Ghis (closed)

[KieranSoares]

Brogan simply closed his eyes and gave in. In his mind, he thought of Julia and nights where they'd found themselves in a similar position to this, making love for hours at their leisure. It was enough to cause tears to brim in his eyes, but he blinked them away before Sarah could see them.

 

[heartofcourage]

Sarah continued to ride Brogan for all that she was worth, moaning and sighing as she found her pleasure with that man that absolutely despised her. She kept convincing herself that he only needed time. He would come around. He needed some guidance and encouragement.

“Yes, love. Just like that.” Sarah whimpered, knowing that her orgasm was close at hand. “Cum with me, Brogan.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan literally had to force his body to give in as Sarah's did, and he didn't make a sound at all. He felt like an absolute traitor to his lost love once more as he filled Sarah's belly with his seed.

Little did Sarah know, Julia was closing in on Wick and her forces were fading fast. A man returned to the door, yelling through, "We're losing men, milady! We need orders!"

 

[heartofcourage]

Sarah let out a triumphant cry as she felt Brogan let loose his potent seed, her orgasm rolling over her body as she danced happily over his hard cock. It was a small victory, she thought to herself as she leaned in and kissed Brogan’s lips gently.

She let out a growl as the man came back to the door, insisting that he needed her. She glared at the door before she slipped off Brogan’s shaft, drawing a gown about her naked curves before she went and ripped the door open.

“You tell the men that are deserting that we will slaughter their families. Open with the heavy artillery and send the honor guard out to cut down their riders.” She hissed at the man, her look absolute murder.

 

[KieranSoares]

"The honor guard have all defected, your ladyship, and took their families with them. Only one team of artillerymen remains," he reported nervously. He was on the verge of giving up too, she could see it.

 

[heartofcourage]

Sarah let out a growl as she shoved past the man, stalking down the hall to see this for her own eyes. The great hall was nearly deserted and there was a large amount of commotion coming from outside. This couldn’t be the end, she thought to herself.

Julia was watching the gathering forces from a distance away, her eyes scanning the crowds quickly. “Tell the forces that Sarah is to be captured alive. A bag of gold to whoever does it first and fastest. I also want Brogan brought to my tents.” She gave the order to Kreston, knowing that this would end now.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kreston sent Casso to lead the final charge, and Dalton to flank Wick to stop Sarah fleeing if she tried. As Casso bolted at Sarah's forces with a monstrous roar, half her men dropped to their knees in surrender, a part fled, and the rest were nearly barreled over by werecreatures, centaurs, and raging Irish, Scots, English, and a few Norwegians who'd come in honor of Kayla.

None of them knew that Brogan was no longer in the keep. He'd broken Sarah's headboard and freed himself to escape his misery.

 

[heartofcourage]

Sarah was taken captive and put in chains, placed in the dungeon of Wick Keep as Julia ordered the soldiers to move back into the keep to get the families out of the cold. It was learned that Brogan must have escaped, and Julia had a tough decision to make.

“I’m leaving the forces in your command, Kreston.” She finally told him, her hand placed on his shoulder. “And I will go after Brogan.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Before Kreston could say anything, Casso appeared before Julia, "Lady Julia, there is blood trail from Wick woman's room window, going out into snow."

"Go get him, Julia," Kreston said quickly.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia was quick to mount her horse once more, spurring it into a gallop in the direction of the blood trail. It wasn’t long after she started off after Brogan that the snow started to fall, growing thicker as she went further into the darkness.

“Brogan!” Julia cried out in the darkness. “Love, please answer me!”

 

[KieranSoares]

No answer came, but her horse soon stopped short where the blood trail ended nearly an hour into searching. What Julia had thought was a boulder was really a body, a shirtless man laying half-covered in snow, pale despite dark skin, and blood staining the snow all around his head. In his hand laid a freezing bloody dagger.

It was Brogan, still in his wrist shackles. He had attempted to commit suicide by slitting his own throat in his deep depression and misery and guilt. But he was still alive somehow, only barely, and unresponsive.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia pulled her horse to a stop and simply stared in the falling snow at the form of her husband. He was covered in blood, barely alive by the actions of his own hand. She was soon slipping from her saddle, hurrying to him. Gently, she turned his body so that he was facing her, her hand stroking his cheek gently.

“Love?” She whispered softly. “Love, please stay with me. Your babies need you. I NEED you.”

 

[KieranSoares]

He was thinner, with less muscle mass than she remembered. His skin though pale with bloodloss, was already paler than it should've been anyhow. His face was trimmed with the beginnings of a beard as he'd not been allowed a razor to shave in his time with Sarah. There was a new scar on his brow from a beating he'd willingly taken from one of Sarah's men for his original insubordinance. And his neck... he'd done a number on himself, having dug the blade in deep to try to ensure his death. But he was too strong to die quickly, so now he was suffering in the cold alone.

Those dark eyes opened just barely, as if he wasn't even strong enough to do that. He couldn't speak, but his gaze told her that he couldn't believe who he was seeing. He still thought she was dead. He thought she was a ghost or an angel, coming to fetch him to the afterlife. So he turned his head into her shoulder slowly, and fell motionless again.

