She left him sleeping peacefully with fresh bandages. She had taken the blankets from the other beds and rolled them to raise his leg up. It would help him with the pain. As she entered the

room, she caught a look from Dermot.

"I think he will be well in time. But had I not treated it now..."

Dermot nodded his thanks.

"Please make sure that the others know. He is not to raise from the bed for a few days and after that, I do not want him to put any weight on the leg for a few more days at least. He should heal quickly now, but he should not over do it lest he relapse."

She crossed to her throne and sat, taking Erec's hand and squeezing it as she offered him a teary smile. She hated to think of such a kind young soul...She smiled sadly at the irony of her thoughts. Gil was kind and he was young, but he was also a trained knight...and battle hardened. He was not a soft soul...although when it came to her, it seemed they all were.

When six days were past, Gil rose from his bed and moved about slowly with the help of a crutch that Dermot made for him. Under Gwyn's orders, Dermot kept a careful eye on Gil. Gil was still too weak to walk too far or stand about for very long, so he took it upon himself to make her a table. As he said: "Wood is plentiful...and so were the hours with which to work at it."

She smiled as she watched him sitting upon his stool as he worked. She appreciated the gesture but strongly suspected that it came more from boredom than any desire to make their hiding place a real home. As cozy as it was, she could not imagine any of them wishing to remain in permanent residence there.

Gil was taking his convalescence much better than Erec was. Erec grew surlier with each day that passed. This, she knew, was due in a very large part to his forced rest. He was an active man with a strong and independent nature. It did not help that he was so weak that he could not even sit up without assistance. But she knew that he also worried over the enemy's silence.

"Gwyn, would you please call the men to me? When you return, there is something we need to discuss."

With a frown, Gwyn gave a nod as she set aside her mending and left her throne to gather the men to Erec. She met Drew at the chopping block, shirtless and sweating as the pile of firewood grew at his feet.

"Drew, Erec calls a meeting. He has something he wishes to discuss."

Reaching for his shirt he nodded.

"John is in the hermit shack. I will convey word to him after. Thomas went hunting and Gil is napping, I believe. Dermot should be at the mausoleum keeping watch in that direction."

"I shall fetch Dermot. You fetch Gil?"

"Aye." Drew said as he slipped the shirt over his head and followed behind.

---

"We have been here near six weeks and not so much as a shadow has passed near us. Do you not find that to be...suspicious?"

"I find it to be lucky." Drew answered honestly. "That we are being hunted, I have no doubts. I imagine they went to Greenwood first, and then Brecken. From there, they would fan out. By my reckoning, they will stumble upon our hermit any day now."

"You seem to have it all figured out." Erec groused.

"I have a lot of time to think when I am on watch. I figured first they would go to the ambush and find your grave."

"You think as Gwyn does? That they would desecrate the grave?"

"Beyond any doubt, Yes, I do believe thus. I also believe that they will carry the corpse or at least part off it, to their master as proof of the deed."

"If they take the head, there will be questions."

"Aye. Which is why I figure they would next ride to Greenwood. Finding no trace of you there, and no trace that anyone has ever been there, they would next ride to Brecken."

"And of course, he will be able to answer truthfully. Neither I nor my men have been seen since we left to return to the garrison."

"Aye."

"And then where would they go?" Gwyn asked, having followed the logic thus far. "There is no other place that Erec might go."

"They will return to Kingstown and begin to round up Erec's former men. They will question them and see if anyone has seen Erec."

"You do not think they would..." Gwyn gasped.

Drew shrugged. Erec frowned.

"It cannot be helped. Even if I should wish it, we are too few in number to be of any assistance."

"Should not someone at least warn the men? So that they might get their families to safety?"

"If Erec's former men suddenly started an Exodus out of Kingstown or changed their behavior in any way, it would be obvious that we were in contact. It would go much harder for them."

"We cannot just sit here and wait to be captured." Gwyn mumbled, frustrated with the situation, "There must be something that we can do. Perhaps we could somehow get word to Brecken, or maybe...Matilde!"

"Matilde?"

"She is the woman in charge of the servants. In charge of the castle really. She knows everything that happens there, almost as soon as it happens. If I could talk to Matilde..."

"NO!" Erec growled. "It is far too dangerous."

"Then send one of the men. I know, send Gil. His leg is the perfect excuse. I can alter his appearance a bit and send him with the mule and the cart. He can say he heard about a healer in residence."

"But all of the men have been taken, or have you forgotten?"

"I have not forgotten. But the lame and the wounded are beginning to return to their homes. He can limp a little more than he needs to and he has a real wound, should anyone demand to see it. And as I said, I shall alter his appearance so that he will not be recognized."

"I will do it." Gil nodded. "I am of a mind with Gwyn. I do not wish to sit here and wait to be captured. We need information. Brecken is on the king's council. He will know of any news from Kingstown."

"And if there are soldiers anywhere near Brecken, Matilde will know. Nearly everyone in that castle has family in one of the other villages. Servants always know what goes on, and they talk to each other."

"And Matilde talks to them all?"

"More the other way, really. She has always lent a willing ear, and shown interest in their lives. They respect her, and fear her displeasure, but they also view her as something of a mother hen. If there is any news, she will know of it."

