XXIII.
Jay stopped struggling and looked up into Lord Ryan's eyes. Lord Ryan faltered a bit, but his arm went down. I ran forward, screaming, but it was too late. The knife tore into Jay's shoulder, but he didn't scream, he just looked up at Ryan sadly. Ryan snarled and tried to push it in deeper, but it must have hit bone or something because it wouldn't.Then I was on him and driving him to the floor, punching blindly at his face. He started crying and flailing about like a dying fish. Finally I had him pinned. "You're so lucky that I don't have a knife right now." I growled. Jay just sat against the wall and stared calmly at me.
Heard tromping coming down the stairs and there was Edward. "What the hell is going on here?!" he yelled.
I immediately let go of Lord Ryan and curtsied in front of Edward. "He attacked Jay without provocation. I was merely trying to protect my sister-in-law, m'lord." I said softly, avoiding meeting his eyes. He stepped past me and grabbed Lord Ryan.
"You know that I don't allow fighting in my manor, especially not with women! And..." he looked at Jay and his mouth dropped open. "Holy shit! What the fuck did you do to her?!" he screamed. Jay's face was completely devoid of any of the pain that would accompany something like the knife sticking out of his shoulder. The blood seeped out and stained the gown and chemise, and threatened to engulf his wimple. "Paige! Take her to the doctors in the back. I'll deal with Lord Ryan." he said, then shot an angry look at Lord Ryan. I picked Jay up and hurried down the hallway. Still, he made no noise, not even a whimper.
"Jay, please, I know you can talk. You were calling for me." I said. He said nothing and closed his eyes. Finally I put him on the floor against the wall and slapped him. "Will you fucking snap out of it?! I'm sick and tired of you just bottling it up! Will you say something!?"
Brown met blue, the earth met heaven, and he bit down hard on his lips, tears welling up from his eyes. His hand went carefully to the knife and settled on the handle. I grabbed his hand and put it back at his side. "I'm sorry." I whispered.
"It's what I deserve." he mumbled, leaning into me as I picked him up again.
"If you say that, I'm going to have to smack you again." Instantly regretted it. Why had I snapped...shit, I didn't want to treat Jay like this, especially since he had come to rescue me and been so patient. But it seemed like it was working. He had talked, and he was making facial expressions. Gods, if he died, I would... Don't think about that, don't think about that.
The room designated as the doctor's smelled of death and blood. I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to take Jay into it. The choice was made for me as Luke burst out and exclaimed at Jay's condition. "Get her in here quick! The doctor was just finishing up with an amputation."Gagged at the smell. Luke took Jay from me and laid him down on a table. The doctor was standing behind a curtain with all manner of knives and other implements. Jay whimpered softly, reaching his arm out for me. I swallowed my vomit swiftly and went to his side. "Paige, don't...please don't leave. I know I haven't given you any reason to stay, but I.."
"Jay, just drop it. I don't want to dwell on this. I'm staying with you." Watched as the curtain parted and the doctor emerged. Jay's grip on my hand tightened. The doctor seemed to be coated in blood. "Sh...he's not going to amputate." I whispered.
"Oh my, what have we here? I thought I finished with all the women." the doctor lisped, moving the knife up and down to see how tightly it was in. Jay shot me pitiful glances, but he didn't scream or anything.
"Lord Ryan..." I began, but trailed off as I realized that that explanation would falter and die under scrutiny. "Lord Ryan pushed her and she fell into a table." I finished. The doctor eyed me skeptically and started to peel back Jay's chemise and gown. I turned to Luke, "Could you please go? She's really very shy." Luke nodded and left.
The doctor didn't seem phased by Jay's lack of a bosom. "Late bloomer, aren't we?" he said as he carefully cut away the sleeve from around the knife. "My wife was about like you, then whoop! Her breasts practically exploded." He demonstrated. If he wasn't lying, his wife would have breasts down to her waist. Jay didn't seem to appreciate his vain attempts to take Jay's mind off of it, he just looked at the doctor impassively. He hissed as the doctor pulled away the sleeve and peeled it back, then started flailing about in pain. "Could you hold her down please?" the doctor asked. "It's going to be ten times worse when I take the knife out."
