Protected: Chapter Eight
Protected
Chapter Eight: Repentance
This, thought the knight, darkness falling down, oppressive and heavy as a quilt, has got to be the worst day of my life. When the darkness lifted, Neal and Yuki stood before her hand in hand.
“You’ve been a fool,” said Neal, chuckling appreciatively.
Yuki nodded firmly.
“You’re not mad?” the knight asked her best friend in confusion. He smiled serenely and shook his head. “And you agree with him?” she asked again, and the Yamani nodded her head firmly, her dark eyes grievous. “I don’t understand,” complained Keladry. Feeling suddenly dizzy, she braced a hand on her wide thigh to sit down. But when she looked at her thigh she saw it was slashed and bleeding heavily through her faded cotton breeches.
Her midriff bled as well, from cuts on her stomach and ribs that she could see, if not feel their effects. Kel felt bile rising up in her throat --
-- And sat bolt upright in patchy darkness, shivering in her coating of cold sweat.
She was lying on a thickly-piled bedroll, and the dark around her was impenetrable to her blinking eyes. Kel fought nightmare-panic as her fingers grappled and dug into the sheets and the sweat on her skin evaporated, leaving her feeling cold and dry-mouthed.
As she regained her night eyes Keladry saw her surroundings more clearly. She half-tumbled out of the mussed bedding and grabbed a nearby water bottle. She drank, then shivered. It was very cold. She padded back to the bedroll and wrapped herself up to the chin, falling asleep again.
She had no more dreams, and woke again only when the light against the tent walls told her it was morning. There was a shadow against the door flap, and when she stirred, a familiar voice sounded, “I’m coming in.” It was Zahir.
“You’ve been a fool,” he said, his face expressionless.
“What happened?”
“You received a blow to the head,” said Zahir, his voice measured. “The damage was not very bad, but your fever picked up again, and Sir Martin said you should expect random dizziness and headaches for a week or so. Despite overwhelming odds, we managed to subdue the uprising without your invaluable fortitude.”
He was very definitely joking, Kel knew, but she’d had no idea Zahir possessed any sense of humor to speak of. Much less one so dry and deprecating. The perfectly serious and poised expression on his face also threw her off. It’s almost enough to make one dizzy again, she mused wearily. With things as they were, there was only one other question she wanted to ask. “When do we leave?”
“Today after lunch,” said Zahir.
The only fact he neglected in his impressively concise account was that Sir Martin intended to hold her to the choice she’d been offered days earlier. Examining the willow branch and hemp contraption before her doubtfully, Kel thought it was likely to be an equal menace to her health as Hoshi’s temperate treatment. Sir Martin, however, was adamant. The litter frame was stretched between two horses and draped with blankets, and Keladry ordered onto it.
Of course, she obeyed. The first two hours of the ride home were miserable. Once she got used to the litter’s swaying, though, Kel’s dizziness and tiredness took over and she fell asleep. When she woke, she saw the flank of a fine Bazhir mare.
“Have I been punished enough?” she asked plaintively.
Zahir laughed. “Plenty, I should think,” he said. “The day I find myself in a litter must follow the night of the greatest battle since King Jasson’s conquests.”
“I’d like to thank you for compounding my shame,” remarked Kel wryly.
“At your service, milady,” replied Zahir.
Kel shook her head faintly and gave up. Once she had, the journey back to Corus wasn’t so bad, really. She pent most of her time sleeping or talking to Zahir. He often talked about his family, and for a change, she listened. Two days before they arrived in Corus her dizzy-spells and fever had completely vanished, so Kel was able to return to the city as she had left it, astride Hoshi and in high spirits.
The morning after their return, Kel paid a visit to the Queenscove city residence.
“Getting yourself into trouble again, Page Keladry?” asked Duke Baird when he saw her.
“Who told?” she asked.
“Your mother, of course,” he said, smiling.
“Is Neal very upset?” The thought of Neal’s likely reaction to her ridiculous escapades was enough to make her giggle.
“I broke the news to him last night,” said the duke, “so as to keep the greater force of his reaction from you. I believe you’ve been through rather enough trauma, recently.”
“How very considerate of Your Grace,” replied Kel courteously.
“Neal and Yukimi are upstairs in their bower. I’m sure they would both like to see you. I hope you’ll stay for supper?”
“I’d love to,” agreed Kel with a smile.
