Dark Empathy by Archibald Bradford (inspiring books for teens TXT) 📕

“Shh, dearheart, you’re alright. Or you will be.”

Her eyes fluttered open to find that she was in the infirmary of the Academy, with Ophelia and a stocky human woman she didn’t know hovering over her.

“O-Ophelia, what-”

She trailed off though as the Flutterby wiped away a single tear.

“As much as I love her, Nina can be unbearably cruel. I am so sorry for all of this.”

But to her surprise Escrya barked out a rough laugh, though she winced at the stinging pain in her split lip.

“Don’t be! If this is what it takes, if this is the cost I must pay...  I will, I will do it again if I have to.”

She spoke with vehemence, but ended up groaning again as her body rejected the notion of moving just yet.

“Maybe not right away though?” She said plaintively.

Ophelia sniffled, but smiled wanly down at the earnest Amazon.

“You don’t have anything to prove. Not to me, and not to Nina, not anymore. But never mind all of that, focus on getting better.”

She leaned down and her scent filled the Amazon’s nostrils as she kissed her on the forehead, but as the Flutterby was about to pull away, she thought better of it, her lips drifting down to plant a gentle and loving kiss on the uninjured side of Escrya’s lips.

Ophelia’s lavender eyes stared long into her icy blues, until, with yet one more kiss on her lips, she spoke again.

“Get some rest.” She repeated in an intimate whisper.

The awestruck Amazon nodded dumbly as the medic behind Ophelia smirked.

With the caring moment over, the Flutterby fussed with her pillow for a few seconds before smiling down at her.

“I’m sure the others will check on you when they’re done with their lessons.”

With that she left with the medic, leaving Escrya somewhat bemused.

“Thank you, Brooke, for your help with this.” Ophelia said when they were in the hallway of the medical ward of the academy.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s good hands on experience for you.”

Ophelia let out a very unlady-like snort.

“Not the experience I would have chosen! Warriors are so stubborn!”

Brooke shrugged.

“That’s the job. As an Aegis medic you’ll spend most of you days patching up people too stubborn to get out of the way before they get hurt. Kind of like your friend in there.”

The Flutterby smiled weakly, thinking much the same: she spent a great deal of her time these days tending to Milly’s bruises from Nina’s training, not to mention her master’s cuts and scrapes from bailing off of the obstacle course with alarming frequency.

As she rounded the corner she tensed up at the sight of a familiar red figure coming inside.

“Hey Ophelia, is Escrya okay?”

The giant’s nonchalance struck a nerve with the Flutterby though, her expression aghast.

“Is she- you beat her within an inch of her life!”

Nina frowned at the Flutterby’s indignation, but shrugged in the face of it.

“Really, just an inch? I was trying for closer.”

At her side, Brooke opened her mouth to speak her mind, but Ophelia’s hand settled on her wrist warningly as she got control of her own temper.

Nina didn’t miss the exchange, and she rolled her eyes at the sight.

“Kay, both of you, with me, right now. Where is Escrya?”

“What?”

“Amazon, really pale blue eyes, great tits? Where are you keeping her?”

Brooke’s look turned cautious.

“If you intend to hurt one of my patients I warn you-”

“You warn nothing.” Nina snapped, causing the windows in the hall to rattle slightly; “Now shut up and take me to my friend.”

A calming voice sounded behind her as Volka came in then, a frown on her face.

“Go easy Nina, terrorizing the innocent isn’t very becoming, especially in a place of medicine and healing.”

The Gigas turned and again rolled her eyes.

“She was pissing me off, that’s not innocent. Now, why aren’t we with Escrya yet?”

Brooke and Ophelia, seeing no point in arguing with her any further, and much reassured by the Valkyrie’s presence, did as she said and led them back into Escrya’s room.

The Amazon was dozing, but woke with a start when Nina stomped on the floor, cracking one of the tiles sharply beneath her bare foot.

“Hey Escrya, no hard feelings right?” She asked blandly.

“Never.” Escrya responded immediately, smiling crookedly with one side of her mouth.

“Good, it would be kinda awkward to eat you out if you were nursing a grudge.”

“Nina!”

Even as Ophelia spoke, so did Volka, nearly a perfect match for the Flutterby’s scandalized tone.

When the elegant woman looked to the Valkyrie in exasperation she merely shrugged.

“What? You do that a lot, the indignant-name-saying thing.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes.

“Forgive me for having class! And forgive me for finding unnecessary violence deplorable!”

Nina’s hand rose into the air and she spoke seriously.

“I forgive you. Point is: she and me? We’re cool. So you need to figure out how to be as well.”

“Of course we are uh, ‘cool’! And the violence was very necessary!”” Escrya sat up as best she could, Ophelia fretting over her all the while; “She needed to know that I would stand against any threat to her bond-mate, and now she does.”

“Sure do.” Nina said with a nod; “So can we put this silliness behind us, because Ophelia, it would be really awkward to lick-”

“I get it, Nina.” The Flutterby cut her off sharply before she could finish.

Brooke watched the exchange with pursed lips, saying nothing.

Seeing that Ophelia was still upset, Nina drew in a slightly unsteady breath, shocking them all as she wiped away a bit of moisture from her eye before clearing her throat.

“I’m not a monster babe. Okay, I am, but you don’t need to be afraid of me.”

The budding medic’s eyes softened as she plainly