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I bit my lip but nodded.
She let out a shaking, rattling breath. “Oh, my brother... I’m so sorry.”
When she was gone, her eyes remained open. Very gently, I touched them, closing each one.
Beside her, the girl Rychel had called Lynette did not cry or move.
I stood slowly then called for Amara. The healer came quickly. When she saw Rychel, she did not look surprised.
“So, she’s gone then. It was peaceful at least.”
I nodded. “My husband... I don’t think he understood that it would be so soon.”
“No,” Amara said softly. “He’s out there now, trying to arrange the very best care for her. What a kind man.”
I put a hand to my brow. “Tomorrow, my friends and I will be traveling northward. Back into the mountains.” I looked down at Rychel’s body. “Where did you find her?”
“She and the girl were in a village near the coast,” Amara said. “I assumed they were from there.”
I supposed we would never know exactly how Rychel had escaped or managed to get that far. Was there another way to reach my father that we’d missed out on learning about? It was too late to ask now.
“This little girl is named Lynette,” I said quietly, looking down at the silent child. “She was very important to my husband’s sister. She has no family of her own.”
“Sister?” Amara looked shocked. “Is that who she was? The woman seemed so old to be his sister.”
“They had different mothers,” was all I said. Which was true. “Amara, I want to ask you something.”
I looked into the healer’s dark eyes and saw the kindness there. She was a woman who could be trusted.
“What do you need?” she asked, looking back at me steadily.
“I need you to watch over Lynette as if she were your own child until you reach Camelot,” I said bluntly. “When you arrive there, you may turn her over to the care of Sir Ector and Dame Halyna. Tell them I expect them to do the same.”
I could not ask Crescent to watch over this newfound child. Not after we had already made him responsible for Medra. Not when he would be drowning in grief, with Taina to care for as well.
“And what if we don’t wish to turn her over when we arrive?” Amara asked.
I stared. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, my husband and I have no children of our own. I’ve always wanted a little girl. If we get on well with her, perhaps she would wish to remain with us.”
“You would do that?” I said slowly. “Take in a strange child as your own?”
Amara smiled slightly. “Look around you. We care for strangers every day here.”
It was true. I nodded. “Fine. yes. But I would like to know where you’ll be staying so that I may visit when I return to Camelot with my husband, if we wish to.”
With Lynette’s care arranged, I left the tent to find Draven.
He was outside, talking to Madoc about how to ensure Rychel would be comfortable in the wagon as it rolled and bounced down the unpaved, rocky road that led to Rheged’s border.
“Draven,” I said, putting a hand on his arm. “That won’t be necessary.” I glanced at Madoc and saw he had instantly understood. The leader of the refugee camp ducked into his tent, leaving us alone.
Draven looked down at me, unspeaking. I couldn’t read his expression. I wondered if he could read mine.
We were so far apart then.
“She’s gone,” I said simply. “Rychel is gone.”
