The Lady and the Prince

Nick debated with himself about riding Falcon to the meeting with the three treacherous lords. If Ulle attacked, his horse would be an obvious target and Nick didn’t want to lose Falcon. On the other hand, if there was an exchange of magic Falcon would remain much calmer and controlled than a random army horse, and that could make the difference in winning or losing, living or dying. He decided to ride his hunter.

He rode in the front center of the army with his brother and the other four who would represent Anglia. Elias and Ralph followed in the next group with the generals’ aides and the dukes’ sons, Lord Duncan of Aggradon, recently returned from Telesia, and Lord Malcolm of Glenriver. There were also a few others with special fighting skills, including Connidian.

Elizabeth could see the first group ahead of her exchanging banter and light conversation. Her own group was far more tense and anxious about the meeting, although she didn’t know if her group was being more realistic or if the forward bunch was trying to instill confidence in the army. She herself was very worried about Nick, especially when everyone halted a quarter mile from the base of the rise and the six representatives went on alone.

Before they reached the top of the hill, six mounted figures appeared from the other side. She couldn’t see clearly who the riders were, but Lawrence, Earl of Ulle was certainly among them since his banner was there being carried by one of the less fancily dressed participants. General Smith had the Warwick banner, and the picture disturbed her a little. There was no reason why the Aggradon and Glenriver banners should be present. Those lords acknowledged the Warwicks as rulers over them. Did the absence of Denland and Montexter banners suggest that they were in the same relationship to Ulle?

She quietly asked Ralph, who responded, “Possibly, but it just may be that with only six participants, there weren’t enough people to carry three banners. The dukes wouldn’t carry their own, and as an earl, Ulle does outrank them. I’m sure all three of them are there though, but I can’t make out who is with them.”

Prince Arthur was in the center leading with Nick on his right and Glenriver and Aggradon on his left, the generals following closely. Nick was uneasy as they went up, noting the six above them had a superior position for an attack and had moved across to their side of the hill instead of remaining in the middle so the Anglian group could not ride up level with them.

Nick was not going to allow them to maintain a dominant position for the meeting, and apparently Glenriver and Aggradon were of the same mind. When they arrived, the three didn’t stop as Arthur did, but they rode into the opposing party, jostling their horses back and to the side.

It forced Ulle and company to back up a bit so everyone could be on the top of the hill. It was an ugly beginning to the meeting, and Nick was now fairly sure it wasn’t going to go well, not after that sort of start.

Arthur apparently expected the three lords to give him appropriate acknowledgement of his superior rank, but he waited in vain. None of the six opposite so much as nodded to him, much less gave him a formal half bow from their saddles. But waiting gave Ulle the opportunity to speak first.

“Warwicks, you have summoned us, and we are here, but not to answer to you. Instead, it is time you answered to us!”

Arthur snorted and said, “Lawrence, have you lost your mind? I’ll be lenient with your lapse, but only if you apologize immediately.”

Nick cringed a little. That was exactly the wrong thing to say. He realized that it gave Ulle control of the meeting instead of Arthur, and Arthur didn’t understand that.

Ulle had a superior smile on his face. Nick flicked his glance over the others: Denland looked satisfied, Montexter perplexed, and the other three Nick didn’t recognize except…one of them was Alice dressed as a man. Nick’s recent experiences with Elizabeth gave him a unique ability to see past her outer appearance as an older boy. She wore no armor but was outfitted as a herald or messenger of some sort.

He saw the earl wore no armor either, although the other four were in full battle dress just as Arthur and the other four of his party were. Nick pulled in power and readied himself.

Ulle’s smile broke into a chuckle. “You poor dunce, you really have no idea what this is about, do you?”

Arthur’s face went red, and he slammed closed his helmet and reached for his sword. Next to him Duke Winslow leaned over and put a hand on his arm. “Your Highness, you have a message for these uncivilized buffoons from the king, do you not?”

