The Very Best of Kate Elliott by Kate Elliott

steal my command and my lands. I must get back to court. Have you men in your village who can convey me?”
    “We have men, my lord. My husband died in your service, and my brother lost his leg.”
    He slanted a look at her, shifting a moment later to notice that she had placed the sword near his side, where he could reach it.
    “I blame the Forlangers. Not you, my lord. In case you are wondering.”
    His smile had a force that cracked the distance between them.“Generously spoken, Mistress. May I know your name?”
    “Anna, my lord.”
    “And the other one. There was another woman, was there not? The one who was supporting me as we walked?”
    “No other woman. A man.”
    “I was sure, for my arm was wrapped around . . . I meant no offense by it . . .” He rubbed a callused hand over his eyes. “I suppose I was delirious. Perhaps I am roaming not on earth but in the shadows cast by the gods.”
    “No, my lord. You lie on earth. If men from the village convey you to the King’s City, my lord, what is to stop the Forlangers from killing you all?”
    “They could hide me in a wagon . . .” He shook his head at the same time she did. “They’ll be watching the roads. They will not rest until Hargrim can throw my corpse before the king and claim me as a traitor.”
    “How will he claim you as a traitor when all know you serve the king loyally?”
    “Men lie, Mistress Anna. They tell stories that are false.”
    “So they do, my lord. All but my husband. He was a good man and never lied to me, except for the time he had to come tell me that my son was dead.”
    “I hope your son did not die in my service too. I would hate to think I had repaid you for this by having measured so much grief into your life.”
    “No, my lord. He was a boy and died of a sickness, as children do.”
    “Sad tidings for a mother. What of you, Mistress Anna, do you lie?” He paused, a hand probing the linen bandage.“Can you heal me?”
    “I have some knowledge of herbcraft and have done what I know how to do. I have a tea that should help with the pain and any fever. It is a bad wound, and you may yet die of it, but you may live. It is not for me to say. That is the choice of the Hanging Woman.”
    “Who is the Hanging Woman? Some country name for death?”
    “Death is death, my lord, not a person. Do they not know that at court? The Hanging Woman has a rope and will hang you in it if she chooses to capture you. Those who are hanged are changed. Maybe that change will be life into death or maybe it will be something else, something you never expected.”
    He gave a rough cough, then winced. “This is not the work of your Hanging Woman, then, for I have been expecting an attack for months now. Ever since the poison has reached the king’s ear, a rumor that I plan to raise my army against him and place myself on the throne.”
    “Do you, my lord?”
    All at once the pain and exhaustion and blood loss overwhelmed him, or perhaps the infusion finally took hold. He looked so tired, as if the fight had dragged on too long and he wondered if he had the will to keep struggling.“No. Never. But it may be too late. The rot of that story may already have tainted the king’s heart.”
    “Can you rest, my lord?”
    He twisted and turned as well as he could, restless and aggrieved. Lines of pain wrinkled his forehead. His lips were pale, and his eyes shadowed by the effort of speaking.“If only . . . if I could get to the king and not be murdered on the way. I was on my way to court now, and you see what has happened. Lord Hargrim’s people control the roads. I will never get through.”
    “Have you no allies in court?”
    “The king’s sister has the king’s ear. He trusts her. And I trust her.” He paused and looked at her. A yellow-beak’s whistle chirred twice from out among the leaves. “We were not lovers. It is nothing to do with that.”
    “I did not think it was,” she said, surprised at how quickly he had hastened to