Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
It’s time for me to do something.
The way I see it, there are two routes to my recovery. I can lie here, useless, and hope that my leg works properly after I have slowly healed, or I can test it now. If it can support my weight, we go to the flotilla sooner rather than later. I see the healer there. I marry Vali in front of my parents so she no longer questions me. I return home with a happy, eager wife.
I like that version of events much more than the other.
So I sit up and curl the toes on my bad leg, testing things. Pain lances through me, but all my toes obey—some more than others. It’s a good thing, though. I try to push off the floor as normal and am unable to do so, however. I glance over at Vali. “Help me up?”
“Wait? What? No!” My pretty little wife scrambles to her feet, tossing aside her sewing. She races to my side, an intense frown on her face. “Lie back down! You’ll hurt yourself.”
“I’ve lain down long enough. I want to test my leg.”
“Ranan, no.”
“Valessa, yes.” I hold a hand up to her. “Are you going to help me or are you going to sit and watch me do this on my own?”
She scowls, but holds out her hand. “You’re a stubborn bastard. If you bust the stitches, I’m going to be incredibly pissed at you.”
If I bust the stitches, it’ll make the choice easy at least. I’ll have no recourse but to lie on my back, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the sea dragon that even now lurks far too close to my territory. I haven’t told Vali about it yet because I don’t want her to panic. Truth is, once I’ve recovered, we’re leaving this place. If the waters here aren’t safe enough for a sea-ogre, they’re certainly not going to be safe enough for a delicate human female who can barely swim in a shallow puddle.
I take Vali’s hand and she braces her feet wide apart. Even though I’m twice her weight, having her to balance myself against helps and I’m able to heft myself to my feet. I keep my weight off my bad leg and gingerly test putting my toes down on the stone floor of the cavern.
“The stitches look like they’re holding so far.” She sounds proud.
“Aye, they seem to be.” I put more weight on my leg, and crushing pain flares through me. I force myself to continue to press my foot to the ground, testing how long I can put any weight on it.
“How did that happen anyhow?” Vali asks. “Was it a trap of some kind? A shark?”
“Big shark,” I agree, since it sounds less fearsome than a sea dragon. “I wandered too close into his territory.”
“Lord Vor is sending you a message,” my wife tells me. “He wants you to keep close to me, obviously, since he’s the one that brought us together.”
I eye her. Is she teasing or does she truly think that? “I doubt the gods care that much.”
“Yes, well, you can think that all you like. All I know is that I promised Lord Vor a fish and I haven’t given it to him yet. I don’t want to face his wrath for not fulfilling my side of the bargain.”
She does have a point. “Lord Vor will understand that you haven’t had a chance to honor his wishes yet.”
“You hope.”
“Aye, I hope,” I chuckle. “But the good news is that I can stand upon my leg.”
“Now who’s the liar?” Vali asks, voice tart. She takes a step back from me and I wobble. “A stiff breeze could knock you over, husband.”
She’s not wrong, yet I’m still encouraged. “It will get stronger every day,” I reassure her. “I simply need to exercise it.”
Vali looks unconvinced. She drops to her knees in front of me, pulling aside the bandages so she can inspect the stitches. “Everything still looks pretty bad. I worry I’ve stitched it wrong. Or what if there aren’t enough stitches to keep everything together?” Her fingers move lightly over my flesh and I hiss in pain. She draws back and eyes me, clearly worried. “Perhaps I should find the nearest town and pay the healer to come out here.”
“There are no towns near here. That’s the point.” The thought of Vali venturing off into the human lands alone terrifies me. I remember how those men on the shore treated her. “And I don’t want a human healer. I have you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You know what I meant.” I reach down and lightly touch her ear. “You have saved me. You know I am thankful.”
She gazes up at me, smiling, and her mouth is so inviting and pretty that I graze my thumb over it. My cocks respond when she blushes, but another jolt of pain shoots up my leg and puts an end to any amorous thoughts.