Read Online Tamlyn by James Moloney - Free Book Online Page B

tired him out, and by the time the Grentrees departed, and Tamlyn with them after no more than a brief touch of our hands, Ryall had been asleep for an hour.
    In the morning, he was pale and feverish. I opened the shutters to let in as much light as possible and helped Birdie with his bandages again. When she removed the largest one from around his left arm, a foul stink wrinkled my nostrils. I knew what that meant.
    Birdie stood and led me outside. ‘The wound has festered. Its poison will quickly spread through his body if we don’t stop it now.’
    â€˜Stop it? How?’ I asked, but I already knew what she was going to say.
    â€˜His arm must come off.’
    â€˜No, he’ll never let you do it. Isn’t there another way? If we wait a day or two, it might begin to heal after all.’
    â€˜Don’t fool yourself, and there’s no point filling his mind with soft-hearted hopes for the impossible. The gods are never so generous, not when the wound is as bad as his. If he wants to go on living, it will be without his arm, and you must help him see that, Silvermay.’
    â€˜Me!’
    â€˜You brought him here to me, to save him, you said. That’s the only way I can do it. I’ll tell him the truth, but you have to play your part, as well, to make him face it.’
    We returned to Ryall’s bedside, reluctantly on my part, it must be said. His head rolled slowly from side to side in the first stages of delirium, but he stopped to show he was aware of us back at his bedside.
    â€˜Ryall,’ said my mother in as gentle a voice as I have ever heard, ‘there is nothing I can do to heal your arm; nothing even the great doctors in Vonne could do. If there was magic in my hands I would use it, but I doubt you believe in conjurers’ tricks any more than I do. To go on living you must give up your arm.’
    â€˜No,’ he breathed immediately. ‘I’ll take my chances.’
    â€˜You have no chance at all, I’m afraid. You’d be choosing to die.’
    â€˜Then let me die. You can’t cut off my arm.’
    Even in his weakness, there was steel in his voice, prompting Birdie to look over her shoulder. It was my turn.
    I knelt beside the bed and took hold of his good hand. ‘My mother is telling the truth, Ryall,’ I said, doing my best to keep the tremor out of my voice. ‘This is the only way to save your life. That’s why we broughtyou here, to save you. Three are so much stronger than two. We need you in the search for Lucien; we’ll need your help once we find out where he’s being held.’
    â€˜What use will I be with only one arm, and what life will I have afterwards? How will I make my ropes and strings, set my traps? Take away my arm and you take away who I am. I would rather die.’
    It hurt to hear him speak this way, because it was true. I knew all too well how he loved his freedom in the woods of Nan Tocha. No older than me, he was already a master of his craft. Now, until the day he died, he’d have to live on the charity of others. He didn’t really want to die, I was sure, but he didn’t want the life that would be left for him, either. What a terrible choice. And, somehow, that choice had become mine, too. I felt the burden of it like a boulder strapped to my back.
    â€˜Ryall, you are only young; you haven’t lived long enough to choose death over life. You want to live, I know you do. You’re not ready for eternal sleep.’
    He looked at me, his face pale and sweating, his lips still.
    â€˜Say it,’ I urged him. ‘Whatever comes, you want to go on living, don’t you?’
    â€˜Yes,’ he whispered and, even though he was too weak to raise his head from the pillow, he squeezedmy hand hard enough to bring pain. ‘Find a way, Silvermay. Find a way for me to stay alive.’
    I stood up and hurried out into the open air, with Birdie only a few paces behind