Chapter 36: Return
The audience hall went silent as Logan walked in on the morning of the second week he'd left. Renee, sitting beside Richard, stifled a gasp as she saw the short-haired girl following quietly behind Logan, but said nothing. Beside the King, the Weaponsmaster's face was an impassive mask. As Logan made his way down the middle of the audience hall, he caught a glimpse of Vincet's face. He had to stifle a grin; the man looked like he would start caroling for joy at any moment. He'd talk to Vincet later; right now he had to speak to the King.
He dropped to one knee before King Richard, and behind him, Jubilee dropped into a dainty, feminine curtsy. On the road back to the palace he'd instructed her on what was expected for girls in the palace; she hadn't had much exposure to how the ladies did things, and so needed to be instructed. She'd worked on her curtsy, again and again, until she'd had it perfected. As she rose, though, she winced almost visibly. Renee didn't miss it. Her eyes widened.
"Sir Logan, We are pleased to have you back at court," Richard said, smiling. "We have missed your presence and your counsel immensely. We understand you went to rescue your squire; did you succeed in finding the boy?" Logan bowed his head in a semblance of grief and braced himself. He wasn't a good liar…but he would have to be, in order to pull this off.
"Yer Majesty, I am sorry. The boy…perished…in Gallas's dungeons." A dismayed ripple of whispers echoed throughout the room, and Richard rose.
"There was no ransom demand given! Gallas has violated the rules by which warfare is conducted; he has dishonoured his position and title, and We will not tolerate this!" Logan waited for Richard to stop speaking, and then said, clearly enough that everyone could hear him,
"Yer Majesty, he has paid. In the dearest coin possible." He carefully swung the sheath off his back and upended it on the floor of the raised dais. The two pieces of Gallas's sword clattered out of the ill-fitting sheath, the jewels on the golden hilt winking in the light. "This is Gallas's own sword, Yer Majesty. I met him in the dungeons an' killed him in a fair honour duel. The traitor knight, Julian, was also there; he has also paid fer his treasonous actions with his life." He fished around in hisbelt pouchfor the small onyx and gold ring he had taken from Julian's dead finger in the torture chamber, and placed that on the dais beside the broken sword. "I took his personal crest from his own finger as he lay dyin', Yer Majesty. He is quite dead."
Richard sat down, placated. "And who might this be?" he indicated the still-kneeling Jubilee.
Logan braced himself. "Her name is Jubilee, Yer Majesty. She is Lee's twin sister."
"A twin sister!" Richard rose half-out of his chair, staring at the girl beside Logan. "A marvelous resemblance, isn't it, my dear?" he asked Renee.
"Quite so, Richard," Renee said, her face kind but her eyes dancing with merriment that only Logan could see. "How did she come to be there, Sir Logan?"
"The bandits that attacked Lee's home were sent there by Gallas," Logan said. "Much of the border raiding has been at Gallas's instruction. They shot everyone in Lee's village, but they took the young girl with them. She was the only survivor. Lee had thought she was dead. He didn't know she was alive until he saw her in the dungeons." Logan lowered his eyes and dropped his voice theatrically. "The boy was dying by the time Julian and Gallas fell, Yer Majesty. He asked me to look after his sister, and transferred the life debt I owe him to her. I am now responsible for her care and welfare."
"A sad turn of events indeed," Richard said at last. "My dear, I am sorry for your loss. Everyone liked your brother; We will miss him as well." There was genuine sorrow in the King's voice.
Jubilee ducked her head. "Thank you very much, your Majesty," she said quietly, her voice barely audible. "Your Majesty…I formally request sanctuary in your lands. The guards in the dungeons were…quite cruel…and I would not like to return there."
Richard nodded. "Your request for sanctuary is granted. You may live here in the palace for as long as you wish—" he broke off as Jubilee swayed there, on her knees, and then tumbled from the dais in a dead faint, her strength spent. Renee leaped up from her throne and hurried down the steps. Logan had reacted first, reaching Jubilee's side before the Queen, and lifted her gently in his arms.
"She is exhausted, Yer Majesty," Logan said carefully. "With yer permission, I would like ta take her ta the Healer's, and then seek lodging for her among the rooms in the Ladies' chambers."
"Yes, yes, go ahead," Richard waved his hand. "You are dismissed. Do whatever you must, Sir Logan."
Renee gave her husband a shallow bow. "I will go along, My King," she said gently. 'Sir Logan may require assistance." Richard nodded, and Renee exited the room, Logan following behind him, carrying Jubilee. Once outside the throne room, and out of hearing of anyone else, Renee dropped the formal Queen-to-subject air and dropped to Logan's side, looking worriedly at Jubilee. "How is she?" she asked.
