I had just taken the skillets from the oven and the pot off the stove when commotion came from outside. Shouts. I dashed out of the kitchen and ran toward the yard.
The group of knights had diminished in number. Not all had come back. The ones who did were covered in scratches, gashes, and dirt. I swept a gaze amongst them, relief flooding my chest as a certain cinnamon roll came into view.
“What happened?” I asked Callum. “Where are the others?”
“In Briar’s clinic,” he answered, sliding off his horse. “The horde was larger than we anticipated. We…” He slumped a little, exhaustion weighing him down. Fortunately, I didn’t see any injuries apart from a few cuts. “Many of us were wounded.”
I observed the group again, my earlier relief fleeing. “Where’s Maddox?”
The pain in Callum’s eyes made my stomach turn. “The captain… he…”
I was thankful I hadn’t eaten anything. Because as the air left my lungs and the turning in my stomach worsened, twisting in knots, I felt like I could puke. “He’s dead?”
“No, but he’s in critical condition.” Callum’s eyes glistened. “He jumped in the way to…” He wiped at his face, then said quieter, “To save me.”
“Take me to him.”
Callum helped me into the saddle and swung up behind me before we rode toward the clinic. The wind on my face caught a tear from the corner of my eye, turning it cold as it rolled down my cheek. How was it possible to care about someone I’d just met?
If Maddox died, I’d kick his ass.
Once at the clinic, Callum helped me down from the horse, and the two of us approached the door. It swung open before we reached it.
“Come in,” Briar said as soon as he saw us. Blood stained his hands and the front of his apron. He then went over to wash his hands in the water basin in the corner. “Are you in need of medical assistance as well, Sir Callum?”
“No, I only have minor cuts and bruises,” Callum said as we stepped inside. “We came to check on the others.”
“They’re in the medical wing.”
Pained groans sounded from the other room. A set of double doors separated the medical wing from the main part of the clinic. A pressure squeezed my sternum as a man cried out. More tears welled in my eyes.
A guy with shaggy blond hair and a slender frame exited the ward with a pan of bloody rags, his face pale and eyes wide. As he took the pan over to a basin to wash the rags, his hands shook.
“That’s Thane,” Briar said. “He’s my new apprentice.”
Emphasis on new. The guy seemed much too shaken compared to Briar, who appeared unaffected by the gruesome scene in the next room.
“Will you fetch more cloth for bandages?” Briar asked him.
“Yes, sir.” Thane rushed over to a cabinet and gathered some.
“How’s the captain?” I asked. “Can we see him?”
Briar frowned. “I would advise against you entering the medical wing right now. It’s not a pleasant sight.” He grabbed a tray of medical tools from the table against the wall. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to tend to the men.”
Despite his warning, Callum and I followed him anyway. Rays of fading sunlight lit the medical wing, shining on rows of cots. Cots that currently held a dozen or so wounded knights. Some lay in the beds, unconscious, and a few sat upright with their heads and torsos bandaged and dazed looks on their faces.
I knew them. Quincy, Duke, and others I had sat and laughed with the previous day. The tears I’d barely held back earlier now fell freely. I hated seeing them like this.
And then I saw Maddox. He lay in a cot at the back of the room. Unmoving.
Briar hurried over to him and carefully removed his armor, using surgical scissors to cut open his tunic. My breath caught at the deep gashes along his ribs. Blood pooled from them.
Callum watched with worried eyes, hand clenching and unclenching at his side. “Will he be all right?”
Briar’s brow wrinkled. “I’ll do all I can.”
“This is my fault.” Callum’s voice broke. “The horde was retreating, and I let my guard down. I started to help the wounded men and didn’t see the Fenrir demon until the thing was lunging at me. The captain jumped between us.” He expelled a breath and hung his head. “What if he dies because of me?”
