The King of Anavrea (Book Two of the Theodoric Saga) (21 page)

“Lirth was taken directly from the camp about an
hour after we left them. They followed the trail for a mile before
losing it in a river. Three quarters of the contingent spread out
to continue the search, while the rest were sent to bring us word.
If we leave immediately, we will reach their camp by dawn.”

Aarint, who stood behind Trahern, spoke. “There
is hope. Liam is missing. They don’t know if he was captured with
her or trailing the kidnappers.”

Just a little hope crept into the storm within
him. He clung to it like a drowning man. Shoving up from the table,
he gained his feet. “We leave immediately.”
Please, Kurios,
don’t let this hope be in vain.

~~~~~~

Every movement hurt. Each breath brought pain.
Even when she didn’t move, she ached. Lirth vaguely remembered
being in a similar condition years ago after she had been thrown
down a stairwell. Leaning on Liam’s solid support and constantly
reminding herself that she should be thankful she lived, she
cautiously moved onward.

”Can we pause?” she asked.

Liam stopped. “Are you alright?” His grip on her
elbow tightened slightly.

“Just tired. If I could just rest for a moment,
I am sure I will move more swiftly afterward.”

Liam led her to what felt like a grassy patch
under a tree.

“I will scout ahead and see if I can figure out
our location. I have a vague idea, but it would help to know more
exactly.” He wrapped her hand around a smooth, leather-covered
grip. “This is a knife. If someone comes near you, scream and
brandish this. I won’t be far.”

She nodded.

He moved off, and she was left in silence.
Leaning back against the rough bark, Lirth closed her eyes and
promptly fell asleep.

~~~~~~

Dawn broke above the trees. Beneath the awning
of arching branches and rustling leaves, the royal party moved
slowly along the narrow woodland path. So far the searchers had
found an abandoned farm house and barn. The structures sheltered a
dead body and a material fragment from Lirth’s skirt. Ireic ignored
the possibility that she could have been killed and clung to the
fact she had been there. There was no trace of Liam.

In the dim morning light with the help of
lanterns, Ireic, Aarint, and Trahern searched the sides of the
trail for footprints while others combed the forest at intervals
from the trail. Ireic knelt down to inspect what looked to be the
beginning of a deer trail, when a disturbance farther up the trail
drew all of their attention.

“You there!”

The call was punctuated by a crash as someone
plowed through a bush and tumbled onto the trail ahead. The man
landed on his hands and knees. Twigs and leaves clung to his dark
brown hair. Then he raised his head and Ireic’s heart stopped.

“Liam.” Trahern ran to his side.

Isack remained with Ireic, but the rest of the
party gathered around the kneeling man. Unable to get past the fact
that Lirth was nowhere to be seen, Ireic tried to prepare himself
for the worst.

Liam approached and knelt before Ireic.

“She lives, sire.” He gasped for breath. “I ran
when I saw the first searcher. I left her in a clearing beneath an
oak.”

“Lead us,” Ireic commanded.

Lirth lay beneath a tree, just as Liam said he
had left her. Ireic ran across the clearing and fell to his knees.
His heart thumped wildly as he tried to catch his breath. She lay
on her left side, the hilt of a dagger loosely cradled in her
slender fingers. Dark curls fell about her face and her eyes were
closed, in what Ireic hoped was only sleep. Just the sight of her
brought his heart into his throat. It took all of his self-control
not to immediately take her in his arms.

Ipore had drilled instructions into him. “Do not
move injured persons unless their lives are in danger.” Ireic knew
that if he did, he might do more harm than good. Regardless, he
ached to touch her and reassure himself that she lived. He needed
to know that the paleness of her face was from pain, not the cold
pallor of death.

Reaching out, he brushed back one of the curls
that lay across her cheek. The skin beneath his fingers felt warm.
With overwhelming relief, he noted the gentle rise and fall of her
chest.

She lives! Thank you, Kurios.

Gently removing the dagger hilt from her lax
hand, Ireic frowned down at it.

“She couldn’t walk anymore, sire,” Liam offered
from his place behind Ireic. “I knew we would never be found if we
stayed here. I left the weapon so that she wouldn’t be completely
helpless.”

