Maig's Hand

by Phillip Henderson

  “I think you should be more concerned for yourself. Now let’s go.”

  He offered his hand and she took it. Tears misted in her eyes as they walked to the boat. Several sailors were holding lanterns to light their departure. Eden noticed she was upset and as two sailors steadied the boat so James could board the Prince Regent hugged her, saying quietly, “He loves you, you can’t begrudge him this. He could very well lose you if what you fear proves true.”

  “I know. It’s not him I begrudge.”

  She eased out of her brother’s kind embrace and said quietly, “You can’t come. Arkaelyon’s future protector and king should not be found together under circumstances wrought with such uncertainty and danger.”

  Eden smiled at her concern. “You’re wasting time, Dee. Now come along.”

  She knew to argue further would be fruitless, so she took his hand and stepped aboard the crowded long boat, settling down on the rear bench beside James, who was at the tiller. Besides, part of her was relieved for his company, however ill conceived.

  Everyone else was already sitting on the benches, oars at the ready. Their number seemed very small at fifteen, though all except for Mr Tally and Grizna were knights of Eden’s retainer and they had already proved themselves superior to anything the Druids could throw at them. And they were armed to the teeth with long sword and crossbow. Danielle only hoped that their superiority remained secure now that they knew what had happened to the Arkaelyus’ oarsmen.

  “The Gods’ protection go with you and your men, Milord, and you, Milady.” Captain Farus stood at the water’s edge, along with several of his officers who had come down to see them off as well.

  “May they protect us all, Captain,” Eden said. “Take us away, gentlemen.”

  The boat was pushed away from the grassy riverbank and got underway, the oars grinding in their rowlocks and stirring the placid water. The fog moved around them and the torches burning on shore and the sounds of the camp quickly faded into the darkness behind them. James had his good hand on the tiller and in the gloom Danielle could see him navigating by keeping the darker shadows of the riverbank off their starboard beam.

  “The breeze, it’s gone,” Eden said quietly.

  “Odd for this time of the morning, Milord, “James said.

  They all felt it, a cold presence in the damp air. Then again they were rowing to Ra’majum.

  “How long before first light, do you think?” Danielle asked. The fog and darkness were almost suffocating and she was thinking of Fren and her ilk again. She felt very vulnerable sitting out here despite the formidable company she was in.

  “Perhaps as little as half the hour. But the fog will hide us another hour or so after that I think.”

  “A little bit faster lads,” Eden said.

  “What if they come for us again, Milord?’ Jeffery enquired as he pulled at his oar.

  “We get ashore. I want to be able to wield a sword if we have to face them. And if any of these druids utter a word, you take him first and fast.”

  “Not going to argue with that,” Matthew said from his place on the benches.

  Danielle had closed her eyes and was trying to ignore the whispered conversation as she considered everything that she could recall from her diary. She was still trying to prepare herself for Ra’majum. Her stomach churned with apprehension and the motion of the boat was making it worse. Then there was James sitting right beside her. The idea that Arkaelyon’s survival could cost her his love kept invading her thoughts, and that wasn’t helping any either. It wasn’t long before she turned and quietly vomited over the stern.

  James offered the tiller to Eden. The boat rocked slightly as he shifted and leaned over the side of the boat to tend to her

  “You alright?” He dipped a handkerchief in the water, rung it out and handed it to her.

  After washing her mouth out with a handful of water she accepted it gratefully. The cold against her face did help. But his question was ridiculous given their predicament. She wanted to hold him tight and tell him how scared she was, and how much she needed him right now, but circumstances didn’t allow. Instead she nodded and settled back down on the stern bench, grateful at least that the darkness afforded her some dignity. His free hand found hers and she was alarmed to feel how hot and clammy it was. He was chewing fesewill at will, and if the root were working, as it should, he wouldn’t now have a fever. “Are you alright?” she whispered.

  He nodded curtly. “Fine.”

