square boulder all summer.”
“Watching me.”
“She believes her duty was not removed by our judgment. If she hadn’t been here, you would still be lying out on those rocks, your bones being picked at by vultures. She saved your life.”
“She destroyed my life. What was left of it after Ysanne took her portion.”
The worst part about sensible Catrin’s care and feeding was that I came all too well to my senses. I was a wretched mess. Dirty. Ragged. Little better than when I was a slave, save my chains were less visible. I had always despised people who got stretched a little thin and took their troubles so much to heart that they abandoned decency and eating and reasonable pursuits until they became filthy, pitiful scarecrows. It was an insufferable indulgence. Too many people had no choice about such things. So, as one has to do after so many lessons learned as we stumble through the world, I humbly cleaned myself up and tried to reclaim some dignity.
Catrin refused to talk business until I was up and about, which took several days. I had evidently lain out in the drought-breaking downpour sick and half-starved for three days before Fiona found me and dragged me back to the tower. She had little skill at healing and no medicines, so she went for Catrin. I did appreciate her choice of healer.
So my first excursion away from my sickbed was to Fiona’s campsite behind the square boulder, not a thousand paces from my tower. She was hunched over a tiny fire, stitching a patch on one of her boots. She’d built a shelter woven of sticks hauled up from the forest far below us, and alongside a well-used bow and newly fletched arrows, there was considerable bony evidence that she was far more successful at hunting than I had been. She jumped up when I came, standing awkwardly with her stockinged foot held off the damp ground, her chin stuck out belligerently.
“I’ve come to thank you for hauling me back to the tower. And for bringing Catrin.”
“Couldn’t let you die out there, could I?”
Though sorely tempted to speak the answer that came immediately to mind, I kept my sarcasm mild. Thunder grumbled on the horizon, and a damp wind swirled smoke and ash in our eyes. “It’s foolish for you to be out here in the rain now I know you’re here. So if you feel bound to stay, at least come inside the tower. There’s plenty of room, and Catrin’s there to protect you from my unsavory influences.”
I thought she was going to refuse. I hoped she would be insulted and take her all-seeing eyes back to her home. But her pitiful campsite was clue enough to her persistence, and my discomfort had never prevented her from staying around. She moved in.
By the next day, Catrin allowed me to converse at length, and I had enough voice to do so. “So Hoffyd has no quarrel with you spending a week on a mountaintop with me?” I said to my dark-haired physician as we drank chamomile tea and listened to the rain.
Catrin smiled and filled my mug again. “Hoffyd is the most patient and understanding of men.”
“So where was he hiding those three weeks? Howel said Ennit was driving you crazy trying to find him.”
Catrin pursed her lips in warning, and her eyes flicked to Fiona, who was doing her best to ignore us. “Howel was mistaken. Hoffyd was with his sister for over a month. Poor Ennit’s never quite gotten over her flux. But I do need to get back to the dear fellow now you’re better.”
“How do your students progress?” It was hard to ask. Harder to hear. But if I was to continue breathing, I could not ignore it.
“Drych passed his testing just before I came. I’ll take Tegyr through next week. I’ll let them begin true combat soon after. I’ve sent word to the Searchers to bring in a few easier cases to start.”
“Take care of them, Catrin. There is so much . . .” I felt like I needed to warn Catrin, but I couldn’t come up with words to describe a danger I believed was looming
“Watching me.”
“She believes her duty was not removed by our judgment. If she hadn’t been here, you would still be lying out on those rocks, your bones being picked at by vultures. She saved your life.”
“She destroyed my life. What was left of it after Ysanne took her portion.”
The worst part about sensible Catrin’s care and feeding was that I came all too well to my senses. I was a wretched mess. Dirty. Ragged. Little better than when I was a slave, save my chains were less visible. I had always despised people who got stretched a little thin and took their troubles so much to heart that they abandoned decency and eating and reasonable pursuits until they became filthy, pitiful scarecrows. It was an insufferable indulgence. Too many people had no choice about such things. So, as one has to do after so many lessons learned as we stumble through the world, I humbly cleaned myself up and tried to reclaim some dignity.
Catrin refused to talk business until I was up and about, which took several days. I had evidently lain out in the drought-breaking downpour sick and half-starved for three days before Fiona found me and dragged me back to the tower. She had little skill at healing and no medicines, so she went for Catrin. I did appreciate her choice of healer.
So my first excursion away from my sickbed was to Fiona’s campsite behind the square boulder, not a thousand paces from my tower. She was hunched over a tiny fire, stitching a patch on one of her boots. She’d built a shelter woven of sticks hauled up from the forest far below us, and alongside a well-used bow and newly fletched arrows, there was considerable bony evidence that she was far more successful at hunting than I had been. She jumped up when I came, standing awkwardly with her stockinged foot held off the damp ground, her chin stuck out belligerently.
“I’ve come to thank you for hauling me back to the tower. And for bringing Catrin.”
“Couldn’t let you die out there, could I?”
Though sorely tempted to speak the answer that came immediately to mind, I kept my sarcasm mild. Thunder grumbled on the horizon, and a damp wind swirled smoke and ash in our eyes. “It’s foolish for you to be out here in the rain now I know you’re here. So if you feel bound to stay, at least come inside the tower. There’s plenty of room, and Catrin’s there to protect you from my unsavory influences.”
I thought she was going to refuse. I hoped she would be insulted and take her all-seeing eyes back to her home. But her pitiful campsite was clue enough to her persistence, and my discomfort had never prevented her from staying around. She moved in.
By the next day, Catrin allowed me to converse at length, and I had enough voice to do so. “So Hoffyd has no quarrel with you spending a week on a mountaintop with me?” I said to my dark-haired physician as we drank chamomile tea and listened to the rain.
Catrin smiled and filled my mug again. “Hoffyd is the most patient and understanding of men.”
“So where was he hiding those three weeks? Howel said Ennit was driving you crazy trying to find him.”
Catrin pursed her lips in warning, and her eyes flicked to Fiona, who was doing her best to ignore us. “Howel was mistaken. Hoffyd was with his sister for over a month. Poor Ennit’s never quite gotten over her flux. But I do need to get back to the dear fellow now you’re better.”
“How do your students progress?” It was hard to ask. Harder to hear. But if I was to continue breathing, I could not ignore it.
“Drych passed his testing just before I came. I’ll take Tegyr through next week. I’ll let them begin true combat soon after. I’ve sent word to the Searchers to bring in a few easier cases to start.”
“Take care of them, Catrin. There is so much . . .” I felt like I needed to warn Catrin, but I couldn’t come up with words to describe a danger I believed was looming
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