Lady of the Star Wind (46 page)

Mark interrupted him before Sapair could pursue his defeatist thought. “Don’t give up your position so fast. You can be useful to our king in other ways, even though your days as a spy are over.”

“How so?” Sapair lifted his hands an inch or so off the blanket and winced. “I’ll never hold writing instruments again, my lord. Farahna identified the most crushing revenge for my disloyalty, and her torturer excelled at the task. I live, but I’m useless for the occupation I trained my entire life to do.”

“Rothan has been searching for the right person to organize his royal household and his court. The general’s chief official tries, but he’s old and set in his ways, so of course he and Rothan clash more often than they agree.”

“I certainly know how to establish the household, run the inner workings of the court. It would be an honor. I always had many ideas about how things could be improved, done more efficiently.” Sapair stopped, swallowing hard. “But having no use of my hands, I cannot—”

“She didn’t empty your brain of knowledge. You can still talk, can’t you? So dictate your orders to your own scribes,” Mark answered with a soldier’s practicality. “Now you need to get some rest. We’re going to be moving out at dawn, and we’ll be riding hard to get home.”

With his bandaged hands, Sapair couldn’t sit on a horse by himself, so he rode double with Khefer behind him as Mark’s squad spent three days on the trail to the province. Sethmre kept the scribe well-dosed with painkiller but ran out on the last day. As they drew near to Intef’s compound, Mark sent a man riding ahead to alert Rothan and Sandy what to expect.

When he rode into the courtyard of the palace at the head of his column, a crowd waited. Rothan, General Intef, and Sandy stood in a tight trio on the wide stairs leading to the palace entrance. Mark brought his cavalry unit trotting to the bottom of the stairs in perfect formation. Saluting Rothan, he dismounted.

“Got a badly injured man here,” he said, going to help Sallea and her Mikkonite warriors in assisting Khefer and then Sapair to dismount from their shared horse. “And a prisoner. Not sure what information we can glean from him.”

Khefer saluted Rothan as he accompanied Sandy down the stairs to them. Sapair attempted to sink to his knees before the new king, but Rothan forestalled him, catching him at the elbows, careful to avoid jarring the bandaged hands.

“You’re welcome to my court, Chief Official. My queen and I owe you much for the courtesies you extended while we were prisoners.” Raising his voice and speaking to the entire assembly, the king said, “Be it known to all men, I proclaim these broken hands are badges of valor, received in my service.”

“You—you do me much honor, my lord,” Sapair rasped out as the assembled crowd cheered. His knees failed him, and he collapsed in a heap at Rothan’s feet, his fall eased by Mark, who stepped in as he sensed the injured man was about to collapse. The king withdrew a few steps to allow Sandy to move closer.

“Get him inside to my clinic,” she said, gesturing to the waiting Mikkonites. “And you?” Hands on her hips, she assessed Khefer. “Broken ribs?”

“Sapair is the more desperate case, my lady,” Khefer protested.

“I’ll take your word for it, although I know you’re stubborn. Come see me after you’ve talked to Rothan, then.” She hurried after the men carrying her unconscious patient.

“Your Majesty,” Mark said, “Khefer has a lot to tell you about current events in the city.”

“Let’s withdraw to my private chambers, and he can tell me his latest tale over some good wine. Lady Sallea, of course you’re welcome to accompany us.”

Mark looped Khefer’s arm over his own shoulder and, being careful of the warrior’s injured ribs, assisted him into the palace behind Rothan.

“My artisans finished the model you requested,” Rothan said to Mark. “I think you’ll be pleased.”

“Can’t wait to see it. “

“In the morning, after breakfast. Tomorrow we begin the planning for the battles to come. Finally.”

“Waiting is the hardest part,” Mark said, thinking over his many years of military service and countless deployments and missions.

“Well spoken, my friend. But the waiting is almost over now, thank the gods.” Rothan ushered them into his private study.

