This picks up, right where Graceling left off.
Katsa and Po left the cavern just as the sun was setting below the horizon. They were riding in a content silence whenPosuddenly pulled his reins back to stop. Katsa pulled on her reins as well.
"What is it?" Katsa asked, her body tensing. Po wasn't one to stop for no reason, and, besides, he was stiff and seemed to be concentrated on something to his right.
"There is a woman just beyond those trees. She is sick and injured-perhaps dying,"Po answered as he dismounted his horse and weaving his way through the trees. Katsa dismounted as well and followed close behind. She hoped the woman wasn't in too fragile of a condition-if she had any broken bones riding to the palace would be very painful. On a boulder sized rock in the dense of the forest laid an unconscious young woman-probably only in her twenties. Clothes in tatters, skin clammy as if from sickness, and wounded badly on her right arm; it was with relief that they found her still breathing.
Not even needing to speak, Katsa and Po knew what to do. Katsa went back to the horse and brought back a flask of water which they used to clean her wound as well as give her a bit to drink. Then, they used a bit of fabric that Katsa tore from her tunic to dress the cut. The cut appeared to be a few days old, so Katsa didn't worry about it reopening. What did worry Katsa, however, was that the injury seemed to have been caused by an arrow or a knife. Po picked the woman up and Katsa retrieved what she assumed to be the woman's bag from next to the rock. After they made sure she had no broken bones, they quickly raced her back to what was now Bitterblue City. The whole ride, she didn't stir.
"Katsa! Po!" Raffin waved as they rode through the gates. But his smile quickly faltered when he saw the woman. "Katsa, go fetch Bann. Po, I'll help you carry her to the infirmary in the East Wing." Everything was carried out swiftly. Katsa ran inside and, after inquiring some of the servants, found Bann holding a discussion in the library with some scholarly gentlemen.
"Raffin requires your assistance, Bann. There is an injured woman in the infirmary that needs immediate aid," was all Katsa needed to say. Bann without hesitation said his apologies to the young gentlemen and left the room for the infirmary with Katsa.
Upon coming into the infirmary, one would find that it's not a small room. It was large with a dome ceiling, but the ceiling wasn't too high for then, in the winter, the patients would freeze. Very few beds were empty, for many who had suffered abuse at the hands of Leck hadn't fully recovered. Nurses were all on their feet tending to the sick and injured. Nonetheless, this crowding did not make finding Raffin and Po a challenge, thankfully. They were hovering over a bed to the right, not far from the door, with a few nurses coming and bring the supplies needed to tend to the young lady.
"Don't worry. I assure you that I will send someone to keep you informed," Raffin said to Katsa, and, then, with a smile, added, "You shouldn't forget that we are having a formal dinner tonight and you must get prepared soon if you are to 'make yourself pretty."Polaughed and Katsa scowled at both of them.
"Alright, I can tell when I'm not wanted," she said before turning and leaving the room.