Eirin

Lord Hawthorn stared down at the girl lying face down on the floor. Where was all the blood coming from? He hadn't done anything to her head, had he? He ordered the still whimpering maid to get Jonathan so he could find out what had happened. He then went to pick her up and set her gently on her bed. The girl cried out at the movement, but otherwise made very little movement.

Jonathan arrived as he was undressing the girl on her small cot, and he found himself covering her up with her thin sheet.

What was he doing? Jonathan has seen everything the girl has, he watched her punishment

. Lord Hawthorn shook his head at his own silliness and sent the maid to get hot water and rags, as an afterthought he requested she also fetch the healer from the village. After the maid had left Lord Hawthorn turned to the servant with a deadly look in his eye. "What did you do to her? I ordered you to simply bring her up here."

Jonathan looked fearfully at his employer. Lord Hawthorn was a very fair employer, but he was notorious for his temper, and more than one servant had left with more than their tails tucked between their legs. "No m'lord, I swear, I didn't touch the girl, I left 'er here exactly like you said. She didn't look nothin' like that when I left."

Knowing that Jonathan was not one to lie even when he knew he had been wrong, he believed him. However, that still left the problem of her current condition. "Did you throw her down in here? Or maybe accidentally hit her head on something?" Lord Hawthorn was looking for any reason for why she would be as injured as she was.

"No m'lord, I left 'er at the door, and shut it on my way out and locked it, just like you tol' me," Jonathan was now becoming upset. Lord Hawthorn's eyes were turning even darker.

Lord Hawthorn took an opportunity to look around the room and saw the shelf above where she had fallen. It was too much for him to take in. How could he be so stupid? He knew Jonathan was less than intelligent, and would only have followed his instructions. He had been so upset with the girl, he hadn't even told him to give her lamp for her room.

If he had been less upset to begin with, he wouldn't have told him to lock her in there, so that she would have been able to open her door and let light in. Though he had never kept anyone in this room, he knew it had no windows and was beyond cramped. He sighed and dismissed his servant, it would do him no good to chastise him, he had followed his instructions to the letter.

Lord Hawthorn turned back to the girl and finished undressing her. She would have to be cleaned up and would probably require stitches. What a mess. Finally the maid arrived with the water and rags. She informed him that the healer would be on her way, but it would take time as a woman from the village was coming to the end of her labor, and the healer couldn't leave her. Lord Hawthorn figured this was typical of how his day was going. He sent the girl back after thread and a needle. He would just have to stitch her himself. While much of this situation was her fault, it certainly wasn't her fault that Jonathan was slow.

Lord Hawthorn began cleaning the girl up, and was shocked at the amount of blood coming from her nether regions. He couldn't have hurt her that much. She had been dry and tight, but he hadn't felt her maidenhead, indeed, he hadn't expected to, so it didn't make any sense. Finally his cloth came away with no new blood and he turn towards her head. She hadn't even twitched when he was cleaning up her thighs and pussy, but he would have to stitch her head, and that would hurt more.

Would she wake up? He called once again for Jonathan to hold her down while he stitched her head. He wouldn't know what to give her for the pain anyway. He knew how to do some emergency doctoring from being in battles, but those were soldiers, and more stoic in the face of pain.

Once Jonathan and the maid had reappeared, he had the bigger man hold down the small girl in front of him. This time he was careful to tell him to hold her gently but firmly. There was no point in causing the girl even more injury. With the first prick of the needle the girl woke up. She immediately began to scream and writhe at the pain. Lord Hawthorn was harsh in his reprimand of her. He grabbed her shoulders and said harshly into her face, "If you want this wound stitched you will not move around, for the more you do, the more it will hurt."

Eirin looked up into dark face of Lord Hawthorn and then rolled her eyes up to once again see the big man holding her down.

This man wouldn't even let her heal before he was going to take her again? What kind of hell had she been deposited in?

She silently closed her eyes and cried. Lord Hawthorn saw her tears leaking out of her now closed eyes, but she was no longer moving about. He was already insecure about his stitching abilities; he didn't need to fight her to do it.

