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THIS TIME, WHEN EVERLEIGH falls Archer cannot catch her because he is still holding Will.
Halfreda helps Everleigh to her feet, but she cannot stand. “My father?”
Halfreda nods at her. There are no words. She scoops her up again and this time, supports her so that she can’t fall.
“By my brother?”
Halfreda nods again, slowly. “I think so. How did you guess?”
Everleigh gestures at Will.
Halfreda rubs at her face; she is pale and weary. “He did this too?”
“Macsen.” Everleigh nods. “He thought that Will was me. He wanted to kill me.”
Halfreda shakes her head, a sob escaping her; what a mess.
They need to get to Halfreda’s rooms, and quickly. Will is losing blood fast, and his breathing is shallow, but Everleigh is like a puppet with no strings, limp and crying. Endless tears washing away all hopes of normality.
Halfreda assists her and they go as quickly as they can. Archer lays Will out in front of Halfreda’s fire, still burning, though low. Halfreda throws some more logs on, and bustles about in some drawers. They can’t risk calling the King’s doctor, they have no idea now who is in an alliance with whom. Macsen could have been quietly gathering supporters around him, ready for his coup, his bid for the Kingship. It is clear now that he will do anything to get the crown. Including killing his own father and sister.
Archer sits holding Everleigh and Halfreda kneels next to Will. She pulls his clothes off him, revealing the wounds in his stomach.
Clearly Macsen is a swordsman but not a good marksman. He has made two fatal mistakes; he hasn’t checked that his intended victim is the one in the bed. And he hasn’t stabbed in enough places to ensure maximum damage. To do a better job he should have stabbed in the stomach, the heart and the throat, but instead all three wounds are in one area, underneath Will’s heart, to the left.
He has lost a lot of blood but he could be lucky.
Halfreda has cloth, herbs, water boiling on the fire, and within minutes she has set up a little surgery. The wounds need cleaning and one needs stitching. He needs a tonic and he needs to wake up. He is unconscious, which is a worry.
She will do all she can; she can only try.
Everleigh’s rocking in Archer’s arms, making a strange noise, like a mewling kitten. She needs a tonic too.
Halfreda makes two infusions of herbs and spices, made with boiling water and different strengths of flavours for each patient. Everleigh has no physical injury and yet could be in a far worse predicament than Will.
Sometimes physical injuries healed but mental anguish changed a soul completely.
Halfreda is worried for Everleigh. So much has happened and changed in one week and now this. Her own brother has killed her father and tried to kill her. The betrayal is massive and will lead her to question everything.
“How could he?” Her voice is a whisper, but Halfreda and Archer hear.
“Power?” Halfreda shrugs. It is a question as much as Everleigh’s had been. How could a sweet and kind brother and son turn into a monstrous murderer?
And what should they do next?
Halfreda passes the drink to Archer to hold for Everleigh; she will only drop it. He holds it up to her lips and she sips at it automatically.
“How could he?” she asks again. Then she sits upright. “Addy. Millard. We need to fetch them.” She stands up and loses her balance, falling again. Archer catches her, just, and settles her back in the chair.
“I thought of them,” Halfreda says. “But I think they’ll be fine. They have nothing to offer Macsen. With you and your father dead, the old laws will come into play. The eldest son will take the crown, as they take property or coin after death.”
“We can’t let him take the crown. It’s mine.” Everleigh’s eyes are filled with a mix of sorrow and hate. “He killed my father. He’s not fit to rule.”
“Agreed. But what do we do?”
“There is no one here to challenge him.”
“I am here.” Everleigh’s voice is strong for the first time since she heard the news of her father’s death. “I am meant to be Queen.”
Halfreda nods, still tending to Will. He seems to be breathing a little easier and the bleeding has been staunched. “Archer. What would you do?”
“We cannot take your brother on, not right now. We have no idea how many men he has on his side, or what he might do. It’s too dangerous. I think Macsen thinks he’s free to be King now that the King is dead and he thinks he killed Everleigh. He may announce it tomorrow but he cannot be King without the proper ceremony. There will need to be a coronation.”
“So, we let him think he is to be King and then stop the coronation?”
Archer nods. “That’s what I’m thinking. He thinks you’re dead.”
“What about my body? Won’t he be waiting for one of the little maids to raise the alarm in the morning?”
“Halfreda, what do we do?”
Halfreda is quiet. There are so many questions to answer, things that need doing. “What if I am the one to find her body? I am allowed in her room, and I could say that I found her and wrapped her ready for her blessing.”
“We could just bundle up some cloth. No one will look. We will say her injuries were so bad that she needed to be covered. We need a witness, though.”
“You?”
Archer shakes his head at Halfreda’s suggestion. “Lanorie?”
“Lanorie?” Everleigh still can’t fathom why Lanorie had betrayed her but she doesn’t want to see her again.
“People will take her word for it. They’ll believe her.”
This much is true. It would go a way towards Lanorie atoning for what she had done. Everleigh nods her agreement. “Let’s get Will stable and then we’ll go to her.”
She freezes, hands covering her mouth. “Addy? Addyson. I can’t do this to her. I cannot let her believe her mother is dead. Her father is dead. I am dead. I am everything to her. I am the only one who truly sees past her curse.”
Halfreda takes Everleigh’s hands and holds her tight. “This situation is making all of us do things we wouldn’t choose to. None of this is our first choice. You must keep her safe. She is too young to understand the peril. She will get over it. She’ll be fine when she sees that you live. And when you rule you will more than make it up to her.”
Everleigh’s eyes are sad as she looks at Halfreda. “When I am Queen, I will not be helpless any more. I cannot wait to have a choice in my life. To have the say over what I do and where I go.”
“It is coming,” Halfreda says, hoping that she is right.