Chapter 18

"Nawat, you should let her sleep. We need your report on what happened during the mission."

Nawat glared up at the people talking to him. "Every time I let go of her she starts screaming."

The healer scowled and tried to push through the crowd of important figures surrounding his patient's bed. He realized she was important. He realized that these people were her family. But they needed to get out of his way so he could do his job. He needed to make sure she'd live.

"Excuse me!" the healer said loudly. The people standing around the bed jumped and turned to look at him. He took the opportunity to push through to the couple on the bed.

Nawat, one of the two generals, was lying on the bed with what he thought was a girl, but it hard to tell. Whoever it was, whether male or female, he was covered in blood and dirt, with the hair unevenly cut. He was sleeping.

"Tell me about my patient," the healer said.

"Her name is Aly," the general said. His voice cracked as he continued, "She's my wife."

Well, the healer thought, that makes sense. Politics is always attacking the bystanders.

I looked the general in the eye. "I don't care where you take her, but she needs to take a bath. I can't tell where she's injured with all the dirt and blood. Be gentle with her, and notify me when you are done."

The general nodded. He sat up on the bed and slid his legs off the side. He had his wife cradled on his lap. "I can take her to my rooms?"

The healer nodded. "Yes. But notify me when she is clean. I need to see the extent of the damage soon."

The general left the Healer's Wing. The healer turned to the people that had been crowding around the bed. Now that the healer was not focused on doing his job – his passion – he could see who it was he had been bossing around. And it wasn't just one of the generals. It was the queen, her mother, her chef, the other general, and the captain of the queen's personal guard. Well, he had already shown them that he was a person that got his job done and didn't deal with games, he might as well stick to that persona. "Ask your questions."

"Is she going to be alright?"

"I couldn't say. I haven't been able to see how badly she was injured."

"Do you think she is going to live?"

"I'll do everything possible in my power to make sure she does."

"… What is your name?"

"My name? … It's David."

Queen Dovasary finished penning the official letter that notified the Tortallan Empire that a family member of one of King Jonathan's knight had been kidnapped and perhaps tortured. Though this member of the family was legally a citizen of the Copper Isles, she was very close to the Tortallan throne.

She stood up, and folded the parchment, melted the wax on the edge of the paper and pressed her signet ring into it. She handed it to the waiting messenger and then turned to Ysul. She waited until the door was closed before speaking. "Ysul, will you set up the spell?"

Ysul nodded and turned to an empty space of Dove's personal chambers. He waved his hands and a shimmering oval opened in the air. Numair Salmalin, the Royal mage of Tortall stood in front of the spell. He stepped aside so that Ysul and Dove could see King Jonathan, Queen Thayet, Sir Alanna, George, Sir Raoul, and Daine.

Dove raised a hand. She didn't want to hear about how she was only supposed to be using this spell in her throne room. "We've found Aly. She's in bad shape. I just finished writing the official letter. Nawat's got her. She screams every time he lets go of her."

The Tortallans were too surprised to speak.

"If you want to get someone ready to come over, they can come without arousing suspicion as soon as you get my letter, but do not come any sooner than that. I have too much to do here to babysit you. Aly is unconscious and has been seen by a healer who ordered her to get a bath so that he could see what was wrong with her. She was covered in dirt and blood. You can communicate with us through the darkings in the evening. They're celebrating the return of Trick. Queen Dovasary out."

Ysul let go of the magic that held the spell together and it vanished.

"What do I have to do next?"