The king and Mark had a four-hour session with Khefer. General Intef joined them. Dinner was brought at some point, consumed with no break in the conversation. Rothan, Mark, and the general grilled Khefer on the details of the Maiskhan plans, the new fortifications in the city, and countless other nuggets of intelligence he’d gleaned on his final trip undercover.

“Are we perhaps too hasty in accepting this Sapair into our inner circle?” General Intef asked as Khefer made reference to him yet again. “He was Farahna’s chief official, after all. What if the information he and his partner provided is a deception? If we take action based on lies, the result will be disastrous.”

Despite his broken ribs, Khefer straightened in his chair, face flushed and jaw clenched. “Sapair is loyal to the true rulers of our land. You don’t trust me to double-check all information and verify conditions for myself?”

Eyes narrowed at the junior officer’s tone, the general opened his mouth to retort, but Rothan forestalled him with a raised hand. “
I
trust Sapair. At great risk to himself on the morning of Hutenen’s funeral, he provided comfort to my wife, an act for which there couldn’t have been a double-sided motive at the time.” A tired smile passed over his face. “Unless he hoped we’d tell the gods of his good deed when we reached the afterlife. Another factor here is that once I’ve taken the throne, there’ll be no time to abolish the entire administrative structure of Nakhtiaar and rebuild it from scratch. Other vultures besides Maiskhan wait on our borders, ready to seize any moment of weakness. Having a man like Sapair to step in and take the reins, ensuring my orders and decrees are carried out, taxes properly collected, granaries filled, will be priceless.” The king glanced around the table. “I appreciate the general raising a valid concern, in order for me to address the issue head on, but now that you’ve heard my answer, we need to move on to the next subject.”

“Please, my lords, Khefer needs to seek the healer,” Sallea said, the second or third time she’d brought his condition up, each time more insistently. “I can plainly see in this council how you rely on him, but if he doesn’t receive the proper care, he’ll be a broken spear, unfit for battles yet to come.”

“Well said.” Rothan rose from his chair, gesturing for Khefer to leave the audience. “We’ve heard enough tonight. Go, see the Lady of the Star Wind and then find your bed.”

Khefer saluted. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“You’ve done well. I’ll expect you to attend the strategy session in the morning.”

“We’ll all be there,” Mark said as he helped Sallea support Khefer.

Once they were making their way through the deserted halls, Khefer said to Sallea, “It was my duty to sit and answer the king’s questions as long as he had a single one remaining.”

“Stubborn as always,” she replied, her tone calm. “It’s your duty to remain fit for service. What kind of an ally would I be if I failed to remind you—and your king—of this?” She gave Mark a hostile glance, frowning. “No one else in the room appeared ready to make the case.”

He stifled a smile. “Frankly, I was expecting Sandy to come and extract him from the meeting long before this. She knows how much he needs medical attention.”

He shepherded the pair through the hallways to the suite of rooms where Sandy had established her clinic. He found her dozing on a couch jammed into the chamber next to Sapair’s bed. One of her new assistants snored on a pallet off to the side. Sapair slept, but Sandy stirred as soon as Mark walked through the door with his companions.

Signaling for them to be quiet, she led the way into an adjoining room where many torches and oil lamps blazed.

“Took you long enough to come see me,” she commented as she walked into the light.

“Rothan and General Intef needed to hear his whole story tonight so we can integrate the information into the planning tomorrow,” Mark answered.

“Sit over there, Khefer, and let me check out your ribs,” Sandy said.

“How’s Sapair?” Mark asked as Sandy used the mirror to perform a slow scan on Khefer.

“Not too good. I gave him some heavy-duty pain meds from my dwindling supply.”

“Can you help him with his hands?”

She frowned, rescanning part of Khefer’s abdomen. “Okay, good, your spleen’s not ruptured, just bruised. Lucky.”

“Spleen?” Khefer stumbled over the unfamiliar term.

“Entrails,” Mark translated. “Sandy? The guy’s hands?”

