“Who can understand a man that has overthrown his brother, taken the crown, and done the deeds he has performed? Tell me.”
“You are right; it makes no sense whatsoever.”
“Such men are dangerous.”
Just then there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” invited Taleon.
A young man entered. “Taleon, a message for you.”
Standing, he took it to the far window to read it.
“Is everything all right, Taleon?” asked Cassandra, resisting the desire to go and look over his shoulder at the missive.
“It’s fine. Your father has requested my presence immediately.”
“What for?”
“Doesn’t say.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“Why do you want to know?”
Cassandra looked at him blankly for a moment. “Well, with you and Pappa gone, this place will seem rather lonely and unprotected.”
“Lord Keenan will still be here, and there are Edith and Brendan to keep you company; then there are the refugees, your sewing class, and books to keep you busy. I probably won’t be gone more than three days at the very most, so you needn’t worry.”
“And if something goes dreadfully wrong in the meantime?”
“Keenan can take care of it. You are far from second in command yet, you know. Now, if you will excuse me I have to get ready to go. This is urgent.”
Cassandra looked after him, a pensive mood seizing her. She walked to the window, glancing down into the valley rifting between her and the mountains beyond. This side of the castle was impenetrable unless you wanted to climb up a straight cliff. She turned back to her book, but the page seemed uninteresting and bland.
I had a brother whose name was Arthur. A brother—me, Cassandra, who thought herself an only child. How strange is that? She gazed into the fire wondering. What would he have been like? Would we have gotten along?
A smile crossed her face. She had always wanted an older brother, and now she had one, but she had never known him. Cassandra sighed. Restlessness came upon her, and, putting on her cloak, she slipped into the hall. Taleon was in the courtyard, readying his steed.
Uncomfortably, Cassandra wiggled her toes in her slippers. She didn’t like the thought of him leaving, and she wanted to say goodbye to him. How was she, a princess, supposed to do that? He was just Taleon. Or was he? Oh, she didn’t know anymore.
What compelled her to walk down the inner staircase into the courtyard Cassandra never quite knew. She slowly approached, trying to think of something to say—anything that would make sense and not make her look like a sentimental fool, who really didn’t mean anything sentimental at all.
Unexpectedly, Taleon glanced in her direction and nodded for her to come over in a friendly way.
She came, still unsure of what she was going to say.
“Do you have a message for me to bring to your father?”
“Tell him I say hello and send my love.” She could have bit her tongue out for telling that last part to him. How exactly would Taleon tell that to her father? She blushed at the thought. It sounded awkward to her.
Taleon didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, he smiled. “With pleasure, Cassandra.” He tightened a strap and secured the buckle before turning to her. “Take care, and don’t get yourself into any trouble while I am gone.”
Cassandra nodded. “I won’t, Taleon.”
He smiled and stroked away a stray strand of hair the wind had blown into her face.
Cassandra wondered why her heart jumped. It had never done that before.
“I’ll see you in a few days,” he said, swinging into the saddle, and off he rode.
Cassandra wasn’t sure if she should stay and watch him go or disappear into a corner. She decided upon the latter, slipped away to her room, and locked the door.
The following two days were uneventful and as normal as they could be without Taleon. It was on the third that an unexpected blow fell.
Cassandra had just finished her sewing lesson when there were urgent shouts in the courtyard.
“Girls, stay here. I am going to see what is going on.”
Hurriedly Cassandra went to the railing that overlooked the courtyard. Men were brought in on carts and laid on the cobblestones. Some had limbs at queer angles and all were bloody and bruised.
Cassandra hurried back to her room, “There has been some kind of accident. Stay in here or someplace out of the way.”
Leaving her room, Cassandra hurried down into the courtyard, where women and men were already gathering with necessary supplies to help the wounded. Cassandra helped where she could, but spent most of her time gathering water for the women to wash out wounds and wipe away blood. As fast as she could fill buckets, more were needed as carts continued to roll in with more injured men.
The men’s faces and bodies were smeared with dirt. There had been an accident at the mine.
As no new injured men appeared, Cassandra began to help those around her as she could. Her skills were not great, but she could help ease the pain and bind the wounds.
The last cart came rumbling, carrying in only a few men. The doctor went to see what he could do for them. And Cassandra went back to filling buckets. Unexpectedly the doctor came and stood beside her.
“I need your help.”
“My help?”
“I need someone who isn’t stained by the blood of others. That would be you. Now come with me.”
She followed him to a room set aside for the doctor’s use.
The injured man looked like he had fought and suffered through a battlefield. His wounds, to Cassandra were horrific. However, it was his left leg that she could not stand the sight of.
In a moment Edith appeared.
“Good, I will need you both. Edith, hold his hand and distract him as you can. You help me.”
“What are we going to do, doctor?”
“His leg is crushed. There is nothing I can do to save it. However, I can save his life.”
Cassandra’s stomach lurched. Closing her eyes, she steeled herself for what was to come.