The Warleader took his hand off of Arbitra and said angrily, “I do, and you are right, I should deliver it before removing his head. King William commands you thusly, Ulle, Montexter, and Denland: surrender yourself to me, Prince Arthur, to be brought before the king to answer for your tardiness. And Lady Alice—”

Nick interjected—“Who happens to be right there”—and pointed to her.

Arthur sputtered a little and barked, “You dare to bring the accused witch here? She was to be confined! Now you will surrender her also to be chained once again in the tower. Obey me now or be known to all as traitors to Anglia!”

Alice had moved forward during this speech and now faced Nick directly. He hastily erected his shields, doing his best to extend them far enough to cover all his party, including the horses. But that made for very large shields, and he knew they wouldn’t be terribly strong stretched out that far.

But he had no time to congratulate himself for his foresight. In the next instant, Alice and Ulle both attacked. Lady Alice threw something at him that was like an absence-of-light bolt with a glowing purple aura. It struck his shields, and they held, but whatever it was transferred something into his shield that made him nauseated and dizzy. His shields had also stopped fire from Ulle aimed at the horses, but he couldn’t keep them up. Every moment he was feeling worse and worse as whatever Alice had done leached through to him.

The young prince dropped the shields, grounding them deliberately instead of letting the energy dissipate. He didn’t want whatever it was going into the air. The four armored men opposite were spurring forward, while all the horses on his side had shied away from the fire except Falcon. Ulle and Alice backed up, and Nick assumed they had shields up—for themselves, at least. He threw lightning, letting it break into crackling fingers in the midst of the advancing four, and found there was indeed some sort of shield in place. It protected the men but did not extend all the way to the ground. Some of his lightning flickered underneath, shocking their horses’ legs and sending them plunging away.

Ulle and Alice were already out of sight down the far side of the hill, and Nick was momentarily left alone in possession of the rise. Falcon pranced nervously under him, and he checked on Arthur and the rest of his group, coughing a little to clear his throat.

Everyone had recovered control of their mounts. Denland, Montexter, and their associates spurred after Ulle and Alice. Arthur and General Smith with his banner were returning to the top of the rise, and Nick could see and hear the other three waving and shouting orders as they galloped back to the army. Elias, Ralph, Connidian, and a handful of mounted men were riding all out to join Arthur.

Arthur nodded to him as he rode past, and Nick followed him and the general, hoping the Warleader wasn’t planning on attacking the traitors by himself. But Arthur just rode to the other side of the hilltop to see what the opposition was doing.

Ulle was back with his army, and they were marching. He had cheated on the distance by half, and his army was already nearing the bottom of the rise. Ulle’s mounted advance would arrive before anyone but the small Anglian group with Elias and Ralph.

Arthur drew his sword, and General Smith said nervously, “Your Highness, we should rejoin the army. They will need your support and guidance.”

“We should keep the high ground,” Arthur stated firmly. “Arbitra will protect us until our army arrives.”

Just like Arthur to absorb one bit of tactical knowledge and totally ignore we’re going to be outnumbered twenty to one in about a minute, Nick thought. He said, “Arthur, that spell Alice threw has made me very ill. I don’t know if I can fight, but I’m not leaving without you.” In fact, Nick was feeling better, but he knew he had to give his brother an excuse to retreat. However his statement was punctuated by more coughing, which he helped along to convince Arthur.

The older prince hesitated and then sheathed his sword. “Very well, we’ll go back for now. I don’t want to endanger you here; I will need your help in the battle, Nicky. I hate to lose the height advantage, but our loyal witch is more valuable.”

Arthur started to move down the hill, followed by Nick and the general. General Smith shot Nick a look of gratitude as they retreated back to their own forces, gathering up everyone else along the way. Elizabeth swung in beside Nick on the ride back and said, “You look ghastly. We could see an exchange of magic, but what happened to you?”

“Alice hit me with something that soaked into my shield and was starting to soak into me too. It made me sick for a bit, but I’ll be fine in a little while.” Nick coughed a little and earned a concerned look from her. “I think I may be coming down with a cold or something,” he added, although he didn’t really believe that was the cause of his coughing.

