The Wind's Will

[Kharmin]

The cool water on her face and neck brought Morgause lazily back to consciousness. Green eyes fluttered open and she smiled weakly as they fell upon Cameron's face.

"Are you still worrying over me?" she managed in a broken whisper which seemed to sap her strength. "Gods it's so cold!" Morgause added like an afterthought as she shivered underneath of the covers. Her eyes shut for a moment as she labored to breathe.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open with revelation. "I saw her!" she exclaimed with great effort. "Cameron, I know the woman who is chasing me. I saw her and her dazzling blue eyes. She locked them on me as if she knew exactly where I was! It ... it must be some talent she has." Morgause stopped and withdrew her arm from under the covers which caused them to fall away from her naked chest. She gripped Cameron's arm with all of her waning strength. "She will always find me; I cannot hide from ... from those eyes! Cameron, I have to make a stand."

Morgause coughed and spat a small amount of blood on her chin. "I can't keep running from her," she continued with resolve. "I won't keep running. This has to end!"

[Shura]

"Hard not to be worried really..." She admitted softly putting the cloth back into the basin. She was a bit startled when Morgause explained her revelation not really expecting it. Though the information was important Cameron was more focused and worried about Morgause health especially when she fought up a bit of blood. She gently eased the woman back "aye you will make your stand but not right now. Your injured still and running a fever. Best to fight off your enemy when your not at risk for bleeding out before the fight even starts." She explained hopping things wouldn't escalate further for both their sakes

[Kharmin]

Morgause allowed Cameron to ease her exhausted, trembling body back down in the bed. Her green eyes were wide and dilated as she continued, "She's coming, captain! She knows I've left port and am on this ship. She will raze it to the waterline to get me! Don't let her... don't let her...." Fatigue overtook her wild eyes as she succumbed fully to the uncontrollable shaking of her body, deep in the throes of her fever. As she shook, with her eyes closed she continued to whisper as she shook, "Don't let her. Don't let her...."

Tomas stepped back. "What is she talking about?" he asked with worry clearly etched across his face. "We can't let this woman find her," he added with young determination. "Let her come; I'll personally see her entrails spilled over the rail!"

[Shura]

Cameron frowned deeply and carefully pulled Morgause into a comforting embrace holding her close. "Morgause no one is going to get you" she reassured trying to get the woman to calm down once more. She glanced over to Tomas surprised a bit by his sudden eagerness to spill blood of someone they hadn't even meet yet. "They won't set foot on this ship that is for certain. Hanibal already knows what to watch for and the crew has been instructed to be watchful for unfamiliar faces on the ship. I believe the bigger worry is not who chase is us but rather this fever at the moment though."

[Kharmin]

Tomas listened to the captain and his anger dissolved back to worry over Morgause. "My ma used to say to break a fever like this was to sweat it out," he recalled. "Um ..." he looked askance and fidgeted. "Um... I could ... uh... I mean, I would be willing to .... um... well, share my warmth and all... well, you know... to ... um... well, if it would help her."

His brown eyes held no other motive than his true concern for Morgause. He felt powerless to help and deep inside it pained him to be so ... ineffectual.

"Sorry," he said, embarrassed by the captain's gaze at his display. "I just want her to get better."

[Shura]

Cameron sighed softly "I do as well, there's just no telling if the fever is just a fever or signs of an infection. That's the worrying part." She muttered before looking down at Morgause "though I suppose anything is worth a shot at this point... " she adjusted her hold on the unconscious woman. In her arms. She didn't want to risk making her lovers condition worse but her options for helping were running low. She hoped that there was a skilled doctor at the next port so she could get some proper care. "You can stand down for now Tomas, Hanibal has taken over on deck for now and I'll take over here for a while"

[Kharmin]

Tomas nodded and answered with a hint of disappointment in his voice, "Yes, sir." He took a last, longing look at the trembling red-haired beauty before he turned, exited the cabin and shut the door behind him.

Morgause's body was an inferno to Cameron's touch Her condition was slipping from awareness to oblivion as the fever shook her throughout. When lucid, she only complained about being so cold; when less aware, she continued her frenzied exclamations about the woman with the blue eyes.

[Shura]

Cameron sighed softly as Tomas left shifting slightly in the bed to lay beside Morgause hugging her as close as their injuries allowed. She hushed her occasionally reassuring her that she was safe. Cameron was honestly worried about the woman's state, silently praying that the fever would break sooner rather than later.

