“So it’s wait and see then?” One more voice.
“It is.” The speaker came closer. “You will not leave us, my Lady. You are not allowed to die. We need you, do you hear me?”
She turned her head a little and tried to open her eyes.
But she could not summon enough energy. Sleep was toying with her, or perhaps it was the ultimate rest claiming her. She didn’t know, but there was no fight left in her to postpone the inevitable.
As she slipped into the oblivion, one vague thought danced through her confusion.
All the voices were male…
*~~*~~*
Giles was embarrassed that he’d slept the entire night. He should have risen after a restorative nap and gone to check on Gabriel and on Lady Gwyneth.
Even though Gabriel had been up and around the evening before, and had found the Rose room with no problems, Giles still wanted to talk to him, and the others, before deciding what to do with him. And there was the matter of what, if any, connections to Wolfbridge he had.
All these matters jostled for precedence in his head as he walked in to breakfast.
“Evan, you are a man of great brilliance in the kitchen,” he said, walking to the sideboard. “You also read minds. I awoke with a craving for fresh bread.” He helped himself to several slices of the loaf that sat, still warm, next to the other dishes.
“Years of experience, Giles,” grinned Evan, who was taking the covers off the other plates. “How are you this morning? If you’ll forgive the expression, you looked absolutely knackered last night.”
Giles chuckled. “Pithy, but apt.” He went to the table and took a seat. “Jeremy and Royce about yet?”
“Royce popped down to the stables; he likes horses, so he’s helping out if the weather’s bad. Jeremy’s up…”
“And ready for food,” said the man himself as he walked in. “Good morning, Giles. I trust you slept well.”
“Like the proverbial log,” he replied. “I hope you all will forgive my absence. I should have been there when you tended to Lady Gwyneth.”
Royce strolled in, his cheeks flushed with cold, his hair ruffled. “It wouldn’t have made any difference,” he commented. “We could have summoned an entire battalion into that room and she wouldn’t have known.”
Giles sighed. “All right, well, since you’re here, sit all of you, please. I must know how she is.”
Evan nodded. “I sat with her for the first half of the night. She barely moved. There were a few groans, she seemed to approach consciousness just before midnight, so I gave her a few sips more of the honey water.”
Royce sat down with a full plate. “That’s the ticket. Her body is going to take some time to build its strength back up. We can’t give her solid food right now. It would damn near kill her. So honey water, sugar water…get that into her and help her body start to work properly again. Then tiny bits of food.” He took a bite of bread and raised his eyebrows at Evan. “Excellent, my friend. This will restore her once she’s ready for it.”
“I took over at midnight. We arranged shifts.” Jeremy rotated his shoulders as if he were stiff from sitting. “She was silent. So silent. Barely a sound or a movement. It was…a little frightening, to tell the truth. I had to get up every now and again to make sure she still breathed.”
Royce nodded. “That’s a good sign. If the fever was running high, she’d have been tossing and turning. I took a quick look before I came down, and she’s still warm, but I’d say less so than yesterday. After breakfast I’ll make certain that bite on her foot hasn’t flared into anything that needs treating.”
“And now?”
“Gabriel’s with her,” answered Royce.
“Ah yes. Gabriel.” Giles looked around. “He is better?”
“Mostly superficial,” Royce nodded. “Except for his rib, which will take a bit of time, he’ll be fine.”
Jeremy put down his teacup. “What is to be done with him, Giles?”
And that was the question. Giles finished the bread and washed it down with his own cup of tea before speaking.
“How do you feel about him being here?”
There were blank looks.
