Good. The
Zaltanian
bastard should do the worst kind of penance for the acts of his people,
she thought, though deep in her heart, she didn’t believe her own words. Still, she walked away from him and continued her own miserable day.
The following morning, the first of the people from the north arrived, and by dusk all had been moved from the smaller settlement, including two apprentice healers. The new group moved into two small houses recently built.
Lily saw the apprentices by the well. Like Crag, they wore gray robes with red thorns embroidered over their hearts. They looked almost as miserable as he did, but they didn’t realize the benefits they had. At least they were assigned to the new buildings that didn’t reek like the old longhouse, and there were two of them to Crag’s one. Of course, Lily heard them argue that though Sir Wood had divided his time between the settlements, he had lived at Crag’s station and was therefore more readily available.
Lily stood nearby as the two new apprentices expressed this view to Crag. His reply had been a loud, humorless laugh before returning to the hovel most everyone called home.
Over the following days, Lily busied herself with cooking, sewing, sharpening weapons for the Knights, and making arrows. She did anything that allowed her mind to remain numb to the inconsolable pain of
Vina’s
loss. She often saw Crag in passing. While living in a one room shelter, contact with him was inescapable. They rarely spoke, and during those first days after her attack on him, did their best to avoid one another. Still, she often found herself watching him, dragging herself from the frigid prison she’d built around her heart and soul to observe the Knight-in-training. He scarcely smiled, not that he had any reason for happiness. For a man training for such a revered vocation, his life was no better than the rest of theirs – worse in some ways. She’d never noticed before how much healers were depended upon and how dedicated they were to their craft, at least Crag was. Though she’d only known him a short time, Lily realized how much he’d learned during his service with the Knights. For a man who’d only begun studying the healing arts no more than two years ago, he was more knowledgeable than he gave himself credit for – more than she’d given him credit for. There was so much to know: first deciding what was wrong with a person, then choosing and preparing the correct herbs to treat the problem.
She often watched Crag, Sir Wood, and the other apprentices treat men, women, and children who fought like animals, at times injuring the healers. Crag excelled at restraining people without hurting them, and Lily knew that particular skill came from his years of studying fighting. He must have been excellent at hand-to-hand combat. The
Zaltanian
army had lost a good warrior, of that she was certain. Their loss was the Ruby Order’s gain.
When had she begun to respect him? A
Zaltanian
?
As the days became weeks, she wondered about the whereabouts of the reinforcements Crag and Sir Rain had spoken of on the first day she’d arrived in
Tanek
. Surely they would be coming soon, for there were more sick and injured than ever before. The battles still raged, and as many as could travel made their way to the infirmary
Tanek
had become.
Among the newest arrivals was a woman in the last weeks of pregnancy. Lily scarcely noticed her when she arrived, and had never even learned her name. It was quite by chance that they both stood outside the longhouse when her labor started. She was taking some air while Lily beat the dirty rope rugs that scattered the floors inside.
Her sudden gasp made Lily glance in her direction. She stared at Lily with startled eyes, one hand clutching her back.
“Goodness, I think I strained a muscle,” she murmured.
Lily stood, dropping the rugs in the snow. “Why don’t you go inside and rest? It’s cold out here.”
“I wanted to get out of that stuffy room for a while. It’s horrible in there.”
Lily nodded. The woman had only arrived a couple of days ago, and the smell was bound to be more noticeable to her. She remembered how it had been during her first days in
Tanek
. Now she scarcely noticed the stench, or rather accepted it as a part of life, just as she accepted the pain of losing
Vina
. She had no choice.
Looking at the woman, she felt a pang of jealousy. Soon she’d have a baby. Most likely Lily would never have another. Her husband was dead, and she had no intention of marrying again.
“It’s not the most pleasant place in the world, but it’s shelter,” Lily said, gathering up the rugs. “Come on. I’ll go with you.”
“It’s funny. My backs been hurting all morning.”
