“Of course, my lady.”
“I have made a mess of things, have I not?”
“What do you mean?”
“Mortimer is going to send word to Tate that he has me as a hostage. Tate will want me back.”
Kenneth suspected what she was driving at. “He will undoubtedly negotiate for your return.”
“There is nothing he can negotiate with except Edward. And he will not turn the king over to Mortimer, not even for me. I would not want him to.”
Kenneth gazed at her a moment before averting his eyes, looking down at her hand as it held his. “It is possible that Mortimer will ask for Edward in exchange for you.”
Toby’s grip tightened and her hazel eyes were unnaturally hard. “This cannot happen, Kenneth. We must not put Tate in a position where he must choose between me and Edward.”
“It may not come to that. Tate is very skilled at negotiating; we must wait and see what transpires. Do not give up hope.”
She sighed heavily and looked away. The tears were returning and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to stave them off. “I should not have run from Harbottle,” she whispered tightly. “I should have stayed where you told me to and I should not have moved. Perhaps we all would have gotten away safely had I not interfered.”
Kenneth squeezed her hand again. “Lady, had you not fled when you did, Tate and Edward would have been discovered by two dozen men who would have quite eagerly speared Tate at the end of a broadsword and taken Edward a captive. What you did… you saved their lives. I believe you saved all of our lives. Do not question your bravery.”
Her eyes opened and she turned to look at him. “Do you really think so?” she sniffed.
He nodded, the ice-blue eyes oddly warm. Kenneth was not the warm type. “I do indeed,” he said quietly. “So you must not despair. We will all get through this. You must trust that Tate will do what is right.”
“But I am afraid.”
“I know. But do not give up hope.”
The tent flap suddenly moved again, issuing forth a small man with thinning blond hair. Icy air blew in after him, rattling the tent. The man was clad in heavy robes and held a big satchel in one hand. Kenneth was on his feet, placing his massive body between Toby and the new entrant.
“What is your business here?” the knight demanded.
The man was diminutive and meek, quite intimidated by Kenneth’s hulking presence. “I am the surgeon,” he said in a soft,high-pitched voice. “My name is Timothy. I have been sent to help the lady.”
Kenneth eyed him as if by sheer glare he could crush the man, but the little surgeon had yet to fade. Gradually, the knight moved aside to allow him access. The little man kept a close eye on Kenneth as he scooted to the lady’s side, setting his heavy bag down.
“She has at least three broken ribs that I can assess,” Kenneth said. “There is nothing to do but wrap her tightly so they will heal.”
Timothy St. Maur had been Roger Mortimer’s physic for three years. He was a former priest, as many of them were, who had a gift for healing. The fact that he was a consecrated priest had oft come in handy when giving last rites to patients he could not save. But the small lady lying before him didn’t seem to be in need of that particular talent.
Toby opened her eyes when she felt the man beside her. He was small and pale. She watched him as he opened his bag and rummaged around in it. He pulled out a strange device that looked as if it was two wooden cones with some sort of leather string in between. She began to watch him more curiously as he rubbed at the cones.
“What is that?” she asked.
The young physic smiled. “This is my listening tube,” he told her. When she looked worried, he held it up so she could examine it. “See? The cones magnify the sounds that travel through this leather tube. I will be able to hear many things from your body to determine your health.”
She looked dubious. “What do you do with it?”
Timothy gestured to her torso. “May I?”
She frowned. “May youwhat?”
“Demonstrate, of course.”
She looked up at Kenneth, who shrugged faintly. Toby reasoned that as long as Kenneth was standing nearby, no harm would come to her. Reluctantly, she nodded.
“Very well,” she said. “Will this hurt?”