Page 66 of Highland Slayer
“You are not well enough to work,” Mabel said, taking him by the arm. “Come inside with me this very moment.”
Mateo didn’t want to go, but he didn’t dare dispute her. “Truly, Lady Torridon, I sound worse than I feel.”
“You sound like you’re dying.”
“I am not dying, I assure you,” Mateo said, his protests falling on deaf ears. “I am well enough to fight, my lady.”
Mabel fixed on him. “Get inside before I do something you will regret,” she said sternly. “Your mother would never forgive me if I did not tend to your health, so you will do as you are told.Go.”
Mateo did. Lady Torridon was known to spank full-grown men who displeased her, and he didn’t want that embarrassment, so he went inside, followed by Mabel and Mother Michael. What he left in his wake were a bunch ofgrinning men, glad it was Mateo in trouble with Lady Torridon and not them.
That included Estevan.
“That is your mother?”
The question came from behind him and he turned to see Anaxandra standing there. He nodded.
“That,” he said, “is the famous Mabel, Countess of Torridon. I will introduce ye.”
Understandably, Anaxandra was timid after what she’d just witnessed. “Mayhap later,” she said. “Is it safe to go outside the walls and collect any bolts that we find?”
“Now?”
She nodded. “We will need them if they attack again.”
She had a point. Estevan wasn’t keen on her going outside of the walls so soon, but he conceded. “Quickly, then,” he said. “I’ll send men tae stand guard while ye do it. Grab a few lasses tae go with ye, but move swiftly.”
He headed over toward the gatehouse with her in tow, collecting about ten soldiers as he went. Anaxandra motioned to a few women who had come down off the wall, all of them with crossbows, and they dashed outside with the armed escort to collect any loose bolts. Weapons, and ammunition like the bolts, were expensive and precious, so anything that hadn’t embedded itself in a man would be collected and reused. Unwilling to leave Anaxandra’s safety to a few soldiers, Estevan headed out with them.
By now, the fog was completely gone and it was a bright day overhead, but Estevan couldn’t relax. He watched the trees diligently, as did the soldiers he’d brought with him, while Anaxandra and the other women quickly gathered the bolts they could find. Some were in perfect condition, simply embedded in the ground, while others were twisted and broken. Estevan gave the women just a few short minutes to gather what they couldbefore he was herding them back into the compound. Only when the gates were closed and the portcullis lowered did he feel safe enough to breathe.
But there was no rest for him.
Only duty.
Once back inside, he caught sight of Caelus and Lucan and went to embrace his brothers. Neither one of them had a scratch from the battle and were, in fact, rather excited about the entire fight. Since Kaladin had told them everything about the situation at St. Margaret’s, they knew what had happened and why. But much as Estevan had been when he first arrived at the abbey, they were curious about the Templar nuns.
A great curiosity, indeed.
They watched the women with the crossbows and how they took all of the gathered bolts over to what used to be the smithy stall and began cleaning them up. There was also a group of women who had spears and shields, who had made it up to the wall during the battle, but who had been called off by Mother Margaret because bolts were already flying and she didn’t want to accidentally kill any dun Tarh soldiers. Estevan couldn’t tell them very much about the nuns, or the way St. Margaret’s functioned, because he didn’t know much about it himself. He hadn’t been there long enough to learn more than Anaxandra had told him or what he’d observed personally.
Around him, soldiers were finally being organized against the wall in groups and the carriage and two provisions wagons were lined up over by the sanctuary. There were no horses at St. Margaret’s other than the ones Estevan and the others had brought, and the stables themselves weren’t large enough to hold the conveyances. As the brothers headed back over to the wall to help the sergeants with the men, Lares emerged from the sanctuary and made his way over to Estevan.
“This is quite a situation,” he said to his son. “And it all started with finding a woman on the riverbank?”
Estevan nodded. “It was by accident,” he said. “Rody found her.”
“WhereisRody?”
Estevan looked around, finally spying him over by the gatehouse. “There,” he said. “With Titan. The portcullis is in rough shape, Papa. I think they’re trying tae figure out how tae strengthen it somehow.”
Lares could see the knights studying the wooden grate. Scratching his head, he looked around the bailey, inspecting it. It was worn, and not particularly well appointed. There was nothing impressive about it.
“Ye know this attack was simply tae test our strength,” he said quietly. “They’ll be back.”
Estevan nodded. “Probably,” he said. “Have ye fought against the Ormsfolk before?”
Lares drew in a long, pensive breath. “Aye,” he said. “There used tae be more of them around, especially on the outer isles. I remember my grandfather speaking of them and how they’d wear shells on their clothing and shave their heads. There was a time when they’d paint themselves with the blood of their enemies before tossing the bodies tae their eels. As a child, the elders used tae frighten us with tales of the Serpent People.”