I grudgingly climbed on top of Jay and held his arms. He stared at me intensely, as if afraid that I would disappear and leave him with this horror. "Okay, now are we all ready?" the doctor asked. All eyes turned to Jay, who was biting back tears desperately. He nodded slowly, and the doctor instantly started to pull the knife out. Jay screamed louder than any banshee, and it was so hard to hold him down. Blood spilled out in a flood of restrained pain, and the doctor threw a dirty rag on it. Jay was still screaming and trying his best to fall onto the floor, but he couldn't get that far.
"Here, make him drink some of this." the doctor said, throwing me a bottle of some viscous liquid. I unpopped the cork and smelled the familiar scent of poppies.
"Why didn't you give this to her first?!" I snapped. Jay practically chugged it in a frantic attempt to equalize the pain.
"I had to make sure she'd survive. A lot of the time they look like they're gonna make it, and then they don't." he gestured to the pile of wrapped bodies outside. "Amputations are the worst. I started out by trying to give them poppy juice, but too many died and I started to run out."
"Will she be okay?"
"If you keep on holding that down, she might last through the night. Much more than that, I can't guarantee anything. It's in God's hands now."
Edward walked in unannounced and stared down at Jay. "Lord Ryan told me." he said softly. His hand went out to Jay's face. Jay, in his haze of poppies and pain, nuzzled into it. Edward pulled back Jay's wimple and revealed the mark. "Gruesome thing, brands." His finger traced along the tines of the pitchfork. As it did, his sleeve rode up and I saw a red mark not unlike ours. He caught me looking. "Got it on Crusade. That's probably where Lord Ryan got the idea, not that it takes a genius to think of it, but still."
I swallowed deeply and sighed. "Are you going to turn us over to him?" I asked.
He continued to trace Jay's brand, making Jay produce small whimpers. I pulled up the rag and looked at his wound. It seemed like it had stopped bleeding. The doctor came over and patched it up, pretending that he had heard nothing. "I don't think so. Lord Ryan may make a good fuck-toy, but until Amir came, he had the reputation of being one of the stupidest land-owners in the kingdom. Arthur has taken responsibility for you, and, as long as you go to Scotland and stay there, I see no problem with that state of affairs."
"Why?" I asked. Most landowners would have turned us over, but Edward was a friend of Arthur, and Arthur had taken us in even when...Jay was trying to move his bad arm now, I held it down. "We're just peasants."
Edward sighed deeply and sat down on the edge of the table. Jay whined at the slight jarring, but his eyes were gradually sliding closed. I hoped that he would fall asleep and survive the night, but I held no great hopes for long after that. "You've seen the destruction caused around here. My knights bickered and quarreled about who was going to attack first, they all died. The peasants, the peasants were the ones who made sure that this was still my castle, they are the ones to whom I owe my life. And I talked with them to see what I should do with you. They wanted to let you live, some of them have run away from bad lords after all."
Lord Ryan lurked in the doorway, his eyes slits of hatred. "Will SHE live?" he snarled.
The doctor shrugged. "It's all up in the air at this point."
Lord Ryan smiled smugly and stepped in. Jay sensed the change in mood and tried to pull himself to the far end of the table. "Stupid little demon. God will decide tonight whether you live or die...I want to be there at the very end. They say that demons turn to ash and blow away in a shower of fire."
Edward stepped up and smacked Lord Ryan in the face. "You will refrain from using that language in MY manor. If you'd like to go back to YOUR manor and take care of all the shit that you fucked up, be my guest. You don't need any more comfort if you can blame these people for your misfortunes. Amir had it coming." Lord Ryan sighed and left the room slowly, but not before giving Jay an evil look.