The next time she woke, she was in a large tent, on a cot. More cots filled the rest of the space, with other wounded people in them — some sleeping, some talking, some moaning, some crying. Many faces were unfamiliar to her. The white-sashed medics and their assistants moved quickly and efficiently among them. Jakl wasn’t inside the tent, but she could feel him just outside, so that was all right. She still hurt, but she thought that perhaps the pain was a little less than it had been before. She caught the eye of a passing assistant, who gave her some water. After she drank, her throat felt much better. She handed back the cup and asked him to send for Captain Varyn.
The captain appeared shortly thereafter. He pulled up a chair beside her, looking much better than when she’d seen him last. She wondered suddenly how long she’d been asleep.
“You gave us quite a scare,” he said. “I was not relishing the idea of having to tell your parents I’d gotten you killed.”
“What happened?” Meg asked. She had so many questions, but that one covered the most ground.
Captain Varyn gave a strange little laugh and ran his hand through his hair, wincing when he grazed the bandage. It had been changed since she’d last seen it; there wasn’t any blood oozing through it now. “What happened,” he repeated. “Quite a bit. It’s hard to know where to start.”
“Did we win?”
Now he laughed outright, heartily if not for very long. “All right, sure. That’s a good place to start.” He grinned at her. “Yes, Princess. We won. We cleared the pass. Kragnir soldiers were fighting through from the other side, and soon after . . . uh, after . . . well, they finally broke through and came streaming out against the enemy like a swarm of angry bees. It was glorious. Most of them are already well on their way toward Trelian now. I sent most of the rest of our company — everyone except the injured and a few others — riding ahead to give the king and queen and commander the news.”
Meg closed her eyes for a moment, overcome with relief. She hadn’t ruined everything. She’d been afraid . . . but then . . .
“But . . . how? We still hadn’t destroyed the last catapult, and then I was hit. . . .”
“We almost had them by then,” the captain said. “You and your dragon were magnificent, Your Highness. They were scrambling, making mistakes, and my men were getting the better of them. They couldn’t take their eyes off you for more than a second, and that combined with your destruction of the catapults — well, they couldn’t organize themselves to defend against us. Not while maintaining their hold on the pass. We were waiting for that last one to go up; it seemed about to happen, and then the dragon screamed, and we realized that you were falling. Everything stopped at that point. Everything. Both sides — we just stood there, watching. Transfixed.
“I’ll tell you, it didn’t seem possible that he would catch you in time. And there was nothing we could do — there was no way to help or even to get something to soften your landing. So we watched, and waited, and prayed. I prayed, anyway, and I’m certain I was not the only one. The dragon shot through the air like an arrow, straight down, racing you to the earth. And at what had to be the last possible moment, he grabbed you. Grabbed your arm in his jaws and sort of swung you up and away and then caught you again — it was mostly a blur, to tell you the truth, but the one thing that was clear was that you were still alive. You were screaming bloody murder as he laid you gently down on the ground.”
Meg tried to call up some memory of this, but there was nothing there. She looked at Varyn quizzically. “But then — the pass was still blocked. How did we win? They could have . . .”
“The dragon,” Varyn said. “He . . . well, he went a little crazy up there, I’d say. He was gentle as a lamb with you, bringing you down to us, but once he saw you were safe . . . I’ve never heard a sound like the scream he gave as he launched back into the air. He had that last catapult in flames before anyone could even react, and he set most of the men around it on fire as well. And then . . . and then he was everywhere. Raging, screaming, breathing fire — it was clear that he was ready to burn every last one of them to a crisp for hurting you, and they knew it. Lourin soldiers starting throwing their weapons to the ground and dropping to their knees. A few at first, and then the rest of them, faster and faster. He didn’t hurt anyone who laid down their weapons, Your Highness. I feel you should know that. He killed a good number of the enemy, but only those who stood and fought against him. And not nearly so many as he could have. And once the rest of them threw down their arms, he came back to where you were and would not leave your side. That’s why we had to have the medics treat you out in the field. He wouldn’t allow us to move you. Not until after you woke up.”
Meg took this in silently. That was what the shame was about: that he had lost control, that he had unleashed himself upon the enemy after they’d hurt her. He thought she would be angry. But how could she be? He’d only been reacting to what they’d done. And he’d accomplished their goal. Accomplished it even without her there to ask him. And he hadn’t lost control completely. Even after she left him there alone. He had nothing to be ashamed of.
She tried to send her reassurance through the link. It’s all right, she thought at him. I understand. And you did well. You did so very well.
And he had. She couldn’t bring herself to feel happy that he’d killed anyone, even enemy soldiers . . . but as Captain Varyn had said: this was war. And Jakl had made sure that the fighting here hadn’t been in vain. And now Kragnir would be able to help them defeat the rest of the enemy back home. Home. Where she needed to be, because —
Calen, she thought suddenly. How long had she been out here?
“What day is it? How long . . . ?”
