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Chapter 24
«He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through».[25]
Alyce would recall the next few minutes as a confusion of screaming and fighting and fear. Riding with Zoë at the queen's side, she heard the king's exclamation and Sir Ke
It was all over very quickly. As the king's men dragged several belligerent men from the trees, somewhat the worse for wear, others helped the king to his feet while more men swarmed around Sir Ke
«Careful! His leg is pi
«The barb's gone right through the saddle», another man said, sliding a hand under the pi
«Well, make him stand still, or we'll have to put him down. Someone loose that girth! Easy!»
The horse was still snorting and prancing, trying to buck, to rear, but its handlers mostly kept it with all four feet on the ground. Ke
«Let me help», she murmured, pulling off her riding gloves as she pushed her way through to the horse's head and reached for it.
«Stay clear, m'lady, or you'll get kicked!» one of the men warned, as she skittered back from a flailing hoof. Another was drawing his dagger, obviously intending the coup de grâce to still the animal's plunging.
«Let me touch him», she said, shouldering past the man's blade, already focusing her powers as she slipped her hands under the muffling cloak. «I'm Deryni. I can calm him».
A few of them backed off a little at this reminder of what she was, but the horse subsided immediately under the touch of her hand and mind, still whuffling and snorting but with all four legs now firmly planted, head dropping obediently.
«Easy, boy… That's it. Good boy… Now, brace the saddle and pull it off with him», she ordered, slipping one hand along the horse's neck to grasp Ke
He did, concentrating through his pain — and found himself captured by her eyes, caught by a sensation of falling into them, even as the men began lifting him and the saddle clear of the horse. The movement still hurt him — and he cried out as they carefully lowered him to the ground — but she moved with him, still grasping his wrist, wary of the horse as it was led out of the way, snorting.
Two men continued to support the heavy saddle as two more examined the angle of the arrow jutting from Ke
«Don't try to pull it», one of the other men warned. «The barb's gone all the way through».
«Just break off the fletching», another man said. «It's going to be easier on him if the shaft is pulled on through, once it's free of the saddle».
«Wait», said another man, working with one hand squeezed flat between saddle and pi
At his nod, men lifted the saddle clear, those closest bending for a closer look at the arrow transfixing Ke
The tip of the arrowhead, a wicked-looking barbed affair made for bringing down large game — or men — was just protruding from the back of Ke
«I wouldn't break off the arrow just yet», she said, moving one hand to stay the man about to do so. «It may be better to cut the arrowhead off cleanly, back at the castle, and then back the arrow out of the wound, with plenty of shaft for a handgrip. He's going to bleed a great deal».
«Do as she says», came the voice of the king, suddenly among the onlookers. «I won't lose him because we rushed things here in the field. Can he ride?» he asked, crouching down between Alyce and Zoë.
«Not really, Sire. He'd be far safer and more comfortable in a litter or a wagon, if one can be arranged».
«See to it», Donal ordered two of his men. «And go gently, Ra
They were several hours getting Ke
After a while, Alyce allowed Ke
«I must be dead», he murmured, after a long interval of jouncing along in comparative silence, accompanied by only the rumble of the wheels, the jingle of harness, and the occasional low-voiced converse of their escort.
She looked at him sharply.
«Are you in pain?»
He gave her a faint, strained smile and a slight shake of his head.
«No worse than before, dear girl. But since I am in the keeping of an angel, I can only suppose that I have passed to the next world».
She raised an eyebrow and gave him a genteel snort, along with a faint smile of her own.
«I doubt these gentlemen would agree, my lord». She gave a slight jut of her chin in the direction of the men accompanying them. «Most would judge me anything but an angel. But I am glad that your discomfort is not too great».
He raised his head slightly to glance down at his leg, lightly touching the shaft of the arrow with his fingertips, then lay back with a grimace and a sigh, casting a reassuring glance at his daughter, riding along beside them.