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Chapter Eight: Repentance
This, thought the knight, darkness falling down, oppressive and heavy as a quilt, has got to be the worst day of my life. When the darkness lifted, Neal and Yuki stood before her hand in hand.
“You’ve been a fool,” said Neal, chuckling appreciatively.
Yuki nodded firmly.
“You’re not mad?” the knight asked her best friend in confusion. He smiled serenely and shook his head. “And you agree with him?” she asked again, and the Yamani nodded her head firmly, her dark eyes grievous. “I don’t understand,” complained Keladry. Feeling suddenly dizzy, she braced a hand on her wide thigh to sit down. But when she looked at her thigh she saw it was slashed and bleeding heavily through her faded cotton breeches.
Her midriff bled as well, from cuts on her stomach and ribs that she could see, if not feel their effects. Kel felt bile rising up in her throat --
-- And sat bolt upright in patchy darkness, shivering in her coating of cold sweat.
She was lying on a thickly-piled bedroll, and the dark around her was impenetrable to her blinking eyes. Kel fought nightmare-panic as her fingers grappled and dug into the sheets and the sweat on her skin evaporated, leaving her feeling cold and dry-mouthed.
As she regained her night eyes Keladry saw her surroundings more clearly. She half-tumbled out of the mussed bedding and grabbed a nearby water bottle. She drank, then shivered. It was very cold. She padded back to the bedroll and wrapped herself up to the chin, falling asleep again.
She had no more dreams, and woke again only when the light against the tent walls told her it was morning. There was a shadow against the door flap, and when she stirred, a familiar voice sounded, “I’m coming in.” It was Zahir.
“You’ve been a fool,” he said, his face expressionless.
“What happened?”
“You received a blow to the head,” said Zahir, his voice measured. “The damage was not very bad, but your fever picked up again, and Sir Martin said you should expect random dizziness and headaches for a week or so. Despite overwhelming odds, we managed to subdue the uprising without your invaluable fortitude.”
He was very definitely joking, Kel knew, but she’d had no idea Zahir possessed any sense of humor to speak of. Much less one so dry and deprecating. The perfectly serious and poised expression on his face also threw her off. It’s almost enough to make one dizzy again, she mused wearily. With things as they were, there was only one other question she wanted to ask. “When do we leave?”
“Today after lunch,” said Zahir.
The only fact he neglected in his impressively concise account was that Sir Martin intended to hold her to the choice she’d been offered days earlier. Examining the willow branch and hemp contraption before her doubtfully, Kel thought it was likely to be an equal menace to her health as Hoshi’s temperate treatment. Sir Martin, however, was adamant. The litter frame was stretched between two horses and draped with blankets, and Keladry ordered onto it.
Of course, she obeyed. The first two hours of the ride home were miserable. Once she got used to the litter’s swaying, though, Kel’s dizziness and tiredness took over and she fell asleep. When she woke, she saw the flank of a fine Bazhir mare.
“Have I been punished enough?” she asked plaintively.
Zahir laughed. “Plenty, I should think,” he said. “The day I find myself in a litter must follow the night of the greatest battle since King Jasson’s conquests.”
“I’d like to thank you for compounding my shame,” remarked Kel wryly.
“At your service, milady,” replied Zahir.
Kel shook her head faintly and gave up. Once she had, the journey back to Corus wasn’t so bad, really. She pent most of her time sleeping or talking to Zahir. He often talked about his family, and for a change, she listened. Two days before they arrived in Corus her dizzy-spells and fever had completely vanished, so Kel was able to return to the city as she had left it, astride Hoshi and in high spirits.
The morning after their return, Kel paid a visit to the Queenscove city residence.
“Getting yourself into trouble again, Page Keladry?” asked Duke Baird when he saw her.
“Who told?” she asked.
“Your mother, of course,” he said, smiling.
“Is Neal very upset?” The thought of Neal’s likely reaction to her ridiculous escapades was enough to make her giggle.
“I broke the news to him last night,” said the duke, “so as to keep the greater force of his reaction from you. I believe you’ve been through rather enough trauma, recently.”
“How very considerate of Your Grace,” replied Kel courteously.
“Neal and Yukimi are upstairs in their bower. I’m sure they would both like to see you. I hope you’ll stay for supper?”
“I’d love to,” agreed Kel with a smile.
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