Conquering the Dark Axe (31 page)

Too much of it for Rourke to be alive. Still Alexa
reached out and touched the back of her trembling hand to his sunken and
bruised cheek. No heat her met her cold skin.

Unbearable grief washed over her.  As carefully
as she could, she tried to pull him off the pallet into her arms, causing the
blanket to fall away from his upper body. Alexa
c
ried out when she saw
his ribs and wound parts not covered by the soaked cloth. Goran touched her
shoulders.

“My lady! Please let us see to the rest.”  He
said with urgency.

“Nay!”  She cried and pulled from his touch to
run her shaky fingers over Rourke's still chest. His flesh was burning
up.  “Nay” she said again quietly and bit her lip to stop the flood of
tears.  “I will not leave him.”

“I know, my lady. I know. Come, we will get him up
quickly. Time is wasting.”  Goran spoke softly, but firmly for Rourke’s
blood, although slowly still seeped into the earth. Goran managed to move her
away, barking out orders for the healer to be summoned, and to get their lord
to a chamber.

THIRTY-SEVEN

The bandages Darc Renald had used had indeed staved
off the bleeding somewhat by binding the wounds tightly, Alexa noted as she
stared down at Rourke’s still form in their bed. She couldn’t tear her eyes
away from him for fear if she did he'd disappear right before her eyes. So much
death and despair in the past months. She could not handle another life
lost.  Still she remained steadfast and true. And looked to the healer.

The healer nodded and assisted her with each bandage
and when they'd unwrapped them all. Alexa felt herself sway and the sense of
light headiness assailed her. The full extent of the gruesome wounds inflicted
upon his person tore through her. She wanted to be sick but after a few quick
great gulps of air, she blinked rapidly away the tears that filled her eyes,
blurring her vision.

The healer had said her body would react and be
sensitive because of the quickening of the babe and Alexa told herself that was
why she was so weepy. She knew it as a lie as soon as she thought it.

She shook her head and got to work. They needed to
work fast. Her grief and heartache over what Rourke had endured and suffered was
overwhelming, but it would have to wait.

She needed to ease his suffering now and make him
more comfortable.  There would be enough time later for her to give in and
wallow in her grief.

His body reeked to high heaven. Blood and filth
covered him head to toe.

He did not wake once during the bathing and
cleansing of his wounds. A few stitches had been needed at his wrists when
they’d finally managed to get the manacles cut from them and around the deep
gouge on his back. Bits of mortar had to be picked free from the deep and pus
oozing cut. But the healer packed that too with a foul smelling poultice before
bandaging it.

His breath came in shallow gasps. The healer pressed
a cup into her hands and Alexa, gently holding his head, forced the medicine
between his cracked and dry lips.

After the drink his breath evened out and appeared
steady. Alexa sighed, nodding as relief filled her chest. Her eyes lifted and
met Darc's. She did not care if her pain showed, she needed to do this.

"Thank you, Darc for bringing him home”

The scowling scarred giant acknowledged her with a
curt nod. He stood with Goran at the foot of the bed watching over them like a
guardian angel.

Alexa watched the healer’s face as she inspected the
wound under Rourke’s arm and his head. Uneasiness settled in Alexa’s gut at the
nervous look the healer shot the men before meeting her own curious gaze.

“What is it?” Alexa asked, hearing the strain in her
voice.

“It-It has festered and more will be needed to catch
it all, my lady.”

Alexa shook her head. “What do you mean?”

“To stop it from spreading further, much more
cutting must be done, my lady.”

“Nay. Doing that will restrict use of his arm.” was
Goran’s angry cry

“Will it be all and save him?” Alexa horrified,
queried despite the nausea boiling in her gut.

The healer nodded.  Alexa choked down the
strong urge to retch and demanded impatiently, “Tell us all of it.”

“The lord’s hair would need to be shorn away to get
to the wound in his skull. ‘Tis far more dire, my lady than the burn. 'Tis what
has him locked away in that beast of a fever. I need to see it more clearly,
clean it thoroughly and pray the infection has not run too deep. A poultice and
suture may be all that is needed, but please, I need to cut more away now. The
blow was struck to be fatal, my lady. Until he wakes, we cannot tell how much
damage has been done to him.”

Alexa knew what she meant and choking back the knot
in her throat; she rose from the side of the bed and quickly went to a chest
across the room. She would do this herself.

As for the wound under his arm….Alexa looked at
Goran and Darc, then back to the healer.

“Forgive me, Rourke, I do this because it must be
done." Alexa spoke her words into her his ear. The others in the room may
not think he could hear her, but she believed that he could. To Darc and Goran
she spoke with no room for question. “She will need your help for I cannot.”
Alexa settled herself as closely as she could to her husband’s head and with
the sharp dagger in her hand, she lifted a lock of his hair as she spoke to the
healer over her shoulder. “Do it," she told the healer hoarsely as she
focused on shearing off chunks of his hair. She kept her focus there while the
men held him down and the healer removed more flesh from his side. Alexa was
glad Rourke remained unconscious; still she flinched with him when the red hot
blade pressed to his flesh.

The cutting away under his arm had left more flesh
raw, but clean skin shown and Goran and Darc assisted the healer in cauterizing
the wound around the edges to stave off further spread of the infection.

This and the head wound were the most dire and
caused Alexa deep worry.

He would heal under his arm and side eventually, but
the wound in his skull, she prayed the infection did not run as deep as the
healer thought. If it ran any deeper he would not return. He would rot from the
inside out had been the healer’s exact words.

“Great care is needed here, my lady. Follow my instructions
to the last. The coming hours will be the hardest, dark, but there is chance he
will pull through. Prayers for my lord, my lady.”

