She smiled. His hand lingered slightly too long on her cheek before he moved away and began mixing up a poultice for her. He worked just as quickly as he had for Jonathan and it felt like only moments until the bandage was back on her temple and she was getting changed again behind the curtain.
When she came back into the room, Gabriel was sitting at the desk, writing something in a big book.
“What are you writing?” Valerie asked.
“I like to keep a journal of the patients I treat, their injuries, what medicine I use, how successful it is. It helps me learn and continue to get better,” he replied without turning around.
Valerie smiled, thinking that sounded like a good way to be, constantly striving to better oneself. She dragged the chair over by Jonathan and sat down, wondering if she should be trying to better herself.
She was a good knight. Well, she would be if the Privy Council would let her be in the Senior Corps. She had excelled at her training, certainly. Despite being a girl, she had kept up with the boys, and was even better than the worst ones. On her best day, she had been the second best in their unit. She knew, though, that there was always an opportunity for betterment within the Senior Corps. Always some way of improving, be it in speed or accuracy, or just another fighting skill.
However, she thought more about what Jonathan had said. She had not done badly in Attilburgh…for a first attempt at diplomacy. That was obviously a skill she could nurture. If she was to be queen one day, she would need better political skills than those she currently held.
She sighed, on the one hand wanting to further her diplomatic skills, but on the other wanting nothing more than to be the best knight in Mor and show those stupid Privy Council members that she could.
And it was more than spiting the Council. Now she had started, she intended to see it through. Also, she hoped that when she found the wizard for her quest she could ask him about the poison rumours as well.
But none of that would be possible alone.
Valerie took Jonathan’s hand and lay her head on it.
“Please wake up Jon, I need your help,” she whispered.
But he did not. She sat with him all night. One of the brothers brought her some food and a drink. She ate listlessly, without really even tasting what she put in her mouth. For the most part, Gabriel left her in peace. He seemed to understand that she had no more energy for talk. He came and went as he pleased.
When the candles had burned low and she felt her eyes droop, Gabriel offered her his bed so she could stay near Jonathan. She shook her head, preferring to stay where she was. He gave her a blanket, and pulled the curtain across, presumably going to bed himself.
She let her head loll and got a few hours of broken sleep before the sun peeked through the miniscule windows at the top of the wall.
Jonathan’s chest rose and fell more peacefully and some of his colour had returned. He was still fast asleep, however, and Valerie could see his eyelids fluttering as though it was not a very peaceful sleep.
Gabriel was pottering about the room, seeming to be doing a stocktake of his medicinal ingredients. Valerie needed to stretch her legs, so she got up and strolled about the room, stretching her arms as she went. She scanned the books on the shelves; Gabriel had an enormous collection. There were many books on various kinds of medicine, from all over the known world. There were books on history and politics, economics and geography. He had story books of all shapes and sizes, and books that folded out to be maps.
Maybe this is the library Francis spoke of? she wondered as she wandered up and down the bookcases.
Most of the shelves were taken up with medicines, most of which Valerie could not pronounce, let alone had ever heard of them. She looked over them anyway, interested to see what she would find. There were powders and herbs, ointments, oils and creams. There were about ten mortars and pestles and cupboards of cloths and bandages.
She heard someone clear their throat and turned around. Gabriel smiled at her.
“I need to check Jonathan’s wound. Do you want to sit with him?”
She nodded and resumed her spot by Jonathan’s side.
Gabriel began to pull back Jonathan’s bandage when a great commotion could be heard from outside his doors, and it was getting louder. The door crashed open and Gabriel swore, then looked guiltily at Valerie.
A small monk was being led in by Brother Idwyl and another brother Valerie had not seen. Idwyl and the other two seemed to be arguing.
“Oh, for goodness sake. What is it?” Gabriel yelled above the clamour.
“I’m sorry Brother Gabriel…” the small monk started. Gabriel rolled his eyes and mouthed what looked to Valerie to be ‘not a brother’. “I cut my leg when I was chopping wood for the kitchens.”
He looked very young and Valerie wondered how old he was. Surely little more than ten?
Gabriel smiled and sighed. “Simon, what have I said about being careful?” He scruffled the young boy’s hair. “Right. Pop him up here will you, lads,” he said, going over to the other table, the one Valerie had used the previous night.
Idwyl and the other monk lifted Simon onto the table. Valerie could see the hem of his robes were torn and there was a lot of blood. Simon looked at her, then whispered something to Gabriel. He smiled and nodded.
“Idwyl, do you mind taking Miss Valerie here to get some proper food, please? And whatever else she may need?” Gabriel asked.
Idwyl nodded, throwing one last look of frustration at Simon. “Come, follow me, miss.”
She smiled goodbye to Gabriel and followed Idwyl.
“He’s a good lad, to be true,” Idwyl said. It took Valerie a moment to work out about whom he was talking. “He’s just prone to accidents. And he’s very young to be here, but he’s an orphan, you see.”
Valerie nodded. “I was like that at his age. He seems like a capable young man otherwise.”