“You were in and out of consciousness for nearly five days,” the Captain said. “And the medics say it will be another few days before it’s safe for you to travel.” He held up his hands as she opened her mouth to object. “I know you’re anxious to get back home. We all are, Your Highness. But we nearly lost you once. There is no way I am going to move you one second before the medics give the word. So you just focus your energy on resting and healing. Kragnir sent down additional medics and supplies, and you are getting the best possible care. We’ll get you home as soon as we can. I give you my oath on that. But not sooner.”
He left her then, and she lay back, alternately exhilarated and exasperated and exhausted. Well, constantly exhausted; it was just the exhilaration and exasperation that varied. She supposed the resting advice was probably good. She looked down at herself — as much as she could with all the bandages and the blankets. Her right arm had been set free of its bindings, although the shoulder was still tender and tightly wrapped, so she couldn’t see how bad the burns were. Her left arm was bound up tightly; that was the broken one. That hurt the worst, but there was a dullness to it that made it bearable. She realized after a moment that Jakl was taking some of the pain from her.
Hey, she thought at him. You don’t have to do that.
Yes, he thought back. Then refused to send her any further thoughts on the subject.
She let it go. If that would help him to feel better about what had happened, so be it. She wasn’t really sorry to be in less pain than she had to be. And it was probably less painful for him, since he was so much larger.
She felt him stir a little at that, and smiled. Yes, large and fierce and strong. That’s you, my lovely. Thank you. I accept your gift gladly.
She was gratified by his heartened response.
It was six more days before they finally agreed to let her go home. Everyone from Trelian was leaving; those who remained had only been waiting for her to be well enough to travel. The Kragnir medics and their own wounded would stay, until they were able to be brought back up the mountain to the castle.
Meg’s left arm was still bound and splinted, her right shoulder and the side of her head were bandaged, and her left thigh refused to support her weight for more than a few steps at a time. Medic Lorena, the on
e who’d explained what had happened that first day, assured her that her leg would heal fully in time. She might have a scar, but she’d be able to walk and run and move about without limping or feeling pain, and that was what was important. As though Meg would care about a scar! She knew she’d be scarred from the burning, anyway. She was just glad to be alive.
And there had been one definite upside to the delay. On the third morning, she woke to find Maerlie sitting beside her bed.
“Maer!” Meg was halfway to a sitting position before she remembered how badly she was injured. “Ow,” she added, lying slowly back down.
“Look what happens when I’m not around to stop you from getting into trouble,” Maerlie said, smiling. “You stay still, now. You appear to be rather broken.”
Meg satisfied herself with grabbing her sister’s hand. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you think I’m doing here? You almost died in my front yard. I had to come see you.” That was an exaggeration; it must have taken her at least a full day to make it down here from the castle. But Meg wasn’t about to object.
“I didn’t almost die.”
Maerlie gave her a look.
“All right, maybe I almost died. But I didn’t die. I’m fine now. Well, okay, not fine, not yet, but I will be.”
“I know,” Maerlie said. “I made them tell me everything as soon as I heard you’d been injured. I didn’t even know you were here until after it happened! But I suppose you couldn’t have sent word, could you? Secret mission and all that.”
“Yes,” Meg said. “Sorry.”
“Successful secret mission. I hear you and Jakl saved the day.”
“Mostly Jakl.” She smiled at his combined swell of pride and protest through the link.
Maerlie raised an eyebrow, but all she said was, “Well, please allow me to convey official thanks on behalf of King Ryllin and Queen Carlinda, and of course Prince Ryant and myself.”
“Please tell them it was our pleasure.” She winced at a sudden twinge in her shoulder, which she suspected rather took away from the effect she’d been going for. “And that we are most grateful for their aid in this war.”
Maerlie shook her head. “So formal! You don’t sound very much like the girl I left behind.”
It hurt a little to hear that. Meg remembered a time not so long ago when she had vowed never to change. But she knew it was true; she wasn’t the same person she’d been when Maerlie left. So much had happened since then.
Maerlie stayed until Medic Lorena gently suggested that Meg needed to get some more rest. Meg tried to argue, but it was clear to all three of them that the medic was right.
“I’m so glad you came,” Meg said. “Almost worth it, all this”— Meg gestured at her leg and torso with her less-damaged arm —“to see you.” Her head was starting to feel a little fuzzy.
“Hush,” Maerlie said. “When this is over, you will come for a proper visit, without a whole army of soldiers and medics or any need for such, and we will catch up on everything.”
“Yes,” Meg said, closing her eyes. “That’s a promise.”
The soldiers and medics and assistants seemed to pack up the camp in agonizing, exaggerated slowness. Meg knew she couldn’t complain, especially since she couldn’t help them move any faster. She had firm orders, from both Medic Lorena and Captain Varyn, to sit in her chair patiently and quietly. Jakl was helping where he could, lifting and dragging heavy things when they thought to ask him, but she realized that they were used to doing all of this without the help of a dragon, and so finding ways for him to help might really only slow them down.
So she sat, and she waited, and she tried not to worry about what was happening back at the castle. Had Mage Serek and Mage Anders gotten Calen back yet? Were they at least trying? Meg had faith in Pela and trusted that she would do all she could to keep the mages on track, but there were limits to what she’d be able to accomplish. Meg hoped there was a least a plan in place by now. She didn’t know how long it took the crows to travel to wherever Calen was. And back. Maybe there hadn’t even been another crow since she’d left. She tried to decide what would be worse — to get back and discover she’d missed a great deal or to get back and discover she hadn’t missed anything at all.
