A Marriage For The Best...

Lesald hissed in pain as the disinfectant stung her wound, only making it hurt more it seemed. She looked down at her shoulder as he wrapped it, doing her best to keep still so she wouldn't cause herself any more pain. Her face was pale as they sat in the carriage, all the calm that she had during the attack slowly slipping away, her eyes watering a bit as she tried to blink away the tears that so desperately wanted to fall down her cheeks. She sniffed loudly, trying to hold in her sobs as long as she could, crying would only make her look week and like a child...

"I'll be fine..." She said softly, her voice weak and cracking from her stress. When he asked how she felt she looked into his eyes for the first time since the attack, strangely silent before she finally spoke.

"Scared..." She said in a whisper before giving a small hiccup, her tears starting to fall as her free hand started to wipe her tears away as fast as possible.

She tried to best to not cry, she really had, but she could not fight the urge any longer. That had been terribly frightening, her heart was still racing from it all. She had been in a state of almost shock in the field but now that that it had drifted away it only left the fear that was still bubbling inside, as well as the sadness that welled in her chest for having let this happen to herself.
 
Sikander said nothing as she started to lose her composure, the tears trickling own her cheeks. There was nothing he could have said in that moment. Nothing he could have said that would have made as much of an impact as what he could do. He put the finishing touches on the bandage, making sure that it would stay tight against the wound.

He then wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the blood, softly holding her against him, a silent signal that whatever she need to do right now, it was okay. Comforting wasn't in his nature, it wasn't something he was taught to do nor something that he did much of at all. No one came to him for reassurance, and no one expected any. But now? Now he wanted nothing as much as he wanted Lesald to know he was here for her. For as long as she needed him.
 
The instant Sikander held her Lesald broke down. A wave of tears and sob spilled out as she clung to him tightly, burying her face into his shoulder to muffle the sound of her crying. She did not want the soldiers to hear her sobs, she did not want to seem weak or helpless. Then again, that's all she was. She couldn't fight or protect herself, the concept of war or hate were foreign to her as if it was a different language. For the longest time she did not move from his grasp, only crying and leaning into him as the only support she had.

Slowly the sobbing died away, only small whimper left behind to show she was still expressing her sorrow. She wiped her face clumsily for a moment, trying to gain her composure again before she looked back up at him. Her eyes were now red and raw looking, her cheeks terribly flushed from her sobs. Though she said nothing her looks said it all, how afraid she had been, how scared she was when she thought she would die...At least now she was safe, safe and comforted thanks to him...
 
Sikander smiled as comfortingly as he good, tenderly brushing away a tear with the backs of his fingers. "If you want, if you feel up to it, we can be back in the Capital tonight. In the castle. Surrounded by security. It'd be a hard travel but we can do it. Or... or we can be there tomorrow. Either way... I don't want to keep you out here. It's not as safe as I thought it was for you... I'm sorry for that. I am. I should have... have done something more."

As he apologized, his eyes drifted down to the bandage on her shoulder, and a note of genuine guilt crept into his tone. He quickly tore his eyes back to hers, and idly wiped his hands off as best he could.

"You don't have to answer now. I need to talk to my guards for a few moments before we do anything, do you feel well enough to be alone for a few moments, or do you want me to stay with you?"
 
Lesald started to calm down more from his kind actions, finding his gentle touch and sincere voice to be like a warm blanket to keep her save and sound. At the sound of returning to the capital, her heart both lifted in joy and sank in sadness. To return meant she would be safe in that fortress, nothing would be able to hurt her there. However, turning back would be a sign of weakness wouldn't it? A sign that there attacks had won and prevented them from continuing on with there task. She needed a bit of time to think about her answer, it would say about about her depending on what she said.

"I shall be fine..." She said as she spoke slowly, her voice still a little shaky from the attack. "You may go to your guards if you have too. I shall be fine after a clam myself."

Though it pained her to be alone she knew that she had already taken up much of his time and his guards were likely wondering what they should possibly be doing after such an attack.
 
It had become late into the night. They had quietly arrived in the Capital, and Sikander left Lesald in the care of better healers than himself as he summoned his spymaster to have more than a few choice words with the man. There was going to be a major tightening of security across the kingdom, if so many would-be assassins had managed to stay undetected then there was a very real problem. His spymaster was a dark and intense man with an emotionless stare, but Sikander knew him well and had no fear of him. But his spymaster wasn't to participate in the crackdown himself, Sikander had a much more nearby task for him:

Interrogating the survivors. If there was a man he trusted to extract information, it was his spymaster. Sikander had brought them to the castle, and he fully intended to supervise the interrogation.

But there were less unpleasant things to deal with now. Or perhaps more unpleasant. He stopped before the door to the room she was in, taking a deep and steadying breath before opening the door and stepping inside, unable to keep a hint of sheepishness out of his expression. "Lesald?"
 
