Chapter Six #3
Both Estevan and Titan shook their heads. “We’ll not leave him behind,” Estevan said quietly. “We simply require food and shelter until he is well enough tae travel. A few days should do. And we can move intae the stable so yer sanctuary will be clear for yer women.”
“We can amply protect him. You do not need to remain.”
“We are not leaving him, mother. Ye may as well accept that.”
Mother Michael wasn’t pleased. They weren’t being disrespectful, simply firm.
There was loyalty in that unwavering stance.
But she still wasn’t pleased about it, though deep down, she understood.
She admired knights and their camaraderie.
She’d studied it for years, envious of the bonds men shared in battle.
Truth be told, perhaps there was a little envy for them now, even as they faced her down.
She didn’t like men, and she didn’t want them at St. Margaret’s, but this was an unprecedented situation.
“Very well,” she said. “But you do not sleep inside the walls. You will sleep outside of the walls. There is a stream for water and game for food. You may tend to him in the daytime, but we will tend him at night.”
Titan looked at Estevan to see the man’s reaction, and he thought the command was just this side of ridiculous. It was written all over his face.
“If the Serpent People come, I dunna wish tae be caught outside of the walls,” he said. “Tae expect us tae do so would not only be unfair, it would be ungodly. I dunna believe Jesus would turn away those in need of shelter or food or the protection of a fortress.”
Mother Michael started to open her mouth, but Titan intervened.
“Mother, we respect the reputation of St. Margaret’s,” he said quietly.
“Everyone knows, and respects, the Lady Templars. Your abilities as an army are well known. But look in front of you—there are five fully trained knights at your disposal should the Serpent People come. No offense to you or any other nun here, but the five of us have been in more battles, and have seen more conflict, than you could ever hope to see. We are knights. You are simply women who know how to fight. There is a very big difference if you face an enemy as formidable as the Serpent People.”
He had been both insulting and complimentary, and Mother Michael couldn’t decide how she felt about it. Nothing he said was untrue. He, and his fellow warriors, had seen more conflict than she had. She’d seen seven battles in her lifetime. But the men before her had seen many times more than that.
She’d be a fool not to concede that fact.
“Mayhap you have experienced battle more than I,” she said.
“But we do not even know if the Serpent People, as you call them, will find Leonore here. How can they? She fled from them and the sea is vast, young lords. So is Scotland and England. For them to find her would take a miracle. Would you not agree?”
Titan nodded reluctantly while Estevan simply shook his head.
“It would take a miracle, indeed, but miracles do happen,” he said.
“More than likely, they will never find her. But if they somehow follow her trail here, it would be better if ye had our protection. That is all Sir Titan is saying. May we please remain inside the walls?”
Mother Michael was hesitant still. This was a nunnery, after all.
As she tried to come up with an answer that wouldn’t anger them, one of the nuns who had been tending Leonore came to her and whispered in her ear.
At nearly the same time, women with something steaming appeared in the sanctuary doorway and Anaxandra was there, still with women who were armed with crossbows, and indicated where the steaming bowls should go.
They were delivered to Mateo on the ground, to Rodion, who was with him, to Kaladin, to Titan, and finally to Estevan.
He sniffed the contents.
“Stew?” he asked the abbess.
Mother Michael nodded. “Probably the remainder from last night’s meal,” she said. “But before you eat, may I ask—do you have any medicaments with you? Anything to tend fevers or cough?”
Both Estevan and Titan shook their heads. “Nay,” Estevan said. “The most we travel with are things tae stanch a blood flow. But nothing for illness. Why?”
Mother Michael glanced over at Leonore, on the bed.
“Because the lady seems to be worse,” she said.
“Much like you, we are prepared for battle wounds, not illness. Sister Hildegarde has informed me that we need medicines for the lady’s fever and, I would also assume, your friend’s fever.
If you do not carry anything for such events, then we must procure them. ”
“Where?” Estevan asked.
“Dumfries,” Mother Michael said. “Can you read?”
“I can.”
“Then if I write down what we need, will you fetch it?”
Estevan nodded. “I shall,” he said. “But ye dunna have tae write it down. I’ll remember what ye tell me.”
Mother Michael looked at him dubiously. “It may be more than just one or two items.”
“I’ll remember however much ye tell me.”
She didn’t question him a second time. She simply nodded and turned back for the women tending Leonore. That left Estevan and Titan with steaming bowls still in their hands, now starting to eat because they were hungry.
“Seems I’ll go tae Dumfries after all,” Estevan said, mouth full. “Ye remain with Rodion and Matty. I’ll take Kal with me and we’ll be swift.”
Titan, too, was shoveling down the stew, but he paused long enough to look to the ceiling for a moment. “It is still raining,” he said. “I can hear it.”
Estevan nodded. “Aye, but not as bad as it was last night,” he said. “Ye must remain vigilant here. If I were ye, I’d try tae convince Mother Michael that she needs ye on the wall.”
Titan cocked his head curiously. “You are concerned about the Serpent People.”
Estevan shook his head. “Ye’ve heard about them as much as I have,” he said. “Probably more. They’re closer tae yer father’s properties than they are tae mine, but even we know about them.”