Well, the first step was just to get back. Which had required some negotiation. Medic Lorena was firm that Meg could not ride back on her dragon. At first they tried to get her to agree to ride in a wagon with the other wounded, but that was just ridiculous. In fact, it was ridiculous for any of the wounded to ride slowly back in a rickety wagon over the bumpy, winding road through the forest. Meg pointed out that they could load the wounded into one of the special supply carts and have Jakl fly them all home. It would be a much smoother ride, she was sure, far less jostling around, and much faster — they’d be home by the afternoon, instead of days from now.
Captain Varyn saw the wisdom of this at once, and he helped convince Medic Lorena. She did like the idea of the injured soldiers getting home to the infirmary as quickly as possible. Varyn offered her a spot in the dragon’s cart to oversee her charges, but she turned a little pale at that and said that one of her assistants would make the trip in her place.
Finally, finally, it was time to go. Jakl was already up in the sky, flying in wide, lazy circles, sending her occasional images through the link of what he could see of the countryside around them. One was a lovely view of Kragnir’s castle, tall and stately in its nest of craggy peaks. It made her happy to know that Maerlie lived in such a beautiful place.
Once everyone had been loaded into the cart under Lorena’s watchful eye, Meg let Jakl know they were ready. He came down to let them fasten the harness and attach the cart, then slowly rose back into the air, this time taking Meg and the others with him. Some of the wounded were unconscious, or in enough pain that they had no interest in anything other than lying still, but the others looked avidly out over the edges of the cart, marveling at their speed and watching the landscape race by beneath them.
Meg looked out as well, but she wasn’t thinking about the landscape.
She was thinking about Calen.
What if he’s there when I get back? The thought should have made her glad, but somehow it didn’t. She puzzled over this for a bit, and realized eventually that it was because she was still so angry. Angry at how he’d left, at how he’d made that plan to try to rescue Maurel without even telling her. He had gone off, possibly to get killed, and he hadn’t even said good-bye. And then once she’d caught up, he’d left her again.
Didn’t he know that he wasn’t ever supposed to leave her? People left sometimes; she knew that — people left for all kinds of reasons. But not Calen. Calen was not allowed to leave. Things were always better when they were together. For both of them. How did he not know that? She didn’t understand how she could be best friends with someone who was so stupid sometimes.
She envisioned several different scenarios of his homecoming. In some of them, she ran to him and hugged him. In others, she ran to him and punched him in the stomach as hard as she could. In some he was glad to see her; in some he was resentful to be back.
But she couldn’t give any credence to that last idea. He wanted to come back. He’d said so. And anyway, of course he did. She was sure that he had some crazy reason for having gone off with Mage Krelig in the first place, some reason that he thought was a good one at the time. But by now he’d have realized what a mistake it was. By now, he would be desperate to get back home. Where he belonged.
Maybe she’d punch him and then hug him. Or the other way around. She was pretty sure she’d want to do both. She just wasn’t sure which she would most want to do first.
Just be okay, she thought silently at him, trying to send her thoughts out to wherever he might be right now. Just be okay, and maybe I won’t even punch you at all. Just get home safe, and I will forgive you for everything.
Jakl flew swiftly and steadily onward, bringing her closer and closer
to finding out . . . something, at least. Meg tried to make herself feel confident. Calen would make a good plan with Serek and Anders, even if she wasn’t there to help make sure it was a good plan. And he’d escape, and he’d get back and — she was sure now — she’d only hug him. She wouldn’t even punch him a little bit. Not if he made it back safe.
Please.
WHEN THE CROW RETURNED CONFIRMING THE date and time of his jump to Trelian, Calen sent it back immediately. Again with extra speed. Before he could change his mind.
Which was ridiculous, because of course he wasn’t going to change his mind. Had he finally gone completely insane? Just like Krelig?
No. If he had, he would have asked for more time.
Which part of him still wanted.
Three days. Three more days to learn everything he could and not get caught. On the night of that third day, he’d be going home.
He wished the crow had gone back to using Meg’s voice. He wondered why it hadn’t. Where was she? Had something happened? Or was she just too busy to lend her voice to the spells when Serek and Anders cast them?
Did she still want him to come back?
Stop thinking that way. Of course she does.
Calen went back inside, but he was too worked up to try to sleep. Too excited, too afraid, too anxious about not having learned enough yet. He stepped through his doorway wards and walked down the hall. He still had the wing to himself; the castle was large, and so far all the new traitor mages had taken rooms on the other side of the castle, where he’d put the first group. Which was fine with Calen. He didn’t want to see them any more than he had to.
Well, except Helena. But that was different. She was different. She didn’t want to be here anymore. She’d realized it had been a mistake.
Or she is setting you up to betray you.
But he didn’t believe that.
If you’re wrong, it will cost you everything.
He was so tired of that voice in his head. Be quiet! he barked at it. And for a wonder, it listened.
The Mage of Trelian Page 14
