Dragonhammer: Volume II Read Free Page B

tending to those who occupy the beds.
    “Kadmus!” James’s voice calls.  He sits on one of the beds further down to the left, but as he sees us he rises and walks to meet us.  “Nathaniel, Aela!”
    “James,” I greet quietly.  “How are you feeling?”
    “Well,” he responds, gently caressing his injured arm with his free hand.  “I’ll be able to fight in another day or two.  My wound was minor.”
    “Where’s Percival?”
    He looks around as if he had forgotten.  Then he points to the bed just past his own.  “There.”
    Percival sits upright leaning on the headboard, reading something.  His injured leg is stretched out on the bed, a bandage still tied around it.  This bandage is pristine.
    Percival does not notice our approach, or even look up when I sit down next to his bed.  Instead he intently reads the letter in his hands.
    “Who’s that from?” I ask.
    He starts and makes to hide the letter, but quickly realizes that his efforts are vain.  “No one,” he asserts quickly.  Aela stands coolly at the foot of his bed.
    I shake it off and ask, “You feeling any better?”
    “I feel much better,” he responds, grateful that I’ve changed the subject.  “It was only a cut, though it was a bit of a nasty one.  It’s healing quickly.”
    “Good,” says Jericho.  “Apparently we’re moving out in a few days.”
    “I’m coming, then,” Percival responds.  “You can count on it.”
    I nod.  “I’m glad to hear it,” I say.  “It’s good to have you fighting by my side.”
    James glances at the letter Percival is stealthily sliding under the covers.  “So who is that from?” he asks.
    “No one,” Percival repeats coldly.
    I raise an eyebrow and James pries, “Why were you reading it then?”
    The corner of my mouth goes up as Percival struggles for words and I recall a scene from our last visit to Fragruss.  I think for a few moments, attempting to remember the details, and then I whisper, “Is it Serena?”
    He goes silent and slightly pink.
    “That’s my boy,” says James, slapping Percival’s shoulder.  “That’s my boy!”  Percival’s face is gaining color and he’s avoiding eye contact.  “What’d she say?” James urges.
    He grins broadly and rolls his head to stare straight up at the ceiling; anywhere but us.  Then he stares intently down at his blankets.
    “Come on, what’d she say?” James presses.
    Aela still stands at the foot of the bed like she’s slightly confused, or trying to make sense of a particularly difficult puzzle.
    “Wants to meet me later,” he says.
    “How’d she know you were here?” I ask.
    He answers hesitantly, “…because I told her.”
    My other eyebrow goes up.  “So how long have you been talking?”
    “Since… since we met…” he finally says.
    “That’s my boy!” James repeats.  Apparently he was a little loud because one of the nurses shoots him a nasty look.
    “Stop it,” Percival contests feebly, red as a rose.
    “Well, you’re not going to leave her waiting, are you?” James asks.
    Percival shakes his head.
    “Of course not!  When?”
    “She just said tonight.”
    “Well, let’s go then!” James persists.  “Come on, we’ve only got a couple of days to get you two together!”
    Percival blubbers something inaudible as James grasps his arm and pulls him up out of bed.  He leans heavily on his left leg, as his right thigh still bears the wound from the battle a few nights ago.  Before James can pull him out the door, he manages to get out, “Can you at least let me go alone?”
    James stops like he’s been foiled in some plot.  He tries to find an argument but I interrupt, “Just let him go.”
    Percival looks at me gratefully.
    “Just as long as you know we’re going to want to meet her sooner or later,” I finish.  At first Percival seems a little annoyed, but quickly warms up to the idea and shrugs with a permissive nod of his head.  “Good,” I say.  “Do you