You're a nurse living in the homestead. With a growing population, the local doctor needed help. You accepted his offer despite being a true city girl, probably because you wanted to challenge yourself. People are surprisingly talkative with you; you can say you're welcomed here. At home.

You built your house near the manor. The view is beautiful and the place is usually calm. Unfortunately, winter and political conflicts brought many injured people here and the doctor's practice was quickly and permanently full. You and his assistant Diana had to open a dispensary to help.

You're busy with a patient when you overhear people complaining nearby. Intrigued, you get out and see a crowd near the entrance. The inhabitants are shouting but you understand that a storm hit a ship called the Aquila after a heavy raid. Most of the sailors died and the survivors transported their captain to the manor because the dispensary is already full.

Diana says, “You should take care of him yourself, I can deal with the wounded here but the captain is Achilles' protégé and he's not conscious.”

“His protégé?”

You're hesitant; so many people need medical attention and only a few know how to help. Finally, the inhabitants convinced you. This captain seems really popular among them. You take what you can and walk towards the manor under a thick snow.

Achilles greets you, a little more disenchanted than usual. He's not chatty; you can tell he never really was. He simply leads you to your patient's room. The hall is dark and the night is falling, the house is poorly lit by a few oil lamps and fireplaces.

Connor – that is his name – lives upstairs. You're a bit surprised to learn he's a Native. You can't say you met many of them in your urban life and you don't know much about their culture. You don't know how to behave and you're afraid of disrespecting, then you remember he's unconscious. You approach the bed with caution and begin to study his wounds.

According to your professional opinion, this man is lucky to be alive. You can tell some of his ribs are broken and he was severely beaten. As you suspect a head trauma, you need to check his eyes. You can't see much so you look for the closest lamp in the room and start to move his head slowly to place it correctly.

According to your not-so-professional opinion, now that you can see his face you find him very attractive despite all this blood. Usually, you examine so many people in a day you barely notice how they look. There is something special about him, you think while you start your medical care. You find this captain uniform very alluring, you like his strong hands and his lips look… delectable. You have to bite yours to stay focused. You remember Achilles is still here, probably waiting for your preliminary observations according to his stare. You reassure him and ask for water to clean the amount of blood on Connor.

“I'll send someone,” he says while leaving the room. “I'll let you do your work. I'm downstairs if you need anything.”

You're alone and a little ashamed to feel better this way. The liquid is tepid; you gently use it with some cloth and clean your patient's dark skin to do stitches. By the look of his open wounds, that's the best thing you can do for now. You quickly realise that you need more cloth. You move to get up, but suddenly your arm is twisted. You fall on the bed and you feel a cold blade under your throat. Frightened, all you can hear is your own heart and you gasp when you realise Connor is awake. He has just taken control of you without even being able to move.

His dark eyes express a blend of surprise and deep pain. He releases your bruised arm and rubs his eyes. You suppose he has just figured out he is at home. You see his lips trying to form words.

“Who are you?” he asks, pointing at your uniform. “I've never seen you before.

“I'm

Hidden Motive

By Liya

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