Warsworn

called his name again, tears running down her face. The silence echoed as she grasped his right foot, and drew in a deep breath that ended in a sob. "Epor, my soul's delight, beloved, please." My weeping was her only answer.
    She knelt at his feet, her head bowed, for a long moment. When she finally lifted her head, her face was streaked with tears. With effort, she rose and went to her weapons and pulled her dagger, sharp and bright. She returned to cut his bonds, freeing him from the restraints. Once that was accomplished, she eased down to kneel by Epor's head. She stroked his hair and placed her lips at his ear. "I'll see you beyond the snows, my heart's fire." She sat back, and turned her streaked face to me. I offered a cloth, but she refused. "The wind will take them, Warprize."
    I used the cloth to wipe my own tears, trying to bring myself under control and then sat working the cloth between my hands.
    We might have sat like that for hours, awash in grief, but the babe wailed from her blankets, and kicked with her feet. Isdra turned her head dully, then rose to see to her needs. I remembered my other patient, and turned to his bed, only to find that he had died as well, unnoticed and untended. Guilt brought more tears to my eyes as I pulled the blanket over his face. I'd never once looked at him after Epor had taken ill. Some healer I was. All my patients, dead at my hands. An entire village, gone. I lowered my aching head into my hands and wept for the loss and my incompetence.
    I could hear Isdra chanting to the babe even as I cried. Those low tones were a comfort, and I managed to get myself under control as I listened. My head hurt too much to think beyond the horror of the last few hours. But eventually I felt cool fingers on my neck, and I let Isdra pull me up and over to the hearth. She settled me in the chair, and wiped my face with a cool cloth, Once I'd had something to drink, she sat back on her heels and looked at me solemnly.
    "The babe?" I croaked.
    "Well." Isdra continued to study me silently.
    I let my gaze drift over to the bodies on the beds. I felt so helpless, with no energy left to deal with the tasks ahead. I slumped in the chair, and closed my eyes in despair.
    "The enemy has you, Lara."
    It took me long moments for Isdra's words to sink in, and even longer for me to open my eyes and face the truth. I stared at her, numb. She reached over, and wiped my face with a cool wet cloth. I put my hand up to feel my own forehead. "I'm sick?" She nodded, her eyes resigned.
    So. I drew in a deep breath and straightened in the chair. "You are well? And the babe?"
    "Yes."
    "You must take the babe and go. Bathe both of you in vinegar. Stay away from the others for forty days, Isdra.
    Forty days. If you and the babe are still well, it will be safe to rejoin the others after forty days. You understand?"
    She tilted her head. "And you, Lara?"
    I drew a breath, then used my sleeve to clear my eyes. "You leave, and set fire to the village. That will take care of the dead, Isdra. Forty days, you understand?" She stared at me, not asking the question I had not answered.
    I sobbed, the pain in my head building. "Isdra, I ask for mercy. Kill me."
    "That is not your way, Lara." She frowned, clearly unhappy with my request.
    "I'll not risk you or the babe, or any of the others. Grant me mercy, Isdra, then burn the village and leave." I drew in a shuddering breath. "I command it. As the Warprize, I order—" Isdra stood. "I will do what must be done, Warprize." She helped me out of the chair. My head had started to pound, and it was hard for me to think. I leaned on her gratefully, my feet made clumsy by the pain.
    She took me out into the square and sat me by the well. The cold stone felt good on my back. I blinked in the sunlight. Isdra knelt at my side, reached out and pulled the damp hair off my face. "You must be sure about this, Lara."
    "Isdra, grant me mercy. Kill me, take the babe and flee. But promise me," I clutched at her arm. "Promise me that you will stay apart. Keep Keir safe for me, Isdra. Please?"
    "So." She set her shoulders back, as if relieved and grateful for the task. "You will be wild with fever soon. I will bind you here, to keep you from wandering." She gripped my wrists firmly and I watched as she bound them together with a bandage. Once that was done, she lifted my bound wrists to the windlass and secured them to the stout wood. I closed my eyes, holding my wrists high to make it easier