“Well, Sethmre did a good job of setting the major bones in the field. He should have been a doctor, not a cavalryman.” She gave Sallea a tired smile. “The smaller bones are smashed. As it is, Sapair will be able to use his hands to some extent but not with any fine motor skills.”

“So, no writing?” Mark asked.

“No. The fingers won’t heal with any great mobility or flexibility.” She fastened the mirror on her belt and patted Khefer’s shoulder. “Mostly bruises for you, Captain, some cuts and slashes. The ribs are broken, but all we can do is strap them. I’ll give you something for the pain and medicine to keep the wounds from getting infected. Let me get the magic.”

“He has to be conscious and coherent for the big meeting in the morning,” Mark warned as she walked to the table where her medical bag sat. “Don’t give him too much.”

“He’ll be better for a few hours of peaceful sleep. No worries.”

“I know, you’re the doctor.” Teasing, he winked.
 

“Right, and don’t you forget it!” Her fleeting grin was replaced with a frown. “I think I might do surgery tomorrow on Sapair’s hands, though, clean up some of the internal debris and damage. It will help to a limited extent. I’m not an expert on that kind of delicate surgery, but I believe I can give him some hope.” Sandy walked back with the inject and pumped the drugs into Khefer before the soldier could blink. “We need to get this stubborn soldier to bed before the meds take effect.”

“I’ll call a guard to help get him to his quarters,” Mark offered.

“We’ll be fine,” Khefer demurred, sliding off the table. “Sallea can assist me.”

“Okay, whatever you want. If you’re sure—”

“I’m sure,” Sallea answered for them both.

The couple left the room together.

“Remember how she once said she’d never fall for anyone but a desert warrior?” Mark asked Sandy as she straightened her medical supplies and closed her bag.

“Yes, before she met Khefer. How will her choice go over with her parents?”

“I’ve no idea, and I’m not capable of thinking about it tonight. Or this morning, whichever it actually is. Can we head for bed now too? Please?” Mark begged.

“Let me check on Sapair one more time, and then yes, to all your requests.” Sandy was gone for a moment and then came back, took her bag from Mark, and strolled into the dim hallway, heading for their suite of rooms.

“You’re unusually quiet,” Mark murmured after the second turn.

“Hmm? Just reviewing the treatments I gave tonight and the next steps. It’s funny, when I use the mirror to scan a patient, the act seems to augment the healing process. Sapair’s hands look better now than they did when he arrived, although his condition is pretty bad. Farahna is such a barbaric bitch.”

“Your grandmother the empress does the same sort of things.”

Sandy sighed. “Yes, I know. What if I can use the mirror to heal?”

“Not just examine injuries, but fix them? Do you think you can?”

“Maybe. I wish I could have five minutes with Haatrin, ask her some specific questions.”

Mark stopped in his tracks, swinging her to face him in the dim torchlight. “Not a good idea. The stakes are too high when any of those beings are brought into play. Tell me you’re not thinking of contacting her somehow.”

“No, I guess you’re right.” Sandy resumed walking, and Mark matched his stride to her shorter one. “I’m going to use Sapair as a trial subject, with his informed consent of course, since any improvement I achieve will be a blessing for him. I’m going to try visualizing how the bones in his hands should be when I check them with the mirror, see whether the magic can influence them to knit into proper shape.”

Arriving at the door of their suite, Mark returned the salutes from the guards and ushered Sandy into their rooms. He took the medical bag from her, placing it on the floor before gathering her close. “You’re pretty amazing, Lady of the Star Wind.”

“Well, if I can put the mirror to such a use for Sapair, then I could do it for you. If you—if you’re ever injured. You’re what I care about the most. Am I awful to be so selfish?”

“I like it,” he assured her. “And now I’m going to be selfish, and we’re going to stop talking or thinking about anyone but ourselves. Come to bed, Your Highness, and let me practice
my
skills.”

She laughed and let him lead her to the bedroom beyond the foyer.

Mark had requested the general’s people to make a model of the territory in which the anticipated battles would be fought. Now the diorama filled one large room of the palace.