Bourne (River of Time 3.1 Novella)

  BOURNE

  (The River of Time Series)

  Copyright 2012, Lisa Bergren

  Kindle Edition

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  A Note from the Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  ~GABRIELLA~

  "M'lady! They approach!" the guard yelled down to us from the walls.

  "Thank God," I muttered, taking my first full breath in what seemed like hours. Ever since the battle had ended the night before, Sienese patrols had circulated in and out of Castello Forelli, to drop off wounded, reprovision, rest, and head out again. As the night wore on, and the Fiorentini withdrew north, the patrols were gone for longer periods of time. But Marcello, Luca, and Lord Greco hadn't shown up at all.

  Leaving me to fear the worst, of course.

  "Open the gates!" the wall guard cried.

  Three knights went to the massive crossbeam and slid it to one side, then opened the fifteen-foot doors. Twenty of our men on horseback arrived, but my eyes sought only one, my—

  Husband. Marcello. I sighed in relief and then picked up my skirts and ran to him, waiting for him to wearily dismount and take me under one of his arms. I laughed and reached up on tiptoe to kiss him. "Oh, Marcello. Welcome home."

  "I have to say, I think I'll grow accustomed to my wife welcoming me back, each time I have half a mind to chase a Fiorentini back to his side of the border." He winced as I gave him a full hug, making me pause in concern, but then Rodolfo Greco came around three others, leading his horse...and in an awkward moment, caught the last of Marcello's comment.

  His handsome chin came up, and he stilled as if embarrassed. Not that he had any reason to be embarrassed. It was simply...awkward. The once-Fiorentini now in our castello. Marcello's brother. My captor-savior. I think we were all confused as to how to proceed, exactly. It'd take some time to figure out.

  Luca came over, right next to Lia, both of them grinning. The grizzled Captain Pezzati clasped hands with Luca and the other guys, then gave me a nod of greeting and turned toward the stables. Mom came over, and I glanced in satisfaction at the circle of them, all around me. Together. At last. Everyone here, present and accounted for. Well, Dad was in his room, recovering from his own wound. But at the moment, we were all safe.

  I was relishing the sweet relief, appreciating the feel of having my husband next to me again, when I felt Marcello begin to sink. Crying out, I got a better grip on him from under one of his arms; Rodolfo Greco came under the other. I tried to ignore his sudden proximity—and the resulting weirdness. "Quickly, let's get him inside," I said.

  We eased Marcello through the Great Hall doors and into a chair, and I knelt before him. Rodolfo took a few respectful steps away. "Marcello!" I said, anxiously scanning his face and body for injury. I noticed, then, his swollen cheek, the cut at his mouth and nose, some bruising. Nothing I hadn't seen before, after taking on an enemy. But what worried me was the gray color of his skin, the way his eyes were hooded, half-shut. "Marcello, what ails you?"

  "Take your ease, wife," he said in a mumble. "I am merely weary and in—"

  His head rolled forward, and he slumped. I cried out again, and Rodolfo and Luca came to either side of him. "How is he injured?" I asked, my voice coming out in a strangled tone.

  Luca ran his fingers through his sandy-colored hair and grimaced. "We ran into some difficulty en route home, m'lady."

  "Difficulty?"

  "A Fiorentini patrol. We'd parted from our men—"

  Marcello moaned. I rose. "Marcello? Marcello." I said, holding his head in my hands. But he was out again.

  Lia brought a blanket into the room and spread it out on the floor. Rodolfo and Luca lifted Marcello and placed him on it. "Quickly," I said to the men. "Help me find his wound."

  With trembling fingers, I pulled up Marcello's tunic and gasped. His belly was covered with purple, red, and green bruises. I looked to Luca.

  "As I started to say...it happened a few hours ago," he said grimly, easing his cousin onto his side to look at his back. Mom knelt next to him. His green eyes met mine, and his anxious, lowered brows made my heart stop.

  Nothing scared Luca.

  My mom still stared at Marcello's back. "Looks like there's bruising around the kidneys," she said grimly. "He was beaten?"

