Mother, Maiden, Crone by Gwen Benaway

Author:Gwen Benaway [Benaway, Gwen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781988715216
Publisher: Bedside Press
Published: 2019-04-27T00:00:00+00:00

The Knighting

Alexa Fae McDaniel

Daphne was used to blood. She was used to the smell, which was much better out here in the fresh air than it was in the infirmary, where it intermingled with the smell of bedpans that needed to be emptied. She was used to being careful not to slip on blood coated stone tiles, which was a non-issue out here on the sand of the riverfront. She was even used to seeing bodies in such large numbers, like the dozens now scattered across the beach. She just wasn’t used to seeing her hero bleeding, unconscious, and deathly pale. Ever since childhood, Thais had been her idol—strong in ways that Daphne could never be. Thais was the first woman in Epirus ever to be knighted, a renowned warrior never bested in single combat. The three corpses surrounding her probably hadn’t given that kind of fight.

Breaking out of her shock, Daphne stepped down from her carriage and placed a hand near Thais’s mouth to check for breath. She could feel a weak current of warm air.

She still had time.

Daphne carefully hoisted the knight into the carriage, where two other wounded soldiers already lay. There was space for one or two more, but the longer she tarried, the less chance Thais and the other soldiers had for recovery. With a sigh and a frown, Daphne stepped up into the carriage and took hold of the reins.

When they arrived at the infirmary, Daphne carried Thais in first. When Daphne set her down on one of the cots, the growing red stains on the sheets gave an indication of just how quickly the knight was bleeding. One of the infirmary apprentices hurried over carrying a roll of gauze. “Tend to Sir Thais. Right now, please,” Daphne said to him, before rushing back to the carriage to carry the others in.

At some point, the sun had risen. Daphne wasn’t quite sure when. She had lost count of the wounded that she had brought in over her multiple trips—at least two, maybe three dozen, not counting the ones who had been well enough to walk themselves to the infirmary. Even once everyone had been brought to a cot, her work wasn’t done; she was the second-most senior physician available. She had passed the point of feeling hungry and into the territory of gnawing pain in her abdomen—there were too many patients for her to have a chance to eat more than an apricot, which had done little more than whet her appetite. Still, the end of her ordeal was in sight. Those with minor injuries had all been sent home, and most of the severely injured patients had been given emergency treatment and were now resting. For most of them, further procedures such as surgery or having thei bones set would need to wait until Aceso was available, and as the only competent fleshsculptor in the city, she had a long line. All Daphne had to do at this point was eat and keep an eye on the patients in precarious conditions.

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