“It’ll ruin the temper,” he said.
“A dagger won’t work,” I said. “It will just make the wound bigger. The arrow hit an artery. We have to cauterize his leg.”
Rory nodded. “I don’t really like swords anyway.” He darted away, gathering tinder and branches. Blood leaked out of the wound, but Gael had applied enough pressure to stop most of the bleeding. Either that, or Bolt was already close to dying. Mirren, Erendella, and Herregina came through the brush from wherever they’d been hiding.
“We saw the attack,” Erendella said. “They came after you, Lord Dura.”
I nodded without looking up. I was busy cutting strips from my cloak to make a bandage. “Yes. Cesla had a message he wanted to deliver.”
My answer didn’t seem to calm her much. Considering that we had left a member of the Vigil and two queens unprotected in the midst of a battle, I wasn’t feeling too calm myself. But they’d stayed hidden and were unharmed—thank Aer.
Erendella continued, clearly none too happy. “Those weren’t the men we saw before.”
“That’s right,” I agreed. “This was a whole new batch.”
She darted glances at the hills, the woods, the horizon. “We can’t stay here,” she said. Panic threaded its way through her voice. She spoke as if she couldn’t get enough air.
“No one’s arguing with that,” I said. “But I have a situation with my guard here that you may have noticed requires my attention.”
“They could come for us any moment,” Erendella said. “We have to leave now.”
Gael turned from her contemplation of Bolt’s bleeding to give Erendella a cold stare. “Save your breath, Your Majesty. He won’t leave anyone behind. You can take comfort from the fact that this particular philosophy includes you.”
“I’m a queen, and he needs me,” Erendella said. “The guard has fulfilled his duty nobly. Would you dishonor his sacrifice by having us all die?”
“Stop,” Herregina said. “This is unbecoming of you, sister. The guard is our companion and responsibility, not a resource or commodity to be used up and cast aside.”
I nodded my thanks to Cynestol’s new ruler. “If you want to leave here, Your Majesty, help Rory with the fire. The arrow went all the way through Bolt’s leg, and I’m going to have to cauterize both sides of the wound. We’ll have to heat it twice.” I looked at Mirren. “Have you ever delved a healer?” When she shook her head, I tried a different tack. “Do you know what bation trees look like?”
Her brow furrowed and her eyes darted from side to side without seeing. “Is that a small tree with light bark and teardrop-shaped leaves?”
I exhaled. “That’s the one. If you can find any, bring the leaves.”
Herregina came and knelt by my side. “What can I do?”
“Do you have any training as a healer?”
She shook her head. “No more than any other noble of Aille.”
I sighed as I tore another strip from my cloak. “I was hoping you could tell me how to do this. I’ve seen it done any number of times, but a little instruction would be helpful.”
Bolt stirred. “Robin?” A string of nonsense syllables followed that I couldn’t make out.
“That’s probably not good,” I said.
“Who’s Robin?” Herregina asked.
“His dead son.”
Herregina’s face paled. “Is he talking to him?”
“Probably,” I said. “Let me know if Robin answers. It would settle a question I’ve had for some time now.” I saw Rory and Erendella coming back from the fire. Herregina was all of thirteen and probably wouldn’t care for what was about to happen. “Check Bolt’s saddlebags and pack. He might have healing supplies in them.”
I held out my hand, and Rory handed me the sword. Even through the hilt I could feel the heat that had blackened the last third of the blade. “Hold him.” Rory pushed down on Bolt’s hips, and to her credit, Erendella sat on his uninjured leg to keep him from thrashing.
I didn’t know if Bolt could hear me, but I leaned forward to speak to him anyway. “Hold still. I’ve got to cauterize your leg.”
Blood boiled and steamed around the wound and the smell of roasting meat filled the air. At the first touch, Bolt screamed, pounding his arms against the ground, but nothing below his chest moved. I pressed the flat of the blade against the side of the wound toward his heart and held it there until the sound of quenching metal faded.
Then I handed it back to Rory. “Again.”
Bolt groaned and beat the ground with his fists. “Aer have mercy,” Rory said. “Isn’t that enough?”
“I don’t know,” I growled back. “I’m not a healer. Now go heat the sword!”
Gael never flinched. She kept the pressure on the upper part of Bolt’s leg, doing her best to keep him still.
“After I finish I want you to ease off the pressure,” I said. “Do it as slowly as you can—I don’t care how long it takes. I’ll check for bleeding.”
“Erendella’s right,” Gael said. “We can’t stay here. How is he going to be able to ride?”
“You’re going to have to hold him in front of you,” I told her. Besides Rory, Gael was the only one of us strong enough to keep Bolt mounted and still enough to keep his wound from opening.
She nodded. “I understand. You know what this attack means?”
I nodded, irritation making it more of a jerk. I’d been trying very hard not to think about that very thing. “It means we can’t afford to let anyone see us,” I said. “And it still might not be enough to get us to Treflow.”
Erendella’s head came up at my bleak assessment. “What do you mean?”
“Those men kept attacking us even after sunrise,” I said. “That means that even in their right minds, they’ve given their allegiance to Cesla.” I pulled a deep breath and tried to focus on the task