  Luca eased Marcello to his back again. "We'd secured the border, thought all Fiorentini had retreated. We were anxious to return." His eyes moved to Lia, who was hovering over my shoulder, then back to me. "So Marcello, Rodolfo, and I were riding home with the others when we met up with two Fiorentini patrols. We were outnumbered, two to one. And half of them went after Marcello."

  Mom reached out to check Marcello's pulse at the wrist. I leaned down to listen to his heart, drawing strength from the steady, slow pounding of it, even as Luca told us the Fiorentini had driven Rodolfo, the twins and him to one side, then held Marcello, removed his chest armor, and began to do their best to beat him to death. "If it had not been for Captain Pezzati happening upon us with one of our own patrols, we'd all be dead by now."

  Father Tomas crossed himself, and once again, I found myself wanting to kiss every one of our knights. If they hadn't been at the right place, at the right time—

  I caressed Marcello's cheek, ignoring how Rodolfo stiffened and moved away as I did so.

  "He'll be okay, right?" I asked Mom in English.

  Her pause made my heart do the same. I dragged my eyes up to meet hers.

  "We'll know more soon, Gabi," she said, sliding her long fingers over mine. "He needs rest. Liquids. Some medicine for the pain. There's very little else we can do for him."

  Here, she meant. Now.

  Once again I was longing for a phone, a quick 9-1-1 call, an ER and doctors and nurses and clean, white sheets...but we were so far from any of that. So far.

  "Please," I said to Luca, panic rising in my chest. "Can you get him to my room?"

  He nodded and gave a low whistle. Two guards appeared and took two corners of the blanket, Luca and Rodolfo at the other ends. Marcello moaned as they rose and carried him out, squeezing through the door and down the corridor. Mom followed us out, Lia right behind her.

  They laid him on the bed in my room, and I asked them to stoke the fire and bring more wood. Giacinta appeared, telling Luca they were all needed in the courtyard, and the men left, looking relieved they had something to do. It irritated me. What could be more important right now than Marcello? Even if there was nothing to do but hang out with me and wring our hands together?

  "See what that's about, would you?" I asked Lia in a whisper. She gave me a nod and followed them out.

  Wordlessly, Giacinta helped me untie Marcello's tunic and slip it over his head. As battered and bruised as I was from our battle at Castello Paratore—had it been just yesterday?—it was nothing like what my man had suffered. It hurt just to look at him. And he was seriously dirty. "Can you fetch some hot water, soap, and rags?" I asked Giacinta. She set off immediately, leaving me and Mom alone with Marcello.

  Mom leaned over the other side of the bed.

  "What can we do for him, Mom?" I asked, my voice sounding like a little girl's, even to my own ears.

  Her blue eyes ran over every inch of his chest. One thing knights had going for them after wielding a thirty-pound sword for a few years? Six-pack abs and not an ounce of belly fat.
If I could transport these guys to our times, I'd have an annual best-selling calendar on my hands. Forget the hot firefighters. They had nothing on Italian knights. Not that I'd let my husband be in it. This one was all mine.

  Mom's eyes continued to rove over his body, looking for telltale signs of what might be going on inside him. Her fingers went to his belly and probed, like she had done with Fortino. She frowned a little. "It's a little distended, I think."

  I nodded, agreeing with her.

  "But it's not hard, so hopefully that means he's not bleeding internally."

  I let out a breath of relief. "But...you're worried about his kidneys, aren't you?"

  "Yes," she said, giving me a level stare. She was always good at handing me hard news straight on. Sugar-coater? Yeah, not my mom. She pulled down Marcello's eyelids—to check out the color of his eyes? I didn't know. I thought I remembered from WebMD that yellow eyes meant there was trouble with the kidneys. Or was that the liver? From there, my brain hustled on over to Mariah, a girl in my school who'd fallen off her tube while sledding and bruised a kidney. It had been bad. Really bad. And she'd had modern medical care. But I also remembered that people could donate a kidney to loved ones in crisis...so even if you lost one, you could deal, right?

  "He might have some bruised or broken ribs," Mom said. "See here?" She pointed along two of the lower left ribs, then ran her fingers lightly across them, checking as gently as possible. "We'll put a poultice together and wrap them. Let's take another look at his lower back."