“I understand,” Ireic reassured him. “How badly
is she injured?”

Liam approached and slowly knelt next to him.
“He beat her pretty thoroughly. I feared that she wouldn’t be able
to walk, but she did manage to for a time.”

Ireic glanced at Liam. He looked battered
himself.

“I wouldn’t have been able to carry her this
far, sire. I didn’t expect her to walk this distance either. She is
stronger than she looks. I stopped the first time she mentioned the
pain.”

Ireic nodded, remembering the light in her
sightless eyes the first time he had met her. Turning back to gaze
down at his wife, Ireic relaxed slightly. He reached out and
brushed his thumb across her lips.
Thank you, Kurios.

She stirred slightly at the touch. Pain
flickered across her features, but she didn’t wake.

“The litter is here,” Isack announced from above
Ireic’s other shoulder.

“Clear the way.” Ipore’s voice carried clearly
in the open air.

The Royal Healer, two young orderlies, and a
sturdy looking litter came hurrying through bushes and burst into
the clearing. In moments, they had bundled Lirth onto the
stretcher. They lifted it and her from the ground and began moving
in the direction of the base camp at a steady trot. Ireic longed to
be at her side, but with Ipore there Ireic would only get in the
way. Instead he followed as closely as possible, eyes only for the
prone figure in the center of the chaos.

“She will live.” Trahern laid a hand briefly on
Ireic’s shoulder as they fell into step together.

“Yes, by the grace of the Kurios, she will
live,” Ireic agreed. He couldn’t think of anything more to say as
he watched Ipore manage to walk and lean over Lirth at the same
time. The rush of helplessness incapacitated him.

“It hurts worse than getting beaten up yourself,
doesn’t it?”

Ireic looked over at his brother in surprise.
The dull ache in his chest grew more acute than any injury he had
ever suffered.

“I feel the same about Eve. I concluded that
sharing the pain of your wife is part of loving them.”

“Sire.” A young orderly bowed awkwardly when
Ireic turned to acknowledge him. Farther down the trail, the
stretcher was stopped. “The queen is asking for you, Sire.”

Ireic didn’t need to be asked twice. Ipore
looked up as he approached and smiled, despite the worry lines
about his eyes. “Here he is, my queen.” He lifted Lirth’s left hand
for Ireic to take. “She wanted to be sure you were well, sire.”

Ireic willingly took the delicate hand in both
of his. Kneeling beside the stretcher, he leaned close. “I am right
here, Beloved.”

Lirth turned her eyes and face toward him.
“Ireic,” she whispered through cracked lips. Her free hand came up,
seeking to touch him. He guided it to his face, closing his eyes to
relish the pressure of her fingertips. “I was praying for you,” she
whispered hoarsely.

Ireic could not stop the tears then. He clung to
her hand and fought to gain control. “I was praying for you,
too.”

“I love you.”

He smiled down into her beautiful, dark blue
eyes. “I love you too, Lirth.”

Somewhere above them Ipore coughed. “Sire, I
hate to interrupt, but I do need to get her back to the base
camp.”

“I understand.” Leaning down, he gently kissed
her forehead. “I will be right behind you,” he told her. “Listen to
Ipore. He is an old, bossy man, but he will take care of you. If
you want me for anything, just tell him. He will send for me.” He
brushed her face with his fingertips before reluctantly releasing
her.

Ipore rushed the litter away as soon as Ireic
stepped back enough for the carriers to pass. Though he understood
the Royal Healer’s urgency, Ireic didn’t wish to see her go. There
was so much for him to tell her. He hadn’t told her about his new
relationship with the Kurios. She would understand the strange
mixture of anger and sorrow he felt about the former high
councilor’s death sentence.

“Come.” Trahern pulled Ireic forward. “You need
to distract yourself and I know just the thing.”

Before Ireic could protest, Trahern planted him
in a tent with a group of junior officials full of questions about
what they were supposed to do next. It took Ireic three hours to
sort them out. As he was sending off the last of them with detailed
instructions on what was needed for a census, Aarint appeared at
his elbow.

