Ronnik entered Alaric's room running after Lia alerted him to what had happened.
"What happened?" he asked when he saw Elinora sitting on the bed and Alaric standing up at the window looking out.
He hadn't noticed the assistant's bloody forehead yet.
He was trying to figure out for himself what had happened as neither of them spoke. He asked them again but got no answer. When he approached Elinora, that's when he knew things were serious.
"Your Grace, what have you done?"
Alaric didn't speak. He remained silent, his gaze fixed outside the window.
"Did this happen to you again?" asked Ronnick persistently.
Alaric turned around slowly. His face was paler than ever, as if he was struggling with something inside.
"None of your business," he finally said, but his voice was broken.
Ronnik tried to argue back, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the empathy he felt towards him. He knew that Alaric had a lot of things tormenting him, and it hurt inside.
Elinora sighed slightly. The situation made her uncomfortable.
What to do? I have to say something or this will all become one big misunderstanding.
"It was an accident. It wasn't the duke's fault," she said, wanting to lighten the mood.
The two men remained silent. This silence lasted for quite some time.
"Ronnik, take him to his room and get a doctor to take care of him," Alaric said at the end.
As soon as Elinora heard that, she yelled automatically: "No you don't have to do that."
A doctor? To take care of me? What if it gets out that I'm a woman; no you don't have to do that, I have to find a solution.
"I mean," she continued when she realized what she had done, "it's nothing serious. I can take care of myself."
"No, no. That's not going to happen. Ronnik will take care of your wound," he said shaking his head and giving the impression he wasn't getting an answer other than yes.
Ronnik led Elinora out of the room, closing the door behind them. The atmosphere in the hallway was calmer, but the tension from what had happened still hung in the air.
Elinora simply followed him. Her mind kept going back over and over again to what had happened in the room.
The way Alaric looked at her with his eyes full of remorse, the moment his fingers touched her wound.
Why did it feel like that when he came to me? My heart was beating hard but in a different way than usual. It wasn't fear, it was something else.
They arrived in a small room where Ronnik brought gauze and a bowl of water.
"Sit down. We need to clean your wound," he said calmly.
Elinora obeyed and he dipped a cloth into the water before carefully bringing it to her wound.
"It's gonna sting a little."
She pursed her lips when the cold fabric touched her skin.
"Do you often have these kinds of... crises?" she asked hesitantly.
Ronnik paused for a moment, but didn't look up.
"It's not something she talks about," he said.
"But you know about it."
"Yes, I know."
Elinora stood for a moment. She hesitated to ask because she didn't know if it was her place to know.
"What is the matter with him?" she finally asked.
Ronnik looked up and looked her straight in the eye.
"If the Duke wants to tell you, he'll do it himself. I assume you know the rumors about the Duke's curse, right?"
His answer made her think some more. She was trying to figure out how the curse related to today's incident.
Ronnik stood up and pulled the bandage and the albino from the cupboard. He carefully placed the bandage over her wound and she felt a slight tingling sensation again.
"Okay. It doesn't look too deep, but you're going to need rest."
Elinora nodded, but she wasn't sure if she would be able to rest with so much on her mind.
"I need to go see Alaric," Ronnik said suddenly and left the room, leaving Elinora alone.
She went back to her room, continuing to think about everything that had happened.
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