Read Online The Lion of Senet by Jennifer Fallon - Free Book Online

against the closed door. He was sweating profusely and seemed as nervous as a sheep in a slaughterhouse.
    “What’s the matter, Helgin? Why the locks? You’re acting like a fugitive.” She smiled at him. “Did you say something to offend Tovin Rill? If you have, he showed no sign of concern at dinner.”
    “I’ve not offended Lord Tovin, my lady. No more than I usually do.”
    “Then why are you behaving so oddly?”
    Helgin said nothing for a moment, then took a deep breath. “You’ll not think my behavior odd, my lady, when you learn who it is that I have locked in this room.”
    “The sailor?” Morna’s gaze flew to the closed door that led to Helgin’s bedroom. “Who is he?”
    The physician pointed to the door. “See for yourself.”
    With a frown, Morna crossed the cluttered sitting room to the bedroom door. She turned the latch and opened the door. The unconscious survivor lay on the large four-poster bed covered by a sheet. He was swathed in splints and bandages. A line of neat stitches stretched across his forehead from above his left eye up into his hairline. Morna moved into the room to get a closer look at him. She realized who it was just as Helgin stepped up beside her. Suddenly faint, she clutched at him for support, her eyes filled with tears.
    “Oh, Goddess!” she breathed. “It can’t be!”
    “It’s him, my lady.”
    “But...” Morna found she couldn’t speak. Her mind was such a confusion of emotions that she was unable to form a single articulate thought.
    “You’d better sit down,” Helgin suggested.
    He tugged on her arm and led her back into the other room, closing the bedroom door before sitting her down on the settee. He left her there for a moment and moved away, returning with a large shot of dark liquid that he thrust into her hands. Morna was trembling so hard that she could barely hold the cup, but he forced her to drink it. The liquor burned down her throat, focusing her attention—on breathing, if nothing else.
    “How? ...” was all she found herself able to ask.
    Helgin shrugged. “How he got here is not important, my lady. It’s how we’re going to get him out of here that matters.”
    Panic filled her. “Oh, Goddess, Helgin . . . Tovin’s here. If he finds out... and Wallin...”
    “Take a deep breath, my lady.”
    Morna did as the physician ordered, surprised to find that it helped. “I’ll be all right. I’m just... shocked.”
    “As am I, my lady. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to adjust to the news.”
    Morna nodded, feeling a little more in control. She took another sip of the burning liquid and looked at Helgin. “Who else knows he’s here?”
    “Only you and I, at present.”
    “But the others in the rescue party? Tovin was there when you brought him up from the beach. And Dirk . . . oh, Goddess, Helgin, Dirk was there . . .”
    “Dirk has no idea who he is, my lady,” Helgin assured her, “any more than the men who rescued him. Tovin saw nothing but a battered, half-drowned sailor, and once I realized who it was, I made certain he didn’t get a closer look at him. For the time being, at least, he is safe.”
    “We have to get him out of here.”
    “I agree. However, he’s badly injured and I would prefer not to move him.”
    “And even if we did move him, where do we take him?” She jumped to her feet and began to pace the small sitting room. “Damn, if only Tovin wasn’t here! He was making noises about visiting the survivor at dinner.” She stopped abruptly and turned to Helgin. “He might come here tonight!”
    “And I will turn him away,” Helgin promised. “But I can’t deter him for long. You have to decide what you want to do, my lady.”
    “That’s simple! He has to die,” she announced decisively.
    “I
beg
your pardon?”
    “You have to announce that the survivor died,” she instructed, resuming her frenzied pacing. “That you were unable to save him. Say that he had terrible internal injuries or