The moment they arrived at the capital she was taken away to be taken care of by better healers. Part of her did not want to be alone with these people but she could not bring herself to voice that to Sikander, the fact that she had cried in front of was embarrassing enough. Instead she let the removed her bloodied dress and look over her wound, stitching it up after giving her some numbing medicine. Then she had been given a night gown and put to bed, having been instructed to rest since she was not used to getting such wounds. Though she did not want to disobey doctors orders she did not like laying in bed alone, it made her a bit nervous, especially after the attack.

Luckily, she wasn't alone for too long as Sikander came to her door, entering slowly as he looked inside. She looked at him tiredly, nodding her head a bit at him as she gave a tiny smile.

"I am sorry that you had to come back because of me...I hope that you are able to continue your work soon." She said simple as she looked up at him, speaking first since she felt that it was slightly her fault that this happened.
 
"No apology is needed... It was a rushed decision on my part. I'll be able to do more here than I could have on the road, you are not inconveniencing me in the least." Sikander took one of the chairs in the room and brought it near to her bed, sitting down beside her and holding his hands together, to hide their nervous motion.

"I feel as though I should apologize again for... for this. I should have been more observant... less trusting. I know this is my fault. In the future I'll keep a tighter grasp on security, for you. I'm also going to find who sent those assassins, and I will deal with them. One way or another." He kept his eyes low as he spoke, his words slow and unsure. He sighed, leaning back in the chair and rubbing his tired eyes.

"If there's anything that you need... or that I can do for you, please let me know."
 
Lesald listened quietly as he apologized to her, making her shake her head a bit before she spoke again. '

"It is fine, not everyone can expect this to happen at such a time. I do not blame you for anything at all. The only things that I want to know is why they would attack me so eagerly. As for needing anything I should be fine as long as I can get a hold of a good book and a hot cup of tea." She said as she looked down at her hands for a moment before looking back at him. "I am wondering, what do you plan to do with the surviving assassins? Will you jail them until you get the information you need?" She asked as she looked up at him.

When a crime was committed in her old kingdom, which was rather rare in truth, they offender was locked up and interviewed for information. Along with that witnesses of any kind were spoken to before the offender was taken into court and given a proper judgement. She knew his country was war like she she was curious as to how they dealt with crime.
 
"Why... We don't know yet. But we will. Depending on who sent them, they may have thought I would immediately spring into a war against whoever I thought was guilty. Or that your father would think I was responsible and call his allies into a war against me. Or they were part of the first group making a desperate, foolish second attempt. I don't know yet." Sikander said, with an emphasis on the final word. There was no doubt in his tone either.

"I'll see to it that you'll get whatever you need. And we'll extract what he knows, it won't take long." As he spoke he rose, so casually speaking about it, not anything in his words to indicate he was aware of what 'extraction' meant. Or perhaps it was because he was, and thought so little of it. He held back his thoughts on simply jailing the man, bt that would either produce nothing or act much too slowly for Sikander's tastes. He wanted that information, and he wanted that information now.
 
Lesald simply listened and nodded her head, the medicine they had given her to calm her muscles and help her heal starting to effect her focus. She could tell that he was determined just from his voice alone though, he was rather mad about all of this. Of course, she was no longer upset, only worried now. Things like this could happen again, she could be attacked or worse once more. The thought was unnerving though she did not vocalize it, she knew that Sikander would be prepared for such things while in his own castle.

"Alright, though do not feel like you need to rush to an answer for my sake. I am fine with not knowing why for a long while...For now, I think I shall rest. The medicine if relaxing more than just my muscles in my arm it seems, I can barely keep my eyes open." She said softly, her eyes half closed as she looked at him. "Anyway, do not push yourself to hard, you were injured as well...Do go see a doctor for it, my wrapping skills are not as good as a professionals." She said sleepily.
 
Sikander was about to say something comforting to reassure her that the injury was no concern, but he saw how quickly she was fading to sleep. Rather than speak, he simply leaned forward and softly kissed her cheek before he turned and walked out of the infirmary. He made sure to softly close the door as he left, and once he was out of sight he did rub his arm where the cut was hidden beneath his clothes.

Leaving the infirmary, he began to make the walk into the dungeons, deep beneath the castle, surrounded by dark stone lit only by dim torches. As he walked, his face turned to stern, emotionless mask. The expression he wore when he was called upon to be a King, not a man. There was a long night's work of unpleasantness ahead, and he would personally oversee it all.
 
Lesald did not have the energy or the time to react to the kiss that he placed upon her cheek. Instead she could only blushed slightly before letting her eyes finally shut, sleep taking her completely. For the rest of the night she dreamed of things she did not thing she could. Of her old old home and of her family, dreams of her childhood in peace. She also dreamed of Sikander, though only for a little moment. It was of the carriage ride back and how he showed the most expression and concern she had seen at all.

It was strange to her really, how such a stern and seemingly emotionless man can suddenly become so expressive and just for her. Did it mean something? Was there more to this than she had thought? Her own feelings were unknown and confused, she did not know how to feel anymore as time passed by his side. She felt safe with him, to say the least, he had saved her after all and even cared for her by turning back on his royal duties to ensure her health. The kiss upon her cheek also confused her, making her question what she thought of him now. However, her mind slipped back into dreams of her past and her mind finally slipped into a steady and stable rest.