The ordeal was longer and bloodier than Cassandra cared to know. When it was at last finished, Cassandra found herself helping to bind and mend his other wounds.
The task was soon complete and the doctor left him in Edith’s care with detailed instructions of how to care for him until he returned. Cassandra left the room at the doctor’s side.
The whole world seemed to sway and be sickening around her. Uncomfortable sensations surrounded her; memories clung closely to her, flashing before her eye with horrifying vividness. Who was this standing before her, speaking her name?
She blinked once, twice. The fog around her brain cleared.
“What happened, Doctor?” Taleon asked, his clothes dusty from travel. There still had been no rain in the valley.
“There was a collapse at the mine. She just helped me with a necessary but unfortunate amputation.”
“Cassandra helped you?” Taleon looked at her, surprised. No wonder she looks so dazed.
“Yes, it was quite a messy ordeal, but she was a great help. You see when I...” and he began going into great details of how the surgery had gone.
Taleon watched Cassandra slowly, slowly grow more and more pale.
Suddenly she excused herself, covering her mouth with a hurried step.
She could not stand to relive it at all. Cassandra rushed to a far castle window where she could be guaranteed privacy. She wanted no one to disturb her, no memories to be readily at hand, no sounds that could send her twisted butterfly filled stomach into worse knots than it already was. She leaned out over the low edge of the window, trying to breathe in the fresh air and concentrate on anything but what had gone on in that little close room. Pictures flashed before her eyes and the contents of her stomach turned inside out. Her stomach spasmed and she lost everything over th
e edge of the cliff.
A gentle hand touched her waist. Instantly she knew who it was and cringed. She wanted to flee but couldn’t. What is Taleon doing here!
After several moments passed and nothing more came, Cassandra pushed away from the ledge, still queasy and lightheaded. She turned away from Taleon, but he caught her shoulder and turned her around.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine?” she answered weakly, closing her eyes against another nauseating rise. Her limbs trembled beneath her. Hesitantly Cassandra leaned against the window, pressing her clammy palms against the cool stone and trying to calm her nerves which felt as if they had been stretched to the point of breaking.
“Are you sure you don’t have any touch of the fever?”
She nodded. “I am fine. It was just that room...”
“You have some of the symptoms...” As he touched her forehead with his hand, she shied away with a blush.
“Well, there is some color,” he said with a smile.
If the floor would only open up and eat me I would be eternally grateful.
“No sign of a fever,” he said with a satisfied sigh.
“Like I said...it was that room.”
“I wanted to check. We can’t be too careful, you know.”
Cassandra nodded. Unexpectedly her stomach spasmed again and she lunged for the window as it rose in her throat. Her clammy hands slipped on the low ledge, sending her headlong out of the window.
Taleon had quickly slipped his arm around her waist as she had moved towards the window and now was holding and pulling her back. Once her feet hit solid ground, she sank to her knees.
Taleon sat on his heels beside her and looked into her eyes. Blue, like her father’s, they had pools of tears in them. They were tired, filled with fear and pain. A sympathetic smile twitched at his mouth. He pushed a stray strand of hair away from her face.
Wearily she leaned her head against the castle walls. Shutting her eyes, a tear slipped down her cheek.
“Are you going to be all right?” he asked in a whisper.
Cassandra didn’t reply. She was still trying to gather herself into one piece. Her heart was pounding like a drum in her chest.
Taleon sat down beside her. Slipping an arm tenderly around her waist, he pulled her close. Without hesitation, Cassandra buried her face in his shoulder, trying to hold back the sobs that rose from her heart, but they came anyway.
Taleon let her cry. After a short while, the tears subsided save for the occasional gasping breath that rasped at her throat.
Slowly she pulled away from him and looked up into Taleon’s face. “How do you do it?”
Taleon cocked his head to one side.
“Be so strong. You take on everything. How do you do it?”
“One step at a time,” he said with a soft smile.
“But how did you become so strong?”
He shrugged off her question.
“Taleon. Will you help me? Help me become strong.”
Her blue eyes were so helpless, pleading, needy. At that moment she needed it more than anything.
“I will try, if that is what you want.”
Cassandra only nodded her head. She laid her head against the windowsill. She was so tired. She glanced up at Taleon.
“How many men?”
He gave her a puzzled look.
“The mine.”
“Twenty-five.”
“That is awful. Any dead?”
“Not yet.”
“Will there be?”
“Probably, but there is always hope.”
Cassandra nodded. “How is my father?”
“Well. He will be back soon and he sends you his love.”
Cassandra smiled and looked off into the distance. The world had stopped spinning around in her mind. Now it felt black. Darkness slowly crept upon her, fading out the world.
Chapter 21
Before Cassandra even opened her eyes, she was aware that her body ached. Her mind searched for the reason; then it dawned upon her. The mine. Had that happened just hours ago or forever ago?
