The King's Bastard by Rowena Cory Daniells Read Free Book Online Page A

'Come, Orrie, let me clean you up.'
    Orrade held out his hand. 'You'll have to lead me.'
    Elina caught Orrade's hand in her own and led him up the steps. Byren followed slowly. Lord Dovecote gripped his arm as he mount the steps, his age suddenly showing.
    'I'm sorry, grandfather.' the term was an honorific. 'He nearly died. I just wanted to get him home.'
    Lord Dovecote squeezed his arm. 'Garzik, go fetch the nun. We'll be in your brother's room.'
    He nodded and ran off.
    'So Willowtea's still dispensing infusions?' Byren asked.
    The old lord nodded. An estate the size of Dovecote could have had a healer from both abbeys, just as they could have had two Affinity warders, but their healing monk had died of old age two years ago and Lord Dovecote hadn't asked for a replacement. Byren suspected he was comfortable with nun Willowtea, who was almost as old as him, and couldn't be bothered with an ambitious young monk.
    Elina bustled about the chamber, lighting lamps, sending Byren to fetch hot water from the spigot at the end of the hall. When he returned, she had settled Orrade in the chair by the fire and unwound Byren's hasty bandage
    The sight of the ugly wound made Elina wince, but she began to sponge the blood from around it, picking long strands of matted hair out of the way.
    She had cleaned the area by the time the healer arrived. Byren watched the old nun check the wound, then test Orrade's sight by holding a candle in front of him, trying to detect movement or response to light.
    One of Sylion's nuns, the healer had been with the family since the lord brought home his first wife. Willowtea had helped with the births of their four children, seen them through their childhood illnesses, then laid out their crushed bodies when three of the sons were returned from the battlefield. The eldest, who had been executed as a Servant of Palos, had been buried in an unmarked grave. When the old lord's second wife had died giving birth to Garzik, Willowtea had laid out her body. And now, after examining Orrade, there were tears in her eyes as she put the candle down, turning to them.
    'You have Affinity, Willowtea, is there anything you can do?' Lord Dovecote asked.
    'I can hasten healing, my lord, but I cannot change what will be,' Willowtea whispered. 'We will have to wait and see. He's been in contact with something odd -'
    'Untamed Affinity,' Byren explained quickly. He didn't want to admit he'd pleaded with a renegade Power-worker to save Orrade's life. He would be tainted by association. 'There's a fresh seep up near the new tin mine.'
    'That's the third in less than a year,' Elina whispered. 'The last time so many new seeps occurred was the summer the Servants of Palos tried to assassinate King Byren the Fourth.'
    There was a moment's charged silence.
    'Aye, seeps sprouted like sores on a diseased body that summer,' Willowtea whispered, then gave herself a shake and turned to Byren. 'So you stumbled into one?'
    'While hunting a lincis. The seep was what attracted the ulfr pack down from the Divide.' Byren swung to face the old lord. 'That's where Captain Blackwing is, in the foothills, hunting down the pack.'
    'Now is not the time for tales of hunting,' Elina announced. 'We need to get a clean bandage on Orrie and put him to bed.'
    'What about some food? I'm starving,' Orrade insisted. 'I'm blind, not dead you know.'
    Elina gave an unsteady laugh and glanced to the healer, who nodded.
    'Garzik and I will raid the pantry,' Byren offered, hungry despite everything.
    Twenty minutes later, he and Garzik came back upstairs with a plate of cold meat, cheese and a slice of fresh-baked apple pie for Orrade.
    They found Elina sitting with him, a shawl around her shoulders. 'Father and Willowtea have gone to bed. I said I'd wait up with him.'
    Byren put the tray on the chest next to Orrade's bed. 'Cold food but fresh.'
    'I'm not complaining.' Orrade's fingers sought the plate. Byren had to stop himself from offering to help. No one