The Anglian army had reached the base of the hill, but Ulle’s was already on the top. After a short heated conference between Arthur and his generals, they moved their army back. Ralph explained to Elizabeth, “From the top of the hill, the enemy archers can reach us, but our archers can’t reach them shooting up like that. We need a more level field.”

The Anglian army retreated a half mile and then stopped and deployed its units for battle. They could see Ulle’s army holding on top of the rise. Everyone waited.

The traitorous rebel army moved down the hill slowly with two unarmored figures out in front. What were the earl and Alice up to? Nick could see them waving their arms but couldn’t see what they were doing; magic certainly, but what kind from such a distance? The advance continued.

Then their purpose became clear. The air in front of the Anglians began to hum and buzz with insects being driven in a cloud toward them. Nick moved forward and began trying to blow them back to Ulle, but whatever was driving the insects made them just advance again whenever he stopped sending wind at them. And his air movements didn’t do much to the heavier insects near the ground. A great crowd of grasshoppers and beetles was coming through the grass, while wasps and bees struggled in the air. Nick coughed some more, annoyed and wondering if he was truly sick.

The only insects Nick had stopped were harmless butterflies and moths that were too delicate to survive the opposing forces. Not that grasshoppers were overly dangerous, but they would be a nuisance and a distraction and very uncomfortable inside clothing and armor or in a horse’s eyes or nostrils.

But the late season grass was dry. Nick was afraid of how much destruction he might cause, knowing he might be unable to stop a fire once started, but he raised both hands and shot a broad horizontal line of flame. He moved it back and forth to widen the burning area to protect the entire army. Once he had lit the grass, he created a wind to drive the fire away from them and toward Ulle. He suppressed a couple of coughs; he needed to focus.

The ground insects burned, and most of the flying insects dropped in the smoke. Nick could hear some cheering behind him, but he didn’t feel very triumphant about what he was doing. Bees and wasps were needed to pollinate crops, and killing so many meant lower yields next year. He wasn’t sure what good the grasshoppers and beetles were except for bird food, but there must be some purpose to them, or they wouldn’t be there.

The fire itself wasn’t high except when it reached a bush or tree that blazed up. He hated burning the trees, he liked trees, but he didn’t have the control to spare them. And once the trees caught, burning matter spread on the heated air past the range of his magic and set more bushes and trees alight.

Nick could feel Ulle or Alice or both trying to push the fire back at him, but there was nothing behind the fire to burn now, just charred earth, and the momentum was with him anyway. The army behind Ulle stopped advancing and then began to retreat quickly before the flames.

Arthur rode up beside him. “Good job, Nick. They won’t stop until they are past the Aron River, which will give us the hill and a nice clear battlefield once it cools.”

Nick nodded but felt bad about the destruction he had caused. He thought he might be a little feverish; he coughed more, but there was a lot of smoke, so it likely meant little. The field in front of them didn’t appear to have ever been tilled, but he was afraid this fire would destroy farms and people’s homes. Nick asked, “Arthur, are there any villages around here?”

“I have no idea. Why?”

“Could you send out scouts, please? I may be able to stop the fire before it kills anyone if I know where to go.”

“If you wish. There’s not going to be any battle today anyway. By the way, could you make it rain? We could camp on the top of the hill if it cools fast enough.”

“No, I don’t know how to do that. It will just have to cool naturally. The scouts, please?”

Nick ended up heading west with Winkershime after a report of a small hamlet in the way of the blaze. Fortunately, without Nick driving it, the fire spread slowly in a nearly windless day and he could get in front of it. There was a pond at the edge of the small village, so he splashed water out and between the buildings and the flames and then set a backfire beyond the wet area and drove it to the advancing blaze. Close to flames and smoke, he began coughing again.

Once that part of the fire was out, he and Ralph went back to the hamlet where he found many of the people packed and ready to flee, and three wagons from farms that had been destroyed as well as two displaced families that had nothing but the clothes they wore.

