"Gods... No, gods, don't let him... please let him be alive!", you stuttered over and over again, as you jumped up and looked at Morvran.

His eyes were tightly shut. He seemed unconscious but maybe he was dead. Not a single muscle was moving inside his body.

His white cotton shirt had ripped while falling. Both him and you were covered in dirt, grass and other things that had been laying on the forest ground. But he had blood on his face too. It wasn't much but enough to suspect that he had hit his head and died while rolling down the hill.

Breathing.

Gods, was he breathing?!

Scared, you pressed one ear onto his chest, praying to all of the gods that he was alive.

"Please. Please, please, please. If he's dead... No. No, he can't be. How am I going to explain this to Herman? Gods, I killed a noble man, how am I going to explain that?", tears filled your eyes.

They were tears of fear. And tears of regret.

Why had you been such a fool?

Of only you would have kept your mouth shut.

Trying to suppress the tears, you buried your face on his broad chest.

"Fuck.", you mumbled.

For a moment, the forest was silent. Nothing was moving. Not even the wind dared to sing.

"You would have killed the emperors best man.", a voice laughed. "Would have costed your head."

Frighted, your head shot up. Eyes wide open, you faced the general.

He was laying beneath you, while both of your hands were resting on his bare chest. He was grinning. As if all of this was amusing him.

"Do you always cry about men you just met?", he asked, grinning even broader.

"N-no!", you argued and took your hands off of him. "I was crying because of my payment."

Laughing amused, he let his head fall back. He laughed long and loud, as if your comment was particularly funny.
As his laughter began to make you feel stupid, you softly hit his chest.

"Stop mocking me! I thought you were dead.", you yelled at him. "How would I have been able to explain that? Oh, I had a meeting with the young master. He wanted to race against me. In the middle of the night. All alone. How does that sound, hm?"

"Alright, alright.", gasping for air, he held his hurting stomach. "Gods, I haven't had a laugh like that in a while. You're really one hell of a kind. Making me fall off a horse. No person has ever managed that."

Still a little grinning, he looked at you, one eye halfway closed.

You noticed a trail of blood on the eyebrow above it. Immediately, you touched it gently, to make sure it was alright. Hurt, he hissed and pulled his head back.

"Is it bad, sir?", you asked and leaned forward to look at it closer.

"It's nothing. Just a little scratch. I had worse. Do you know how an arrow through the foot feels like?", he was playing it down, you could tell by the sound of his voice.

But the hissing and flinching told you that it still hurt. Even it if was only a scratch. It was better to clean the wound quickly. Loosing an eye would have been a shame for a man of his beauty.

"Come on. There is a river nearby. I will clean this.", you got up, offering him a hand. "Can you walk, Sir?"

"Don't be silly. As if this little fall would have taken my ability to walk.", he laughed and jumped on his feet.

But a sharp pain chasing through his right leg forced Morvran back to the ground. Cursing, he sat on his bum, one hand pressing onto the ankle of his foot.

"For fucks sake!", he hissed.

Tears filled the corner of his eyes.

With an angry grunt, he ripped the shoe from his foot.
Black and blue spots had spread on his skin, from the foot to the lower leg. The spot around his ankle was swollen and a little twisted. Not much but enough to make moving painful. The ankle was broken. Or at least sprained.

Struck by guilt, you rushed to his side.

"Gods, that's all my fault.", you sighed and put his arm around your neck. "Come on, we should get out of the forest."

"No, that would take a long time. Clean the wound first. It might get infected otherwise.", he insisted. "Are you fine with helping me out? I might not be able to walk all the way. My left foot is not as good as the right one."

He laughed. At least he tried. But the pain that was burning inside his ankle was destroying every spark of happiness he felt.

"Don't be ridiculous, sir. I will help you. Come, it's not far.", carefully, you guided him through the green glade.

At any other day, to any other occasion, this place might had been a nice spot to have a chat, eat some fresh bread and cheese and drink some wine from Toussaint. But at the moment it seemed like a hole you would die in.

To your luck, you knew this forest a little. There was a river not far from where you had landed. It offered fresh water and fish to eat. Just in case you two were stuck until someone would come to rescue the general.

Nobody would have cared to look for you. There was nobody who was missing you. Not anymore.

If you would mange to catch one of the horses you could have brought Morvran back to the mansion. But by foot it was impossible. He was heavy and taller than you.

Walking with him would have been about as easy as walking with two amputated legs.

With a sigh, you let him sit on a stone by the river to rest.
It was cold, you noticed. If it got colder, it would have been a problem.