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He paused, hand on the door. “And Idonea, tend to that wound. Get some rest.”
Lysander followed Alcaeus out the door. Idonea waited for the lock, but it never came.
Because he came back.
Chapter 19
Lysander filled the doorway. The fire had burned low enough to leave most of his face in shadow.
“You shouldn’t let it bleed,” he whispered.
She glanced down at her hand. The bandage was dark through. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does.”
He crossed the room with soundless but certain steps, and she stilled. When he reached her, he took her wrist in both hands. Gently, but firm enough that she couldn't pull away.
“Sit.” The word wasn’t an order, but she obeyed. The chair creaked beneath her weight.
He knelt before her, fingers deft as he unwound the soaked bandage, and the smell of blood thickened between them. The cut on her palm was deep, crimson welling again as the linen peeled away.
Lysander frowned, drawing a clean cloth from his belt. He didn’t ask permission before cleaning it. The water stung, hot against torn skin.
She hissed, flinching, causing him to still. “I know,” he murmured.
“You’ve done this before,” she said.
“Enough times.”
He bound her palm again, slower this time, tighter. His touch was steady.
When he reached her forearm, where the older cut still leaked faintly, he hesitated. “This one, too.”
“It’s fine,” she said.
He looked up. “It isn’t.”
Something tightened low in her chest when he looked at her like that.
He wrapped it anyway, the bandage brushing the inside of her wrist where her pulse jumped against his knuckles.
She swallowed hard. “I don’t need you to—”
“I know,” he said. “But I’m doing it.”
He tied the last knot neatly, then sat back on his heels. The fire crackled.
“You’re still cold,” he said at last.
“I’ll manage.”
He reached up, brushing his thumb along the edge of her sleeve, testing the warmth. “You shouldn’t have to.”
Idonea looked away immediately. That sort of kindness always came with a price eventually.
He rose and crossed to the hearth, adding another log.
“Rest, Idonea,” he said without looking at her. “You need your strength.”