Nick couldn’t change what had happened. The only good thing was that there were no reports of deaths and only minor injuries. He thought he should apologize for the damage he had done but thought again. He hadn’t done anything wrong; war was about destruction, and sometimes non-combatants suffered. As a prince it was his responsibility to do what was necessary and he had, but he did feel bad about it.

He took the time to explain to the displaced farmers that the blaze was the consequence of a conflict with three traitorous lords from the north and had Ralph hand out generous compensation for the lost homes, crops, and possessions as well as enough for food and lodging through the winter. Nick was surprised the farmers all accepted their losses with resignation rather than blame him and that they seemed astonished and grateful when they received reimbursement.

As they rode back to their army, Nick asked Ralph, “Why weren’t they angry with me?”

“Because you are Prince Nicholas. You are their superior with the power to do whatever pleases you.”

“But they were grateful to me. I destroyed everything they had, irreplaceable things, and they were grateful just for some money.”

“Most lords wouldn’t have even paused to tell them what happened, much less stop the fire and give peasants compensation, Your Highness.”

“That’s not right. If we’re going to be in charge and have wealth and privilege, we need to live up to our responsibilities too.”

“I agree, Your Highness, I definitely agree.”

Nick and Ralph rode back to the army in silence save for Nick’s occasional coughing, the prince deep in thought and Ralph checking for anyplace the fire was still burning or had started up again. The one or two places he saw, Nick just used his trip line to scuff up dirt and toss it on the flames until they died.

The Anglian army did camp on the hill despite the lack of rain. Nick, Elias, and Ralph made another search for runes but didn’t find anything. There weren’t any objects left to put runes on other than the supplies that were brought in from the previous camp. If Earl Lawrence or Alice had scratched any on the ground itself, they had been trod into nothing harmlessly.

Nick’s tent was there complete with extra hangings and cots. The ground was still slightly warm, but it was comfortable in the chilly evening air. They learned Ulle’s army had camped on the other side of the river. The Aron was fairly shallow locally and had numerous easy fords so it wasn’t a barrier to an army, although it had been wide enough to stop the fire.

Nick was glad to learn that to the east the fire was out as well. The fields had been harvested and some of the crop stubble plowed under, so there was little to burn and the locals had tossed dirt on it until it died. He asked Ralph to send word to Lord George, Earl of Completon, to compensate any other of his people that had legitimate claims to fire losses, and the Crown would give him recompense.

Elizabeth checked Nick’s forehead and declared he had a slight fever. She made him hot tea with honey to sooth his cough and added some willow bark for fever as well, but the honey hid its bitter flavor. It did make him feel better and stopped his coughing, at least for a little while.

The prince spent some time thumbing through his magic book, but he couldn’t find even a mention of whatever Alice had thrown at him or anything similar. If…when they won this battle, he wanted whatever book she had been using. Maybe he needed her magic book to find out how to counter what she had done. Or maybe it was just a cold, and he was young and strong and would recover on his own.

Ralph came back from a ramble through the camp and said, “None of the soldiers or conscripts want to fight other Anglians. We may see some desertions before morning.”

“I don’t blame them much,” said Elizabeth. “If there were people from Aggradon on the other side, I wouldn’t want to fight them either. I imagine it would be rather horrible to come face-to-face with people you know and have the choice of killing them or being killed by them.”

“Nor do I,” Ralph agreed. “We can hope that Ulle has the same trouble, and perhaps even worse. The people from Denland, Montexter, and Ulle aren’t going to want to fight against the forces of their rightful king. I wonder if his followers even know he’s a witch. What happened on the hilltop wouldn’t have been very visible to them since it mostly happened on our side of the hill.”

“But surely they would have seen him doing the thing with the insects,” Nick objected.

“Maybe, but it looked to me like they were just waving their arms around,” replied Elizabeth. “I didn’t see any flashing lights or anything overtly magical. Ulle could have made some excuse like he was calling on some of the old gods or something.”

Ralph countered, “Or maybe people up north are aware that their ruling class has a strain of magic in their blood, and they’re used to it.”

