But battle mode wasn’t so easily shaken.
Sweating and twitching with adrenalin, Kevin moved towards the old physic as the man re-stitched the wound under Sean’s right armpit.
“What do you need?” he asked.
“Wine,” the old man said. “I need wine and boiled linen. Hurry!”
Kevin lifted his head to the group hovering in the chamber, but he never got the words out of his mouth before the servants began to scatter, going to collect the items. The majordomo continued to stand next to the physic with the oil lamp, holding it over the bed so the old man could see what he was doing.
“We heard about the siege at the Tower,” the majordomo said to the knights. “I see that it is true.”
Kevin was looking at the wounds his brother had sustained, taking a moment to inspect the damage and realize the severity of the situation. He hadn’t wanted to, but now he found he couldn’t look away.
“Aye,” he said after a moment. “It is as bad as you can imagine and The Marshal is in the middle of it.”
The majordomo nodded, appearing a bit apprehensive at the realization. They’d all seen the armies entering the city and they could hear the distant battle. He quietly ordered a lingering servant to bring more light into the room and the man ran off.
Meanwhile, Kevin had leaned down, getting a better look at what the physic was doing. Now, he had a full view of the damage to his brother and his composure threatened to weaken. He glanced at the old man, small and gray, trying so hard to save his brother.
“I do not even know your name,” he said hoarsely.
The old man didn’t look up from his task. “Gilby,” he said.
“Gilby,” Kevin repeated softly. “This is my brother. You will do all you can for him, I beg you.”
That made Gilby look up, seeing the knight in the light for the first time. His yellowed gaze drifted over his features, similar to Sean’s.
“Kevin?”
“Aye.”
“He said you two did not speak much.”
Kevin sighed faintly. “There is rare opportunity to do so.”
“He said he’d not seen you in years.”
“It has been some time.”
The conversation faded off after that. The wine and boiled linens were brought and Gilby, along with the majordomo, set about cleaning the wounds that Gilby had only been able to stitch so the knight wouldn’t bleed to death in minutes.
Kevin could only watch what they were doing for so long before he began to feel ill. The weight of the situation was bearing down on him now that the rush of battle and their escape from The Tower was over. He moved to Sean’s other side simply to allow the physic room to work, but the old man wanted to strip Sean of his knightly garb so he could have better access to the wounded man. That meant Caius and Kevin had to help strip him down to the skin, carefully handling his limp body at the physic’s direction.
It was one of the most heartbreaking things Kevin had ever done.
By the time his brother was stripped naked, Kevin was close to tears. The wound to the groin was bad. It was in a vital area where the blood flow to his left leg could have been severed. The physic seemed to think the major vessels had been mostly spared, but clearly, one was nicked because the blood just kept coming.
The one under the armpit was just as bad. It had punctured a lung and the physic had to cut into Sean’s chest so the man could breath. Kevin watched the blood drain out into a bowl as Gilby struggled to save Sean’s life. He couldn’t stand seeing his mighty brother all laid out on that bed, the legendary Lord of the Shadows reduced to a helpless and feeble shell. There was no dignity, no honor.
Simply… blood.
Kevin didn’t even realize that the tears were now making their way down his face. There were several servants hovering in the doorway in case they were needed and he sent one running for a linen sheet so he could at least cover his brother’s nakedness. It just didn’t seem right for the man not to be covered. The servant quickly returned and Caius helped him secure the sheet over Sean’s left side, covering his manhood, at least giving him some privacy. Kevin finished tucking the sheet around the left side of his body when he looked up to see that Sean’s eyes were open.
Startled, he put himself in the man’s line of sight.
“Sean?” he said softly. “Can you hear me?”
Sean was simply staring straight up at the ceiling. But at the sound of Kevin’s voice, he moved them slowly until he was looking at his brother. When their eyes met, Kevin forced a smile.
“We’ve brought you to Rossington House,” he said. “You have the best care. We will see you through this, I swear it.”
Sean blinked. “Kevin?”
“Aye, it is me.”
“Where… where did you come from?”
“The barons broke through at the Tower,” Kevin said. “The Marshal and thousands of men, including most of The Marshal’s agents. We were looking for you and finally found you, but you were wounded. I am sorry we did not come in time, Sean. Please forgive us.”
Sean was becoming a little more lucid. “There is nothing to forgive,” he said. “We always knew this could happen.”
Kevin’s expression was taut with pain. “We did,” he said softly. “But still… we tried to find you. I did not want you to think we had left you alone to die. That I had left you alone to die.”
“I would never think that of you, Kevin,” Sean murmured. “You are my brother. You would never leave me to die.”
Tears stung Kevin’s eyes. “Never,” he whispered.
Sean grunted when Gilby did something that caused him pain, closing his eyes tightly for a brief moment. “And John?” he asked. “Where is he?”
Kevin shook his head. “I do not know,” he said. “Cai and I took you out of the Tower as our friends held off John’s guard. You are safe now.”
“And my wife? Where is she?”
Kevin’s brow flickered with confusion. “Wife?” he said. “You do not have a wife, Sean.”
“He does,” Gilby said, bent over the hole he’d cut in Sean’s side to equalize his breathing. “He married her tonight. Sheridan St. James, heiress to the Earldom of Bath and Glastonbury. Sean has inherited an earldom through marriage.”
Shocked, Kevin looked at Caius, who appeared equally surprised. But that surprise quickly turned to great concern for Sean’s wife.
“I do not know where she is, Sean, but we shall find her,” he said. “I…”
“There is no need,” Gilby said, cutting him off. “She is with trusted men who have taken her out of the city for safekeeping – away from John and away from those who would hunt down your brother and kill him. Leave her. It is best that she return home to Lansdown Castle and stay away from de Lara for now. It is safer that way, for as long as John lives, your brother will be hunted.”
Kevin looked at the old physic who seemed to know a great deal about his brother’s life. For the past year, Sean had been so deeply entrenched with John that no one save The Marshal had seen him. Sean used to move about with relative freedom, a visitor to Farringdon House and other Marshal properties, but the past year had seen that change dramatically.