Idwyl chuckled. “That he is. When he’s not busy making a nuisance of himself.”
Despite his words, Valerie could tell Idwyl was quite frond of young Simon.
“You’ll be wanting to wash up, I expect?”
“Yes, please. That would be wonderful.”
“Right. We’ll get what you need from your horses and I’ll show you to the baths. No one will be there this time of day, so you’ll have your privacy. Then we can get you a decent feed.”
“Thank you. I was also wondering if I might have look at your library while I wait for Jonathan to wake up?”
Idwyl turned to her, a huge smile on his face. “A lady with a passion for books? Marvellous. Of course. I will take you to it whenever you wish. You will find books on all subjects, and there are not many books we do not possess. We have the greatest collection of books on the exalted wizard as well,” he said, clearly a brother of faith. “Not that that would interest a woman of your calibre, I expect.”
“Actually, that is exactly what I was hoping you would say.” Valerie smiled, finally feeling like they were getting somewhere with their hunt.
Now, if only Jonathan would wake up and we can find our wizard, she thought.
Chapter Eighteen
“The wizard has many homes,” Idwyl told Valerie.
“Do you know where?”
Idwyl shrugged and smiled optimistically. “We can find him.”
“So you don’t know where he lives?”
“He has a home nearby, which he frequents often. That is why we built our order here,” Idwyl said, pulling more books from the shelves.
The library was a dank, musty place and Valerie was sure not many people visited it. The monks were a strange breed of people. They seemed to worship the wizard, but had no idea who he really was, where he lived, or even the deeds of which he was capable. They had plenty of stories about him and were more than happy to share them at a moment’s notice. However, they also seemed just as content to live their lives and go about their business.
> “Here. This is the place of his Dravon home,” Idwyl said, pointing to a map.
“That is near here. So you’ve met him then?”
Idwyl looked uncomfortable. “Not me. But I’m sure Brother Bernard has,” he said, smiling at the thought.
Valerie sighed. “Do you know who else has met him? Perhaps knights who he gave quests to? Other brothers who are no longer with you?”
Valerie was hoping to get some information from him that would give her a strong starting point. If she could just figure out the name of anyone who had met the wizard, she might be able to narrow down where he was based on information about that person. There were all sorts of stories about knights who had received a quest from the wizard, but they were all so long ago in legend that Valerie was not sure where to look for them in fact.
Valerie had been sitting while Idwyl found book after book for almost three hours. Her back was cramped, her head throbbed and her eyes hurt from squinting in the poor light. Instead of asking him to leave her be with the books, she decided it was time for a cool down and a break. She would go and see how Jonathan was doing and see if Gabriel wanted to change her bandage.
Idwyl was still rambling about books and stories. Valerie tried to wait for a moment when he took a pause for breath, but none seemed to come. Eventually she coughed softly and he turned back to her.
“Mm?”
“Brother Idwyl, I think I should go a check on Jonathan if you don’t mind? I could do with some rest.” She touched the bandage at her temple and he bustled about guiltily.
“No. Of course, miss. I’m sorry I did not think of it earlier.” Idwyl piled the books up into some sort of tidiness. “I’ll take you back to Brother Gabriel’s rooms.” He smiled, wiping his hands on his robes and picking up the candle.
“Thank you.” She smiled as graciously as she could and bowed her head.
She followed Idwyl through the corridors. It was a warren of a place and Valerie wondered how on earth the brothers committed the layout to their memories. Just as Valerie though they were coming back to the courtyard, there would be more corridor stretching before them. It was not surprising then when they came to Gabriel’s rooms without passing through the courtyard.
Valerie walked through the door, about to exclaim her exasperation with Idwyl, when she noticed Gabriel standing in the middle of the room, forearms bloody, a look of pleased surprise on his face.
“Oh,” Valerie said. “I… That is, we…”
Gabriel smiled. “Brother Idwyl would have brought you the subterranean way, then.”
Idwyl nodded, looking very much like he was not sure whether he had done well or not. Gabriel laughed and Idwyl relaxed somewhat.
“It’s a shock the first time, feels like you’re going on and on forever!” Gabriel said.
Idwyl looked between them. “Can I bring you back anything?” Gabriel shook his head and Idwyl bowed his head. “I’ll go and join in on the last bit of evening mass then.” He smiled and left.
“They’re a strange lot, to be sure,” Gabriel said.
Valerie walked forward to see what he was doing. Jonathan lay on the table in front of him and his wound was open again. Valerie looked up at Gabriel in surprise. His brown eyes twinkled with warmth.
“What are you doing to him?”
“His abdomen was swelling, so I thought I should open it up and check there wasn’t any infection. It was just fluid build-up. Not as bad, but still not great. I drained it so it wouldn’t burst the stitches open and am about to sew him back up.”
“He’s still out?”
Gabriel nodded. He washed his hands and collected his materials.
Valerie sat in her chair and watched as he mixed a poultice, applied it and stitched Jonathan’s stomach back up.
Valerie sat quietly while he worked, watching his hands or his face as he concentrated. His forehead crinkled while he worked and his mouth twitched in a very attractive way. Valerie continually told herself to stop looking at him like that, but moments later she found her eyes drawn back to him.
