Read Online The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima - Free Book Online

iron pot, which he filled with snow and set to heat on the fire. “i don’t see any signs of poison, your Highness. But we’ll wash it out good, just the same, and apply a poultice to draw it out, and then—”

    “you said assassins , Captain,” raisa snapped, interrupting the medical report.
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    Byrne released a long breath. “i don’t know for sure,” he admitted. “But i think that’s what they were. Highwaymen don’t come up here. The clan wouldn’t stand for it. Besides, there aren’t enough travelers this time of year to keep ’em in business, not a band that size. Highwaymen wouldn’t attack a triple of soldiers.
    we don’t carry much money, and there’s easier meat and better weather downslope. They were well fed, well mounted and well armed. i believe they were expecting us.”

    Byrne leaned over the fire, and the flames illuminated the grim planes of his face. “if i’m right, they’re still looking for us, or will be when the weather clears. And they have the advantage of knowing where we’re headed.”

    The water had heated to Byrne’s satisfaction, so he lifted the pot off the flame with a heavy stick. He dropped several clean rags into the water, let them steep for a few minutes, and lifted one out with the same stick. when it was cool enough to handle, he squeezed out the excess water and applied it to the back of raisa’s neck.

    “ow!” she hissed, startled by the heat. “Sorry,” she added, gritting her teeth. Byrne ignored the complaint, kneading her skin and scrubbing away the blood that emerged. He exchanged the bloody cloths twice more, then emptied a pouch of vegetable matter into the water remaining in the pot. Their sanctuary filled with a pungent scent. Snakebite root, raisa thought. Used to draw poisons of all kinds.

    Byrne thrust his stick into the pot and lifted a steaming mass of stinking root. Allowing the excess water to drip away, he dumped it onto a clean square of cloth he’d spread over the pine needles.
    Folding the cloth over, he pressed out the excess water.
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    Byrne plastered it over the back of raisa’s neck. it stung at first, but then felt soothing. He finished by wrapping the whole mess over with linen. “There. we’ll leave that in place for a few hours, then see how it looks.”

    raisa swiped futilely at a trickle of water running down her back.

    Byrne scrubbed out the pot with snow, then refilled it and set it on the fire to melt. “i’ll take water out to the horses and take another look around,” he said.

    “will the rest of your triple be able to find us here, do you think? Should we wait for them once the weather clears?” Byrne shook his head. “we’d better hope they don’t find us, because if they can find us, so can those that ambushed us.” He busied himself packing up his medical kit, avoiding her eyes.
    “we’d better go forward on our own. Any survivors . . . that are able . . . will continue the fight and delay them. we’re seriously overmatched, so we’d best avoid them if we can. Two will be harder to spot in these mountains than a triple.” And then she understood. no one else survived, she thought.
    Their orders were to stand and fight, once she was away, even though they were outnumbered.

    “They’re all dead ?” she said. She thought of them, tumbled all around her on the floor of her room in Delphi. “But . . . they were so young, most of them,” she whispered.

    “This is our job, your Highness.” Byrne lifted his wineskin, sloshing it gently as if to judge the contents, and offered it to raisa, who shook her head.

    She dug the heels of her hands into her temples, wishing she could grind away the guilt. “no,” she whispered, half to herself.
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    “i will not allow my best soldiers to be wasted like this.”

    “we’ve not much in the way of food and supplies,” Byrne said, as if she hadn’t