Ironhelm - Douglas Niles [42]
"Yes… but you're hurt." She looked al his chest with genuine concern. "You saved my life!"
Halloran felt a delayed reaction to the sudden deadly combat. His knees shook and his muscles felt drained. He did not resist as she lifted his arm over her shoulder and supported him, aided by several men who only now arrived on the scene.
"Get Ihe Bishou!" she shouted, and one of the men turned to obey. Hal had visions of his last rites, his soul delivered to Helm on a silver platter.
They soon reached the main gathering, and the brown-robed Bishou Domincus came striding forward to greet them. From the glowering look on his features, Hal felt certain the cleric did indeed want to send his soul Helmward.
"Help him, Father! He saved my life! The creature… it was horrible! I don't know what it was!" Martine's words spilled forth in an excited jumble.
"'Hakuna', the chief called it." Hal blinked and saw Cordell standing beside the Bishou. The captain-general's face was slightly amused, not displeased. "That was well done. Captain!" Despite Hal's pain, the commander's words sent a thrill of pride to the core of his being. He smiled weakly as Martine helped him to lie upon the beach. The Bishou, still glaring, knell beside him.
"Helm deliver this warrior from his wounds." Domincus closed his eyes and chanted. "He fought bravely and truly in your name. Grant me the power lo close his flesh, lhal he may strive further in your valorous cause!"
Halloran felt his pain flow from his body as if the dam re- straining it had been breached. His arm, hanging limply before, suddenly became strong, and he struggled to rise.
"Rest here," said Martine quietly. "Don't get up yet." Her voice was so soothing, the sand and the sun so pleasant, that Hal had no difficulty obeying. She rested her hand upon his forehead, and it seemed as though cool water washed over him. In moments, he slept.
It was late afternoon before he was awakened by Dag-grande. "Last boat to the Osprey. Unless you want to wait here and dance with that hakuna again tonight, that is."
Hal sprang to his feet, feeling remarkably spry. "Are we moving on?"
"Aye. The scout ships returned. This is an island, like I said. But now we hear taies of real mountains and a huge land that these folks get to by canoe. I think our next landfall will be the mainland."
"Splendid!"
"That's not all. We hear they have a real city there… and a pile of gold big enough to blind you in bright sunlight!"
Halloran saw several of the native girls being lifted into longboats, most of which had already been taken back to the ships. Some distance away, Martine and the Bishou were locked in a heated conversation, but he could not hear what they said. The daughter gestured angrily, and the father turned sourly away.
As Hal and Daggrande reached the Ospreys boat, Martine called to the cavalryman. He paused on the beach as Daggrande impatiently waited in the boat.
"I'm coming with you," said the woman. He saw a look of unfamiliar determination on her face.
"Of course." Halloran was delighted by the news, mostly. "But what about your father? Doesn't he want you aboard the Falcon?"
"Hmph!" She flounced past him and turned to look at the Bishou. He was aiding several native girls into another longboat. "Father seems to have been given a 'gift.'" Martine gestured at a dusky maiden. "A slave!"
Halloran looked in surprise, guessing that all twelve of the girls had been distributed among the other captains and influential officers of the fleet, as Martine continued. "I told him that he should set her free! Helm does not sanction slavery! But he made all sorts of stuttering noises-'It would be an insult to her people,' and such!"
She cast an angry look back toward the cleric, and Halloran felt very glad that he was not the target of such scalding rage. Yet he didn't know what to say to her as she looked back at him, her eyes still flashing.
"I think he likes having a pretty young slave! And so I toid him I would not ride on the same