  She looked a little closer and then reached up and put her hand to his forehead. She was alarmed to find he was sweating despite the cold misty air. “You are not. Jeffery, fesewill stops fever does it not?” Danielle asked. She knew it killed pain.

  “Aye, Milady, fever and corruption. Why? You alright James?”

  “The lady is worrying needlessly.”

  “You’re burning with fever,” she countered.

  Eden reached out and touched James’ cheek. “You are warmer than you should be, brother.”

  “As that may be, I feel fine.”

  An owl hooted somewhere out in the fog and then heavy wings beat the air, the sound grew nearer and then fading away as the bird passed overhead. A tense silence had descended over those in the boat. The men at the oars had stopped their work and every head peered out into the fog, James’ predicament forgotten for the moment.

  “As you were, gentlemen. Nice and easy,” Eden whispered.

  The oars dipped back into the water and the boat began on its way again. Everyone watched the fog and listened as they passed a series of small islands and then a small waterfall splashing down a rock face on the north side of the river.

  The fog was thickening in the grey light of dawn and to Danielle’s mind at least these wilds should have been teaming with bird life and more so since hunters never ventured here. Yet there was nothing, not even insects chirped.

  “There’s an evil about this place, Milord,” Harris said, making the sign of protection.

  No one looked ready to argue. They all knew the stories of Ra’majum.

  “Perhaps we should put ashore and make the rest of the way on foot,” Jeffery suggested.

  “Stay the course, gentlemen,” Eden reassured.

  Danielle looked up at James for the third time in the last half hour, worried. He raised his eyebrows and squeezed her hand and mouthed the words, ‘I’m fine.’

  She wasn’t so sure.

  A mile further up stream and daybreak began to lighten the fog around them to a blanket of white mist. Here and there, Danielle caught glimpses of the pine forest and rugged rocky terrain on either side of the river briefly emerging out of the curtain of white. The view was typical of the forested wilds of the foothills of the Eastern Mountains. What wasn’t normal was the fettered stench of decay that had come to taint the air over the last few minutes. Feeling utterly green, again, she gathered up her hair and leaned over the stern and retched.

  When she opened her eyes and saw that the river was blood red and writhing with the movement of serpentine bodies, she lurched back in fright. “Sweet gods, look at the river!”

  Much to her chagrin, Eden laughed. The rest of the men weren’t so rude, but she could see they were trying not to smile. Even James’ mouth was quirked up at the corners as he helped her sit back up and handed her the wet handkerchief again.

  “Its iron clay, likely washed down from higher slopes by the storm yesterday afternoon. And those are eels feeding on the goodness in it,” James said.

  She was studying his face and could see he was tense with pain.

  “You’re not well at all, are you?”

  Everyone frowned.

  “I’ll manage.”

  “Manage? I doubt you can stand,” she replied.

  Jeffery said, “Wouldn’t hurt to check the wound. You do look feverous, James.”

  “Milord, that’s unnecessary.”

  “James, just let her check. Jeffery and Dee are right, you don’t look well.
Give me the tiller.”

  When James complied Danielle eased back his coat to get at the bandages. A quick glance beneath was all it took to confirm her fears. “It’s festering. I need water and fresh bandages. James, take off your coat.”

  “Milord, I think we have more pressing—” he tensed and stifled a cry as Danielle pulled at the bandage.

  “James, just do as she says.”

  Eden scratched at his beard and looked out over the bow. Danielle knew her brother was worried as much for her as her fiancé. They could all hear the thunder of what could only be the misty falls somewhere ahead in the fog. The towering waterfall was said to feed a small lake with Ra’majum’s ruins occupying the southern slopes. Danielle was trying not to think about what was waiting for her there.

  And in truth, she was more worried about James. His face was damp and pale and he was clearly in a great deal more pain than he was letting on.

  “You shouldn’t have come,” she said, taking the blood soaked bandage off his shoulder. Jeffery handed her a water skin and rummaged in a small rucksack for new bandages.

