The Knight's Prisoner (Medieval Discipline 1)

“What made you come back, Dani?” he asked softly.

Her eyes widened, and then her face took on a look of ferocity. She leaned her face right up to his and said through clenched teeth, “Don't even think of punishing me, Ferrum.”

He started laughing, then, which pained him, and he curled up on the ground, clutching his wound and laughing.

“Stop that!” she snapped. “Stop it, Ferrum!” But then she started laughing reluctantly too.

He rolled onto his back and gazed at her, loving the way her face transformed when she smiled. Their eyes met and held, her wide blue stare full of a desperate confusion. He stroked her thigh.

“It's all right, little flower. Thank you.”

She regarded him warily. “For what?”

He shrugged. “For this. For coming back.”

Her lips twitched and she swallowed, still locked into the gaze from which neither of them seemed able to look away. She broke it first, turning her attention to threading her bone needle and knotting the end of the thread.

“Should I get a stick for your teeth?” she asked nervously.

He snorted. “No.”

She started stitching him, watching his face anxiously until at last she seemed assured she wasn't causing him pain and focused on her stitching. It took a long time. He drifted in and out of consciousness a bit, the loss of blood making him feel light-headed and the pain making him numb.

“Ferrum?” Danewyn's worried voice brought him back.

“It's all right,” he said automatically to reassure her. “Don't fret.”

She peered into his face, anxiously. His strongest instinct was to soothe away her anxiety, but he was warmed by it, just the same. “Can you come to our tent?”

“Not just now,” he grunted. There was no way he could get up. “In a little bit.”

That worried her more. She pressed wine to his lips and he drank a few choking gulps, unwilling to prop himself up to swallow properly. When night fell, he got up on his own, refusing help from the men who tried to offer it, and staggered back toward their tent. Phillip appeared next to him, knowing better than to offer a hand, but keeping pace beside him in case he fell. Inside, he collapsed on the bedroll. Phillip sat next to him and looked at him gravely.

“I'm fine.”

“Of course you are,” Phillip said.

“How many dead?”

Phillip blew out his breath. “Over half.”

“God's teeth.” Ferrum shook his head sadly. “At least it wasn't a complete ambush.”

“Aye. Your little Seer has proved her worth, not that I had any doubt of it.”

“She left during the battle.”

Phillip raised his eyebrows. “And then returned?”

“Aye—I don't know why.”

“I had a vision of you bleeding,” Dani's quiet voice reached them from the tent flap.

He felt his skin turn hot all over at her words. She'd come back for him. He found he couldn't speak, he was so overwhelmed by her words.

Phillip rescued him. “Thank you for returning, Danewyn. And thank you for giving us warning this morning. I imagine every man still standing owes his life to you today,” he praised her.

Dani flushed, probably unused to compliments or thanks of any kind. She bowed her head and bobbed a quick curtsy. “You're welcome, my lord,” she muttered.

He smiled warmly at her, pleased to see her acting like a lady for once.

“Shall I keep her in my tent tonight, Ferrum?” Phillip asked.

Dani looked dismayed. Her eyes pleaded with him. He winked at her. “Nay, I can handle her even with a hundred stitches in my side.”

She returned his smile uncertainly, and his heart sank. It had cost her to return—he could tell. She was still thinking about her freedom.

Phillip stood up and left the tent. “Good night, then. Thank you both for your service today.”

Dani brought him the linen and rope and laid down beside him, holding them out. He clasped her hand in his and squeezed it. “How about if I just hold your hand instead of binding your wrists tonight?” he asked.

She met his eyes, startled at the suggestion. She shrugged. “As you wish.”

“If you'll give me your word you won't try to leave, I'll never tie you up again,” he laid out the challenge, though he knew the answer already.

She looked as though she were considering, but then her eyes slipped away from his, and she said nothing.

“I see,” he said sadly and sighed.

* * *

The Prince ordered them to pack up camp the following day, despite the difficulty for the injured soldiers. It wasn't safe to remain where King Benton had found them. Dani fretted over Ferrum and tried to insist she ride with him to hold the reins of the horse, but he refused. He allowed her to ride her own horse, as they had animals to spare with all the deaths.

Phillip questioned her endlessly along the way, trying to determine the relative safety of possible campsites. Once they were safely settled, he came into Ferrum's tent to question her further.