He quickly put three stitches in her forehead. Each time he stuck the needle through her skin she winced, but she didn't scream again, and she didn't jerk. He looked at his work, and was less than satisfied, they looked crude and sloppy, but it was the best he could do.

He asked the maid if they had anything to give her for the pain or infection. The maid hurried off to retrieve a poultice she knew should work. He then sent Jonathan off for some brandy, maybe it would help her sleep. The girl still had not moved, nor had she even opened her eyes. He looked down at her wondering if she had finally fainted, but there were still tears pouring down the sides of her face. He dipped the rag back into the hot water and gently washed her face again and began to speak to her in a more gentle voice. "I am sorry for being harsh with you, but it appears you hit your head on a shelf, and the wound had to be stitched, the healer is with a woman in labor, and could not come, there was nothing else I could do."

The girl still did not open her eyes, and he wondered what she was thinking. He admired the way she had been able to hold still once she had calmed down, but surely now she should be opening her eyes and a thank you wouldn't be remiss here. It's not like

he'd

hit her head. He sighed at her, becoming impatient with her continued stillness and silence, "Please open your eyes, I need to know how much pain you are in, or if you hurt anywhere else."

She opened her eyes, but did not respond. He could see the pain in her eyes, there were lines around them from the effort it took her to hold herself still. "I have ordered a poultice for you, and some brandy to help you sleep."

She still did not respond to him, merely turned on her side away from him and curled into a ball. She had no idea what to say to him, she was in more pain than she had ever been in her entire life, and he was the cause of that pain. She heard the two servants reappear and he laid his hand on her shoulder. She jerked, she couldn't help it, if he hit her, or hurt her again, she would go crazy, she was sure of it. There was only so much she could take, and she had reached her limit. Lord Hawthorn felt her flinch, but didn't let go, he gently turned her back onto her back. Her eyes were closed once again.

"I need to lift you up, so you can drink this. I will try not to hurt you, but I will need your cooperation." She opened her eyes once again, and tried to lift herself into a sitting position. Before she could repress it, a groan escaped from her throat, her head was beginning to throb to the point that felt it would explode; she fell once again back to the bed. She felt him slide his arm under her neck squeezed her eyes tight to prevent another groan from slipping out again.

"Shh, I know it hurts, but this will help," Lord Hawthorn lifted her upper body barely off the bed and held a cup to her lips. She tried to turn her head away from the burning smell of the liquid, but he followed her movements and held the cup to her lips once again. "I know you don't want to, but you need to drink this, it really will help you feel better." He got her lips to part and poured a miniscule amount of liquid into her mouth. She felt the liquid fall down and burn her throat and started coughing, with the first cough she jerked from the lord's arms and fell back on her side, pulling legs back up to her chest, and trying to hold her head with both of her hands.

Lord Hawthorn took hold of her upper body once again, and this time turned her into the crook of his arm resting her against his own chest so she would not choke again. He once again held the cup to her lips and slowly tipped the liquid back into her mouth. He was glad to see that this time she was swallowing. She tried to turn her head from him, and he saw her face scrunch up against the taste of the brandy. He chuckled, but forced her to take another swallow, "I know you do not like it, but I swear it will help." Once she had taken the entire drink he laid her back down on her bed and applied the poultice to her head.

He then dismissed the servants and moved to cover her up. As he was straightening up her top cover, he noticed the bruises now starting to appear on her knees and upper arms. He supposed she had fallen at some time. Whether it had occurred when she had hit her head or before, he wasn't sure, but there was nothing he could do about them now, they would heal.

He looked at her fully for the first time since her arrival. She looked horrible, blood was matted in her hair from the wound on her forehead and she was covered in bruises. She was so tiny, he guessed her height to be just under five feet. She had finally fallen asleep and her face was no longer pinched tight with pain. He found himself staring down at her thinking that even through the bruises on her knees, thighs, arms and breast, she was beautiful. Her skin was not pure white as he had expected, but had a slight tan to it, as if she spent time out of doors. How odd for a lady expecting to marry a lord. Very few lords would find her less than snow white skin appealing, but he was drawn to it.