“I guess we won’t know until everyone sees magic on the battlefield tomorrow,” Nick said, sounding a little hoarse and coughing.

Ralph looked at him with concern. “Your Highness, perhaps you should go to bed early and get as much rest as you can.”

“You’re right, but I thought you were calling me Nick in the field.”

“When we’re in disguise, but we’re not in disguise at the moment. Although I must admit to slipping into familiarity at times, for which I apologize, Your Highness.”

Nick sighed and shook his head. “I’m going to bed. I’m too tired to debate the issue. You know I don’t care, so you’re forgiven, Ralph…Winkershime, whatever. Good night.”

The night was quiet except for occasional coughs from Nick. When he woke them in the predawn with a coughing fit, Elizabeth got up and brewed him some more medicinal tea and had him sit up and drink it. It worried her that he still felt hot to her. Usually fevers abated overnight.

The camp roused at dawn. The prince stayed in his cot until breakfast smells roused him, but he only picked at his food. That alarmed both Ralph and Elizabeth.

“Your Highness, you need fortification for the day. You must eat, even if you don’t feel like it.”

Elizabeth added, “Nick, you told me that you use a lot of energy when you control your magic. You can’t do that without fuel.”

Nick nodded and downed a bite of eggs and sausage, but it was a noticeable effort. He ate two more mouthfuls before he gave up.

“Sorry, that’s all I can manage. I could drink more of that tea though.”

Elizabeth gave him more and loaded it up with honey. Nick made a face at the extreme sweetness but finished his second cup. He wouldn’t take anything else.

At least his nose isn’t running, Elizabeth thought and then frowned. If it was just a cold, then his nose should be drippy by now. She resolved to keep an eye on her betrothed, hoping he wasn’t sicker than she had originally thought.

Arthur called a meeting of all the nobility and officers outside his tent. He stood on a small table and said loudly, “Gentlemen, this is not a battle we want. This is being forced on us. The men opposite are not our enemies. They are fellow Anglians being led astray by traitors. Therefore, as much as possible, we must concentrate our efforts on those leaders. Any man who surrenders will be granted quarter, and we will treat their wounded as our own. But in spite of the circumstances, I expect every man to do his duty and fight bravely for the unity of great Anglia. That is all.”

The crowd dispersed, and everyone organized for battle. Nick rode Falcon near Arthur again followed by the dukes and a few other lords, with Elizabeth and Ralph a little behind. But most of the commanders were spread out with their units. From the crest of the hill they could see the river in the distance and the charred landscape in between. But Ulle wasn’t interested in trying to fight uphill any more than they had been the day before, and his army had formed on the other side of the river.

They didn’t stay on the hill long, but proceeded down and across the intervening space at a measured walk. The dukes moved out one to each flank, and the central group was just Arthur, Nick, General Dunn, Connidian, Elias, and Ralph. Nick strained to see if there were any separate groups near the opposing army, but he couldn’t spot anyone. When they got close enough, he recognized Ulle in the center front and Alice just behind him. So this was just going to be a straight out melee, no separate sorcerous duels.

He put up matter shields as a few arrows flew toward them, but they were still out of range and nothing hit his shields, so he dropped them. Elizabeth and Ralph had moved into position directly behind him as the pace of the advance increased.

When he reached his range, Nick started throwing long horizontal lines of fire, not at Ulle but off to either side. As he had expected, Earl Lawrence couldn’t shield his entire army. Nick aimed low, singeing legs and toes and frightening back both horses and foot soldiers rather than trying to kill.

Ulle tried to respond with fire of his own, but it fell far short. Arthur noticed and brought the army to a halt, while Nick moved a pace or two in front. He cantered down the line of troops, tossing fire punctuated with an occasional bolt of lightning at the opposition. The front line of troops scrambled back into the line behind them, which was trying to retreat as well. One entire wing of Ulle’s army milled in confusion, breaking their lines.

