Maxi held up her armful of tools. “I am…taking my remedies to Sir Hebaron.”
At her answer, Ulyseon’s gaze shifted to Ruth. “Is the curse not yet broken?”
Ruth shook his head as they trudged on. With Ruth and Ulyseon by her side, none of the soldiers attempted to approach her even though she could feel a few glances flicking over to them.
Relaxing somewhat, Maxi followed closely behind Ruth. They weaved through the cluster of densely packed tents before stopping in front of the Remdragon Knights’ barracks. Ruth was the first to enter. The moment he stepped into the tent, Maxi heard a gruff voice thunder from within.
“Look who’s finally back! I thought you were waiting for me to die!”
Maxi’s eyes widened as she entered the tent after Ruth. Hebaron lay on a cot with his brawny torso wrapped in bandages, fuming at the sorcerer. Surprised to see him so lively, Maxi stood blinking when the knight spotted her. His angry expression broke into a cheerful smile.
“And who’s this? I heard that you were here, my lady, but I must say that I’m still surprised to see you,” he bellowed. “Your courage never fails to amaze me.”
Maxi was too concerned to return his banter. “I-I heard that you were hurt. How…is your wound?”
She approached the cot, and Hebaron furrowed his thickbrows. “Nobody here seems to give a damn about my honor! Did you really have to tell her ladyship that the unbeatable Sir Hebaron got himself injured?”
“I’m afraid your honor is already thoroughly tarnished,” Ruth retorted. “The men are already calling you the knight with the monster’s curse. I assure you, everyone at Eth Lene already knows about your situation.”
“Goddammit!”
The rage in his voice made Maxi recoil. Hebaron furiously yanked at his orange curls.
“There can be no greater humiliation!” he howled.
Ruth gritted his teeth. “If you wish to salvage your reputation, I suggest you cooperate by keeping your mouth shut during treatment. I find it hard to concentrate with you bellowing all the time.”
Hebaron glared at Ruth before turning his back on them as though truly upset by the sorcerer’s words. Maxi felt she should tread carefully, and she flicked her eyes between them before laying down the herbs and tools she had brought with her.
“I-I would like to take a look at your wound. Would you let me…undo the dressing?”
Ruth and Ulyseon helped Hebaron into a sitting position and unwound his bandages. Maxi stifled a groan when she saw the wound.
A lesion ran from his shoulder to his chest like a crimson centipede crawling over his skin. Inflamed flesh surrounded the wound, and dark blue veins spread out from it like the legs of an insect.
She swallowed hard. “H-How…”
“It was a whip,” Hebaron said in a sulky voice, “and I owe it to a lizardman with black scales. A peculiar creature.”
“Lizardmen have the highest intelligence of the dragon subspecies,” Ruth explained. “It is not uncommon for them to use advanced magic. It’s my guess that the monster that attacked Sir Hebaron is a superior specimen even among its own kind.”
Hebaron rolled his eyes. “Well, that’s depressing.”
Maxi was momentarily unsure of how to treat the ghastly wound. In the end, she carefully applied the salve she had brought with her to the lesion. Among the remedies Melric had taught her, it was the most efficient at relieving inflammation and pain. It must have proved effective, as Hebaron’s face soon became markedly brighter.
“Great God, that worked like a charm!” he exclaimed. “I think I could fight right now if the call came.”
“I’ve only n-numbed the pain…. The wound is not yet healed,” Maxi warned him as sternly as she could. “You mustn’t overexert yourself…just because you don’t feel it.”
After giving him the most serious look she could muster, she deftly dressed his wound with clean bandages. She asked for a fire to be lit and used the flames to collect herb ashes in a linen pouch.
“Use this as a warm compress…on the wound for about twenty minutes,” she instructed. “The area is numb, so b-be careful not to burn him.”
Maxi patiently waited until the pouch was at the right temperature before handing it to Ruth. He looked down at it with a dubious expression before gingerly placing it on Hebaron’s shoulder.
Hebaron frowned as though he found the heatuncomfortable, but he soon fell asleep. Ruth explained in a whisper that the knight’s exhaustion must have been extreme after weeks of painful, sleepless nights.
“Thank you for your help, my lady,” he murmured. “I think we’ll be able to get some peace until I can break the curse.”