He reached down and gently circled the bite mark he had left around her nipple, and watched as the nipple pulled in on itself and started sticking up. It was a beautiful, dark cherry color, and he found himself wishing he could take it in his mouth and suckle. It was at that moment that Eirin thrashed her head and groaned with pain. Lord Hawthorn quickly withdrew his hand and covered her up, if he looked at her much longer, he would take her again, and she was in no shape for that right now. He stood back up and left her room, leaving the lamp for her should she awake again.

Lord Hawthorn made his way back down to his study, hoping that work would relieve him of the hardness that had formed in his groin when he was staring down at the tiny young girl in his room.

Eirin was dreaming, she couldn't make sense of it. There was a terrible, dark cloud screaming at her and surrounding her; she was trying to hold on, but couldn't find anything substantial enough to hold onto. She felt herself tripping in the horrible wind, she had to find shelter.

Looking around she saw only shadows, everything was menacing, she needed to find some place to hide from the cloud, but where. She had never been here before, and didn't know her way around. Suddenly she heard the cloud scream at her again, and began to run, she had to hide, she had to find some place it couldn't find her. The cloud was getting closer, and beginning to take a shape, she chanced a look behind her and saw the cloud reaching out to her with what looked to be an arm. It was catching up with her, she tried to run faster, but her side hurt from the exertion and her legs were turning to jelly.

It would reach her any minute now, she tried to force another burst of energy through her worn out body, but it was too late, she felt the cloud grab her arm and jerk her back. It was solid, and holding on to her tightly, crushing her ribs, and making her already labored breath even more strained, she screamed and felt herself being lifted away from the ground.

Eirin awoke in the arms of the lord of the castle, he had his arms clamped around chest, pinning her own arms to her sides. He was also stepping quickly trying to avoid her flailing feet, and she could hear screams in the room. She looked around trying to find out where they were coming from, when she realized she was the one screaming. The events of the day came back to her in a rush, meeting this lord, him taking her, the pain in her head……The pain, it was excruciating, she tried to reach up to take hold of her head, but her arms wouldn't move far enough, she was trapped.

She willed herself to be still, the last time she had fought him he had taken her, oh lord, please let her not have kicked him while she was still dreaming, if he took her again, she wouldn't be able to stand it. She felt him move backwards, and as he set her on her feet again she started to fall limply to the ground. He caught her under her legs and around her back, lifting her easily into his arms. She looked up at him as he turned towards the bed, but his expression was one more of concern rather than annoyance.

She tried to think of what was happening; did he come to take her again? Had she fought him in her sleep? He laid her down, and the cool sheets upon the cot reminded her that she was not wearing any clothes, she looked down at herself, but quickly looked back up when she saw the bruise on her breast, she did not want to see the damage or be reminded of what had occurred here today.

Lord Hawthorn saw Eirin look away from herself as he pulled the sheet up to cover her. He had also seen the revulsion and pain in her eyes. He had come in when he heard thrashing in the room when he had come up for bed. By the time he had arrived she was already crawling on the floor towards the writing table. He had had to grab her quickly before she once again hit her head this time on the leg of the table. He'd felt her tense as he'd grabbed her around her ribs, and she had begun flailing her legs. One thing was for sure, this girl was a fighter, no matter how small she was. He was trying to both avoid her feet as she kicked, and get her back to her bed, if she continued to thrash around like this she would start bleeding again.

As he felt her relax, he tried to set her back on her feet, but she immediately started falling towards the floor. He swooped down and picked her up to keep her from hurting herself further by falling to the floor. He saw the trepidation in her eyes as he laid her back onto her bed once again. He took a quick inventory before he pulled the sheet up over her. She was not ready for a more thorough check of her condition. She was still breathing heavily and her knuckles had turned white where she has holding the sheet up to her chin.