  Danielle stopped abruptly and looked at Jeffery. “The wound is seeping green puss!” She had never seen anything like it before. The concern that passed between the soldiers was evidence enough that they did not share her ignorance. “What is it?” She asked.

  Jeffery shuffled over to take a look. His frown deepened and he glanced over at Eden. “The shaft of the arrow must have been dara wood.”

  “Meaning what?” Danielle asked, terrified.

  “It’s poison,” James said. His eyes told her not to worry. “I’ll be fine.”

  Danielle turned back to Jeffery and then to her brother. “Will he?”

  “Give him water. Lots of it.”

  “Eden?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Jeffery was making James drink from the water skin. Danielle was unwrapping the new bandage, her hands trembling, and tears threatening.

  “Dee, it’s alright.” James’ hand found hers and stilled them. He was hot to the touch. “I took a nasty splinter of dara wood a few years back, and survived well enough.”

  “An arrow is not a splinter, and you don’t look alright at all.” She was trying not to cry as she began to rewrap his shoulder. She really didn’t need this!

  “Milord. We have company. Yonder.” Harris was at the oars and he nodded across the water to where a small stone jetty jutted out into the lake. Danielle followed his nod and then returned her attention to James’ shoulder when she saw the white robed man standing there waiting for them in the mist.

  “Take us in nice and slow, and keep your swords close,” Eden said. Danielle’s brother looked to her. “Is this Cargius?”

  “I don’t know. I did not see him in my chambers. Not properly.” She suspected it was, the calm unflappable presence he radiated was the same. She resented it deeply. How dare he be calm at a time like this! Or was it simply uncaring? She did wonder, after all it was he who had summoned them to Ra’majum and he’d done nothing to prevent the attack on the Arkaelyus. Besides, James was her main concern right now, and she wasn’t going to be dissuaded otherwise.

  As they drew closer the man raised a hand in greeting and called out, saying, “Welcome. I am Lord Cargius. You have no reason to fear me.”

  Danielle ignored him and when the boat nudged against the jetty steps, she helped James get ashore aided by Jeffery and Harris. As soon as they could they lay James down.

  Eden greeted the druid with a polite if formal bow. “You summoned my sister, sir?” Thomas and Matthew stood either side of their prince as an honour guard. Blood splatter had dried black on wool and steel and their stern frowns would have intimidated most men. This man was utterly unmoved.

  Danielle turned her back on Cargius as he answered her brother in the affirmative. She could feel the Druid’s worried gaze on her back. She knelt beside James to help remove his coat properly. His face was flushed and his strength was waning as the pain increased.

  “Dee, don’t be rude,” James whispered.

  She shushed him before glancing over her shoulder at the Druid. He looked quite young for one who’d likely lived a thousand years, perhaps not more than late thirty’s, and much more handsome than she would have liked. His clean-shaven, angular face had a noble air about it and his blue eyes spoke of an unusual wisdom.

  “Can you help my protector?”

  Lord Cargius came forward and knelt down. “He has been poisoned, I see.”

  “Dara wood, we think,” Eden replied.

  “He took a Larniusian arrow to the shoulder did he not?”

  Danielle sat back on her hunches, a little bewildered. “You know what happened to us?”

  Cargius looked troubled. “Only as one knows in a dream.”

  “Yet you did nothing to intervene!”

  “There was little I could do without my brothers and sisters to aid me. I am sorry. If I had known that Fren had sensed our connection I would have handled things differently.”

  “We lost a great number of good men this night, and in truth I am not sure that sorry will suffice,” Danielle replied, curtly.

  “I am afraid it will have to.” There was a hint of annoyance in the Druid Lord’s voice as he examined James’ wounded shoulder. “I did explicitly instruct you to come here in absolute secrecy. Not with half Arkaelyon’s army in tow. And the moment you knew you were in danger, you should have called to me. Perhaps there would have been time for me to summons my brothers and sister and come to your aid.” He looked up at Eden, adding, “As it is, we are lucky, you and your men were present, Prince Eden. And for that I thank you. You save us all this night, I suspect.”