  I raised his arm, and then together we rolled him over.

  Multiple bruises spotted his lower back, fist-wide and spreading. "They're beasts," I said. "It makes me want to strap on my sword and go hunt 'em down."

  "Probably already done for you," Mom said, gently easing my man back over.

  I nodded. An attack on Lord Forelli? I doubted any of those men yet lived.

  Mom sighed and straightened, her hand on her chest. "I don't know, Gabi. Maybe we should summon a doctor. This is way out of my league."

  "A doctor?" My last experience with one here hadn't gone so well. "So...what? They can bleed him with leeches? C'mon, Mom. You know as much as they do."

  "I don't agree. The healers of this era—legitimate healers—had some whacky ideas, but they also had a more firm command of holistic healing, methods of diagnosis...far more than I've ever known. We can discuss his treatment before we okay it. We don't have to allow any potions or leeches or anything we don't agree with."

  I stroked his face, thinking over her words. "Marcello," I whispered, leaning down by his ear. "Come on, beloved. Sveglia, Marcello. Please wake up."

  "He's been through a great deal," Mom said. "Let's hope it's just his body trying to get on top of whatever's ailing him inside. Remember when you slept for the better part of two days after...Roma?" She sounded uneasy, like even mentioning my Losin' It moments might trigger a relapse.

  "You think he might not wake up for days?"

  Concern clouded her eyes. "I don't know what to tell you, Gabi."

  My mind, of course, went directly to the time tunnel and its ability to heal. But we'd never taken five through it, and there was no way I was leaving anyone I loved behind. Could we even take five of us through? Would the healing properties work for anyone other than me and Lia? And what would happen to Dad if we went back to our own time? Would he disappear again from our lives? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll summon a doctor." I lifted a finger of warning. "But I get to okay the dude as well as anything they want to give Marcello. I haven't had the best of luck with men of the medical persuasion around here."

  Giacinta returned with the hot water and soap. Mom left to retrieve herbs and more bandages so we could apply the poultice and try to bring him some pain relief. Even if he was unconscious, Mom reasoned, helping his body fight pain could give him energy for other battles.

  "What's happening?" I asked Giacinta as I washed my husband, wiping away the grime on his face and then his chest, wondering why Lia hadn't yet returned.

  "Lord Greco left again with a patrol, and Captain Luca and Captain Pezzati with two others, all intent on making certain that no Fiorentini remain on this side of the border. The men enter our gates now, m'lady, in a steady stream, some whole and hale, seeking shelter and food, others gravely wounded. The courtyard is a mass of people...and the hallways are flooded with men all vying to claim a bit of floor for the night."

  I nodded. Before, after the worst battles, we'd escaped into our own time. This was one of the first that we were present to witness the aftermath. "You're needed elsewhere, then," I said. "Go. I'll look after my husband."

  "Are you certain, m'lady?"

  "I am. Thank you, Giacinta. For everything..." I thought of her on Paratore's wall, so close to death. How he'd taunted me, preparing to push her over the side. How her little daughter was so narrowly spared losing her mother...

  "M'lady, 'tis I who should thank you," Giacinta said, taking my hand in hers. "If you had not come when you did..."

  We shook our heads at the same time, sharing a memory of pure fear. "He's gone now," I whispered, trying to reassure myself as much as Giacinta. "Lord Paratore..." I looked to the dancing flame of the fire, remembering his body pierced by many arrows, then back to my maid and friend. "He shall never harm either of us again."

  She nodded, looking wan, and crossed herself. "I shall return to check on you, m'lady. You're certain you can do without me?"

  "Oh, yes. My mother will soon return. Please." I gestured toward the door.

  She bobbed a curtsey and left.

  ***

  After I helped Mom wrap Marcello's ribs in a long bandage—strapping a funky-smelling poultice around him that she swore would help somehow, given its ingredients of goldenseal, comfrey, slippery elm and aloe vera—she looked warily over at me. "They need you out there, kiddo. The lady of the castle and all that. The She-Wolf."

  I frowned. "I can't leave him, Mom."

