Wherever I Am

Chapter 18 - Part 2

We crossed the great hall to the Regency side. Everything had been freshly cleaned. It was empty except for the lit hanging chandeliers, all the candles burning instead of the usual half dozen. The outside doors had been shut. I assumed they were barred from the inside, though I didn't bother getting close enough to inspect them. I'd do that later when I came back to the Golden Scroll.

Sorina and I met Ellie and Doina coming out of the rooms that held the wounded women. One look at my smiling face standing in front of her and Ellie went to pieces.

"Don't touch me...I'm all bloody," she wailed as the tears came. Doina caught her before she fell.

"I'm fine now," I said, more to Doina than Ellie, though I did get a nod among the tears. "She took me to a chamber, and I'm all better."

I watched her as she tried and failed to regain her composure. I rubbed her head before finally giving up. "Doina, take her to her rooms. Get her cleaned up and in bed. I'll handle whatever needs to be handled. Don't let her get up until well after daybreak."

She nodded, looking at the starburst hanging from my jacket, then at Sorina before taking Ellie back toward the Realm wing.

I stepped toward the infirmary when Sorina pulled my arm. "Some of the women may not be clothed properly. You shouldn't go in."

I nodded. This many hours in, my meager first aid skills probably wouldn't be needed anyway. "You check here. I'm going to see what security has been set up."

I made it as far as the next doorway. Men lay scattered throughout the next room, some moaning, others asleep or moving. A matronly woman approached me, her eyes wide as she curtseyed.

"Milord Kevin of the Realm. You are...walking."

It was like she was seeing a ghost. A couple of other women turned to stare, and a few men shifted or sat up.

"I am...better." This may have been stupid. "My injuries seemed worse than they were. I came to see the injured."

She must've seen me because she knew I lied, but she curtseyed again and said, "Yes, Milord."

There were so many men and boys lying on the floor or the large table that there were bloody paths around the table. Some boys lay across multiple chairs.

I went to the closest man sitting and squatted next to him. "How are you?"

He tried to do something, probably get up to bow or genuflect. This was stupid, and I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Stay still, and that goes for everyone here, ladies included." Except for the moans from one man, the room went quiet. "You nurses are busy with your duties. Don't let me get in your way. Men, you're injured. You don't have to bow or do anything like that right now. You might hurt yourself more, and that's the last thing I want. Just tell me how you're doing if you feel up to it. If you don't, I understand." I looked back to the man who was studying my face. His own looked haggard but alert. "How are you?"

"Better than many," he replied and swept the sheet off his legs. Both calves were bandaged, plus one thigh. "Those, Milord, plus one in my back. It bowled me over, and I hit my head. My ears ring like a bell."

"Mine do that, too."

"They tell me that the metal pieces that hit me were small compared to some of the others." He nodded at another man who lay near. I saw bloody bandages around a stump where his arm had been removed below his elbow. My stomach churned. Maybe I shouldn't have come in here, but I was here, so I'd make my rounds. Ellie had been doing a lot more, so I could at least do this.

"Heal up and walk again," I said, patting his shoulder lightly, then moved to the next. It went on like that, listening to whatever they wanted to tell me before moving to the next. I stopped at one boy who was maybe six. He had red hair and freckles and lay on his stomach.