A Knight To Remember

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The hunting horns woke me before dawn and pulled me from my lonely bed.  My eyes were swollen, my body ached and my head was dull.  But I had work to do.  I couldn’t dissolve into self pity.  I had to keep busy. 

The horns meant that the men were gone on their hunt.  They wouldn’t return until late this afternoon.  Hopefully it would be a good hunt and they would come back with plenty of big game.  This would make the King happy.

I hoped the King would be happy.   If he was happy enough with the hunt and Torc then he would bestow the title and allow him to leave tomorrow to take up his new responsibilities.  I hoped that this would allow Torc to forget about me and start his new life.  Hope was all I really had left.

Torc would be gone all day.  He would have no choice but to go.  As the King’s favourite warrior he would have to be at the King’s side.  It meant that I had a day where I would not be looking over my shoulder for him.  I would not be searching for him.  I would not be yearning for him.  Damn.  Maybe I still would be yearning for him but at least I wouldn’t be expecting him to answer those yearnings.

I threw myself into my work.  The staff soon recognised my poor mood and did what they could to either stay away from me or do what I asked.  Despite that or maybe due to that, I achieve much and everything was progressing well when I headed over to the stables to check on my horse.  I was just handing over an apple to her when I heard the commotion. 

There was something wrong.  Something very wrong.

The apple fell from my hand.

I ran.  I ran towards the hall as fast as I could.

Blood.  There was a trail of blood up the steps of the hall.  Men were running and yelling.  The horses were loose in the courtyard and they were sweating heavily and nervous. 

I ran up the stone steps and through the arch into the hall to find a huddle of men surrounding a table.  The trail of blood led to the table.  I stopped and leaned heavily against the heavy oak doors.  I knew what I was facing.  I closed my eyes and drew upon all my strength.  You can do this Maeb.  You have to do this Maeb. 

One of the hunting party was injured, that much was clear.  What wasn’t so obvious, yet I knew it to be true before I looked at any of the faces, was that I knew that the blood was Torc’s.  It would be Torc lying on the table bleeding to death in front of me.  I would be have to tend to him and watch him in pain.  My heart stopped and the pain was intense.  But I had no time for panic, he was bleeding.

With my back straight and my eyes dry I walked into the halls and the men parted so that I could reach the table.  There he lay.  Pale.  His eyes focused on me for a second before he closed them and I watched his jaw clench.  Possibly this was his way of containing the pain of the injury or maybe just his annoyance at having me nurse him.  Above him Douglas stood holding blooded bundle of wadding to his thigh.

Following Torc’s example I tightened my jaw and took a deep breath.  I needed that moment in order to swallow my desire to cry, hold him, plead for his life and generally make a fool of myself over him.

“Douglas, get him to the infirmary,” I pointed in the direction of the room that served this purpose. “Aine, get hot water and fresh bandages,” I added as Aine ran in and her face lit up when she saw Douglas standing not on the table.  As Torc was being helped towards the room, I asked “Douglas, what is the damage?”

“Laceration to the thigh and some other cuts, I did what I could to stop the bleeding.” Douglas said as he and the other man lifted Torc to the table.  Torc groaned in pain but said nothing.   As soon as the other man left I picked up the sharpened shears and began cutting.