Medieval 01 - Untamed

to get no air. As he watched her struggles, he realized how badly he had misunderstood his brother’s wife.
    â€œGod forgive me,” Simon said, shaken. “I thought you wanted Dominic dead. Yet you risked yourself to give him a chance at life.”
    Meg didn’t hear. There was a savage cacophony in her brain. She lifted her hands to tear at her hair, but Simon prevented her. She fought with incredible strength before she realized what she was doing. Clenching her teeth, she stopped fighting and let the stimulant rage through her body.
    The seizure passed as quickly as it came. With a shuddering sigh, Meg slumped against Simon.
    â€œMeg?” he asked, forgetting formality in his need to know that she was all right.
    â€œThe worst is spent,” she said.
    A low voice called from the bed. Meg pushed away from Simon’s support and stumbled to her husband’s side.
    â€œDominic?” she said urgently.
    His eyes opened, but he did not see her. Sounds poured from his mouth, but they were only that—sounds without meaning.
    Meg gave an anguished cry.
    â€œGod forgive me. I have saved his body but his mind is gone!”

18
    F OR A MOMENT S IMON DIDN’T understand why Meg was so upset. When he did, he bit back a laugh of relief and triumph and tried to soothe her.
    â€œNay, Meg. You saved all of him.”
    â€œAre you mad? Can’t you hear that babble?”
    â€œYes. I never thought to savor the speech of my enemy, but God, it is sweet!”
    Meg looked at Simon as though she feared he, too, had lost his wits.
    â€œHe is speaking Turkish,” Simon said.
    And then he laughed until the walls rang.
    Meg smiled rather uncertainly as she watched the blond warrior who at times reminded her almost painfully of her own husband.
    â€œTurkish?” she asked when Simon stopped laughing. “Then his words have meaning?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat is he saying?”
    Simon listened, hesitated, and gave Meg a rueful look.
    â€œEr, he’s talking about a certain sultan’s ancestors.”
    â€œAncestors?”
    â€œSomewhat, yes. Donkeys, baboons, slime, and, er, excrement.”
    â€œI fear the poison went to your head after all,” Meg said unhappily. “You make no more sense than your brother.”
    A smile flashed across Simon’s face, increasing his resemblance to Dominic until Meg felt as though her breath would stop. Only at that moment did she admit to herself how much she feared she would never see her own husband’s smile again. She would willingly wear bells and be fed from his hand for the next year if it meant that Dominic would be sane and healthy again.
    â€œThe sultan was an unpleasant man,” Simon said.
    â€œMuch the same is said of all Turks.”
    A torrent of words from the bed made both people turn to Dominic. The only word Meg recognized was Simon’s name. The distress in Dominic, however, needed no words to be understood. She sat on the bed and pressed Dominic’s hand between hers.
    â€œRest, Dominic,” Meg said clearly and calmly. “You are safe.”
    â€œ Simon. Simon! He is taken .”
    Though spoken in a low voice, Dominic’s cry was as urgent as a shout. Simon took his brother’s left hand and squeezed as though to imprint his presence on Dominic’s flesh.
    â€œI am here,” Simon said. “You ransomed me from that pit of Hell. I’m safe, brother, and so are you.”
    Dominic cried out again, but with less urgency. Then he was still but for the restless movements of his body.
    â€œWhat happened in Jerusalem?” Meg asked in a low voice.
    â€œTwelve knights were captured. I was one of them. We were given as a gift to a sultan whose name noneof us could pronounce, so we called him Beelzebub. Dominic ransomed us.”
    â€œIt must have cost dearly.”
    â€œMore than any of us know.”
    Meg gave Simon a quick look, caught by something grim lying beneath his simple words.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” she asked.
    â€œThe sultan didn’t care about twelve infidel knights. There was only one infidel whose mettle he wanted to test.”
    â€œDominic?” Meg whispered.
    Simon nodded. “Aye. Dominic le Sabre.”
    â€œWhat happened?”
    â€œDominic gave himself to the sultan in our place.”
    Meg’s eyes widened. “Dear God.”
    â€œGod had little to do with the sultan. A more cruel man never drew