  “Are you blaming me for all this,” Danielle demanded.

  Eden placed a hand on her shoulder. “That does seem a little chagrin, Milord.”

  “And for that I am sorry, Prince Eden.” Cargius’ attention settled on Danielle again as he rummaged in a pocket of his robe and pulled out a white square of cloth. “You know well enough, Milady, that I can not come to you unless you will it.”

  Danielle deeply resented the impatience in his eye even if his tone was calm. “Is that so? For it seemed quite other last night in my chambers.”

  “That you did seek.” Cargius was now sprinkling an assortment of herbs onto the cloth, which he was pulling out of what seemed to be internal pockets in his robe.

  “Excuse me? I did not!”

  His eyes pinned her. “It’s your desire to know the truth that has made all this possible, Milady. And we are all lucky that it is so. ”

  She saw his point. Biting back her pride she returned her attention to James. “Can you counter the poison in my fiancé’s blood?”

  “I can. The taint has not entered his blood in sufficient measure to be fatal.” He glanced up at her and held out his hand. “I’ll need some of your blood.”

  “What?”

  “Your blood. Come on, if you want this done.”

  “If you must have blood, take mine, not hers,” Eden said.

  “It has to be hers if this is to work.”

  “It is fine. I’ll do it.” Danielle rolled up her sleeve, ignoring James’ frown and Eden’s displeasure.

  “Please don’t hurt her,” James said. His eyes were swimming with pain and he sighed, and laid his head back, not liking her decision but lacking the strength to fight it.

  Cargius didn’t acknowledge him, merely took her hand and told her to look away. Cold steel touched her open palm. Then a sharp burning pain seized her as the blade was quickly drawn across the skin. She clenched her teeth and blinked away tears as Cargius pressed her hand into a fist and squeezed. The blood dribbled onto the mix of herbs that lay on the square of white cloth. When it was completely soaked, Cargius tossed Eden another cloth and told him to wrap his sister’s hand. Then he asked for water to clean James’ wound and a new dressing to bind it all together. Thomas offered a water skin while Jeffery removed his crimso
n cloak. All of the knights looked somewhat confused by what all this was about.

  “Do you mind telling me how my father’s realm came to be so infested with Larniusian Druids,” Eden asked as he worked on Danielle’s hand. “That was a considerable force that attacked us this morning.”

  Everyone’s gaze fell on the Druid Lord.

  “Their true number is not so great. Most of the foe you faced this morning were dead who had been reanimated. Their bodies will have been stolen from graveyards under the cover of darkness and with their respective kin unaware. Fren will have then used a rather difficult spell to summons the souls back from Vellum and force the poor devils to her will. Unlike those reanimated using the Fountain of Rebirth, this type of animation is very temporary. Those that survived the attack on your ship last night will already be corpses again.”

  “They can raise the dead?” Danielle felt her skin chill and she could see that she was not the only one.

  Cargius nodded as if it were the most natural thing. “If the soul is in the Dark One’s realm, then yes, they can raise the dead. But without the Fountain of Rebirth, it is a very difficult and costly process and can only be done in small measure and like I said, the spell only has a temporary affect.”

  The Druid carefully laid the blood soaked cloth over James’ shoulder, so it covered both the entry and exit wounds.

  “Bind it, and give him plenty of water to drink,” he said, coming to his feet. He looked to Danielle. “We must go on alone.”

  Eden grabbed her arm. “I cannot allow that. You said yourself, there is little in way of protection you can render her alone.”

  “You have nothing to fear, Prince Eden, she will be quite safe.”

  “Here at Ra’majum? Safe?”

  “Yes. It is a long story, but I chose this location for that very reason. Now we really must be going.”

  Danielle gently levered her brother’s fingers from her arm. “I’ll be fine.” She kissed the frown on his bearded face. Her legs felt as uneasy as her stomach, but this had to be done, they all knew it. Too many lives had been lost for it to be otherwise, and it was impossible to know how many more would be lost if she refused now.