He was retreating. And then he wasn't. His head lifted and he tested the air with flared nostrils. With a jerk, it turned to her direction, gold eyes flashing and lips peeling back. A child. Alone. He spun his body slowly, facing her and waiting for her to appear.
She stumbled forward, tiny and coughing and half-delirious. So many years now since he'd had a daughter. Since he'd let her die, be murdered with his wife in his absence. He hadn't even left for that long, but he'd come back to their bloody deaths and it was all his fault. He should've been there.
The sickness has claimed her, and he knew he should walk away, chase her off. His secret, noble heart wouldn't allow him, and he held still as her blood-painted body staggered forward once more, teeny face scowling so prettily. He would be amused if he hadn't been so furious that an innocent child was allowed to get so sickly.
"Mmust be sso tiring to sstand all day."
She must not have had any notion of what she spoke of, and he watched in grave silence as she reached out to push her nose against his dark leg. He growled at the heat he felt through it. She was feverish, a higher temperature than was safe for such a small body. It had been so many damn years but he supposed some things he wouldn't forget about being a father. It was still quietly surprising, though.
He still said nothing. Instead, he reached out and pulled her in closer with a low rumble. She smelled only of snake and man, no woman. Had she been bitten then? He scanned over her but didn't see a puncture. It could be hiding beneath the fluids on her. If that were the case, his efforts would be useless and she'd die in a number of hours. He wouldn't go without trying first, at least.
And even if she had a mother, she may as well enjoy his rough care until he could find her parents. If she lived long enough. He hoped she would. It rubbed him wrong that a child so small and innocent could be sentenced such a death. As his daughter had suffered because of him.
He shifted in the direction of water, nudging her firmly forward so he could bathe the sickness and blood from her skin, try to cool her high fever.
I've been on a long road with the devil right beside me
ainlif
rising with the morning sun; it’s a hunger that drives me
@[The Plague]