“Right. I think that should do it.” Gabriel stretched his back and began packing up his tools. “I think he’s out of the woods now, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. We can pay you,” she said, not knowing how else to express her gratitude.
Gabriel laughed. “No need. The brothers see to everything I need or want. I don’t know where they get the money from, but they have plenty. Maybe it’s magic!”
“Do you really think so?” Valerie asked, surprised. She thought the monks only worshipped the wizard, not that they had any powers of their own.
Gabriel just laughed and shook his head. “What have you been up to this afternoon?”
“Idwyl showed me the library.”
“Did you have much chance to look through it?”
“Idwyl was…a bit too helpful for me to really find anything I was looking for.” She smiled.
Gabriel smiled fondly. “They’re like that. What are you looking for?”
“Jonathan and I are searching for the wizard, as it happens. We had heard this monastery had a great library that might hold the key to us finding him.”
Gabriel nodded his head. “It does, to be sure.” He looked to Valerie, obviously thinking. “Why do you search out the wizard?”
Valerie took a deep breath. “I need him to grant me a quest…for my own reasons.”
Gabriel nodded again. “I’d be happy to help you look through the books. The brothers think they know a lot about the wizard, but I suspect it’s very old knowledge. I don’t think the wizard has been seen in many, many years.”
“Thank you, I’d be grateful. But I don’t want to pull you away from your work here.”
“That’s all right. Jonathan just needs rest. I can have one of the brothers sit with him while we’re gone. They can get us if I’m needed.”
Valerie smiled and nodded.
Gabriel asked Simon to sit with Jonathan. Simon was more than eager, anything to let him rest his leg and get him out of doing his chores. Valerie smiled at Simon, so youthful and content. She suddenly felt quite old and weary, feeling like she had given herself too many burdens in life.
****
Gabriel helped Valerie in the library over the next few days between tending to Jonathan and the brothers who needed his help.
However, no matter how long and hard they searched, they could not find any more mention of a physical location than the place on the map Brother Idwyl had pointed out. But now Jonathan was awake, Valerie was sure they’d find something more useful.
Jonathan opened his eyes slowly and looked around.
“Take it easy,” Gabriel said as he helped Jonathan to sitting.
“Where are we?” Jonathan asked, his voice raspy.
“The Dravon Monastic Sect. I got us here, Jon,” Valerie told him.
Jonathan brushed his fingers over her cheek and they hovered over the bandage on her temple.
“It is healing well,” Gabriel said. “You have a fine stitch.”
“Not as fine as yours, I’ll wager,” Jonathan grunted as he rearranged on the table.
“Perhaps. But I’d reckon you’ve spent your years studying other crafts.”
The two young men looked each other over as though they were sizing each other up. Valerie was not sure what conclusion either of them were coming to, but she did not think she liked it.
She cleared her throat. “Gabriel and I have been looking through the library. It’s full of books about the wizard.”
“Not that they’re terribly helpful,” Gabriel added.
“No. Best we found for a location was a map one of the brothers showed me. No one’s actually seen the wizard in years, so who knows if the location’s real or not.”
“That’s assuming the monks aren’t all mad and he actually does exist in the first place. If your Valerie
wasn’t so certain that he existed, I’d swear he didn’t,” Gabriel finished.
Jonathan nodded once curtly. “We have no reason to believe he doesn’t exist and nothing to lose by looking for him.” He looked to Valerie. “How long have we been here?”
“Not yet a week,” she told him.
Jonathan looked back at Gabriel. “How long until I’m fit to travel again?”
Gabriel seemed not to know whether to be impressed or annoyed by his patient. “I would give you another week. The infection is almost gone, but you will want to give the wound time to heal sufficiently before you go jostling it about on your horse again.”
Jonathan gave another single curt nod. “All right. Thank you. Do you prescribe bedrest? Or am I able to wash and change my clothes?”
Valerie watched Jonathan carefully, wondering if and/or what persona he was putting on this time. He seemed abnormally abrupt. Although that could easily be explained away by the fact he was probably still in some discomfort, not in the least because he had been lying on the table in Gabriel’s room for almost a week.
“Of course,” Gabriel answered. “I will get one of the brothers to show you to the wash chamber.”
“Thank you.” Gabriel left and Jonathan turned to Valerie. “What did you tell him?”
Valerie looked down in an attempt to hide the flush to her cheeks. “Not everything…” she started.
Jonathan groaned. “All but, I’ll bet.” He muttered something under his breath that sounded to Valerie like, “Of course she likes the look of him,” and she drew herself up.
“Excuse you. But I’m no sucker for a pretty face,” she hissed at him.
“Well you could have fooled me,” Jonathan snapped.
“He doesn’t know I’m the–”
“No need to divulge that now then,” he interrupted.
“And he doesn’t know why we’re looking for the wizard. Only our names, the fights we’ve been in, and that I need the wizard to give me a quest.”
Valiant Valerie (Ballad of Valerie of Mor #1) Page 19