  "I'll stay with him," she said, lifting her chin in a way that said Don't Argue With Me. She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at me. "When you married Marcello, you took on more than the responsibilities of marriage. You took on the responsibilities of lady of this castello, wife of one of the Nine. You need to confer with Luca when he returns. Find out what is next. What is expected." She shrugged. "Maybe there's nothing. Maybe there's a great deal. Regardless, your people need you."

  My people, I said silently, trying to get my head around it. Once, that would've meant my friends on Facebook, the people I went to the movies with, the girls I ate lunch with. Now I had hundreds of people, all looking to me to lead them. I brought my hand to my head.

  Mom took my other hand. "Gabi, you can do this. And Marcello"—she paused, glancing over at him—"he's strong. He'll pull through this."

  "Are you sure?" I asked, my voice coming out all wonky and strangled.

  She gave me a tiny, one-sided smile and nodded. "I am. Now go. Help the others in the courtyard, check in on your dad, and after you and Luca chat, come back. Okay?"

  Still I hesitated. "You'll come for me? If anything changes?"

  "Yes. Go. Send Lia back for updates if you need them. I'll sit here and watch your husband sleep. And pray that he wakes soon."

  CHAPTER TWO

  ~GABRIELLA~

  Moving like a robot, I forced myself to wash my face, put on a fresh gown, and comb out my hair and wind it into a knot. I stuffed it into a little hairnet tied beneath a cap pinned to my head. If I was going to nurse anyone down in the courtyard, I didn't want my ridiculous hair getting in the way.

  I paused at the door. "You're sure?"

  Mom nodded. "I'm sure. Go. I won't leave him."

  I glanced from her to Marcello and back, then left without another word, making myself walk down the hall. I heard them before I saw them. The moaning, the cries. The thick, stone walls and heavy, wooden door of our room had kept them mute. But once downstairs, I
was in the center of chaos. I looked around in confusion. "M'lady," cried one man, clawing at my skirt. "A bit of water? Just a mite of water?"

  "Si, signore," I said. "I shall fetch you some." I looked up and beyond him again, focusing in on the horror that swords, arrows, clubs, and staffs left behind on human flesh. The open wounds. The blood. The brokenness. The inglorious remains of war.

  As Giacinta had described, every inch of floor had been claimed by moaning and weeping men, nearly all of them filthy and bleeding, some unconscious. Others dead. Servants and the able-bodied scurried about in haphazard fashion, stopped again and again by those crying out for help. Men with treatable wounds were slowly bleeding to death as others with worse wounds got attention first.

  Well, I'd seen my share of medical dramas on TV, and they weren't going to go to waste. We needed to triage this place, or whatever you called it. STAT. Code Blue! Code Blue! blared in my head. If we didn't have a plan on how to deal with all these wounded, we'd lose more than we had to. I glimpsed Father Tomas and called out to him. He barely heard me over the din. Gingerly, he and I made our way to the door and then out into the courtyard. While there were still a good number of wounded out in the open, too, at least Father Tomas and I could hear each other.

  I paced back and forth in a three-foot square, thinking, waving the twins—Georgii and Lutterius—over to me, then Lia, then Giacinta. "This is a mess! We have able-bodied men milling about, doing little, and so many wounded! If we take the time to figure out a plan for treatment, we'll save more of them."

  "What would you have us do, m'lady?" Lutterius asked. I'd come to know him by the mole on his right cheek, as well as his slightly longer, wavy hair the color of oil. Other than that, he and his brother were identical. Big men with big noses, big eyebrows, and big smiles full of crooked teeth.

  "Call every able-bodied man into formation by the gates," I answered at last, figuring out my plan.

  Lutterius looked at Georgii and then immediately set off.

  Mom was right. A few days ago, my demands would probably have been questioned. But now, as Lady Forelli, I had power. The knowledge of it strengthened me. I looked to Giacinta. "Find a couple of men and have them bring every bag of lye we have in the storerooms out to the gates. Send three others to begin collecting every pail we have in the castle. Two others to gather bandages, needles, and uh, sinew." The last word echoed in my head, bringing back all kinds of bad memories.