Queen of Lost Stars (Dragonblade Series/House of St. Hever) by Kathryn Le Veque Page B

think you might never awaken. How do you feel?”
    Kaspian looked at the old man, puzzled by the comment, but he was even more puzzled by the fact that Lady l’Ebreux was in his bed. He was so muddled that it was difficult to form a coherent thought and he struggled through the cobwebs.
    “Weary,” he said. “I feel… very weary. And sore. I am at Lavister?”
    Dolwyd nodded. “You are,” he said. “Your men brought you back from Beeston. You were wounded there. Do you remember anything?”
    Kaspian nodded, faintly. “I remember being wounded,” he said. “I remember being taken to the wounded and I remember seeing….”
    He suddenly looked at Madelayne, flicking his eyes up in her direction. He didn’t want to mention what he saw, which was Cairn’s battered body, but he was more than interested in the woman’s close proximity to him. God’s Bones, if the woman wasn’t lying in his bed! What was going on here, anyway?
    Dolwyd saw where Kaspian’s attention went, straight to Madelayne. He suspected the man was hesitant to speak of the battle, and of Cairn, so he hastened to reassure him.
    “Cairn came back with you as well, but there was nothing to be done for him,” he said quietly. “He has been put in Lavister’s vault. It is Lady l’Ebreux’s wish that he be buried in Shrewsbury with his sons.”
    Kaspian’s brow furrowed. “Sons?”
    “Cairn’s second son was born the day you were returned from Beeston,” Madelayne said. She could see the confusion in Kaspian’s dazed face. “He did not survive his birth. I wish for Cairn to be buried with both of his sons, in the yard at Shrewsbury.”
    Kaspian felt a great deal of sorrow at the news. He well remembered the day they had departed for Beeston and how Cairn had lingered long enough to anger him, lingering with a pregnant wife who was frightened of birthing yet another dead son. In fact, Kaspian felt like an ogre for having been so impatient with Cairn but he’d had a battle on his mind and not a pregnant woman. Now, he was coming to regret his behavior a great deal.
    “I am very sorry, Lady l’Ebreux,” he said, somewhat awkwardly. “It would seem that you have had two very unhappy events in your life recently and I am quite sorry to hear of the child’s passing. As for Cairn… I will miss him. He was a good man.”
    Madelayne simply nodded her head and averted her gaze, unable or unwilling to speak more on her husband. Kaspian’s attention lingered on her for a moment, his thoughts shifting from Cairn’s death back to the fact that the woman was in his bed. Never one to skirt a subject, he looked the old physic in the eye.
    “Dolwyd,” he said. “I cannot help but notice Lady l’Ebreux is lying next to me. I would assume there is a reason for this?”
    Dolwyd gave him a half-grin, acknowledging the tone of his voice. As if Kaspian was both suspicious and afraid, but perhaps even interested, to know the answer to that question.
    “Not for anything so scandalous, I assure you,” he said. “She has been feeding you.”
    Kaspian was more puzzled than he had been before. “Feeding me?” he repeated. “I do not need for her to get into bed with me in order to feed me.”
    Dolwyd nodded. “You do,” he replied. “With your belly wound, you cannot take solid food. Lady l’Ebreux has graciously been feeding you that which was meant for her child and, along with the medicines I have been giving you, I believe you are on the path to healing. The poison in your belly has diminished and you have awakened. That is the sign that your strength is returning.”
    Kaspian stared at him. “Feeding me that which was meant for her…?” It suddenly occurred to him what Dolwyd meant. “Feeding me… that ?”
    Dolwyd snorted at the expression on Kaspian’s face. “Milk, good knight,” he said. “You have been fed milk. It is the best thing for you in your condition.”
    Kaspian didn’t know what to say. He still wasn’t over the part