guards were after me. I didn’t want to leave Turill, but I thought I had little choice. I started preparing to move my practice to another city. There was no way I could stay in the city being hunted by the Royal Guard.
“As I came out my door to leave Captain Hightower and his men caught me on my front porch. The captain told me not worry, there had been some kind of a misunderstanding and I was free to continue practicing medicine in Turill. I just needed to stay away from the palace.
“I was much relived. I had grown fond of the city and really didn’t want to leave. Everything was fine but it just kept gnawing at me, why had they had been after me in the first place? So I went to the palace and asked to see Isabella, she would know. She was the one who tried to warn me after all and seeing her would be much easier and safer than trying to talk with the Princess.”
“Let me get this straight,” K’xarr said. “You went back to the palace?”
“Yes, I did.”
“After the Captain of the Royal Guard told you to stay away?”
“Yes. I told you it was bothering me.”
K’xarr hung his head and chuckled at the healer. “What’s so funny?” Rhys said, slightly perturbed.
The Camiran looked up. “Just go on.”
“Well, the guardsmen I talked to at the palace gate told me she had run away. I argued with them a little. I told them I didn’t believe Isabella would leave the Princess. Then they told me I should stop asking questions about Isabella, and I should leave and not come back. It was very clear to me they were lying, but I did leave.
“Later in the day, I was sweeping my front porch and saw several of the palace guard talking to a patient of mine just up the street from my home. The man pointed to my house, the guards saw me and headed my way with their weapons drawn. So I ran and jumped on the first horse I saw and headed out of town, and well, you know what happened after that.”
K’xarr took a big drink of his ale and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You should never have gone back to the palace asking about this handmaiden, it was a bad idea. The way they were chasing you it wasn’t to talk, they were out for blood. ”
Rhys shook his head. “I haven’t done anything wrong or broken any laws I know of. They have no reason to be after me. May I have some of that ale?” K’xarr filled up one of the wooden cups that sat on the table. The healer looked the cup over and took a big drink of the warm ale.
Vandarus had ridden to the Silver Fist, a tavern just outside of Turill and bought ale and food for them; he said he knew someone that worked there.
K’xarr had found the old farmhouse they were staying in. It had been abandoned for some time, so they had hidden their horses in the old barn and made themselves at home. The little farmhouse was crowded but they only needed to stay a couple of days. Endra and Vandarus were much improved, Rhys said that Cromwell could use a little more time to heal but his stitches looked good. Rhys had been using some kind of power or whatever he called it to heal them quicker than nature ever could. K’xarr didn’t care for it much, but it did seem to be working. Even without the power Rhys possessed, the man was a damn fine healer. The salve he gave Vandarus worked wonders on the nasty horse bite and he had even performed what he called surgery on Cromwell, sewing him up from the inside out. K’xarr had heard that very skilled healers could do this on badly wounded people, but he hadn’t believed it. If he hadn’t seen Rhys do it with his own eyes, he still wouldn’t believe it.
He had never seen any battle surgeon or healer like this Rhys Morgan, but he planned to keep this healer close, maybe even get him to join them. A good healer was worth his weight in gold.
“K’xarr, I would like to ask a favor. I know you don’t know me very well but I need your help.”
The Camiran drained his cup and poured himself another. “We owe you more than one favor, my friends