Page 83 of Pippa of Lauramore
“Yes,” I answer.
“Go on, then.”
I leave the hall and fret all the way to Clarion’s quarters, wondering if it’s Archer or Galinor I will find there.
It’s not.
Peter of Coppel is lying in the corner. He’s red, sweaty, and clutching his stomach. Yuven notices me hovering in the doorway, and he meets me.
“There’s nothing you can do for him, Pippa. It appears he ate some type of poisonous berry. He’s not sure what they were, but we think it may have been daphantha.” Hegrimaces when Peter leans over the bed and empties his stomach. “We’re taking care of it.”
By taking care of it, he means they’ve given him tea that will make him retch over and over until the poison is gone. It’s not pleasant, and I don’t want to be here for it.
“How is Irving?”
“He’s sleeping for now.”
I turn to leave, but then I look back.
“Yuven?” I call. “Did Peter return with a treasure?”
He frowns. “No, Princess.”
“Pippa!”someone says, shaking me. “Wake up!”
I open one eye and then the other. I bolt upright when I wake up enough to see that it’s Leonora and she’s worried.
“What’s happened?”
“There’s been a rock slide to the north. The Triblue brothers have just returned and reported it. Dristan is injured.”
I throw back the warm covers and dress quickly. Leonora helps guide the dress over my shoulder—which is very stiff this morning—before she laces the corset top.
We rush to Clarion’s quarters. Including Irving, there are eight men in Clarion and Yuven’s care. Peter looks better this morning, and he’s sipping tea and speaking with Marigold. Irving is flirting with a physician’s maid. The others are listening to Bran and Dristan’s tale.
“We were near the dragons.” Bran uses his hands as he speaks. “Suddenly, there was a great rushing sound aboveus. We looked up, and it was as if the entire mountain was coming down. We almost escaped, but the rock slide took out our trail. Dristan was behind me, and he went down.”
The men murmur amongst themselves.
Bran continues, “I was surprised to find him alive. His horse didn’t make it.”
“It was up north?” Espin is still covered in burn salve, but he looks much better today. “That’s where I found the colony of dragons I ran into.”
“That’s right. There were others up there.” Bran nods and glances at me, giving me a subtle, meaningful look before he turns back at Espin. “Galinor of Glendon was nearby.”
A cold feeling settles over me, starting in my neck and sinking down to my toes. My stomach knots, and the room goes blurry. I think I might pass out, but I’m brought back by Leonora’s reassuring hand on my arm.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” she whispers. “There’s no way to know if they were in it. Archer knows the land. He can tell if an area is prone to slide. I doubt they lingered.”
She’s right. Archer is smart when it comes to the mountains. He would have known better than to travel that way. Still, it’s hard to listen to logic when you’re worried. There’s a cold, nagging voice in my head that won’t let me rest.
What if, what if?
Dristan looks up, surprising me. I thought he was asleep.
“Princess Pippa,” he says, acknowledging me.
I move to his side. He’s the youngest man in thecompetition, only eighteen, like me, and it’s especially sad to see him stretched out in Clarion’s care. From the waist down, he’s covered with a thin sheet. Besides a few scratches and bruises here and there, he seems fine.
