Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – A Helping Hand

"Are you okay?" queried Frida as she rushed over and caught Halfdan before he fell onto the cold stony ground. Dazed, Halfdan couldn't make sense of his surroundings, almost as if he had just woken up from a deep dream. 

"Frida", he mumbled, clutching his head, "help me, I need to get my wound checked."

Confused, Frida again helped Halfdan hobble back towards the castle gates, where they passed two guards branding comically large battle axes. Not much could get through them.

"Did the young prince run away again?" one of the guards named Karl chuckled as Halfdan lost his footing whilst clutching his wound. 

"He did not run away. He fought Tobjorn to first blood and drew with him. both walked away with their injuries," Frida replied, surprising both the guards, who are used to seeing Halfdan wounded coming from the arena. "Just for your information, yesterday was the first time he ran away!"

"That's impressive, especially considering Tobjorn's attitude and physical force." the other guard, Asgard, chirped, impressed by Halfdan's draw against Torbjorn. 

"Thank you" is all Halfdan could muster as he passed both guards, "still got pretty knocked up, though!"

"Ah, that's what comes with fighting, especially war. I'm sure it won't be the last time!" exclaimed the guards smiling, "But if we do fight side by side someday, I'll make sure to look after you!"

Frida stopped in her path, still holding Halfdan up,  

"Well, hopefully, young sir won't be getting into any proper fights anytime soon!" Frida chirped in.

"You never know. if he gives enough of a fight when he duels his father again when he returns in a few weeks, he will be going to raid Winterville next spring!" Karl remarked to both Frida and Halfdan. 

"That's if young Halfdan can prove himself as a competent warrior. Remember, Halfdan drew with Torbjorn in a one-on-one fight. Torbjorn is still young and half as good as any warrior Halfdan would meet on the battlefields." Frida explained to both of the guards.

"I don't want to go to war either. I'm not a warrior!" Halfdan gasped.

"That's not for you to decide. you know that." Asgard reminded Halfdan, to his dismay. 

"We shall be off now. Halfdan needs to be checked by a doctor. I don't want that cut getting infected," Frida explained as she turned around and directed Halfdan to the doctors. "Let's go." 

Waddling through the narrow winding streets with a fresh layer of snow, the pair finally reached the castle's doctor. The building was like any other in the castle, built out of wood with bowed walls forming a ship-like roof being held and supported by thick angled wooden posts. Only after the castle had been built did a doctor for the common folk find her way to the castle, where she began to look after the locals from her own home and the majority of South Guron. A quick knock at the door proved enough to push it open. It was a frequently used door, and the hinges had begun to wear. 

"Doctor Alice, are you here?!" Frida yelled into the dimly lit hallway, waiting for a response from the darkness. 

"Come in. I recognise that voice", a frail woman's voice responded. The two entered the house and rekindled a candle with a dying flame, giving them enough light to see an older woman sitting in the corner with a book and a large monocle.

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"Don't be shy. I won't bite!" laughed the woman as she waved them over, "come lay on the bed. That's a nasty cut on your arm" Halfdan hobbled over and laid on the bed next to the doctor. The old doctor pulled her chair up and inspected his bloodied arm. She turned towards a cabinet and pulled out a sharp needle and thread. 

"You are the young prince, Halfdan, aren't you?!" Alice queried, reasonably confused about why the prince had turned up at her home looking for medical help rather than a more prestigious and recognised doctor from within the castle's keep. 

"Why have you brought him here to my house? This is a place for the poor and commoners, not those of royal blood," questioned Alice unsurprisingly. Almost as if Frida had prepared for the question:

"If I brought him to the inner castle keep and took him to the royal doctor, his mother would have seen him," she answered, almost ashamed. 

"Are you his servant?" Alice asked.

"Yes, I have been serving him ever since he could speak. My name is Frida."

"Well, I'm afraid to say, Frida, but this will hurt the young prince. Is that alright?" 

"Yes, just make the stitching as invisible as possible. I don't want any questions being asked," Halfdan responded instead of Frida.

"Of course, I am honoured to aid such a handsome young man." chuckled the doctor as Halfdan blushed slightly, completely caught off guard by the compliment. Halfdan nodded and told the doctor to start. Turning away as the first needle pierced his skin through gritted teeth, he let out a pained moan. 

"This won't take long, just a few more", the doctor reassured Halfdan as she threatened through another needle sowing the two flaps of skin together. After a few minutes of pain and an unflattering amount of screaming, the stitching was finally finished. It was neatly covered in a crude bandage. 

"Thank you, doctor," Halfdan expressed as he turned to the door with Frida. 

"You can come anytime, young man!" yelled the old woman as they crossed the door threshold. "Call me Alice. I'm just an old lady with a bit of medical experience!"

"Will do. make sure to come down to the docks for the return of the raiding party next week!" Frida returned. 

"Next week, I thought it was in a few weeks?" Halfdan asked, obviously behind on commonly known information outside the royal's keep. 

"Not at all. I heard in the courtyard today that they were running faster than expected and left early as their raiding was so successful." explained Alice, the doctor, "Guess they can old steal so much gold..." 

Halfdan, shocked, looked to the ground,

I thought I had at least a few more weeks before having to duel with my father...

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