Sionnach (closed)

[heartofcourage]

"You wanted something to tip the scales, and I did that. I turned nearly a dozen riders from his side to ours." Fiona said, slowly pushing herself to sit upright.

One arm hid her bare breasts from view, the other held her upright as Sam raged and stared at her with a mixture of hurt and betrayal. She let out a long, tired sigh as she looked Sam in the eye and knew there was little she could do to explain to him why she had done what she had done.

"You would have been distracted if I had let them tell you and you need to focus right now. I'm alive, I'll heal, it's done." Fiona said as if what had happened to her didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. "Could you spare me the scolding until I don't feel death? I got shot in the back this morning and as much as I want to continue to be strong and act like it doesn't matter, I really just want my husband to hold me right now."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam stared down at her as she spoke, his green eyes blazing, until finally he pulled off his shirt and came to wrap it around her. Being far too big for her, it wouldn't bother the wound in her back. "C'mere, idiot," he grumbled as he lay down, letting her rest on top of him in a position that would keep her comfortable, carefully drawing a blanket up over them.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona finally let her head rest against his shoulder, tears wetting her lashes and dripping onto his bare skin. “He’s making weapons to take the dragons out of the sky and he’s testing them on those that are too old or weak to run and those that are too wild to understand what's happening to them.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam's hands came to rest on her upper back, kissing her cheek as his anger slowly faded. He knew she'd done the North a huge favor while risking as few lives as possible, and she'd learned terrible things about the empire in the process. He could offer no words of comfort or reassurance. They would have to take over Barbarossa's own territory to hope to stop such cruel acts against dragons.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I’m sorry I was too much of a coward to tell you what I was doing.” Fiona said softly, her tears still coming as Sam held her tightly. “I was afraid off you knew, you would have come after me. Invah nearly throttled me herself when she found out what I was planning.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"An' rightly so," Sam muttered. "You're no' doin' anythin' like tha' again. An' you're no' goin' back out into th'field fer a while. I'm putting you on scout an' messenger duty." He knew he couldn't stop Fiona from helping the war effort, but he could at least force her to take on an easier job for a while. "... I'm almost tempted t'make you take reports home as punishment," he added quietly, knowing that'd make her safe for a good week or so.

 

[heartofcourage]

“You won’t send me home, Sam. And you won’t keep me as a messenger for long.” Fiona commented. “You need menuo there and you know it.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"No' if you keep tryin' t'get yourself killed. You constantly badger me about flying an' fightin' from Gaiann's back, but yer th'one takin' risks an' gettin' hurt. I don' want t'hear any more about my bein' a Rider if you're gonna keep this up," he scolded. It had always bothered him, and he'd told her before, that she seemed to have a double-standard when it came to Sam riding dragons.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I tried to get Gaiann to keep you grounded today but he refused. Stubborn old man is a throne in my side sometimes.” Fiona muttered as Sam scolded her.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Tha's exactly what I'm talkin' about, Fiona. I'm no' a child who's gettin' into mischief. I'm a bloody general in a war. I need every resource at my disposal, an' I got past my fear o' flyin' months ago. I don' need you t'keep interfering with tha'. I love you, but goddamn, you jus' won' accept tha' I'm a Rider too." He sighed deeply, hugging her closer. "No one can push my buttons like you can."

 

[heartofcourage]

“You love me for it.” Fiona said softly as Sam held her tightly. “All I could think about after I got shot was how mad you were going to be. How angry you’d be if I died. How angry everyone would be if I died.”

Fiona turned her head into Sam’s throat and shivered at the thought that she really had almost died. A few moments later and she would have been a dead rider mourned by a whole host of people.

“I know I have to go back. I have to talk to the Wild ones and get them to safety.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"No. We'll figure somethin' else out, but you're no' goin' back anytime soon," Sam told her firmly. "Alex told me 'is expectations fer you, an' you're gonna follow 'em."

 

[heartofcourage]

“Alex snitched on me then.” Fiona grumbled as Sam declared that she was done for a while. “Then I suppose I will have to listen to what my king and husband has to say for a day or so. Then I can get back to causing mischief.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"If I catch you goin' against 'is orders, I'll bloody tie you up an' send you back t'Inverness in a wagon. Don't think I won't," he warned, shifting the blankets around them before closing his eyes to await sleep.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona could feel the anger still radiating off Sam as he ended the conversation and sat back for sleep. She was quiet for a long moment after that, feeling him tense beneath her. They had arguments in their marriage, perhaps more so than the average person, but in their line of work, there was strife and pressure that also ate at them.

“I’m sorry, Sam.” She said softly, reaching out to him in Erygonian as he had taught her. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Neither did I," he muttered, the Erygonian syllables coming to him naturally from over a decade of practice. He lifted a hand to her cheek, his eyes opening to look up at her once more. "We're already gonna lose so much in this war... It's selfish, I know. But don' take yourself away from me or our family. We've already lost three people we'll never recover from."

 

[heartofcourage]

“Would you stay with me tomorrow? I know I’m asking the impossible, but it would mean the world to me.” She said softly, knowing that asking her husband to stay with her in the middle of a war had a slim chance of success.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I still 'ave to work, love..." He sighed. "... I'll be here as much as I can, but I can' make promises what with what's goin' on out there."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona nodded, knowing that Sam would keep his word if at all possible. Sleep was elusive for her as the pain of her wound kept her up most of the evening. She tried her hardest not to wake Sam, knowing that he needed as much rest as possible. She tossed and turned, squirming until she finally gave up and moved to sit in a nearby chair. She was exhausted as Dawn broke, her blue eyes rimmed red with darkened hollows beneath them.

 

[KieranSoares]

When Sam woke, his gaze immediately scanned the tent til he found her, and he was a little quicker getting up than usual. He stepped over without a word, taking her face in his hands to study the dark circles. "I'll 'ave Alex send somethin' t'help you sleep," he murmured, carrying her back to the cot to sit her down. He took his time changing the bandage on her back, making sure to liberally apply the medicinal salve Alex had sent over. It numbed the pain a bit, but it couldn't get rid of the deep ache.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I don’t want to be drugged in case of attack.” Fiona said as he worked to tend to her wound, making her as comfortable as she possibly could be. “If I’m out of my mind, I can’t defend myself.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"You won' need to. Tha's why we 'ave camp sentries, an' Invah will be nearby." Sam helped her to get settled, kissing her forehead before he went to dress and put on his gear. "You need rest, no matter how stubborn you wanna be. If you collapse or 'ave complications, it'll jus' make th'healing time longer and make everything tougher. So don't argue with me."

 

[heartofcourage]

“You’re still mad at me?” Fiona asked as Sam continued to get dressed in his armor. “You’ve been mad before, yes, but not typically for this long.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"Of course I'm mad," Sam muttered. "You went into enemy territory alone on a slim chance an' nearly died tryin' t'get out. I don' jus' get over almos' losin' my wife overnight." He slung his bow and sword across his back and picked up his quiver and helm. "I'll check in often as I can... Don't do anythin' else stupid, fer God's sake." He came to her side to kiss her, showing his genuine affection despite his anger. "An' do as Alex says." He sighed, smoothing her hair back. "I love you "

 

[heartofcourage]

“I love you.” Fiona said softly, kissing Sam in return as he went to leave the tent.

As soon as he was gone she gingerly got out of bed and pulled on a pair of loose trousers. She didn’t have a lot of time before Alex came to give her medicine, so she had to work quickly. She went to the entrance of the tent and looked out, finding the coast clear. As she casually walked, she kept and eye out for guards that Adam might have tipped off. She had to talk to a dragon about a mission.