“Hmm.”
Stephen knew she was right but chose not to tell her. Silence fell between them as she applied the paste to the cut on his temple. She kept sitting back, examining her work, then chewed on her bottom lip again.
“You should leave,” he said eventually, breaking the silence between them.
“You’re mad at me.” She dropped the cloth in the bowl and reached for the linen bandages that were stretched across the table. She took one up with care, laying it on her lap to fold it neatly. “Why are you mad?”
“Oh, I wonder!” he said with thick sarcasm, watching as her chin darted upward. “Look how close you were to falling in that river today. I know you always do as you like, do as you see fit, for God forbid anyone knows better than you about anything—”
“I have never said that.”
“It’s what you think, though, isn’t it?” he challenged her.
“No, you imbecile.” She stood and reached for him with the bandage, placing it on his temple.
“No? I do not believe you. I told you to be careful. I tried to warn you about that rock. But would you listen? No, no, of course not. You saw it as an order, rather than what it was—just me trying to keep you safe.”
“Stephen, would you please calm down—”
“I will not calm down.” He tried to push the bandage away, but she pressed it harder to his temple. “Ow.”
“Do you want to bleed all over your pillow tonight, or would you like an easy night’s sleep? Stop moving, stop shouting, and just let me help you.”
There was much more Stephen wanted to say, but he grunted and let her finish with the bandage, sticking it with a paste of honey to his temple. The air smelled sweeter now between them, a mixture of rosemary, honey, and the ash from the fire.
“Why are you so mad?” she whispered, returning to her stool.
“I have just told you—”
“And I do not believe you.” She met his gaze. “How many times when I shouted for help did I tell you that I was sorry? Did those words just slide off you like all that water did?”
He grimaced and laid back again, feeling the pain in his temple turn into a firm headache. She started to tidy up the table, making it neat.
“What are you doing?”
“Tidying,” she explained and stood, moving across the room to take the spare bandages to his toilette box. “You are mad at me for a different reason. You are not so foolish as to reject all of my apologies. I did not mean for it to happen, Stephen, and you know that. Was calling for help not enough? Was my attempt to carry you myself not enough?”
“That was laughable, actually,” Stephen cut in quickly, thinking of the way Dorothy had wrapped an arm under his shoulder and tried to heave him to his feet.
The thought of her being so close made a heat rise in him, and his eyes darted to her across the room.
She’s not here. She cannot be in my chamber. Surely even Dorothy would not cross such boundaries.
Yet, he was glad she was there. For all that he knew it was wrong, he didn’t actually want her to go.
Stay, Dorothy.
“Oh! Even my attempt to help you does nothing.” She shut his toilette box with a loud click and turned to face him, her hands on her hips. “Why are you so mad at me? Why are my apologies not enough to make up for this?”
“Because you did not see how close you were to falling into that river today,” he snapped, the words tumbling from his lips. “How close it was toyoubeing the one with an injured head. You could have been hurt, Dorothy—badly, for all we know—and yet that hasn’t even crossed your mind, has it?”
Dorothy said nothing, but her hands slowly fell at her sides.
I shouldn’t have said that. I should not have said that.
Stephen struggled to keep himself still in the chair, so he rubbed his eyes instead, blocking his view of her. It was all he had thought of since it had happened, how close she had come to being the one injured, or worse.
“You care if I am hurt, Stephen?” Her voice was soft, nearing him, too. She must have returned to the footstool in front of him, for he soon felt her hand pulling at his wrist, prising one of his hands away from his eyes. “Well, I would have thought you’d be quite happy to see me hit my head. Might have knocked some sense into me, eh?” She smiled at him.
