It had been four days since the captain left with his men to go scout out the area for potential enemies; dressing in light armor with their horses dressed in their saddles they left leaving a cloud of dust in their trail. Women and children hustled about the camp preparing for when the men would return: children watching younger children giving their mothers time to cook and clean up around camp.
The first sign of trouble was the smoke rising in the air: as the smoke rose up into the air it made ominous clouds in the sky as the sun set on the first day, lighting it up as if it were on fire. The women in the camp panicked as they all ran about trying to figure out where their children were. The captain's wife however stood in the middle of the camp staring at the smoke dreading what the outcome could be. The captain would be the main target for the enemy; without a captain the men would lose hope and direction. However, the captain would know this and would keep himself protected as best as possible. The captain's wife slowly came out of her trance and began passing orders around to the women.
"Prepare a clean room for the wounded...start cooking and preparing meals...get the doctors prepared for wounded...send your children to the elder and she will look after them." The orders were carried out without hesitation, now all that was left to do was sit and wait for the men's return. At sunset on the forth day finally the red sky showed a silhouette of a man walking towards the camp. He barely managed to make it to the edge of camp when he fell over. It was one of their men and he was wounded severely. Instantly women swarmed around him taking him to the doctors; it went on like this for hours into the night, a few stragglers coming in every few minutes.
The screaming and moaning of men in the camp started as a dull roar that seemed to grow louder with each wounded man arriving. The 'hospital' now had floors stained red with the blood of the wounded; supplies were growing low as each patient was seen. The smell of burned flesh hung strongly in the air as flesh was burned to stop bleeding; the doctors had to take a break every few minutes for fear of passing out from the heat and smell. The Captain's wife walked through the rows of beds stopping to talk to the men who were awake every once in a while. Her presence was welcomed by the nurses, doctors, and wounded due to her calming nature and soft voice as she spoke.
By midnight all the screaming of the wounded had stopped due to them passing out from the pain or just relaxing as sleep overwhelmed their senses. The peace was disturbing; none of the men that had returned had news of the captain or the other men or what had gone wrong. Women roamed the beds in the 'hospital' in search of their husband or sons; some were relieved others were like ghosts, just standing and observing the lucky ones who sat by their husband or son, soothing their pains. Sleep that night did not come easy to any of the women that night; Fear of losing the men that had returned scared all the women and fear of more men not returning scared them as well. Somehow everyone eventually found sleep even if it was only a few minutes at a time; it was enough to keep them strong.
The Captain's wife was woken by horse hooves hitting the ground outside the tent; she emerged to see the women running about the camp helping the men off their horses and into the 'hospital'. Instantly, she was at work helping the doctors gather supplies and help the wounded. When it slowly calmed down she began to walk around in search of one man. She walked out of the tent to the captains war quarters and pulled back the door; her breathing stilled as she saw him standing there talking with his men in low voices. She could not help the smile that graced her face; sure he was covered in blood and dirt, probably some of his own blood, but it was the fact that he was home that made her smile.
"My love, you should be taking care of my men not standing there smiling at me." His voice was stern but the smile that lit his eyes showed his teasing nature. The smile on her face would not go away no matter how much she urged it to do so. "What have you done to my composed wife? Were you afraid I would not return to you?"
"Of course not...I actually came to check up on these gentlemen for their wives' sakes. You just happened to be an unexpected surprise." She stated this with no emotion. She had already embarrassed herself by going and searching for him when she knew his men's needs were uppermost important to him. "I shall leave now but you all need to see the doctor."
"As soon as the rest of the men are attended to we will. Now go so we can continue our talk." His voice was rough but at the same time his eyes showed his desire to kiss and hold her close to him. She left without another word and started to pass out bowls of food to the men who could eat and that had been seen by the doctor. His men shook their heads at him and teased him for his harshness and lack of care to his wife.
"I will not have my men acting like this in my presence! Go to your wives and be foolish with them." His men left quickly, their ploy to get out of there had worked; they rushed quickly to their tents to see their wives.
It was dusk by the time all the men were looked at and cared for...all except the Captain. She gently grabbed one of the best doctors and also grabbed supplies, shaking her head at her husband's lack of responsibility to himself. She took the doctor to the Captain's tent, as they entered he was slumped in his chair holding his head in his hands, she cleared her throat which gained the Captains attention instantly.
"All your men have been seen to and now whether you like it or not, it is your turn." The captain hated doctors and would avoid them at all cost however, he could not deny his wife anything.
"If you must..." He didn't have a chance to finish what he was saying because the doctor quickly removed his shirt knowing how stubborn the Captain was. She gasped as she saw his chest; a slash lay over his heart, going from his shoulder down. Not too deep but still it was a close call...too close for comfort.
"Leave! and go prepare me some food." His voice came out harsher then necessary but his eyes were pleading with her, she looked terrified and he couldn't see her that way. She left quickly without protest.
She quickly made her way to their tent unable to keep from shaking; she had to keep herself busy. It would be a few hours until her husband would come to bed so she had time. She decided to boil water to bathe with and wash the grime of the day from her; the smell of lavender rose into the air as she let herself sink into the warm bath. She slowly washed herself allowing her mind to wander on happier things as she allowed the hot water relax her. She stepped out of the basin and dried herself; applying lotion to herself she slowly massaged her tired muscles. Grabbing a simple silk nightgown that went to the floor she decided what to do. Pulling her hair up into a bun she started to get to work.
After a few hours of being fixed up the Captain enter his tent to be met with a surprise; his wife was sitting in her chair at the table in a beautiful silk white nightgown, and the tent was aglow with candles, and the smell of food rose into the air. He smiled as she stood up and walked towards him, he watched her hips sway and he looked up to meet her eyes that were filled with worry. He could not help himself, one long stride and he was in front of her holding her head in his hands as he kissed her. He pulled back to see her eyes were glossy with withheld tears, "So you weren't worried about me?"
