Page 14 of While Angels Slept
“Have you ever lost someone close to you?”
“Many people, my lady.”
“May I ask who?”
“My father, my uncle, my older brother.”
“In battle?”
“I lost my father and brother in the same battle.”
She digested those facts. “When you said that these dark days will pass… will they indeed?”
He nodded, slowly, his dark eyes studying every curve, every delightful contour of her face. “They will appear less so in time.”
“It does not seem like it.”
“I know. But you must trust me.”
She took a deep breath, for strength and for courage, and lifted those magnificent eyes to him. “Your comforting presence has meant more than you can know to me and my family and to that end, I am eternally grateful. To thank you seems wholly insufficient.”
He smiled weakly, feeling humbled. “Your thanks is more than adequate, I assure you.” Then his smile faded. “But you must promise me one thing.”
“Anything, my lord.”
He began to look around as if he’d lost something. Cantia watched as he took a few steps towards the massive wardrobe and reached downto collect the dagger he had thrown. His dark eyes were fixed on her.
“You will never try anything like this again.”
She nodded, embarrassed and ashamed. Opening the chamber door, they made their way down to the hall in complete silence.
Tevin didn’t take any chances. He kept the dirk.
*
Though there were otherswho were more severely wounded, Cantia’s first patient was Val simply because she happened to be the closest to the door. It took Cantia a matter of seconds to figure out that Val was, in fact, a woman, and her features registered the surprise.
But she said nothing as she examined the patient, determining that she had a few broken ribs and a broken collarbone. Tevin held his sister steady as Cantia and a serving woman bandaged up the ribs and then secured the left arm into a permanent, wrapped position so that the collarbone would heal. It was a relatively simple procedure that had taken less than an hour. But the relief Val, and Tevin felt, was immeasurable.
Cantia had Val moved into the small solar, away from the bulk of the wounded, for the sheer fact that she was female. It was not proper for her to convalesce in a room full of men, even if the woman was dressed like a knight. Oddly enough, Cantia asked no questions of Tevin as to the identity of the female knight. She simply accepted it on face value and moved on to her next patient.
Though Tevin’s attention was focused on settling his sister, he could not help but be distracted by Lady Penden as she moved among the wounded. He was impressed by the fact that she was able to put the needs of others over her formidable grief. It must have been exceptionally wrenching for her to tend men with arrow wounds, knowing her husband had died days earlier in the same manner. But she said nothing, focused on helping those who needed her. From what he’d seen over the past few days from her, he’d expected nothing less.
Tevin eventually accompanied Val into the solar and saw to hercomfort there on a bed that the servants had placed near the fire. He was glad that the result of her having been slammed off her charger was just a few cracked bones. In the heat of the battle, it could have been much worse. Val had been given a brew of willow bark that eventually caused her to drift off to sleep somewhere near dusk, at which time Tevin left her alone. He had many others wounded and would use the time to see to them.
The great hall was darkening as evening fell. A fire burned brightly in the hearth, sending ribbons of smoke into the air. As Tevin entered the hall, the first thing he saw was Hunt and his big yellow dog sitting near the fire. The boy had a big piece of bread in his hand and the dog licked at the crumbs on the floor.
“My lord,” Simon Horley somehow had snuck up behind him and he’d never heard him. “How fares Val?”
“She is sleeping,” Tevin replied. “Do you have a casualty report?”
“Nine dead, twenty-seven wounded,” Simon replied. “Considering the fierceness of the battle, I had expected worse.”
Tevin nodded. “Is everyone attended to?”
“Aye,” Simon replied. “Your knights are in the knight’s quarters, awaiting your debriefing.”
Tevin usually gave a small talk after every battle. It was usually to discuss the battle as a whole, how well it was managed, and if there could be any improvements made with skill or manpower or weapons. But tonight, he didn’t feel much like talking about it. Perhaps it was because he had been preoccupied with Val, or perhaps it was because he was too spent. The past few days had been inordinately draining, both physically and emotionally.