Taleon let out a slow sigh of relief.
Turning, Cassandra opened her eyes. Taleon was sitting beside her, searching her face with a relieved smile.
She tried to sit up.
“Stay,” he said gently, laying his hand on her shoulder. “You need your rest.”
“What happened?”
“You fainted, I think you’ll be all right now.”
“Everything just went black.”
“I am sure of it.”
There was a hand on Taleon’s shoulder. Cassandra’s gaze shifted. It was Lord Keenan.
“Come, Taleon, let’s leave her to the women and to get some rest.”
Turning her head, Cassandra could see three women standing and waiting at the door for them to leave.
“I’ll see you later,” Taleon said with a sideways smile.
Cassandra nodded, too tired to speak.
Once the door was closed, the women took over with great care, changing her blood stained gown for a clean nightshift; they pulled the curtains and sent her back to bed. Though Cassandra protested, one woman would stay with her just in case her health was in danger.
Two days passed and Cassandra was not permitted to leave her bed despite her restlessness. It felt strange to be once again waited on hand and foot—to be given almost everything she asked for and to be doted on as a general rule. She missed Taleon’s company, though her sick room was no place for him.
It was late afternoon and Edith and Brendan were with Cassandra. Edith sat in a rocking chair knitting, while Brendan and Cassandra amused one another with various games and peek-a-boo with the bed sheets.
Brendan was hiding and refusing to emerge from under the coverlet when Cassandra unexpectedly turned to Edith. “Will he be all right?”
“Brendan?
“The man who...” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence as the memory of it all made her shiver.
“He will be,” said Edith in a calm voice, “He knew as soon as he was trapped it he would lose his leg. He is grateful that it wasn’t his arm.”
“Why?”
“He is a carpenter by trade. He needs his hands for his work.”
Cassandra nodded numbly, still trying to grasp all that had gone on days before. She tugged at the sheet still held tightly over Brendan’s head. He screamed in protest and Cassandra sagged back against the pillow.
“You know, for a while I thought you were going to pass out. You kept changing from white to green and back again.”
“Don’t remind me,” Cassandra said with a shake of her head, the very mention of it turning her stomach in somersaults.
A time of silence passed between them.
“How do you know all of this anyway?”
Edith smiled, “I have been his nurse. The doctor has been so busy with the other injured men, I took the responsibilities of his care; and he needs someone to talk to and things to talk about. So we talk about our lives.”
Cassandra looked curiously at Edith, wondering if she had shared her own life tragedy with him.
Edith met her eyes. “What are you looking at me like that for?”
“Nothing, I was just wondering if...” she decided she would rather not finish that sentence, and reaching forward, she snatched the blanket off of Brendan’s head. He laughed and disappeared behind it again. Cassandra tugged playfully, but to no avail. She tickled Brendan’s feet. He kicked and squealed before pulling them behind his shroud.
Edith was looking at her. “Wondering if?” she asked.
“It’s nothing really.”
“You are wondering if I told him my story?”
Cassandra blushed. It is sort of a personal question.
“I told him last night. He was in such pain. I didn’t know what else to do. He tried to bear it silently, but I couldn’t just sit there and
let him suffer, so I held his hand and the way he held it so tight...I wanted to sing to him to put him to sleep, but you don’t exactly sing to a grown man the way you would sing to Brendan, and of course a made-up story wouldn’t do, so I told him mine. It was the only thing I could think of. Now I wish I could have thought of something else.”
“Is that why you are in here today?”
“Mind your own affairs and I shall manage mine,” said Edith rather shortly.
Soon Cassandra noticed the work slip from Edith’s hand and into her lap as she rocked back and forth contemplatively. Her mind was wandering in deep thought.
Cassandra tried to make up for her fault by playing with Brendan, who was still set on being an explorer underneath and behind blankets. Oh, I wish I hadn’t said anything. I made a perfect mess out of it now.
Just then there was an authoritative knock at the door.
“Who is it?” asked Edith, breaking away from her reverie.
“King Aric. May I come in?”
“Yes, please come in.”
The door creaked open and King Aric appeared.
“Hello Pappa.”
Just at that moment, Brendan chose to emerge from the blankets and exclaim, “Eek a boo.”
King Aric and Cassandra laughed.
With a smile, Edith swept Brendan from the blankets despite his squalling protest and exited the room.
In a moment, Cassandra found herself in her father’s arms.
“How are you?”
“Much better now that you are home. How long can you stay? Will it be long this time?”
“As long as possible.”
Cassandra let out a contented sigh and looked up into her father’s face, studying it with affection.
“Taleon says they have been guarding you like a dragon. He hasn’t had a chance to even see you.”
Cassandra laughed. “They have been spoiling and babying me. I am growing quite restless.”
“They are taking the best care of the future. The only future heir and hope of Chambria.”
She wanted to ask him about Arthur, the brother she never knew. But she didn’t feel the timing was right for such a question.
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