Fire Song (RD 3) by Gellis Roberta

Author:Gellis, Roberta [Gellis, Roberta]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9781419921643
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Published: 2009-11-26T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Aubery and his men would have been overwhelmed in an instant except that even those militiamen who had not been warned understood what was happening. With renewed energy they attacked Béarn’s men, whose attention was now divided. In addition, select groups of Bayonnese surged forward, not directly through the mass of fighting men but as close to the walls as they could get, their courage and energy renewed by a bright expectation of victory.

In minutes the second half of the gate swung shut. In the echo of that sound, Aubery raised his voice again. “Yield and quarter!” he bellowed. “Yield and quarter!”

The cry was taken up by a dozen other authoritative voices. Since no serious damage had been done to their city and because they had the victory, most Bayonnese held no grudge against the soldiers. The anger they felt was against Gaston de Béarn and more violently against whoever had accepted the bribe to open the gate and let in their enemies. Soon the individual militiamen were offering quarter, and by the time the sun had risen, the battle was over.

It was not, of course, the end for Aubery. He felt responsible, since he had been the first to offer quarter, and he stood by to see that the prisoners were treated fairly, that food and drink were provided in the guildhall where they were penned, that their wounded were gathered up and eased as best might be, and that their dead were placed decently to await burial. Then the leaders of the militia wished to thank him, and he could not seem ungracious to fellow fighters, but when the mayor and some of the peers appeared with formal speeches at the tips of their tongues, Aubery had had enough. He pushed forward the militia captains to receive the honors and rode rapidly away.

His one thought was to see to Draco’s needs, for he knew that although the animal’s leather armor had protected the destrier from serious injury, it had been hurt at least once. Aubery shouted for the grooms as he entered the courtyard of his lodging before he swung out of the saddle. To Fenice, that call was a release from a purgatory that even the fire song could not ease. She had tried to listen only to that, not to hear the dull murmur, which was all the sound of battle that penetrated to her room. She piled logs high so that the fire roared and screamed, but somehow that other sound was inside her head for all the long hours Aubery was gone.

For the space of three breaths Fenice struggled for control, remembering that her husband did not like any overt sign of emotion, but even her fear of his disapproval could not hold her. She had to see him! His voice was not enough. Forgetting that she had been too sick with fear to dress, she ran down the stairs, out the door, and across the courtyard, crying, “Are you safe? Aubery, are you safe?”

The grooms were lifting off Draco’s armor, and Aubery spun to face his wife.

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