Lia closed her eyes, remembering the vision she had seen. “I remember,” she said. “He came through the Apse Veil with all of his knights. I remember seeing him…after I died.” The thought made her shiver, despite the warmth of the hearth and Colvin so near. She opened her eyes again and looked into his face which was tender and conflicted. “You brought me back, Colvin. How?”
His lips pursed in a struggle with a smile he tried to prevent. “Your gratitude overwhelms me,” he said blandly, then scratched his hair and gave her a pointed look that said she was ridiculous. “Do you think that I could force the Medium to do anything?” With one hand, he touched the ring dangling over the leather jerkin from around his neck. The motion drew her attention to it. He lifted the ring and looked at it and then at her. “When you tossed this at me, I was conflicted. I could not bring myself to let you die to save us. But I also recognized that the Medium might expect it. That was an awful moment for me. A terrible moment. That I might lose you forever.” His weight shifted and she felt her throat constrict, feeling him so near. His face was so unguarded, so exposed it made her tremble. “I wanted to believe that it would not end that way. So I waited as you ran off and pled for the Medium’s direction. I could follow the gully the way you pointed, to Maderos’ cave. Or the other way which was the direction you went. Very clearly, I knew what I should do. I told Ellowyn to go the other way and hide amidst the ossuaries. All of the soldiers were following you like moths. I was there in the gully, near you, when they caught you at last. The Medium commanded me to save you.” He gently reached out and brushed a lock of curly hair away from her face. “It was a command I was pleased to obey. I knew I could bring you back. I was there so that I could, even though I am not an Aldermaston.”
Lia shook her head slowly, feeling grateful and confused and tired and hungry and a dozen other things all at once. “The Medium told me that I was going to die. Why? I saw you and Ellowyn putting stones over me, like we did to Jon Hunter. Was it wrong?”
Colvin’s face hardened. “When did you see that?”
“Before dawn. I realized that I would not be going with you two to Dahomey. I have the Gift of Seering. It happened like at other times. I believed I was going to die. That is why I gave you my necklace.” She reached out with her good hand and touched the hard edge of the ring. “I wanted you to remember me.”
His face flushed, his eyes so intense with emotions that she blinked and discovered tears in her eyes.
“How could I ever…ever forget you? When you are in my thoughts constantly, every day and every night. You mean more to me than anyone else in my life. Do you understand that? I am worried about my sister because I do not know where she is. But I cannot go to her. My duty compels me to bring Ellowyn to Dahomey to warn them of the coming of the Blight. Wherever I go, I will be thinking of you. I do not need this thing to remind me.”
Lia breathed out deeply, resting against the soft pillows. “That makes me feel much better. And worse. But I want you to keep it. I want you to wear it in Dahomey. How I wish I could go with you…but it hurts to move.”
He smiled at her tenacity. “The healer said it will be some weeks before you are strong enough to walk. The bolt broke the bone in your leg. Your hand will heal, she tells me. It will be painful, but the damage will not be permanent. The knife wound was fatal. You lost a lot of blood and could not breathe. But when I called you back, it started to heal. The sound of your breathing has grown stronger all day.”
“Have you watched me sleep then?” she asked, a little concerned at the thought of him watching her when she was so vulnerable and unaware.
He smoothed some of the hair from her face. “I was going to hold a vigil for you tonight until you awoke because I wanted to say goodbye. Sowe has been tending you. So has Bryn and Pasqua. They helped the healer tend to you. I was only allowed to see you after you’d been bathed and clothed. Pasqua’s bed has been carried into the kitchen. You will rest there where they can look after you night and day. I am sure you are very hungry.”
She nodded slowly, still full of questions though. “When are you leaving?”
“At dawn. Pen-Ilyn will row us across the water.”
Lia twisted her head and gave him a puzzled look.
Colvin nodded. “When you summoned the defenses, it drew water from several rivers around the Abbey. He was trying to leave when the current suddenly pulled from the other way and drew him back towards Muirwood. All of the ships that the Queen Dowager used were smashed or have sunk. He has the only boat in this Hundred right now. All day he has been ferrying knights back and forth across the huge moat, filling a bag full of coins if I am not mistaken. He will bring us to Bridgestow and continue to ferry for Demont until the waters recede. If they recede.”
Lia smiled at the thought of seeing Pen-Ilyn again. “Is his nose broken still?”
“The healer set it. It is purple but it will heal.”