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“Are there any more of you?”
He sputtered, then coughed. “You fucking—”
“Answer me, or you’re dead like your friends!”
The man’s cold dark eyes glazed with pain, but I could see his confusion at my feminine voice.
“Want to die, criminal?”
“No,” he rasped.
“Alright, then. How many of you were there?”
“Four.”
“Excellent. Get the fuck out of my sight!” I pushed the man as hard as I could in the shoulder I had stabbed, and he yelped in pain. He stumbled away, staring at me. His eyes were round and pained, but he was shocked. My hood had fallen, and my braid swung free. I sent him a bloodthirsty grin, and he stumbled away, lost in the sea of tight greenery.
Fuck!
I doubled over from adrenaline and took calming breaths. Iro fluttered around my head, and I glanced up at him. “Thank you, my friend.”
I picked up my bow and straightened. Iro landed on my shoulder. When I turned, Ativan stood in the tree line, watching me despairingly. I looked him over and saw blood coming from his side.
“Ativan!” I yelled just as he stumbled to his knees. “Ativan!”
I slung myself to his side and onto my knees beside him. His fingers were against his vest, and blood slid onto the forest floor.
No.“No,” I whispered after my head had shouted it. At least I had the control to not screech.
Ativan coughed and pushed his hand tighter against his side. “There was a fifth.”
Oh, that asshole lied! And I had let him go! Damn it.
“Ativan…” I pulled at his vest, but he shook his head. My voice held an edge of authority, “We need to bind this.”
He swallowed hard, and his eyes met mine. I could see the pain in them. This man, who was like an uncle to me, whom I respected and adored, was in pain, and I couldn’t do anything.
I shook myself and went into survival mode. After pulling my tunic from my pants, I cut a strip off the bottom and quickly wrapped it around Ativan’s torso as tightly as possible. Ativan didn’t dissuade me; he knew it would do him no good. I was not losing him.
“We need to get to a horse, Ativan. Lamen…”
“Is gone,” Ativan whispered sadly.
I swallowed back the rising emotion and horror of the situation and pulled Ativan to his feet. He leaned against me, and I half dragged, half carried him from the woods to his horse. I tied Lamen haphazardly to Tavere’s saddle. My horse would be gentle enough not to jostle the dead man off. I grabbed the weapons off Lamen’s mare and tied them to Tavere’s saddlebags. Quickly, I pulled the mare’s tack off and left it on the side of the road. I rubbed a hand down her leg, feeling the swelling, but I couldn’t feel anything broken. She would heal if she stayed off it.
“I’m sorry, girl, but you’ll have to fend for yourself from here.”
I needed to ride too swiftly for her to keep up. If she followed us, great; if she didn’t, I prayed predators didn’t find her. But it was low on my list of priorities right now.
Somehow, Ativan and I got onto his horse as night descended, and we made it into Cashore before Ativan passed out from the pain. Blood had already seeped through the bandage on his ribs.
“Healer!” I hollered as we came through the gates. “I need a healer, now!” My voice echoed with authority instead of panic. That was something.
A guard rushed over and pointed to the healer’s building. He followed us there to help me get Ativan down. A woman came bustling out of the building with a younger woman on her heels. Within moments, Ativan was in their care.
The guard glanced over at Lamen, then gazed at me with scrutiny.
“Brigands attacked us. My friend…” I gestured to Lamen. “He took an arrow during the attack. I pray it is not too late for my uncle.”
