Lost Youth

She listened to his voice, letting his words sink in and calm her. She heard his instructions and nods a little. The pain of the cleaning of the wounds had drained her of energy and she felt exhausted.

She nods a little when he tells her what to do when she got out of the tub. It was hard to think about moving again. Laying her head on the side of the tub, she tried to relax again.

Her gaze looked to him, watching him. The look in his eyes, it made her uneasy, unsure.

She stayed in the tub for a few minutes longer before she moved to stand up. It was a struggle and she nearly fell but caught herself by gripping the tub.
 
Travis hauled himself out of the chair. He was feeling the affects of his long journey, every joint and muscle ached. He grabbed the second bath sheet and quickly wrapped her in it. With little effort, he lifted her from the tub. He patted her dry through the sheet, being as gentle and thorough as possible. He still didn't speak, just gave her a soft push towards the bed.
"You can sleep while I look after your back, if the pain isn't too bad," He said, his voice rough and a little hoarse.
 
She did as instructed and laid down on the bed. Her body did hurt and the pain stayed with her for a while.

"Sir.....are you mad?" She asks carefully. It was easy to tell that something bothered him but she couldn't figure it out. She was hoping she hadn't done anything to upset him.
 
Travis sighed, taking a moment to answer.
"Yes, but not at you. At your owners and, at myself," He finally said. He sat beside her, close to her hip, leaning across her back to pour a oily substance on his hands.
"This is going to sting," He said, "But it will clean everything bad from these." He made sure to coat every strip and mark well with the antiseptic liquid. He cleaned his hands on a rag and patted the excess from her back. He then smoothed the sweet smelling cream over her back. He paused there for a moment, then said quietly, "I'd like to wrap your back." He thought for a moment, then shrugged, "It might be best if you slept in one of my clean shirts." He fetched one for her.
"You can sleep now, I'll check all this in the morning, make sure it starts healing as it should."
 
She felt a little confused as he said he was mad at himself. How could he be mad at himself?

Looking over her shoulder she looked at him a little then nods at his words as she prepares for the pain. The stinging hurt horribly and she clenched the bed a little to keep from moving further.

Closing her eyes, she waited for him to be done. When he was, she moved very carefully to sit up.

Accepting the shirt from him, she touched his hand gently. "Don't be mad at yourself sir....you got me away from them....no one else has ever been strong enough, brave enough or cared enough to even try.....you did. " She says to him.
 
Traivs smiled a little, self recrimination still emanating from him,
"Thank you, but I still should have seen your pain over the last couple of days, should have helped you." He didn't mention the other reason he felt guilty, that he desired the pretty, scarred and damaged as she was, girl and he hated himself even more for it.
He laid his hand gently over hers, "Go to sleep, Lena, I'll be right here, if you need me."
He moved around to the other side on the bed and stretched out on the covers, tiredness overwhelming him again.
 
She gazes at him quietly a moment then nods softly. Laying back down very gently, she was careful not to move too quickly as she laid down.

The pain, it was starting to become a dull ache to her. Pain. She had come so used to it in her short life. She wanted to tell Travis that it wasn't his fault for not noticing her pain. She had learned to hide all pain from the brothers.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep after a little bit as she rests on her stomach on the bed. She barely took up that much room.

She slept for several hours this time, the nightmares were the usual for her.
 
Travis sleep well into the night and the next morning. If it wasn't for his regular breathing, he could have been dead. But, when he woke, for the first time in months, he felt well again. His muscles only barely twinged as he moved and would soon fade to something, building on themselves. He yawned and stretched, sliding off the bed and going to the tub to splash water over his face, clearing the sleep from his eyes. He moved to dress himself in his usual, casual fashion and looked to Lena, wondering if she was ready to buy herself some new things yet.
 
As he began to move around the room, she was woken up by it. Blinking tired ly, she opens her eyes and looks over to him a little then looks away.

Moving gently, she tried to sit up. A grimace left her along with a faint sound of pain. Her body was stiff but she managed to sit up enough on the bed.

"Morning.." she says softly, smiling a bit.
 
"Morning," Travis said, "How do you feel?"
He rubbed his face, "I thought we'd eat breakfast downstairs and then I can take you shopping."
Mentally, he was listing through all the things he needed to continue the journey, as well as what she would need, he muttered quietly as he compiled a list,
"Clothing, shoes, food, another horse, packs, sleeping roll, blankets, need more medicines-"
 
She looks to him with concern as she saw the expression on his face. "Are you okay sir?" She asks carefully. Then nods to him at his question. "A little sore but I will be okay." Her eyes shown that she was truly concerned for him.
 
Travis smiled, "Just trying to think of everything we need. Do you need me to check your back?" He asked, "Or shall we go down for breakfast first?" He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I asked the maid for one of her dresses for you. Said we lost almost everything to bandits." He picked up the neatly folded bundle close to the door and handed it to her. "So that they don't stare anymore," He explained softly, knowing that it had bothered her.
That was one thing about always having money and influence, you learnt not to care what others thought, he could have walked around naked and the people of this town would have nodded their heads and whispered behind their hands about the mad son of the duke, but no one would have dared to say a word to him.
 
Lena nods a little at his words. "We can check them after. I'm starving." She smiles a little and accepts the bundle from him.

There was no shame to her and she figured at this point he had already seen all of her so there was nothing for her to be ashamed of or shy about.

She takes off his shirt and pulls on the dress carefully.
 
Travis laughed, "Yes, it's about time we put some meat on your skinny bones." He waited until she was dressed and opened the door, leading the way back down to the dining room.
Breakfast was traditional english, sausages, eggs, bacon, tomatoes, an absolute wealth of food.
Travis lent down a little to murmur softly in Lena's ear, "Take a plate and help yourself to anything you want. As much as you want."
 
She blinks a bit at his words after they got down stairs. Anything she wanted? That wasn't something she was used to but she wasn't greedy in any way. She got a plate as told and grabbed just what she knew she would eat.

There was no reason she thought in her mind to eat more than that. She didn't want any of it to go to waste.

She looks around a little once they got a place to sit. It was strange how people were, she thought quietly to herself.
 
Travis watched her as they sat down and he began to eat.
"That's a lot less than I thought you'd take," He commented, "Although, I guess you're not used to much."
He cut his little sausages into pieces and used his fork to eat each one individually.
 
She nods softly to him and smiles a bit. "I didn't want to waste anything in case I don't eat all of it." She says and began to dig in.

The food was amazing and she settled into eating quietly.
 
"Don't be afraid to get up and get more if you want it," Travis said. He smiled to see her eating and finished his own plate. He patiently waited for her to finish, looking around the room once again, taking note of who had remained from the previous day.
 
She nods softly at his words. "Thank you sir...." she says to him. At that moment she decided she would do whatever she could to repay him for all he's done for her.

There was a few people who had remained, some would glance their way but a few in particular were trying very hard to keep from looking at the pair and others held the air of something deadly about them.

Lena wasn't aware of them, knew they were there but nothing more. When she finished eating, she looks to Travis and smiles softly. "I'm done. Very full."
 
Travis' eyes flicked over a group furthermost away from them and in a dimly lit corner as he looked back at Lena, he grinned,
"Great. Let's go shopping." He rose to his feet and extended his hand to her, "And remember, whatever you want or feel you need, it's yours."
 
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