The prince galloped back to the center and started down the other side, but Ulle could see he would lose if he just waited, so he signaled attack. Nick spun Falcon around and sped back to Arthur as the opposition started to move forward across the shallow water. Arthur signaled advance as well, and the two armies rushed at each other, led by flights of arrows from both sides.

Nick held his matter shield against the arrows until the two armies were too close for the archers to fire into the center without risking hitting their own leadership. Then he dropped his shield and aimed his concentrated fire at Alice, but she grounded it. Nick raised his shield again as Alice sent a flight of sharp stones at Falcon, but his shield was large enough to prevent any getting through, and the hunter ignored the failed attack.

Everyone had cleared the space between them as their advance toward each other slowed. There was a clear space around Ulle too, but Nick could only fight one witch at a time. Anglian fighters were dashing in at the earl. They kept him busy, but they were giving their lives to do it. The best Nick could do was to raise a shield for Arthur when Ulle pointed in his direction, dropping it when he’d blocked the magical attack.

Nick coughed and slithered his trip line to the side of Alice’s shield and brought it in from the side into her horse that appropriately enough tripped and went down. Nick spurred Falcon forward, hoping to reach the witch before she recovered.

He needn’t have worried. Alice was lying in the mud barely moving, the breath knocked out of her. Nick dismounted and punched her, coughing hard. It wasn’t at all gentlemanly, but it had worked before, and it worked again. He knocked her unconscious. She had a satchel with the strap slung across her body, and he quickly opened it and found a large flat book. He shoved it in the waistband of his pants in back under his jacket and cloak and remounted slowly. He was tired and achy already, even though he hadn’t done all that much.

Earl Lawrence was still advancing, leaving a trail of bodies behind him. Nick could see Connidian blocking Arthur from charging him, moving Arthur’s horse sideways into combat with some minor lord that Arthur easily dispatched. But it left the space in front of Ulle open, and Nick moved into it.

Ulle grinned when he saw Nick. “At last, little prince, I have you!” The earl tossed something that looked like a pretty rainbow at Nick.

The prince was so startled he almost forgot to protect himself. Whatever it was sizzled alarmingly when it hit his hastily erected shield, but it obligingly slid off. He tried his trip line from the side, but Ulle’s shield was far more complete, and the trip line just slid down and grounded.

Nick went into a coughing fit and almost missed the lightning bolt headed his way. He grounded it but very close to Falcon who shied back and Nick had to focus on getting his horse under control, just putting up shields again while he did so. Something hit them that he didn’t see coming, and he looked up to see Denland swinging his sword down again from the side.

“Get out of the way, Quenton!” yelled Ulle. Nick fended off the sword again with his matter shield, sidling Falcon away to reduce the impact. Then Ralph interceded and took on the duke himself. Nick had no idea where Elizabeth was, but he didn’t have time to look for her.

Ulle stood up in his saddle and raised both hands at the prince. Nick realized two things very quickly: if he only kept defending himself, he couldn’t win and would eventually lose, and while the earl was throwing magic at him, Ulle’s own energy shield had to be down. Nick dropped his shields and crouched down as much behind Falcon as he could and still stay aboard while throwing concentrated fire with all four fingers of his right hand. He couldn’t aim well, he just hoped he hit something and Ulle missed.

Whatever Earl Lawrence threw knocked him the rest of the way out of the saddle and down into sloppy red mud. Something else hit the ground near him, and Nick saw Denland land in a shower of blood that he fervently hoped came from the duke and not his valet. His right hand and leg hurt. Ulle had hit them with something, or maybe it was a near miss since Nick found he could move all right. He coughed wetly and struggled to get up, knowing he could be trampled if he didn’t.

But Falcon wasn’t where he had been when Nick went down. The prince looked around and found his horse directly behind him, standing patiently in the noisy conflict. Nick turned himself on his hands and knees, still coughing, and grabbed a stirrup and pulled himself upright and then back into the saddle.

