Chapter 49

The goblins wanted to hit Rhobart with their clubs, and Kerra, who until then dragged one of the harpies after her, jumped in the middle of them and started biting and clawing any goblin that didn't move fast enough.

With the dagger in her hand, Ayla got down from Spirit and went to protect Rhobart.

"Leave him alone! Get away from here!" she said as she cut the arm of one goblin.

It didn't take long for Ayla and Kerra to get rid of the goblins, killing four of them, and the remaining three ran away.

Ayla kneeled next to Rhobart, "Don't be dead! I am going to be so mad at you if you died!"

She looked at his chest and let out a breath of relief. After that, she rushed to Spirit and took out one of her tunics, and with her dagger, she cut it.

She returned to Rhobart and opened his cloak, and unbuttoned his jacket.

"Rhobart! If you can hear me, I need to take your clothes off!" Ayla said while she pulled at his jacket.

Rhobart grunted, and moments later, he moved.

When the jacket was off, Ayla looked at his white tunic, which was almost red because of all the blood he had lost.

"I am going to cut your tunic open. So don't move!"

Ayla held her breath when she saw his wound. Not only that it was long, but also it was deep, and it was still bleeding.

Ayla opened her messenger bag and took out a stone-root. It was a purple root that was used to stop bleedings.

'Thank the gods Daya gave me some medicinal plants!" Ayla thought.

She bit the root and chewed it. It had a bitter taste. Ayla tried to chew as fast as she could, ignoring the taste. When she thought it was bland enough, she spit the pulp on her palm and put it on the wound.

Ayla repeated the process until she had all the wound covered. It took her a while to bandage Rhobart because he was passed out.

When she finished with Rhobart, Ayla looked at the camp. She gasped when she saw all the damage the goblins did. They threw provisions on the snow and even took out wood from the shed.

Ayla tried not to let panic overtake her while she started making a fire. She entered the woodshed, and, to her relief, she found dried wood.

Once she had made a fire, Ayla looked at Rhobart. She knew she had to move him close to the fire on the sleeping platform. But how?

While she thought, her eyes landed on the blanket, and an idea came to her mind.

Ayla spread one of the blankets next to Rhobart and tried to push him on top of the blanket.

"You are so heavy!" Ayla said as she tried to roll him over.

The princess stopped for a moment, and she looked at Kerra, who was eating from the harpy.

"Eww! Don't eat that thing! You might get sick."

The snowcat snorted and resumed eating.

When Ayla finally rolled Rhobart on the blanket, she looked at it, then at the sleeping platform. Then at Kerra.

"Help me pull, Kerra!" Ayla said.

Ayla grabbed one corner while Kerra grabbed the other with her mouth, and together they pulled. And pulled. And pulled.

Ayla stopped for a moment, and when she looked to see how far they pulled Rhobart, a scream of frustration escaped her lips. Between Kerra and her, they only moved him a few inches.

Ayla felt like a failure. She wanted to give up, sit down and just cry. A few tears fell down her cheeks.

She inhaled deeply and said in a loud voice, "Crying won't solve anything! I won't sit on my ass and wait for others to solve my problems. If I want to be a Paladin, I have to act like a Paladin!"

As Ayla pulled, she kept saying, "I am a Paladin, and I won't give up!"

She almost sobbed with relief when the blanket was finally on the sleeping platform. But Ayla had no time to rest as the night settled, and she still had so much to do. She covered Rhobart with blankets before rushing to where the dead goblins lay.

"Kerra, take care of Rhobart!" Ayla said as she rushed to pull away all the dead goblins as far as she could. The smell of blood could attract predator animals, and Ayla had enough for today.

When all four dead goblins were far away from the camp, Ayla felt so tired, but she still had more to do. She went to grab what was left of the harpy, but Kerra snatched it and ran away with it.

"Don't bring it back! I will burn it!" Ayla yelled after the snowcat. Kerra returned minutes later, without the harpy.

Ayla grabbed the kettle, filled it with snow, and while she waited for the snow to melt, Ayla looked inside her messenger bag. She took out a herb and added it to boiling water.

Then, Ayla looked at Rhobart's wound. It stopped bleeding, but now she had to make sure that the blood won't get sick.

She took the kettle off the fire, set it on the snow, took out another tunic of hers, and cut it into pieces.

When the tea cooled off a little, Ayla used one of the fabric pieces to wash Rhobart's wound with part of the tea. And the remaining tea, she would have to make Rhobart drink it.

After Ayla washed the wound and put more stone-root before bandaging it again.

Ayla filled a cup with tea, kneeled next to Rhobart, and put the cup next to her. She gently lifted his head and put it on her lap. With patience, Ayla made Rhobart drink the tea.

When Ayla did all she could for Rhobart, she took out an apple from the supply satchel and bit it. She would eat it and go to sleep.

After eating the fruit, Ayla put her blankets on a sleeping platform next to Rhobart's one and got under them. She had just closed her eyes when a blizzard started.

"Can this day get any worse?" Ayla asked no one in particular as she got up, grabbed two blankets, and ran to cover Runner and Spirit with them.

Once she made sure the horses were securely tied and had the blankest on, Ayla fed more wood to the fire.

Unfortunately, Ayla had only one blanket left to cover herself.

"It will be alright," Ayla said when she got under the blanket.

Minutes later, she was already trembling with cold. She pulled her cloak tight around her, but it didn't help.

"You are freezing," she heard Rhobart saying in a very weak voice. She didn't like hearing him sound so weak. "Get under my blankets."

"Y-you a-are f-finally awake! H-how a-are you fe-feeling?"

"I will live. Thanks to you. Now come here."

"D-don't wo-worry, I-I a-am fine," Ayla said.

"If you don't move, I will."

"F-fine! J-ust d-don't mo-move!"

Ayla grabbed her remaining blankets, put them on top of Rhobart, and got under them. She tried not to get too close to him, afraid that she would somehow harm him.

"Come here, Ayla," Rhobart said as he put his left arm under her.

As Ayla did as Rhobart asked, he wrapped his left arm tight around her waist and dragged her to him until she was half on top of him.

"I don't want to accidentally touch your wound and hurt you," Ayla said, as she already felt warmer.

"You are on my left side; it will be fine. And thank you for taking care of me," Rhobart said.

"Always," Ayla said, and she felt Rhobart's arm tighten around her.