The Silencing of Esteria

Chapter 10

The rest of Toland's morning was spent helping his father and Hudlow set up a pair of cots in the attic room as his mother fretted over how they were to get an unconscious man up a ladder and then over how the attic was not a suitable accommodation for a young woman. After some reassurances from Rin, she began thoroughly cleaning the place, still adamant that they were unfit to receive guests.

"Honey, please, relax," reassured Rin, "By the looks of them they've been on the road a while, it doesn't have to be spotless. The poor girl looked like she had a building dropped on top of her."

"That attitude is the reason my mother never visits!" she shouted back from the attic.

Rin rolled his eyes and went off with Hudlow for the second cot, leaving Toland with nothing to do.

He stepped outside and headed back to Kinic's house.

He found the place in much the same way that he had left it, Katrina watching over the unconscious man and Ir Shan groaning in pain on the table. Except now Herdru was awake and sipping tentatively on something hot and apparently ill-tasting.

Toland smiled at the battered warrior and Herdru returned the smile, revealing him to be missing two teeth from the right side of his mouth. His head was adorned by a thick bandage wrapped around his crown and his legs were both locked in wooden splints.

Kinic came bustling in carrying an arrangement of medicines. Upon seeing Ir Shan he sighed.

"You can go already, Ir Shan, I've told you twice now."

"But I'm still bleeding! Look!" Duglan replied indignantly.

"Only because your incessant fiddling keeps opening up your wounds. Go home, get into bed and have your wife wrap you up tightly. And this time stay there for at least three days."

"But Kinic..."

"GO!" shouted Kinic, "Three days in bed! Not one second less! Or I swear I'll do ten times worse to you than that wolf ever could!"

Ir Shan baulked at the idea, but seemed unwilling to press the fraught and sleep deprived healer any further. Eventually, and with great ceremony, he lowered himself off the table and headed for the door.

In passing, he patted Toland's shoulder.

"Good job Toland, I heard from your father what a good job you did yesterday. Well done."

Toland smiled bashfully, "Do you need a hand getting home?"

Ir Shan chuckled then mournfully clutched at his battered ribs.

"I think I'll make it, just about," he replied and headed off home.

"Right," Kinic said, turning to Herdru.

"Enough of that," he said, taking the mug from Herdru's hand and replacing it with a vial of something green and unappetising.

Herdru winced but took the vial and drank it.

Toland smiled at Herdru's contorted face as he finished it then went over to check on Katrina and the man.

He was still unconscious, but the fact that he had woken up before meant that he probably didn't have any damage to the brain. He leaned over and placed a hand on his forehead, then opened an eyelid. There was no sign of swelling or internal bleeding, so he was just recovering from the trauma.

"So," Herdru said as Kinic fussed over him, "How long am I going to be here?"

"In your condition? You should be lucky if I let you out of here anytime this month!"

"A month? On this table?"

"No, you can stay in the house."

"But you only have one bed, where will I sleep?"

Kinic whispered something that Toland didn't quite catch.

"Oh," Herdru said and when Toland looked back over he thought that he caught the faintest hint of a blush on Herdru's face.

"Well, I suppose that would be okay," Herdru finished and scratched his cheek awkwardly.

Kinic finished re-wrapping the bandages holding the splints together then stood up and walked over to the unconscious man to perform the same checks Toland just did.

"What's his name?" Kinic asked Katrina quietly.

"Jaran," she replied.

Kinic leaned over Jaran and said softly, "Jaran? Can you hear me?"

He waited a moment and then asked again, slightly louder, this time the man stirred slightly, and the stumps of his legs moved in an awkward manner, as if he was trying to roll over in his sleep.

Kinic nodded, satisfied with the response.

"It looks like he'll wake up sometime today," Kinic said, "He doesn't seem to have suffered any head wound, so its just his body protecting itself while it recovers."

Kinic stopped and considered for a minute, "There also seems to be enough of his legs left to sit a saddle if it's fitted to him and he has someone to strap him into it. What does he do for a living?"

Katrina bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably, "He... Well..."

Seeing her struggle, Kinic hastily amended his question to, "Does he need to stand up to do it? Or can it be done from horseback? Or from a desk?"

"He can do it without standing. I think."

She breathed a sigh of relief and visibly relaxed as he didn't press the question.

"Good," Kinic said, "With a few adjustments to his lifestyle and a bit of help there shouldn't be too much in the way of him living a long and full life.

The front door opened, and Rin put his head through.

"We've put the cots up in the attic, whenever you are ready to discharge them, master healer."

"Thanks, Rin Ir, we can move them now if you like."

And with that, they bundled Jaran up on a stretcher, carried him down the road to the smithy and hoisted him up into his new attic home.