He was coated in the dirt and blood mixture he had landed in. Nick wiped what he could off of his face so he could see, but he didn’t spot Ulle or Elizabeth either. He saw Arthur had Montexter kneeling in front of him in surrender, and there were shouts of “Cease fighting!” and “It’s over!” coming from various parts of the battlefield. The noise gradually abated.

Nick rode over to where he had last seen Ulle and found him and his horse dead on the ground. One of his beams had hit the horse in the head, and another had gone through Lawrence’s heart. He felt bad for the horse but nothing much for the earl, and was too tired to care.

He went back to where he thought he had left Alice but didn’t see her. If she was alive, she needed to be secured immediately, but he saw no sign of her. Then he spotted a dainty hand protruding from the mud. That was enough; he didn’t really want to know if she had been trampled or just drowned in the slop he rode through.

Nick coughed hard and something foul-tasting rose into his mouth. He spat it off to the side and saw it was a purplish black. That ended his hopes that he only had a simple cold. But Alice’s book was still securely tied in his waistband, he could feel a corner poking him.

The prince rode slowly back toward Arthur. The Warleader was loudly ordering that only the opposing nobility be taken prisoner and for certain of his own officers to take over Ulle’s camp. Nick heard hoof beats coming up behind him and turned to the welcome sight of Elias joining him.

“Hi. Did you see what happened to Ralph?” he asked her.

“Hi, he had a rather bad cut on his arm. He’s gone to the physicians. Are you all right?”

“Aside from being covered in muck and exhausted, I think so.” Nick hacked up more black stuff and spat it away from Elizabeth so she couldn’t see it.

“Since your valet isn’t available, how about I take over? We’re not needed here anymore. Let’s go back to our tent. I’ll get the cooks to heat some water, and we can both clean up and change.”

“The horses…”

“Goldie and Falcon will be given the best of care, I assure you. Come on, you’re very pale. You’re not going to fall off, are you?”

“’Course not, I never fall off my horse. I’m a prince, and we don’t do that.”

Elizabeth just said, “Right,” but rode beside him and watched him carefully just in case. They made it back without mishap.

At his tent, Nick dismounted slowly, but on the ground he had to hold on to the saddle for a moment to avoid falling down.

Dirty as he was, Elizabeth got an arm around him, helped him into the tent, and plopped him in a chair. She poured out both water and wine for him and went to see about the hot water.

Nick wiped his hands thoroughly on a cloth and wiggled out of his mud-encrusted cloak and jacket. The book had been protected by his clothes and was no worse for the battle. Nick drank down the water and sipped the wine while he leafed through it.

It was definitely a book of magic, but it was completely different from his little book. The language in it was somewhat archaic and difficult to read, and he didn’t try to puzzle out much. When he found himself staring at the same page for several minutes without comprehending anything, he closed it and put it down.

Elizabeth arrived back leading soldiers who were lugging two small tubs of warm water, and had them put one in Nick’s area and the other in hers. She helped Nick into his sleeping area and brought the chair he had been sitting in too since it was already dirty.

Nick sat limply, awake but not moving much. He helped some as she undressed him, stopping her at his last piece of clothing. Elizabeth noticed small red spots on his right leg above the edge of where his boot had been and on his right hand as well.

“What are these?”

“I dunno, whatever Ulle did with his last spell. I think most of it missed me. Oh, I wonder if Falcon has these too. Can you check?”

“Later. Do they hurt?”

“No, just itches a little.”

“Clean up and call when you’re done, and I’ll help you into bed.”

Nick muttered something that sounded like agreement, and Elizabeth left to get the sweat and mud off of herself. She heard the little splash when he got in the tub. It was too small for him to do much more than sit with his legs folded up, so he couldn’t drown in it.

Once she was clean and dressed, Elizabeth went back to see how he was doing. She hesitated at the hanging. “Nick, are you decent?” she called out. When he didn’t answer, she went in; this was no time for modesty. She found him clean and wrapped in towels lying on his cot. She shifted him enough to get him under the blankets.

She got soldiers to take away the filthy water and tossed their muddy clothes into a pile. Ralph came in just as she finished and looked at the laundry.

