Free Knight of Westmoorland: The Queen and the warrior by M. S. Toboorg Page A

from the single-tail whip.
    All wounds inflicted by the Queen’s hand.
    Sweat ran down his legs, into the scratches and cuts on his knees. Sometimes he moved, unable to stand the pottery shards grinding into his flesh. Each time, more shards found fresh skin to torture.
    Sweat trickled down his back, stinging in the cuts from the whip Marcus had wielded earlier.
    The Queen didn’t inflict these pains upon him, but were they done with her knowledge and consent?
    As he stared into the darkness of the sack, this question gnawed at him. He dropped his head and let his body sag. His weight hung from the strap, chaffing his underarms, but he was almost past the point of caring.
    The fire consumed the added logs and began to settle down. And then, he heard the men add more wood to the fire and he knew…
    This was the way he would die. Not in battle, by dagger or sword. Not on the Rack, or by the Queen’s hand. Not even by fire itself; that would be merciful compared to this .
    No, he would slowly roast to death, surrounded by the steam of piss and sweat and dirty laundry.
    He closed his eyes.
    As if in a dream, he heard the Queen’s voice, raised in outrage. The sack was pulled from his head and Gaius was in front of him, the old man’s hands on his face and neck. Shadowy figures dumped buckets of water on the fire and the chamber filled with smoke.
    Sighing, he let himself go.

 
    Chapter Six
     
    T HE WARRIOR DRIFTED IN AND on of consciousness. At first, his wakeful times lasted mere seconds, long enough to realize three things.
    He was lying on a bed in a strange chamber. Shackles bound his hands and feet, the chains running under the bed with his hands at his sides. He had slack to move around, but didn’t have the strength.
    Bandages covered his chest and thighs and the slightest movement brought pain.
    And he wasn’t alone. Every time he opened his eyes, Queen Gracelyn was there. Curled up in a chair beside the bed, reading or napping, or standing by the window, gazing outside.
    But always, she was there.

    A cool, damp rag touched his lips. Droplets of water landed on his tongue, causing him to swallow reflexively. He opened his mouth, craving more, and water dripped onto his tongue.
    He opened his eyes. Gaius sat on the edge of the bed. He met the warrior’s gaze and smiled.
    “Water…” The word came out a hoarse whisper, scraping across the warrior’s tender throat.
    Gaius used one hand to support the warrior’s head and held a mug to his lips, letting the water trickle into his mouth.
    Swallowing was painful.
    After taking all he could handle, he pressed his lips together. Gaius returned his head to the pillow, withdrawing the mug. Unconsciousness tugged on the fringes of his mind but he struggled against it, unwilling to surrender to sleep so soon.
    “How long…have…I been…here?”
    Gaius patted his arm. “You’ve been here, in my chamber, three days.”
    “…Dungeon?”
    “You were in the dungeon for four days.”
    His eyes wandered around the room. The sky outside the window was dark, the room lit by a few candles.
    On the other side of the bed, Queen Gracelyn slept in the chair.
    “The Queen…?”
    Gaius followed his gaze to the sleeping woman and expelled his breath. “She hasn’t left your side. I’ve tried to get her to go to her own bed at night, but…she refuses. Maybe now that you’re awake, she’ll go. She doesn’t rest well, here.”
    He struggled to keep his eyes open. Questions burned inside of him, answers he needed to know. The most important one…had she allowed it?
    But his abused body could fight the tide of unconsciousness no longer. He closed his eyes and drifted away.

    Pain awakened him. Pain from his ribs, his throat, the skin covering his chest and thighs…
    He felt something cool on his stomach and forced his eyes open.
    The bandages were gone. His skin was a fiery red, dry and cracked, blisters scattered across his upper chest.
    Gaius was applying ointment to