Who Is My Husband
Scene 4

The dark gray stone walls were brightly lit by several candles down the attached hallway. This was the servant’s quarters. Kailee thought it was nice that they had a wing attached to the manor just for them. At her uncle’s the servants were provided a run-down shack, but it was still an upgrade from the attic she had. In a sense the servants were treated better than her, but it was still nothing to brag about.

She heard children’s laughter in the distance. A smile spread across her face as she went to investigate. Lance was still trailing behind her quietly observing her. And at times she almost forgot about his presence because he would be so quiet.

She turned the corner to see children running down the hall. They were playing a game of tag. This was something else different. The servants’ children were not permitted anywhere near her uncle’s manor and if they were caught they were beaten. It was nice to see the children here happy and playing. It looked like they were having fun. And for a moment she felt sad she missed out on these experiences as a child. She didn’t get to play with any children once her parents passed away. She was always alone. Except for Sparks. Sparks had always been with her even while her parents were alive. He was the only constant in her life.

“You look like you are having fun.” Kailee said smiling as she walked closer to the children. They stopped and turned looking at her curiously. There were five children there. Four boys between the ages of five to ten and one girl who looked to be about eight.

“Are you the master’s wife?” The oldest looking boy asked.

“Yes. My name is Kailee. What are your names?”

“I’m Jake. That’s Timmy, Roland, Rachel and Igor. Igor is my little brother.” Jake said proudly.

“You guys playing tag?” Kailee watched as the kids nodded.

“Yeah we are playing freeze tag. The person who is it has to freeze everyone before another person unfreezes them.” Rachel said sweetly.

“That sounds like fun. Can I play too?” Kailee smiled and bit her bottom l*p. She suddenly felt nervous like she wouldn’t be allowed to play with them. Even for a moment she wanted to experience some childlike fun.

“Really? You’ll play with us?” Timmy asked excitedly.

“If you don’t mind, I’d love to.” Kailee smiled back shyly.

“What about you sir Lance?” Igor asked, looking at the man behind Kailee.

Lance chuckled and then shrugged. “Why not.”

Soon the room and halls were bustling with laughs and giggles. Timmy was trying to freeze everyone he could while the others ran away or tried to unfreeze their teammates. Kailee was giggling as she dodged between objects as she tried to avoid Timmy. Lance was carrying Igor on his shoulders being the fast feet for the youngest child in the room.

Timmy bumped into a stand that had a large vase sitting on it. Then everything happened in a blur. The heavy stand teetered and the vase went flying. The sound of the vase shattering filled the room. Glass was spilled over the area and fresh red liquid was trickling onto the stone floor.

“Are you okay?” Kailee hoisted her body up from where it covered the boy. At the last second she managed to shield his body with her own. The boy started crying.

“You’re bleeding.” Timmy cried as he stood up from the floor.

Kailee looked him over and was relieved to see that he appeared to be uninjured. Lance was immediately at Kailee’s side and looking her over. Glass had pierced her side and she had a deep red wound on her thigh. He lifted her body up from the ground.

“We need to get you where we can look at this better. Jake go and fetch the town physician.” Lance said as he walked out of the room with Kailee.

“I-I-I can walk. It isn’t that bad. I don’t need a physician, please.” Kailee felt awkward in this man’s arms. She didn’t want him carrying her and she didn’t want a physician there to fuss over her.

B***d was trickling over Lance’s arms and dropping onto the floor as he made his way into the main part of the manor. Grum was there and his eyes immediately darkened as he looked at the scene. He was now rushing and following behind Lance.

“What the hell happened? You really can’t handle a simple task, can you?” Grum snapped out angrily.

“It was an accident. It happened so fast.” Lance shook his head as he pushed open the door to a room with a small bed on it.

“It isn’t anything to fuss over. I can take care of this myself. I have before when it was much worse.” Kailee said but Lance snapped his gaze at her angrily.

“That was before. Not now. You should never have had to take care of yourself before.” Lance gently eased her body on the bed.

Grum sighed. “I’ve taken care of many deep wounds before. Let me see how bad it is.” Grum reached out but Lance grabbed a hold of his arm tightly. The two men stared off at the other with an unspoken warning.

Cookie barged into the room in a flustered mess. “Oh my goodness you poor child.” She looked at the two men. “Out out out. Let me clean her wounds.”

Lance and Grum walked out quietly and Cookie sat clean dressing on the bed. “Let’s see how bad these wounds are. Oh you are just soaked in b***d.” Cookie got up and grabbed a button up shirt from the closet in the room. “This dress is ruined anyways.” She then pulled out a knife and began cutting the dress off of Kailee.

“I am really fine to take care of this myself.” Kailee said in a whisper. She felt very anxious with everyone bothering with her. She wasn’t used to it.

“Just lay back child and let me have a good look.” Cookie first inspected her side cut. It was not too deep but was heavily bleeding. The cut on her thigh wasn’t big but was a bit deep. She took a bowl of water and began to clean the wounds. When she poured some alcohol on the wounds Kailee screamed out as she clutched the mattress underneath her.

The door peaked open, and Lance asked shakily. “Is she okay?”

