Walpurgis Night by Katherine Kingston Page A

dressed quickly in the clean clothes left waiting for them. By the time she was dressed, Fianna had to admit that she did feel refreshed and revived in a way she rarely ever had. Perhaps the sauna and dip in the stream afterward accounted for part of that. It certainly wasn’t all.
    As they left, Henrik stopped and pulled her into his arms. He didn’t kiss her or say anything, just stood, holding her against his body, her head cradled against his shoulder. Fianna didn’t need words to hear all he tried to tell her of his gratitude, his joy in her company, his liking, his sadness and his regret.
    Tears began to form again but she held them back. She hadn’t spent so much time fighting tears since the days following her mother’s disappearance. And now she was faced with the loss of another she’d grown to care for. She drew a deep breath. She would have no regrets or sadness about this. The time with him had been a gift, and so she would regard it.
    He sighed and let her go after a while. Hand in hand, they made their way back to the village and the hut where Ranulf lay.
    As they neared the place, an uproar of arguing voices, tinged with some dismay reached them. Fianna’s stomach clenched as she wondered if Ranulf’s condition had taken a turn for the worse while they were bathing. But surely someone would have come to tell them had that been the case.
    They had to push their way through a fair crowd of people to get to the room that held the patient and was the source of the disturbance. When they were finally close enough to see what was happening, she let out a long breath of relief.
    Ranulf was awake, alert and feeling sufficiently revived to want to get up and be about whatever business he thought needed his attention. Some of the group packed into the room attempted to keep him down. Others argued that he should be allowed to rise if he wished. At least those were the impressions she got from the tone of the various interchanges in Norse.
    Then Henrik said something loudly enough to be noticed by everyone. The room quieted and people turned in their direction. He spoke again and motioned toward the door. Fianna needed no translation for those words. A few people argued, but most did as he directed and filed out of the room. Ranulf said something to a couple of them as they left.
    When they were alone in the room with just Ranulf , he and Henrik exchanged a few words then Henrik said to her, “He says he feels strong enough to be up. Is this a good thing?”
    “Let me look at his shoulder and we’ll see.”
    Ranulf lay quietly while she removed the bandage from the wound. He and Henrik exchanged a few words. The looks directed toward her suggested she was the subject of their conversation, but Henrik declined to translate.
    Ranulf’s injury looked significantly better than it had the previous time she’d changed the dressing. It no longer oozed so heavily and the swelling and redness were much reduced. The red streaks radiating from it had disappeared, and even the discoloration from the bruising was fading. She put more salve and a fresh bandage on it and sat back, looking at her patient.
    He watched her with a glint of amusement wrenchingly similar to a look she’d seen on Henrik’s face. But then the grin faded and his expression grew serious. He said a few words to her.
    Before Henrik translated, she guessed from the tone that he was offering thanks. Henrik confirmed it. “ Ranulf knows you likely saved his life, and he offers you his gratitude.”
    “Tell him he is welcome. Healing is what I do.”
    Henrik conveyed that to his brother.
    “He also wants to know if he can get up,” Henrik added. “He says he is feeling much stronger.”
    “He needs to be careful of the shoulder, but if he has the strength, then I think it safe for him to get up. Let him try to sit up for a bit first, though.”
    As she anticipated, Ranulf experienced some difficulty just sitting up, even with his brother’s