“Did Trahern send you to find me another task?”
Ireic yawned widely. The fact that he hadn’t slept in over
twenty-four hours was beginning to catch up with him.

“Lirth is sleeping and the Royal Healer wants to
speak with you.” Aarint smiled. “After that, I think you need to
sleep. I am on the way to bed myself. Trahern has been snoring away
in one of the barrack tents for a good hour now. I heard his
tent-mates complaining about the noise.”

Nodding absentmindedly, Ireic pushed himself to
his feet and shuffled off in the direction of the healer’s
tent.

“Sit,” Ipore ordered the moment he saw him.

Too tired to protest that he was the one who
should be giving orders, Ireic sank gratefully into the nearest
chair.

“How is Lirth?” He asked as the older man
studied him critically.

“Surprisingly well, considering what she has
been through. When was the last time you ate and slept?”

“I cannot remember,” Ireic replied honestly. He
wished that the healer hadn’t mentioned food because his stomach
growled.

“Go to bed and get some sleep,” Ipore responded,
ignoring Ireic’s question. “They set up the royal tent in the
center of camp.”

“Where is Lirth sleeping?” Ireic asked.

“In there.” He pointed toward the canvas
covering the opening into the ward. “I cleared the place to give
her privacy.”

“Can I see her?”

The Royal Healer frowned.

Ireic forced himself to his feet. He followed
Ipore into the ward. Lirth slept on a cot near the middle on the
right side. Ireic walked directly to the cot nearest hers and lay
down. Sleep came almost instantly.

~~~~~~

Lirth woke to the sound of hushed voices and
muffled movement, followed by a heavy thump.

“Don’t wake them,” a voice hissed. “They need
their sleep.”

The transgressor didn’t reply, perhaps to avoid
risking another reprimand. Instead, the two moved out of Lirth’s
range of hearing. Other sounds crowded into the stillness. Someone
slept close by. She recognized the rough breathing of deep,
exhaustion-induced slumber. Considering her memories of her last
waking moments involved Ipore, she suspected that she lay in the
ward of the healers’ tent. The sleeper in the next cot was probably
another patient.

Carefully, she tried to sit up. She only managed
to raise herself onto her elbow before she stopped to catch her
breath. The pain in her ribs ached worse than yesterday. The person
in the other cot shifted in his sleep with a grunt and fell into
soft snoring.

She moved again, more cautiously this time. She
managed to get upright and one leg dangling over the edge of the
cot, when the agony stopped her a second time. In the silence, she
realized that her companion no longer snored. He rested
unsettlingly still.

“Are you awake?”

“I have been waiting for you.” The low, husky
voice thrilled her heart.

Heedless of the consequences, she lowered her
other leg over the side and slid off the edge of the cot.

“Wait!” Ireic leapt off of his cot.

Her legs buckled beneath her weight. He caught
her as she went down and then set her on his lower cot. “Where are
you going so fast?”

Reaching up, she found his jaw. The beginnings
of a beard caught her skin. She smiled up at him. “I was trying to
get to you.”

He laughed. The sound deadened the piercing
agony of her ribs. She couldn’t remember the last time she heard
that sound. Winding her fingers into his hair, she tugged
gently.

“You are still healing, Lirth,” he said,
suddenly serious. “You are not allowed on your feet until Ipore
says so. Promise me.”

“Only if you come down where I can reach
you.”

He complied by kneeling before her. The action
brought his head even with hers. He caught her face gently between
his hands.

“Is the rebellion put down?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” His thumb
caught her bottom lip.

“Please answer the question and I will drop
it.”

Leaning his forehead against hers, he sighed.
“Yes, all is under control. Now answer my question. Can I kiss you?
Will it hurt?” His thumb brushed her lips again. The cracked
surface was tender, but Lirth found she didn’t care.

Slipping her hands up through the circle of his
arms, she pulled his face to her and kissed him instead.

Thank you, Kurios,
she thought.

__________

By evening, the successful search party returned
to the city. Ireic found himself falling back into the hectic
patterns of the days before the coup. Meetings, letter writing, and
document signings filled the next day and promised to fill the
coming months.