“Just bring the physician here immediately.” Cookie said calmly as she continued to clean the wounds. “I used to work alongside the physician here. And I have delivered many babies during my time.” She started talking to Kailee trying to draw her mind away from the pain. “When the time comes, I can help you bring your baby into the world too.”

Kailee tensed after hearing this. A baby? Oh dear she was expected to have children with her husband. How would that work? Would she be able to see his face then? Would their children be able to? She didn’t even want to think about having children right now.

The door creaked open again and an older man walked into the room. “Tsk tsk tsk. What have you gotten yourself into?” His voice was aged and kind. He gently looked over her wounds. The one on her side and thigh were the main issues. The other little cut and scrapes were nothing serious. “I see you have already cleaned the wounds thoroughly.” He said as he nodded to Cookie.

“Yes, I just wasn’t sure what steps to take next. Does that one need to be stitched? Or can it just be bandaged up?” Cookie asked with a frown.

The physician frowned. “Unfortunately, the one on her thigh will need to be stitched. The other one a bandage will suffice.”

Kailee bit her bottom l*p. “I think it will be fine. I have had deeper wounds than that and never received stitches.”

The older man shook his head no. “You should have had stitches. This needs to be stitched. I wish I could tell you it wasn’t going to be painful…” His kind eyes looked up to hers. “I heard you saved a vase from landing on a child. This could have been life threatening for him.”

“I’m glad he wasn’t hurt.” Kailee sighed as she felt her heart race anxiously. She was nervous about having stitches. Cookie bandages up her side and then buttoned the shirt over her top. She grabbed a blanket and then pulled it up over her exposed legs, leaving just her thigh area exposed. She then walked back to the door and opened it. She briefly explained things to Grum and Lance. She told them she has her covered if they wanted to be in there to give her support.

Kailee laid there with her eyes closed as she thought of all the things she would rather be doing right now. A warm hand slid into hers. She opened her eyes to see Lance kneeling at her bedside. Grum rested his hand on her shoulder and was kneeling as well.

“I’ve had plenty of stitches before. There is nothing to them.” Grum gave her a weak sympathetic smile.

Kailee chuckled. “Of course, to someone who couldn’t even scare a kitten I am sure it isn’t nothing.” She gave him a wry grin which he returned.

“Okay Kailee. I am going to begin now.” The old man said as he poked the needle through her skin. She winced her eyes shut and clenched her jaw. She was doing her best not to cry out. A small whimper managed to escape her throat though as he continued to sew her up.

The whole time Lance gently spoke and cooed to her. He reached his free hand up and brushed her hair from her face. “Had we known those kids played so rough we wouldn’t have played with them.” He teased playfully.

Kailee offered a weak smile back. “I guess I didn’t miss out on much with my childhood after all. If this is what freeze tag is about, I don’t want it.”

Grum frowned at what she said. He then looked down towards her wound that was being sewn. “You’re almost done.” He patted her shoulder gently. “Maybe leaving you with Lance isn’t the best decision after all.”

“Hey now.” Lance said, shaking his head at Grum.

“There you go sweetie. You are all patched up. I’ll come back in a few days to see how you are healing.” The old man straightened up.

“I’m free to move around then.” Kailee asked hopefully.

The physician chuckled. “You need to take it easy for the rest of the day today. Then tomorrow just go slow. This hardly needs to be mentioned but your new husband will need to refrain himself for a few days.” The old man’s eyes flickered up towards the two men in the room.

Kailee felt her cheeks heat up. She immediately thought about the night she had spent with her husband. She quickly shook it off as she wanted more clarification. “I can walk then and that’s fine?”

The old man sighed. “Tomorrow, yes. Today it is best to lay still to let the wounds have a chance to close.” He then slowly left the room.

“I’ll help you into some loose pants for now.” Cookie said as she walked over with soft cloth pants. She cleared her throat the two gentlemen in the room who both immediately averted their gaze away. She gently slid the pants over Kailee so that she was completely decent. “There now my dear you are all set. I’ll make you some tea and dinner will be ready shortly.”

Kailee watched as Cookie left and then she sat herself up better.

“Hey.” Grum said in agitation.

“I don’t want to stay sitting in bed.” Kailee protested with a frown.

“Well then you shouldn’t have taken a bath with glass.” Grum said in annoyance.

Kailee turned and glared at him. “But those are the best baths.” She said poisonously. “I bet you never stayed in bed after getting stitches, did you?” She smirked as she saw the look on his face. Yep. He was never made to stay in bed. “Different standards I see.”

“Exactly. No one will kill me if I get up and move around. Your husband is a different story. Lance is already as good as dead. His job was to keep you safe. Looks like he will be out in the stables shoveling manure tomorrow.” Grum chuckled as he looked at the frown on Lance’s face.

“It was an accident. No one is going to get in trouble over an accident.” Kailee said, shaking her head.

Grum smirked. “What do you think Lance? You think Trey is going to let you off the hook because it was an accident?”

Lance sighed and furrowed his eyebrows. “He has no mercy. I’ll be doing grunt work for sure tomorrow.”

Kailee made a move to sit and she felt a strong hand land on her shoulder. She turned and glared at Grum. “It’s too dark in here. I want to be where there is more light.”

Grum growled and muttered something incoherent under his breath. He then reached his arms out and lifted her delicately into his arms. “Where to then?”