we…, exactly?” he croaked
Aida laughed “Isn’t it obvious? The finest accommodations Magnus the Jackel can provide.”
Toma seemed to consider this for a minute, and then his eyes grew very wide.
“I…remember… I got caught… sneaking into the kitchen, maybe? The guards grabbed me and…” he stopped and shuddered.
“Good!” Aida said, trying to sound encouraging. “You don’t have to think about the bad stuff. I’m just glad to hear you are starting to remember. That means the healing magic worked. I was starting to worry a little bit. I haven’t seen someone in such bad shape in a very long time.”
Then Toma looked at Aida a little strangely. “I…think I remember…you. Did you…maybe…kiss me?”
Despite herself, Aida could feel her cheeks flush. He could barely remember his name, but he WOULD remember that part. She nodded and tried to keep her voice calm. “That’s how my magic works. In cases like yours, at least, it’s the easiest way. I mean, it’s kind of a sledgehammer, but you were so bad off I didn’t really have much choice.”
She knew she was starting to ramble a little, and she was horrified, but she really couldn’t stop herself.
“I’m a wild mage. While most healers have to learn spells if they want to use magic, I don’t. My body just sort of does it on its own. All I ever had to learn was how to control it and apply it properly. For severe cases like yours, I can release a great deal of healing magic all at once through intimate contact like a kiss…”
She trailed off, and looked at Toma, who blinked again but said nothing. Can the idiot quit doing that??
“That’s why I’m here. Magnus knows I’m a healer, and that I’m an unusual one. He’s trying to figure out what I can do and how I do it. That’s probably why he threw you in here with me. He knew I wouldn’t be able to watch you die. He wanted to see what I’d do. Once he figures it out, he’ll probably try to… use me… for himself.” It was Aida’s turn to shudder
Toma’s face got a shade darker. “Use you?” he repeated. “You mean, he’ll…”
Aida could feel the flush again. “My magic is strongest through intimate contact.” she repeated.
If Toma’s features had darkened before, now they were downright frightening. “The hell he will.” he spat. “He used me to get you to show him. And now that you have, he’s going to…” he trailed off and looked at Aida with a ferocious intensity that made her shiver. “That bastard isn’t going to lay one slimy finger on you, I promise.”
To Aida’s horror, Toma started to struggle to stand up. “Are you insane?” she whispered, shoving him back down by the shoulders “You could barely sit up just now. If you try to stand, you’re going to fall flat on your face. And I’m not putting you back together again if that happens!”
Toma glared at her. “I have to get you out of here.”
She rolled her eyes. Idiot. “You can’t stand up, you moron. How do you propose to ‘get me’ anywhere? I’m sure as hell not carrying you. So rest, get your strength back, and THEN you can be my knight in shining armor if you are so inclined.”
He grumbled darkly, but he stopped struggling and condescended to allow her to give him some more water and a bite of the crust of bread the guards had delivered that morning. By the time he finished eating, exhaustion had returned and he was asleep again in a matter of moments.
Aida smiled to herself as she watched him sleep.
Heroes were all alike.
Stupid.
Toma
When Toma woke next it was pitch dark in the cell. The tiny window in the far wall had been allowing a dim light into the room earlier, but now that was gone. From that, Toma inferred that it was night. Looking around, he spied Aida curled up in a haphazard pile of hay and fabric on the other side of the cell with her back towards him.
Mostly to see if he could do it, he stood up and made his way to her side. Although he was a little wobbly, he felt a surge of rebellious pride when he successfully made it to her side. Take that, you overbearing wench he thought triumphantly, doing his best to ignore the slight tremor in his knees as he sat beside her.
Her dark hair had escaped the ornate wooden clip that normally held it and was falling over her closed eyes. Her chest rose and fell in a soft rhythm that confirmed she was deeply asleep. She really was hauntingly beautiful. When he first woke, he had been nearly convinced he was speaking to a spirit instead of a woman of flesh and blood. Even now, he wasn’t entirely sure he had been wrong. Despite the darkness in the room, her skin seemed to give off a soft, almost iridescent glow all on its own. His hands itched to touch her, to discover how smooth and warm her skin would surely be. He allowed himself a short fantasy about what else he might discover if he looked, then he shook his head and scolded himself.
Careful, Toma. You’re the good guy here, remember? You promised yourself you’d get her out of here and keep her safe. It’ll be pretty hard to do that if she kills you for molesting her in her sleep.
He couldn’t entirely stop himself. So he carefully reached forward and brushed the hair from her face.
Spirit of not, he had resolved that he was absolutely not letting her out of his sight until he knew she was safe. Toma knew Magnus’ reputation very well, and knew exactly how he treated women who were unlucky enough to have come into his control. Aida had said “intimate contact” was required for her power to work in severe cases. They both knew that as soon as Magnus figured that out, he wasn’t going to stop at a simple kiss. The idea of Aida being raped by that asshole filled Toma with a blinding rage.
He told himself that the rage came from the thought that he had been used to bait her into revealing her secret, not from any growing feelings he might be harboring toward her. And certainly not from the idea that Toma wanted to be the only man to…
Nope, don’t even finish that thought.
Thankfully for him, he didn’t have a chance to mull over much more, because Aida suddenly turned over, yawned and opened her eyes.
“’Morning, sunshine. Sleep well?” Toma said with a cocky grin.
To her credit, Aida managed to more or less stifle her shriek as she shot bolt upright. Once she collected herself, she glared at Toma. “How long have you been sitting there staring at me, you creepy jerk?!?” she hissed at him.
“Hey, calm down.” Toma laughed “I didn’t do anything weird, I promise. I just woke up, and I wanted to see if I could get myself over here without help. I walked all the way here, without even needing to lean on the wall or anything.” He batted his eyelashes in an exaggeratedly feminine flirt “So, are you proud of me?”
Aida pursed her lips for an instant, then snickered despite herself.
“You are certainly something else, hero boy.” She said with a sigh. “I’m glad to see you are feeling more like yourself. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. I’ve never seen anyone respond quite like you did to my powers before. You took much longer to bounce back than usual.”
Toma nodded. “That’s probably because of my magic. For some reason, healing always works a little slower on me.”
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