Logan sighed. "Not good, Yer Majesty," he said grimly. "Julian and Gallasstarved her, and allowed the dungeon guards to assault her repeatedly. We had ta stop at Mistress Mary's fer a week or so," He had told Renee about Mary when he had come back the last time, before he'd left. "She was too sick ta travel. She got some of her strength back, but she's still far from healed. They hurt her bad."
Renee led Logan to an empty room not far from hers. "In here," she said, opening the door and motioning Logan in. As Logan carefully placed Jubilee's limp form on the bed in the room, Renee flagged down a passing page. "Robin. Run and get the healer, please. And hurry." The boy sped off along the hall. She closed the door and turned to the bed. Logan had laid Jubilee on her side, and was unlacing the back of the dress. Renee gave a soft, sick whimper at the sight of the bones sticking out harshly beneath paper-thin skin, and swayed in shock. "Dear God," she whispered, falling to her knees beside the bed. "How did she survive that? How could Gallas…and Sir Julian…do this to her? I liked Sir Julian!" Logan looked at her, and she saw the same sick anguish in his eyes that was in her own.
"I don't know," he said quietly. "One of the other prisoners said she went mad fer a time; they left her alone until she found her mind again, then starved her and gave her only enough to eat and drink to stay alive." He took a deep breath. "Yer Majesty…"
"Call me Renee," Renee said quietly. "I think we've progressed beyond the aloof courtesy between Queen and subject." She smiled up at him. "Only between us, though."
"Renee, then," Logan said. "I ask a boon from you. Will you seek for a place where she might stay? Maybe some minor Lady of the court who might need another serving girl?"
"Wouldn't you rather she stayed here?" Renee said innocently, not looking up. "I could use another lady-in-waiting, and the duties will not be so hard that she will be overtaxed. Certainly nothing as strenuous as being your squire."
Logan was stunned. "Yer Majesty…Renee…that would…" he stopped stuttering for a moment, gathered his thoughts, and then went to one knee before Renee. "I thank you, My Queen, fer the favor," he said formally.
They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and the page admitted the healer, then closed the door carefully behind him. The man hurried toward the bed, seeing only theemaciated back, and froze in complete shock as he saw his patient's face. "But…she…he…"
"Her name is Jubilee, Healer," Renee said. "Sir Logan brought her back as Lee's twin sister. The explanation seems to have been accepted, and from henceforth she will be one of my ladies-in-waiting. Her identity as Logan's former squire will not be revealed, Healer, do you understand?" Her tone was still soft, but her eyes were hard.
The healer knew what those eyes meant. "Of course, Your Majesty. If you wish it." He bowed to Renee, and turned his attention to Jubilee. Fortunately she remained unconscious while he ministered to her wounds, applying healing salve to the cuts on her back and body, bandaging the worst of the wounds and cleaning the dust of the road from her hands and feet. Finally he stood back. "That is all I can do, my Queen," he said to Renee. "I shall send up a female healer to inspect those parts of her which I am not qualified to heal. She seems to be sleeping soundly; and she will likely remain so for a while."
Renee sighed in relief. "Thank you," she told the man. He bowed and left. She tuned to Logan. "Perhaps you should go," she said. "It wouldn't be seemly for you to be seen here with her too often…until the proper amount of time has passed, and you can openly court her. People will get suspicious if they see you near her too much. They'll think you know her rather better than you should."
Logan nodded, climbing to his feet and sitting on the end of the bed. "You're right. But I won't court her, Yer Majes—Renee. She can just barely stand ta have me touch her right now; she won't welcome any advances."
"Maybe not now," Renee said serenely, pulling up the edge of the blanket to cover Jubilee's sleeping form. "But she will, eventually. She will heal, Logan. And the painful memories will fade. Just give it time."
He looked at her hopefully. "Do you think so?"
Renee sighed. The hope in Sir Logan's eyes reminded her that, for all his battle experience and hard outer shell, Sir Logan was still only a young man hoping to win the hand of the lady he loved. "I know she will, I'm a woman," she said, patting his shoulder gently. "Now go on. You must be tired from your long journey."
Logan sighed as he reached his room door. Now that Jubilee's needs had been met, his own were starting to demand his attention. He badly wanted to change into clean clothes, grab something to eat, and then sleep for maybe a week. They had traveled all day and made camp or slept at inns on the week's journey back, but they had gone slowly to ease the strain on her still-healing body, and he had spent a lot of the nights soothing her when she woke screaming and crying from her dreams. He hadn't gotten much sleep. He opened the door to his room…and then walked in and closed it quickly so no one would see who awaited him inside his room. "If you show too much interest in her others'll suspect," he said to the occupied chairs before the fire.