Titan couldn’t disagree. “True, but Mother Michael is correct,” he said. “It would take a miracle for them to find her.”
“Not if they followed her trail.”
“What do you mean?”
Estevan shrugged as he took another bite. “That woman arrived on the banks of the River Nith,” he said. “Remember the remains of the boat that Kal found?”
Titan appeared stricken, so much so that he stopped chewing. “Damnation,” he muttered. “I’d forgotten all about it.”
Estevan eyed him grimly. “I never gave that boat a second thought until we realized she was fleeing the Serpent People,” he said.
“If she was their captive and stole one of their boats tae flee, they’ll follow her.
They’ll use the currents like she did, because I’d be willing tae wager she dinna row herself across the sea. ”
“Nay, she did not.”
“Then she followed the currents,” Estevan said. “And so will they. That will bring them tae the boat.”
Titan swallowed the bite in his mouth. “Then we must dispose of it,” he said. “Leave me Kal. I’ll take him down to the beach and we will remove the remains of that boat so the Serpent People do not find it. It never occurred to me to destroy it when we found it.”
Estevan grunted. “Nor me,” he said. “I dinna mention the boat tae Mother Michael because I dinna wish tae frighten her, but I think I should. It will not take a miracle for those beastly fools tae find their captive. It will take a boat.”
“Like a damn beacon.”
Estevan put the spoon aside and drank the last of his stew, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
“Then there is no time tae waste,” he said.
“I’ll go intae Dumfries and collect whatever medicines the abbess wants, but ye must take Kal and destroy that boat.
I’ll tell the abbess, but ye must go now. ”
Titan agreed with him. He, too, tossed back what remained in his bowl and turned for the corner where Mateo, Kaladin, and Rodion were. As he went to explain the situation to those three, Estevan went to Mother Michael.
“May I have word with ye, mother?” he asked.
She had been speaking to the other nuns who were tending Leonore, but she nodded to his request. They moved a few feet away from the nuns, and the ill woman, before he spoke.
“When we found Leonore, we also found her boat,” he said in a low voice. “It was smashed upon the sandy shore, indicative of the journey that has brought her tae this point in time.”
Mother Michael was listening closely. “I see,” she said. “And why do you speak of this now?”
“Because we dinna remove it,” Estevan said with regret.
“We had no reason tae do it, and with the storm swiftly approaching, we were only thinking of finding shelter for the injured woman. Mother, that means that if the Serpent People are following her, and I have no reason tae believe they’re not, then they’ll find that broken boat.
They’ll come inland and they’ll come tae the abbey, looking for her. ”
Now she was beginning to understand. “Ah,” she said softly. “Then we do not need a miracle for them to find her. She has left a trail.”
“She has,” Estevan said. “But I am sending Titan and my brother back tae the boat tae destroy it. Hopefully we’ll be in time, but if not, ye must be prepared tae tell the Serpent People that their captive is not here and hope they dunna demand entrance tae see for themselves.”
Mother Michael nodded. “Of course,” she said. “That would be the simplest thing to do, to tell them we have not seen her. If they push, I have several women with crossbows who are quite skilled with them. They know how to discourage men on our doorstep.”
Her eyes were twinkling at she looked at him, and he smiled weakly. “They do, indeed,” he said. “But even so, we’ll try tae prevent them from coming. We’ll do our best. I fear we’ve brought trouble tae yer door, mother. That wasna our intention.”
Mother Michael’s smile was genuine. “Of course it was not,” she said. “You brought an injured woman to us and we are glad to tend her. But she needs the medicines I indicated, if you would be so good as to fetch them. I will send you with an escort.”
She was pointing to the entry, where Anaxandra was standing. He almost declined the escort but thought better of it when he saw whom she was pointing at. Since Anaxandra was the only one standing just inside the door, it could be no one else.
Maybe he would like an escort.
“Very well,” he said. “But we should go immediately.”
“Agreed. I shall inform your escort.”
While Mother Michael did just that, Estevan went over to the wall where his things were stacked.
He was wearing his long tunic and breeches, but he reached into his saddlebags and began to pull out a padded tunic, meant for warfare, and other pieces of protection.
All the while, Rodion and Kaladin and Titan were watching him.
“Did you tell her about the boat?” Titan asked.
Estevan nodded as he stood up and donned his heavy, padded tunic. “Aye,” he said. “She knows. I told her that ye and Kal were going tae destroy it.”
Titan nodded firmly and motioned to Kaladin, who began to grab his possessions. “We’ll go now,” he said. “Are you going alone to Dumfries?”
Estevan shook his head. “Nay,” he said, strapping on a belt with an assortment of daggers. “I am tae have an escort. The woman who tried tae kill me with bolts yesterday.”
Titan grinned. “I wish you luck with that one.”
Estevan cocked an eyebrow. “Trust me when I tell ye that I’m going tae need it.”
With that comment, they all turned to look at the entry where Mother Michael was just finishing her conversation with Anaxandra, who promptly bolted from the door, out into the rain.
That tall, long-legged creature who was able to fire a crossbow so easily.
There was something strong and formidable about her.
They only hoped Estevan could survive it.
And her.