“Is that for me?” he asked. He looked tired and dirty, and his left arm was in a sling.

“I suppose, but later. Are you all right?”

“They tell me I’ll live, but right now I’m not all that sure.”

“I think a warm bath might help and some food.”

“The prince?”

“He’s clean and asleep. I’ll take care of things. Just sit down, Ralph, before you fall down.”

The fact that the valet obeyed her worried Elizabeth a little. He wasn’t inclined to sit while his betters worked. But once he had bathed and changed, he seemed more energetic, and the two of them ate stew and bread together.

“Prince Nicholas has eaten?” Ralph asked as they finished.

“No, I gave him some water and wine, but he’s been asleep.”

Ralph took a bowl of stew in to Nick but came back with it untouched. “He’s still asleep and feels quite feverish. As much as I respect your herbal abilities, my lady, I think it’s time for the physicians,” the valet said, and went to fetch one.

He returned shortly with two physicians, who went into Nick’s area and closed the hangings behind them. Elizabeth couldn’t see what they were doing, but she could hear everything that was said. The doctors agreed that Prince Nicholas had the grippe and gave Ralph powders to brew into tea for him and said to keep his body warm but put cool cloths on his head.

They left, and the valet piled another blanket on Nick and gave the powder to Elizabeth. It had willow bark and other things in it, not much different from what she had been giving him. Ralph went out and came back with soldiers carrying a brazier to heat the tent during the night and a clean stone warmed by the cook fire that he awkwardly put by Nick’s feet with his one good arm. Other soldiers set a campfire right outside the tent and hung a kettle of clean water to heat.

When the water had heated, Elizabeth made Nick tea with some of the powder, and she and Ralph woke him. Nick started coughing as soon as he was awake. The prince coughed up more of the black stuff into a handkerchief the valet held, and both Ralph and Elizabeth looked at the dark slime in alarm.

“What is that?” Winkershime asked.

Elizabeth replied, “I have no idea. I’ve never seen anything like that come out of a person. I don’t think this is the grippe, Ralph.”

“It’s not,” Nick said miserably. “It’s some sort of curse or something from Alice.”

The valet sat behind Nick to give him something to lean against, and Elizabeth held the cup to Nick’s mouth and made sure he drank it all.

“If this is the result of magic, how do we reverse it?” she asked.

Ralph shook his head, but as soon as Nick finished his drink, the prince said, “Alice’s magic book, I left it on the table, I think. Maybe you could look at it and find the spell for me. If I can understand what she did, perhaps I can fix it. It was black with a purplish glow, and it leached through my shields somehow.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find it,” Elizabeth said, and they got Nick settled under the blankets again. He coughed weakly a few times but then went back to sleep. Ralph got the brazier going with some coals from the fire and put a damp cloth on Nick’s forehead. They left the hangings open so they could keep an eye on the prince.

Elizabeth took the magic book and started looking through it, but she was tired and shortly set it aside. “I think I need a good night’s sleep before I tackle this. I don’t want to miss the spell because I’m exhausted. What’s going on out in the camp?” she asked Ralph.

“Sorting mostly. Arthur is keeping enough troops to assist the guard in escorting his prisoners and the wounded back to Londinum and releasing most everyone else to go home.”

“How long will that take? Will the camp be here a few days?”

Ralph shook his head and said, “Not likely. I don’t think they’ll break camp tomorrow because there are still wounded being looked at, and they’ll need to know how many wagons are needed for transport. But the day after surely.”

Elizabeth’s gaze went to Nick. “We don’t have to leave until he’s ready,” Ralph added. “Prince Arthur will give us guards, supplies, and wagons, and we can stay until His Highness is stronger.”

Elizabeth moved her cot in next to Nick. Ralph started to do the same, but she stopped him. “I’ll take care of him for now. You’re wounded, you need to rest. You can spell me later after you’ve slept a few hours.”

Ralph agreed and went to bed. Elizabeth sat up, rewetting the cloth as needed and listening to the sounds of the camp die down until it seemed like she was the only one awake.