The occupants of those chairs turned around, revealing the Weaponsmaster's craggy face and Vincet's broad grin. "Well, I can say I've come to see you," Vincet started, "Which wouldn't be a lie…"
"And I came to find out what happened to you while you were gone," The Weaponsmaster said, smiling too. "She does look different in a dress, doesn't she? If it weren't for the hair and the eyes, I wouldn't have recognized her." He waved a hand at the table in the corner of Logan's room, and Logan looked at it. There was food heaped on a tray; meat and cheese, hunks of bread, wine, fruit, and nuts awaited him. Logan saw the food and forgot everything else; he sat down and started eating. "So," The Weaponsmaster said as Logan drank down the last of the wine. "Start at the beginning. And oh…Richard has looked at the sword you brought back, and declared it genuine. You're saved the kingdom; he's trying to think of a suitable reward for you." Logan choked on a mouthful of bread. The Weaponsmaster smiled. "So. Tell us what happened."
Between bites, Logan outlined everything that happened since he'd left, paying particular attention to the details of the fight and their escape. The Weaponsmaster listened intently, occasionally asking questions, which Logan tried to answer as best as he could. The man didn't stop until he had every possible detail about everything that happened out of Logan, and then sat back as Vincet took his turn.
"So tell me about her," Vincet said. "You said you found her in the torture chamber? What…" he swallowed hard. "Is she…"
Logan sat back, looking haunted. "You name it, they did it," he said. "She ain't a girl anymore, she's a woman. And she don't want ta have anything ta do with me. She hates just havin' me around, much less touchin' her." He sighed. "Renee said she'd heal, and she'd come ta love me in time. I doubt it."
The Weaponsmaster stroked his chin while he thought that over. "I can't say for certain, but I think she will," he said finally. "If she cares about you as much as it looks like she does, she'll come around in time. Just…be there for her." He saw Logan's look. "I've seen a lot of women in the aftermath of war who have gone through traumatic experiences. She will heal. I swear this to you."
"I hope so," Logan said fervently. "Oh, God, I hope so. I care about her, and I hate seein' her so scared, so shy. I hate seein' her flinch when I touch her, and I hate seein' her go through those bad dreams she has. I lost count o' how many times she's woken up in the middle o' the night while we was travelin', screamin' an' cryin' from remembering what they done ta her."
Jubilee stirred. Something felt different. She lay still, keeping her eyes closed as she tried to figure out what felt different. After a moment she realized what it was; the absence of pain. Since her first day in the dungeon, pain had been a constant presence in her body; the ache in her whipped back, the throbbing in her loins, pangs in her stomach from hunger and thirst.. There was no pain now.
She opened her eyes, looked up. Above her was a stone ceiling, dappled with sunlight from the casement window above her and off to her left. She turned her head slightly to look, and felt an unfamiliar stiffness behind her neck and back. She raised one arm gingerly to touch the back of her neck, and found it swathed in bandages. "Hey," came a quiet voice. "You're awake."
She flicked her eyes down toward the end of the bed, and saw Renee, sitting in a chair and quietly sewing on a length of fabric. A gown, from the way it looked. As soon as she saw Jubilee's eyes open, she set the sewing down and approached the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Terrible," Jubilee croaked. Renee had lost that regal air, and Jubilee figured they were alone, and it was safe to address the queen as just another woman. Not that she could have managed to get out of bed to kneel, anyway. "What's this?" she indicated the bandages across her back.
"You fainted in the audience hall," Renee said gently. "I had Logan bring you here. Since you have nowhere else to go, I've arranged to have you join my ladies-in-waiting. This will be your room from now on. The healers will come to see you here." She studied Jubilee quietly. "Logan will come to see you here."
"No," Jubilee choked a little, and tried to hide the quiver in her voice. "No, he can't…I can't see him…I can't bear to have a man around, and it's so much worse when it's him…" she felt the tears start to flow as she gasped, "Please. It…he cares, he's so gentle and kind and helpful…but I can't help tensing when he gets near me, and it hurts him to see that…"
Renee placed a soothing hand on Jubilee's shoulder as she sat on the edge of the bed. "It's all right, Jubilee. He loves you. Loves you enough to give you time. Just try and take it one day at a time, little by little. Eventually the memory of the pain will fade, and you'll want to see him then. Do you love him?"
Jubilee nodded tearfully. "Yes."
"Then just give it time. It will work out."