“Has it? You might be in labor.”
“But I still have a few weeks.” Her eyes widened. “That’s what the healer at my home village had told me.”
“Have you mentioned the pain to Crag or Sir Wood?”
She shook her head. “Sir Wood left about an hour ago, and Crag seems so busy.”
“Crag’s always busy.” Lily guided her inside and passed the rugs to Coral. She joined the pregnant woman in her space in a corner of the house and helped her to lie down.
The woman gasped sharply and closed her eyes. After a moment, she smiled at Lily and said, “Perhaps you’re right.”
“I remember the feeling well enough,” Lily told her. “What’s your name?”
“Gem.”
“I’m Lily. I’ll get you some water and find Crag. Let him know what’s going on.”
Gem's eyes widened. “There’s no midwife here?”
“Crag’s a very good healer.”
“But he’s a –- ”Gem stifled a shout as another pain gripped her. “I think he’ll do just fine. Just fine.”
Lily found Crag in one of the lean-tos outside, setting a young boy’s broken leg. She told him what was happening to Gem, and he stared at her. “How long do you think before she delivers?”
“Me? How should I know? You’re the healer.”
“Yes, but you had a baby.”
“I don’t know, Crag. Her pains are still several moments apart.”
“I have to finish up here, then I’ll be in.”
She nodded. “I’ll sit with her in the meantime. I don’t think she has anyone.”
“What did you say her name was?”
“Gem,” she told him. Then, remembering his trouble with names, scratched it onto the dirt at his feet.
His lips flickered in a slight smile. “Thank you for staying with her.”
“Not a problem.”
By the time Lily returned to the longhouse, Gem seemed more anxious. Lily explained Crag would arrive soon and tried conversation to keep her mind off the impending delivery.
She learned that, like Coral, Gem’s husband was fighting
Zaltana
. They’d been married for two years, and this was their first baby.
“You said you have children?” Gem swallowed nervously as another pain faded.
“I had a daughter. She passed on recently.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“How about after your baby’s born you let me help you?”
“I’d love it… If I get through this.”
Lily smiled. “Oh, you will. Trust me.”
Crag arrived within the hour, just in time for Gem’s labor to begin in earnest. Lily remained with her, holding her hand and offering words of encouragement. She noted Crag looked almost as grateful for her presence as Gem did. He prepared an herbal drink to lessen her pain, but as Lily well remembered, nothing short of a blow to the head could deaden it completely.
In less than two hours, Crag announced that he could see the head and ordered Gem to push.
“By the Goddesses, Lily, this hurts!” she snapped, sweat beading her brow and upper lip.
“You’re doing fine,” Lily told her. Indeed she was. Her labor had been very short and relatively simple.
Within moments, Crag announced the birth of a healthy boy. As he caught the slippery infant in his large hands, he smiled at Gem. It was the first genuine smile Lily had ever seen him wear, and she was nearly as bewitched by it as by the birth she’d just witnessed. Somehow, helping Gem had rekindled a part of her she thought was dead. She was still able to feel happiness in spite of everything she’d lost.
Gem uttered a giddy laugh as Crag placed the infant on her stomach. She gazed at her son and said, “My first baby.”
“Mine too,” Crag told her, and the three of them laughed.
Lily helped him clean Gem and her son, making them comfortable. Coral offered to assist her while Crag and Lily washed themselves.
“Thank you so much,” Gem told Crag before he left the house.
“You’re very welcome,” he said.
Lily waited for him at the door, and together they walked to the well.
“That was an experience,” she said.
“Hmm.”
“You know that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you smile like that.”
“It’s the first time I’ve had a reason. If only all situations could turn out like that one. Usually I’m stitching someone up, cauterizing a wound, causing them pain. People need me, but they hate me at the same time, and not just because I’m
Zaltanian
.”
Lily glanced at him. It had been so long ago that she’d bombarded him with verbal and physical abuse that she thought he’d forgotten. Apparently, her accusations had affected him.