“You will remain under this roof so that if the lady
needs you, you are only a shout away.”  This order came from Goran as he
and Darc followed the healer out of the chamber closing the door behind
them. 

Alexa brushed back the short and jagged locks of
hair back from Rourke’s forehead. Her hands shook. At least he was safe
now.  She smiled and spoke softly to him. "You’re safe now, Rourke.
Come back to me." hoarseness cracked her pained whisper. She stretched out
next to him and gave in finally to the deep sobs that tore from her throat.

During the next day Alexa stood watch, wearily from
little sleep over Rourke. He was babbling. Much of it incoherent as the devil
beast of a fever tortured his body.

What she experienced in this room, she would tell no
one and ‘twas why she refused to let anyone in outside of Goran and the healer
now.

She would allow no one to see him like this, his
vulnerability exposed. ‘Twas madness and no sense that seized him and he was in
no shape to control it and it broke her heart. 

She lay her head down on his uninjured shoulder; the
heat of the fever warmed her forehead. He was burning up and she placed the
warmed agate, wrapped in a dampened cloth across his forehead and held it there
with a prayer the stone worked faster to draw some of the fever out of him.

She studied the smooth lines on his handsome and
bruised face that bunched as his expression changed to one of pain. She cooed
softly to him, her mind wondering if his dreams were plagued with the torture
he’d suffered.

Darc Renald had mostly spoken to Goran on where and
how they had found him and Alexa was fine with that.  Right now, her only
concern was Rourke’s health and nursing him back.

Her mind wandered to the many battles he’d been part
of under William’s iron fist when it’d swept down upon England. The many years
of famine and death in order to take control. Rourke had been part of all
that.  She told herself he had been doing his duty and the hundreds, if
not thousands of lives that had perished, could never be replaced.  Yet,
she decided, war was two sided and no one single person was right and he’d
simply followed orders.  What unimaginable horrors he must have seen and
had to contend with.  The fever raging within him and the nonsense he
spoke, of the sensible pieces she’d been able to decipher, his ramblings went
back further than his recent captivity.  Alexa pressed her cheek to his
and closed her eyes for a brief moment.  He was a bit cooler.

God she wanted to scream and rage against the ones
who had tortured him so. She gave his fingers a gentle squeeze and drew back
with a gasp fearing she might have hurt him. His fingers were so swollen and
stiff.  'Twould be days before the swelling went down. 

He made a sound and his body began to thrash. She
removed the agate and climbed on the bed.  Getting as much of her arms
around him as she could, she hugged his body to hers.   He thrashed
for a few short seconds more and as she spoke softly in his ear, his large body
calmed and his shakes lessened. She soon fell asleep in exhaustion next to him.

A shout had Alexa jump up with a start in bed. She
opened her eyes to see that dawn was just breaking and quickly her eyes darted
to the spot next to her.

It was empty.

Goran’s warning came low next to her, stirring the
hairs on the back of her neck. “Stay here, my lady, we shall have him back in
bed in a moment.”

Alexa’s heart lurched in her chest. Rourke, naked as
the day he was born, stood near the window with a blade in one hand and his axe
in the other. He swung both, wildly, seeing a foe that none but him could see
as the fever had its way with him. Heart wrenching pain sliced through her and
Alexa flew off the bed, but Goran’s hand on her arm stopped her.

“Sorry my lady, but he is not himself. Stay back” he
pleaded.

“I cannot. He needs my help.” Her tortured whisper
tore from her aching chest.

“You can help him once I get him back in bed.”

“Please,” she cried.

Goran had two soldiers that were standing out in the
hall come forward and hold her.  He turned and circled Rourke. Alexa
watched. Her husband’s friend missed getting his head and innards torn apart
twice. Goran could not find an opening of attack to stop his lord.

Anguish swept over her and Alexa could not halt the
plea that burst from her lips. “Rourke, please.”

His arm stopped mid-swing and hung in the air. His
eyes found her but she knew ‘twas not she he was seeing. His green eyes were
glazed over from the fever. It was only the briefest of seconds, but enough for
Goran to jump him from behind and Alexa flinched with a gasp at the impact of
their large bodies connecting.  She closed her eyes when the two hit the
floor with a loud thud. A sigh of relief fell from her parted lips when the
sound of the weapons hitting the stone floor rang loudly in the
room.  

THIRTY-EIGHT

Alexa removed the final bandage and let out the
painful breath she held.  Thank be the Gods above!  The poultice had
worked! 

Edges of a healthy scab around Rourke’s wound under
his arm were beginning to show.  No lingering signs of pus clung to the
wound and the red rawness of it looked clean.  He was a long way from a
full scab. ‘Twould be a few more days for one to cover such a large and deep
area.  Nonetheless, the sight of the clean wound was a good omen to her.

Scars from the deep burn would remain. She did not
care. She could live with it and would love him no less. It meant his fever too
would soon break. 

His moan drew her hand to his brow.  Aye, he
was not as hot.    He had been lucid at times, in and out of the
grip of the raging fever the past few days.  Still she dipped the cloth
again into the tepid water mixed with marigold and wrung it out to lay it
across his creased brow.

It was the sixth night now and he still had yet to
wake. 

The bleakness that had consumed her over the past
few days was not so strong today.  His moan not so tortured was part of it
as was the sight that his wounds were healing. 

Still Alexa could not stop herself from leaning near
his ear to whisper, “You will come back to me, Norman. I love you. There is
naught for me without you. Aye, you will come back to me simply because I
command you to, Rourke.” 

She swore he grunted on her last words, but she
chuckled that it was just her wishful thinking that made her hear it.  She
planted a kiss on his lobe, then his lips before she turned and left the
chamber.