Mira by Leighann Phoenix

lodged against the hearth of the large fireplace.  
                Rillan pulled his armor off piece by piece and tossed it at the foot of the dummy.   Several times, he started for the door and then paced back to the dummy indecisively.   Taking a couple deep breaths, Rillan went over to pick up his sword.   He sheathed it properly and hung it with care on the armor rack next to the dummy, picked up his armor and set it where it belonged.   The actions were therapeutic, in a way.   Once he calmed down, he left the practice room, his soft boots echoing footsteps on the stone down the hallway.   When he reached her door, he paused and tucked in his white shirt.   He was sweaty and considered changing first, but then shook his head and forced himself to go in and check on her.
                The darkness in the hall was unsettling.   She never let the candles burn down this low.   That was when he realized that she wasn’t merely hiding from him.   Something was actually wrong.   His pace quickened, as he walked to her bedchamber, almost starting to run when he neared the door.   Opening the door, the reek of vomit and urine assailed his senses.   He could see the empty bed from the doorway.   With his hand over his nose, he rushed into the room.   The guilt he had been hiding beneath a blanket of anger bubbled to the surface, when he found her lying naked and hurt on the floor near her bed.  
                Rillan knelt next to her and reached down to push her hair back from her face.   “I’m sorry little one.   I took it too far,” he said softly.   Gently he picked her up and placed her on the bed.   Her body was stone cold.   He felt his heart sink into a sick fear.   Leaning down he placed his ear against her chest and listened for a heartbeat.   He had never accidentally killed anyone.   The second it took for the weak thud to tap against her chest seemed an eternity.   Letting the air out of his lungs, he listened for a moment, before standing up and looking around the room.  
                The carpets would have to go and the bedding would need changed.   The pitcher and night stand would need replacing.   He glanced down at Mira.   First he would get her cleaned up and warm though.   Rillan tucked the blankets around her, so that she might warm up a bit while he worked in the small chamber that held the bathing tub.   He moved quickly, lighting the coals under the tub.   He was glad that he had replaced the water the day after he fed from her, so that it would be clean when she woke.   As he waited for the water to warm, he pulled the rugs up from either side of the bed and dragged them out into the hallway.   Then he went back into the room and tried to think of where he could get another rug to cover the cold stone floor, while he cleaned up the shards of porcelain from the broken pitcher and stood the night stand up.  
                There was one room that had rugs in it which weren’t being used.   He looked over at Mira again and made the decision.   Elizabeth was long dead.   She wouldn’t miss the few items.   The rugs would need to be beaten to drive the dust from them.   He would take care of that after he cleaned her up and returned her to bed.  
                Rillan lit the fireplace and candles around the room.   That way, if she woke while he was there, she would be able to see, and he may not frighten her as badly.   He still didn’t know how she would react when she regained consciousness.   Though at this point, he wasn’t quite as inclined to blame her if she was frightened of him.   He knew full well how much pain and weakness accompanied a sleep this deep for this long.   He had rarely taken the first feeding this far, save on the few occasions that the girls took too long to come around.
                Rillan checked the bath water, finding it warm enough, he returned to her