“I’m sorry about what I said before. I was angry and miserable about losing
Vina
.” She swallowed hard. It was the first time she’d spoken her daughter's name since she’d died.
“You don’t have to explain." He gestured around the settlement. “Heaven knows there’s been enough misery around here. A person can only take so much.”
“You’re sorry to be here, aren’t you?”
“Sometimes,” he admitted.
“You can’t ever go back to
Zaltana
, can you?”
“Sure, if I want to be executed. Sometimes that doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why? It’s true.”
“If you weren’t here, who would have helped Gem just now?”
“Another healer.” He shrugged. “We’re all expendable. Besides, I wasn’t the only one who helped her. You were very good yourself.”
Lily smiled. “Thank you.”
“Maybe you should be a midwife.”
She tilted her head to one side. “I never thought about it, but I will now.”
“Think hard,” he warned. “A healer’s life isn’t easy. Believe me.”
“But don’t you think it’s worthwhile?”
“Crag! We need help over here!” Sir Rain bellowed from behind the barn. “One of the horses has gone lame!”
Crag looked at Lily and shrugged before stalking off to the barn. She never did receive an answer to the question she’d asked him. At least not then.
Coral, Gem, and Lily sat together sewing, the baby nearby, when the first direct attack struck the settlement.
“Everyone, stay inside!” One of the Knights apprentice rushed into the longhouse, his face as pale as his dirt-stained gray robe, his sword drawn. “
Zaltanian
raiders are bombarding the village!”
Sir Rain stepped inside, his own sword drawn, a silver helmet on his head. He pointed the tip of his blade at the apprentice. “You stay here and bolt the door behind me. I need volunteers to guide those in the lean-tos to the houses.”
Lily stood along with a handful of men and women. Crag dropped the bucket of bloody water he held and approached Rain. “I can fight, Sir.”
“No,” Rain stated. “Healers with your skill are too valuable to waste on the defense line. You either stay here or help with moving the others.”
“But, Sir—”
“Another word from you, and I’ll slap you with a formal reprimand,” Rain told him before he strode out the door.
Lily glanced at Crag as they joined the others hurrying to help the villagers in the lean-tos.
“Be careful, Lily!” Gem shouted to her friend.
Coral caught Lily’s arm before she stepped outside. “Are you crazy? You could get killed out there!”
Lily jerked from her grasp and followed the others. She knew she could die. She didn’t care.
Outside, the Knights and apprentices formed a circle around the settlement. Some, mounted on horseback, met the charges of galloping
Zaltanian
raiders.
The guards were outnumbered, and the
Zaltanians
were powerful fighters, but the Knights again proved they were the most skilled in the land as they defended the settlement against the raiders’ onslaught.
Lily approached the nearest lean-to and helped a man with a leg injury to his feet. When he was safely deposited in the longhouse, she ran for others.
Around her scurried men, women, and children. Knights clashed with the sword-wielding
Zaltanians
. Terror momentarily gripped Lily, and she nearly dropped the old woman she was escorting to race for the safety of one of the houses. She noticed Crag a short distance away, stooping beside a Knight who’d sustained a severe arm injury.
It was then she realized several
Zaltanians
had completely breached the settlement’s defenses. They galloped their horses into several lean-tos, stabbing terrified villagers with their swords and trampling supplies. Flashes of her own village’s destruction leapt across Lily’s mind, and she screamed. That scream became a bellow of shock as she saw Crag snatch the wounded Knight’s sword and race toward a raider about to stab a woman sprawled in the snow. The raider turned in time to block Crag’s thrust and counter with his own swipe, but almost before Lily could discern his motions, Crag had slain the
Zaltanian
. Two others attacked him, and she watched in terror and awe as he spun and struck with his blade in the most dangerous and graceful motions she’d ever witnessed. Within moments, he’d cleared several
Zaltanians
from the lean-tos so Lily and the volunteers were able to drag the survivors to safety.