Phillip caught the young girl’s expression and chuckled then winced as the thick needle pierced his skin.
“It’s not a large force,” Tabernas said as he pulled the tent flap aside and strode in, his hair slick with sweat and matted against his head and neck. He stopped short as he caught sight of the doctor with his Prince.
Phillip shrugged. “It’s nothing,” he said then added. “We’ll leave come dark, move back to Manse.”
No one said anything, but they all felt the same regret. They could force their way through the Scar Gap eventually, a small force could not hold them up forever, but each knew it could hold them up long enough for the Knights to cross the open plains of Massi and trap them in the narrow confines. And if that happened they would be fighting on two fronts and in all likelihood be destroyed.
“The Rhondono have been giving ground all day, tempting us to move farther into the Gap,” Tabernas said flopping down in a chair. He was tired. He’d done his share of killing. He hoped the Rhondono force facing them was indeed expendable, because they were taking a beating against the Toranado heavy infantry.
Phillip nodded. “They’re underestimating us if they think we would fall for such an obvious trap.”
“Yes, or they want us to think they are underestimating us,” the Weapons Master quipped.
Phillip thought about that for a long moment, considering this new angle, then barked out a laugh.
“If I believed that, I would be overestimating them. No one that’s subtle,” he said and then glanced again at the young Traveler. She sat there gazing at him with her long hair and large eyes.
“How far can you project?”
Laynee shrugged. “I practice every other day. It makes me tired,” she answered then jumped down off the table she was sitting on and shook her hair free so that it rippled down her back like a long blonde river of silk. Tabernas smiled at the young girl’s obvious advances toward the Prince.
‘They learn so young,’ he thought, ‘or perhaps it’s instinctual.’
“I can’t make Manse yet,” she continued with a frown, “or Cape, which is farther, but I can get to Colchester,” she finally added with just a hint of pride.
The Prince smiled at her. “That’s very good,” he complimented. “Tomorrow, when we’re finally out of the Gap, I’ll want you hunting the Knights just in case. I don’t want to get caught in the open. I need you to contact Captain Tanner, tonight if you are up to it?”
Laynee nodded then shivered. She approached the Prince and looked more closely at the wound in his side. The doctor was finished stitching and was beginning to clean the area. Laynee reached out and took the wet rag from her then began to clean the Prince’s wound with soft gentle strokes.
“Captain Tanner and Zebo will be out of Manse,” she said quietly. “They should be easy to reach,” she added confidently then slowly looked up at the Prince who was looking down at her with those dark, dreamy eyes of his.
ǂ
de Baard woke confused and thirsty, gazing up at the canvas ceiling of the tent. At first she did not know why she was here, in bed, when it was clearly daylight, but then she made a move to rise. Pain exploded through her entire body and she dropped back on the cot, dizzy and panting. When the stars finally faded from her vision and her breathing slowed to normal she shifted her head slightly, again pain reared up at her like a guard dog on an intruder and she was still. But she managed to move her head just enough to see that she was not alone. She was in the main medical tent and in the bunk next to her was a young man who was smiling at her.
“Doc, she’s awake,” the young man said happily. “We weren’t sure you’d make it,” he added, then pointed down at his foot. de Baard only shifted her eyes to follow his movement.
“Busted my leg,” he informed her as Van Valencia came into her field of view.
“Hello Cyndar,” the young Deutzani said looking down at her. “Doc Linkler will be around shortly. Are you thirsty?”
de Baard shook her head ever so slightly and pain again bloomed in the garden of her mind, like a weed. Her eyes watered as Van turned away. He returned quickly with a bowl and a clean rag.
“Your jaw was dislocated,” Van explained as he added a light brown powder to the water in the bowl. He mixed it up until it was dissolved. “For the pain,” he informed her.
“And you got thirty-three stitches across your chest,” said the young man in the next bunk, ignoring the sharp look he was getting from Van, “and another twelve in your chin.”
“Hush,” Van snapped then turned back to de Baard. “Both of those wounds will heal nicely, the wound below your left shoulder was deep and cut through a lot of muscle. It may be a while before you get full use of your arm back.”
“But the doc said…”
“Henry you better shut your mouth or I’ll dislocate your jaw,” Van yelled at him. Henry’s eyes went wide and he slouched back angrily.
“Fine!” he said. Van ignored him.
He dipped the rag in the water and held it up to de Baard’s mouth and squeezed a bit of water between her lips. Embarrassing as her situation was, the water was liquid paradise, but when she swallowed the pain once again threatened to overwhelm her. Her mouth felt as if someone tried to tear her tongue out by the roots. If she wasn’t so thirsty she would have stopped trying to swallow, the pain was so bad, but she continued, hoping that eventually the medicine Van was giving her would ease her suffering.
After a few minutes Van held up the empty bowl and smiled at her but it was not an emotion she shared and it must have shown in her eyes because Van stood and patted her leg softly.
“All you need is rest,” he said and left her to her thoughts.
de Baard stared blankly at the ceiling for several minutes, anger welling up inside. Sinis tried to kill her! And when they learned of their failure they would try again.
‘Well two can play that game,’ Cyndar thought to herself. ‘Once the bitch is dead I think I’ll pay a little visit to Nacht.’ As she plotted her revenge and her future she did not even realize that Gwaynn’s death was no longer on her agenda. Oh, she would still kill the Fultan whore who stole his heart, but then her business resided on Sinis Island. If she survived that trial and if Gwaynn survived his little tiff with the High King then…who knew? Anything could happen.
But first, she must regain her strength. Slowly, as if she was trying to catch a fly with her hand, she moved her left arm up and gingerly felt her face. It was heavily bandaged, rows of tight cotton wrapped around the bridge of her nose. They skipped her nostrils and mouth and then continued on around her chin. Additional bandages wrapped around the top of her head holding her jaw snuggly in place.