Lord Hawthorn waited patiently for her to ask a question, but she just looked at him. Her eyes were such a light brown they were almost yellow. He expected to see fear there, but instead all he saw was resignation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she then reopened them and he saw her mentally take control of herself has she removed the sheet from the top of her body and spread her legs. She turned her face from him, and he saw her clench her teeth and ball her hands into fists at her side. He was taken aback. Did she expect him to take her again? He was no monster; he would not have taken her in the first place if she had not been so stubborn and fought him.

He looked down and sighed as he saw she had started bleeding again from between her legs. If she kept fighting, she would find herself even more injured than she already was. He was beginning to think she was a danger to herself. No wonder her father had not been able to control her.

Eirin heard him sigh and braced herself for the pain she knew was coming. She hoped that if she didn't fight him this time, he wouldn't hurt her. She wasn't prepared for the cold brush of a cloth she felt on her most private parts. She held her eyes even more tightly closed and tensed her thighs for the assault to come.

Lord Hawthorn was annoyed now. He had done nothing to her but save her from her own delusions, and she was acting as if he had hit her. He threw the cloth back into the cold water, pulled the sheet back over her now goose-pimpled body and told her to look at him.

Eirin turned her head towards the lord and opened her eyes. He was angry; she could see it in the dark storm clouds of his eyes. She wasn't sure what she had done to deserve his anger this time. She couldn't seem to please him, when she fought him, he took her, when she submitted, he was harsh with her. How would she ever learn to survive here?

The lord closed his own eyes and she saw him take a deep breath in order to steady himself, he then reached around and took the chair from the writing table, and set it next to her bed. He sat down wearily and ran a hand through his black hair. When he looked at her again, he was no longer scowling and his eyes were more of a light grey color; she felt herself relax just a bit.

"I am not going to take you again, Eirin. You are injured from our previous experience together. The healer stopped by earlier and said that you would take at least a week to heal. Until that time, you may not lie with anyone. When I arrived in my room tonight, you were on the floor crawling towards the desk, I had to stop you before you hit your head again, I am sorry if I hurt you." He waited for her to reply but she didn't, just stared at him with her light brown eyes as if she didn't understand him.

"Are you in pain again? The healer left a tea to give you when you woke up to ease your muscles." He saw her thinking to herself and she nodded her head. At least it was a response. He reached behind him for the potion the healer had left and poured her a small cupful. He started to reach for her to help her sit up, but she scrambled away from him, and sat up herself, propping herself in the corner where her bed was tucked. Lord Hawthorn repressed a sigh and held the cup out to her.

She took the cup in one hand and continued to hold the sheet up to her chin with the other. She drank slowly, with small sips, wrinkling her nose at the smell. "Do you need food? I have some cold meat and cheese if you would like." She handed him back the cup and shook her head. She curled against the wall on her side again and pulled her knees back up to her chest, she was hurting deep inside, and it was competing with the pain in her head. She wished he would leave her so she could cry without him witnessing it. She kept staring at him, but her vision was growing fuzzy, and she felt herself slipping into darkness.

Lord Hawthorn watched as she lost consciousness. The healer had said it would help her sleep so she could heal. She had left enough for the week, because she was leaving to visit another village in the morning. Once Eirin had fallen fully asleep he reached over to reposition her on the bed so she was lying down. She turned towards him has he moved her, and laid her hand upon his arm. He felt her fingers upon his arm and realized she was freezing. Why wouldn't she be? This room had no fireplace and she only had a sheet covering her.

She snuggled closer to him, and he could feel her warm breath along the hairs of his arm. He tried to pull free, but she held on tighter, and seemed to be trying to get her entire body onto just his arm. He knew he should leave her and get a blanket to keep her warm, but she looked so enticing with her head pillowed upon his forearm. He shifted her just bit towards the wall, and slipped under the thin sheet with her. Her skin was so smooth as he ran his other hand up and down her back. She kept nuzzling her face into his arm, and snuggling closer to his body until she was tucked up against his chest with her legs in between his.