[Kharmin]

Morgause felt the captain lay beside her and she turned her naked body over and buried her face in Cameron's shoulder. The woman's scent, fresher now than the fever-soaked sheets, soothed Morgause but sadly did nothing to curb the chills and trembling that wracked her body. She was so very tired!

Some time later, the addition of Cameron's body warmth eased the chills and Morgause breathed easier at their absence. "I'm sorry," she whispered, only audible to the captain because Morgause's lips were so close to Cameron's ear. Then, "Thank you."

With those words, Morgause drifted rather than plunged into a deep, healing sleep. Her fever broke and the color had begun to return to her face. The sweating nearly abated and a calm, relaxed expression of sleep washed over her face.

It was finally over.

[Shura]

Cameron sighed heavily once the fever broke thanking what ever higher power had granted the small miracle. Even after the fever broke however she continued to hold the woman close worried that it might come back. She rested her head against the others drifting to a light sleep. She woke when she felt Morgause move and shifted slightly looking down to see the redhead had finally awoken "Hey... how are you feeling?" She asked voice thick with grogginess.

[Kharmin]

"I feel probably a lot better than I look," Morgause replied with a slight grin. Some of the strength had returned to her usually soft voice and her green eyes showed a luster that had been missing throughout the ordeal. "Gods, I don't want to go through that again any time soon."

Morgause checked and seemed surprised to find herself without a stitch of clothing. Her cheeks flushed lightly at this discovery. The bed, however, was thoroughly soaked. "Sorry about the bed, captain. Let me wash these sheets for you."

She attempted to rise and quickly realized that her muscles were puddles of jelly. "Ok, maybe later," Morgause said as she slumped back down and admitted defeat.

She raked her fingers through her rat's nest of red hair and put her arm around Cameron as she nuzzled her head back on the captain's shoulder. "Did you stay with me all of this time?"

[Shura]

Cameron chuckled softly, brushing a few stray locks away from her face. "I wasn't able to stay the whole time... The take over of the Navy ship went very well... but afterwards I was able to stay here with you. Hanibal took over on deck. You had me worried that the fever wasn't going to break though." She admitted ""You look much better than before and don't worry about the sheets. Though perhaps changing them wouldn't hurt."

[Kharmin]

Morgause lifted her hand from where it wrapped around Cameron and she lightly brushed the captain's cheek with it. "I'm sorry to have, yet again, caused you such distress," she said. "I think I'm on the mend now, if you need to get to your ship. I understand how important the Winds Will is to you."

"That young lad, Tomas?" she inquired. "He seemed able enough earlier if you want to have him attend to me. If nothing else, maybe he could bring me something to eat. I feel as if I hadn't had a meal in days!"

[Shura]

Cameron shook her head "It's best if I stay here... I tried staying on deck earlier but it only aggravated my wounds... besides I much rather be here making sure your okay." She smiled slightly before pressing a kiss to Mogause thankfully cool forehead. "I think lunch is almost ready... so it should be brought up soon. Ater that perhaps a bath, you sweated a fair bit from the fever." She muttered reaching over to one of the near by tables which held a water skin and offered it to her

[Kharmin]

Morgause smiled warmly at Cameron's tender kiss on her forehead. Illness aside, she could not recall a time where she had been so content. Even though Cameron hadn't yet outright said as much, Morgause felt the love lying in her arms and with her kiss. Deep inside, she shuddered with anticipation of the day when Cameron proclaimed her love for her and when Morgause could finally tell her that she, too, loved her.

Her eyebrow twitched up at the mention of a bath and the condition of the bed sheets. That Morgause had sweat a "fair bit" was like calling the Winds Will a child's tub toy boat. The thought of a bath sounded quite nice, but Morgause wasn't sure how such a thing could be accommodated on board, much less with her fatigued and exhausted condition.

She took the water skin and drank as if she would drain it. Not wishing to make herself sick, Morgause took a final, long swallow and stoppered the vessel. She turned her head to Cameron and asked, "Wait, what wounds do you have?"

During the skirmish at the tavern, Morgause was entirely focused on the swashbuckler and his two blades. She knew that Cameron was fighting Daniel, but didn't recall that she had been injured. Vaguely, Morgause recalled a clinic of some sort and Cameron lying on a nearby bed, but she thought that the captain was only resting there while she was being tended.

The memory of the fight flooded back in short sequences in Morgause's mind and she remembered that she was now weaponless. "Captain," she asked, "I guess it's too much to ask that you retrieved my bow from the tavern?" The tone in the question hinted that Morgause expected the answer to be that it had not been recovered.