The Arrow of Fate

4 Crisis

21

CRISIS

Sophie followed the servant girl to the maids' wing where as she was told Dragan had been brought. Her head was spinning and she felt a lump in her throat. What if Dragan's wish was going to come true? She wouldn't be able to carry such a burden of guilt.

'Is he very bad?' She asked tentatively.

'I don't know, my lady.He could hardly walk himself and he was only half conscious when they brought him.'

'So he is bad.' Sophie whispered to herself. She hurried her step.

It seemed her lungs could not find enough air any more.

'Go bring hot water, linen and wine. Lots of it.' She told the girl before she pushed the door open and entered the room where Dragan was placed.

He was half lying in a chair, a pile of bits of armour in the corner under the wall where someone obviously had tossed them after taking them off the wounded knight. His coat was soaked with blood, hair glued with dirt and still more blood which covered his face and hands as well. He looked dreadful and already dead. Anna was kneeling at his feet on the floor, her face not even pale but some terrible shade of green. When she saw Sophie she sprang to her feet.

'Oh, Sophie! Thanks God you've come. You must help us. Dragan is seriously wounded and I don't know what to do. I tried to find the medic but he's nowhere around.' She sobbed clutching Sophie's hand.

'Anna, calm down.'Sophie freed her hand.

Dragan opened his eyes a tiny bit for a while and looked at her unconsciously.

'Help me put him on that table.' Sophie commanded and with the help of the two other servant girls and Anna she lifted Dragan with difficulty and holding him under his arms they hefted him onto the table top. His face twisted with pain and he groaned as they helped him lie on the broad board. Sophie started to take off the rest of his armour and clothes immediately. At other times she might have been embarrassed of the man's nakedness. Or maybe she'd be interested in his muscular body. But at that moment Sophie's only concern was to see the wound and assess it.

'Help me Anna, lift him a bit.' She commanded impatiently.

Together they took off his gambeson and shirt, Anna's face twitching at every moan of pain Dragan gave, then Sophie lifted a temporary dressing someone had put on his side before they brought Dragan from the battlefield to the castle. Blood gushed from the wound and Anna swayed.

'Take the lady out.'Sophie snapped at the servant girl seeing it from the corner of her eye. She didn't need distractions like a fainting girl at the moment. She had enough to deal with as it was.

She was calm as usual when the situation pressed her. Now that she saw the damage she focused on repairing it. She mixed some laudanum powder with the wine and then held Dragan's head up a bit and put the cup to his lips.

'Drink it, Dragan.' She ordered.

He had a bewildered lookin his half conscious eyes but he obeyed.

'Drink everything.' Sophie prompted.

He coughed as he choked on the liquid but she made him drink until the cup was empty. The effect was immediate and his eyes closed before she started to clean and then sew the deep cut between his ribs. Blood was still coming up and Sophie asked one of the servant girls to wipe it off with a cloth dipped in hot water from time to time. Minutes passed in heavy silence, the other girl observing the whole operation with an equal dose of interest and awe. When Sophie finished there were beads of cold sweat on her forehead and her back hurt from leaning forward for such a long time. She hardly noticed it though. She rubbed some ointment over the wound and dressed it. The two other girls who had returned to the room helped her wash Dragan's bloody body and check it for other injuries. Then they called a few male servants who took him to bed in an empty chamber.