Kreston had come close behind with a large horse-drawn cart to carry Brogan, and he fell silent as he came to a halt on his horse before Julia.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia simply sat there in the falling snow, cradling her once strong husband close to her chest. She didn’t cry. She couldn’t cry. She simply wanted him to live, to thrive, to be the strong man that had captured her heart so long ago. She glanced up only once when she heard Kreston coming with a cart and she saw the look in his eyes as he halted before her.

“We’ll save him, Kreston. I can’t let him die.” She murmured, helping him to place Brogan gently in the warm blankets in the back of the wagon. “We need bandages and herbs to stop the bleeding.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Kreston reached into the satchel he carried, pulling out a bundle of the very things she requested, "If you know how to use them, I'll lead the cart while you care for him. If not, it'll be the other way around."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'll care for him." Julia said, pulling her cloak from her shoulders to wrap around his freezing body as the snow storm raged around them.

She made a paste of herbs, slipping the thick mixture on Brogan's tongue before she spread some in the wound that he'd inflicted. With the bleeding stopped, she took a needle and thin thread, putting a neat row of stitches in his skin to pull the wound shut. The. She carefully worked to bandage him before she slipped beneath that cloak to share her body heat with him.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan never responded to a single thing, even when he'd normally unconsciously try to wrap his arms around her. He didn't move except for the slight rise and fall of his chest.

When they returned to Wick, news of Brogan's condition spread like wildfire. A message was sent for Vincenzo to come as quickly as possible. Until then, they would have to do with the few healers they had. And the entire time, Brogan was mentally lost.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia never left Brogan's side. His hand firmly clasped between her own as she watches over him. Even when it was suggested that she rest, she declined and continued her vigil. She spoke to him, telling him about the battle, his family, the child that she was carrying. She did everything in her power to make him wake, to respond to her in any way.

 

[KieranSoares]

It wasn't until several days after Vincenzo arrived that Brogan truly woke, but the only evidence of it was the fact that instead of his eyes being closed, he now stared blankly at the ceiling. Of course Vincenzo made Julia rest properly, so one morning, she re-entered the room to find her husband's eyes open, filled with tears.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia stepped into the room on day after Vincenzo insisted that she at least get some level of sleep. He was worried about stress and her baby but after he had checked her over, she was given a clean bill of health. Pausing in the doorway she saw Brogan's eyes open, staring at the ceiling as he struggled to contain some emotion.

"Love?" She called softly, swooping in to wrap him in the tightest embrace she could muster.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan's eyes closed once more as she touched him and tears began coursing down his cheeks. Vincenzo had only just told Julia that Brogan could begin speaking a bit again, but it seemed the broken Scotsman just didn't want to speak. And to top it all off, Julia learned that Brogan had been told she was dead that entire time along with Durban and Ashien, which was why he'd given in to Sarah and fallen so far into depression.

Vincenzo was trying to treat him for said depression as it was known that elongated mental illness could result in the body shutting down here and there and causing more problems. Vincenzo's biggest concern was Brogan's heart because of his previous wound and because the only real family health issue the Ghis had was in their hearts from Brogan's father's side.

Brogan was in danger of death every moment, because of what he'd done to himself, and what Sarah had inflicted in his mind. It was such a harsh state that Brogan didn't even try to hide it under a mask of strength. He wasn't himself any more, and it left many people worried not only for him and the family, but also the future of Inverness.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia very gently crawled into the bed beside her husband, her arm wrapped around his chest to let him know that she was never letting him go again. She knew that he was in a dark place but she also knew that she would pull him back again. All he needed was time and she was glad to give that to him.

Gently reaching up to touch his cheek, she turned his gaze towards her. Looking into his haunted gaze, she could only image what he had been through. She didn’t blame him for the state that he was in now and she only wanted to help.

“I love you, Brogan.” She said simply, letting him know that she was there and she was very real. “Durban and Ashien are fine. Cole is fine. Kayla has been saved and is safe.”

 

[KieranSoares]

The broken king turned his face into Julia's shoulder, hiding his shame and his tears, not allowing her to see the full extent of his pain through his eyes. It was beyond just what Sarah had done. It was the horrors he'd seen in battle, men blown apart by the new war machines or shredded when the culverins were defect and exploded. Chivalry was dying slowly now that entirely unskilled men with cannons could kill highly-trained warriors with the flick of a match.

Brogan's body trembled violently in pain of mental, emotional, and physical wounds, and it was clear to Julia that he would've liked nothing better in that moment than to die and be put out of his misery. He was not a man to feel bad for himself but this was too much.

 

[heartofcourage]

“It’s alright, love.” She murmured, pressing her lips against his forehead in a warm and gentle kiss. “It’s alright. I’m here.”

She cooed to her husband, rocking him slightly like she would have her own child to comfort a bad dream. Julia didn’t know how to help him, how to break through the thick fog that seemed to block her husband from her. All she could do was love him and show him that she was still there.

“You’re going to be a father again.” She murmured her news, continuing on with her conversation, searching for anything that would bring him back to her.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan slowly began to calm in her embrace, and she felt his hand weakly clutch her sleeve when she told him the news. Being that he couldn't speak, it was all he could do. He finally found in in him to return a bit of her affection, laying an almost timid kiss against her shoulder as if he felt he wasn't worthy of doing so. He felt he'd betrayed her even though he couldn't have helped it and thought she was dead.