---

With a strong chamomile tea, Gwyn lightened Gil's dark brown locks to a light honey brown. Then she mixed honey and vinegar and applied it with rages to small random sections of his hair.

"Gawk!" Gil made a gagging noise. "It smells terrible!"

Gwyn smiled as she covered his head with another rag and tied it at his nape. "This will keep the strips in place until morning."

"You mean I have to sleep with this stench?"

"I am afraid so." She chuckled. "But in the morning, you may wash it out. Your hair will be lighter and it will have the streaks. It will look more natural than just one color."

"And lightening my hair will make me so altered I shall not be recognized?" Gil asked doubtfully, waving his hand dramatically in front of his nose.

"It is not so bad as that." Gwyn laughed. "But it is not the only change. You were a strong healthy soldier, walking tall and proud. You were an armored knight in king's colors. Now you are a mere peasant farmer. And you must remember to favor your leg overmuch. Slouch your posture. And try not to sleep much on the road. It will alter your visage further."

"At the rate of that mule pulling the cart, I shall be a dead man-walking by the time I get there."

"Precisely. A few days on humble rations and little sleep will make your skin sallow, and it will put circles under your eyes, further removing you from the memory of the strong young soldier."

"It makes sense." Gil agreed. "I will do as you say, but I shall not like it much."

"I had just enough dried apple slices hidden away at the farm for a tart or two. I shall make them for you as a reward when you return. Mayhap we will find more than rabbit to fill your belly when you return to make up for your depravation."

"I can hardly wait to get back!" Gil chuckled. "But this really does smell horrid." He said pointing toward his head.

"Sleep out of doors. It will not smell so strongly as it does inside of doors."

"You know this? You have done this before?" He pointed to his head.

"Not to myself, no. Robin cut his own hair when he was small. Mother had me cut the rest very short and then told me how to lighten it so that it was not so noticeable. As for the vinegar, I use it to treat sunburn as it takes the pain of the burn away. But you are right, it smell awful." She wrinkled her nose in jest as she waved him off with a laugh. "Now be gone with you."

---

Their little home was as comfortable as she could make it. It accomplished nothing to worry overmuch about Gil and Dermot, which left her at odds since Erec still slept much of the time. Needing something to distract her worrisome thoughts, she turned her attention to foraging. Spring came upon them rather quickly leaving mild nights and warm sunny days for the past fortnight.

She needed to renew her supply of moss, spiderweb... if she could find willow bark...And she strongly might find a mushroom or two to add to the pots...would not that be a special treat!

Gwyn returned a few hours later. She gathered her apron into a basket of sorts, holding it on one hand to carry her gathered plants and the handful of mushrooms she found. Her simple snare was rolled up and tucked in her pocket. She held a rabbit in her other hand as she approached and found Drew at the woodpile again.

"Drew, would you give me a hand with this rabbit?"

"How did you manage that?"

"I can work a snare." She scowled but could not keep it for long. Laughing, she added: "Four brothers—remember?"

He sank the axe into the wood block and followed her off a bit to the stump they used for a chopping block. He pulled his dirk and reached for the rabbit. "What?"

"What?" Gwyn blinked as she released the rabbit.

"I know that look." Drew laughed as he set the rabbit on the chopping block.

"Have you ever had to...to hide before?"

"You mean like we are now? No. Cannot say that I have. I have had to hide...that is to say, I have hunted and I have made more than one chancy escape from a battlefield. I have even done a little spying."

Gwyn nodded but her frown deepened.

"Spit it out little sister." Drew chuckled as he worked on the rabbit. "What troubles you?"

Frustrated that he did not understand, she stomped her foot and put her hand on her hip, still holding the apron full of plants with the other hand.

"You might as well run up a great white flag or build a giant bonfire to tell our enemy where we are hidden!" her voice rose until she was near shouting. "I think mayhap you want to be found!"

"I do not understand. Is it something one of the men have done? Tell me and I shall get it corrected at once."

"You really do not see it?" Gwyn shook her head and blew an exasperated breath. "And you were a spy? It is a wonder that you lived to tell it." She finished on a mumble.

"Would you care to elaborate?"

Gwyn tipped her face heavenward as she let out a breath and sent up a prayer for patience.

She had to make him see. Perhaps...

"If Erec sent you out today to search out a band of murdering bandits and you knew them to be in or around a particular area, what would you do?"

"Search the area." Drew said patiently, knowing Gwyn was fixing to make a point. "I would look for the bandits or sign that the bandits had passed through."

"And that would tell you for a certainty that the murdering bandits were there?"

Drew frowned. "I assume you mean this particular area is supposed to be unpopulated, so yes." He paused. "Else a hermit is living near."

"We have begun to wear trails and clearing the wood. It has become rather obvious that someone is here. If I were out today searching for those bandits instead of plants, I would find them rather too easily."

Drew frowned, looking about as Gwyn went on.

"I strongly suggest one of you become a hermit." She waved her hand off toward the wood. "And build a shelter and reside in it. Cook there and eat there. Mayhap use it for the man on guard duty? In any instance, you must needs to so soon."

"Clever girl."

Gwyn arched a brow and Drew laughed. Gwyn turned to go but paused. Turning back, she spoke softly.

"I have not had the chance to ask and Erec is healing well enough. But I need...I want to..."

"Erec is very fortunate to be alive. So many little things happened that day that I am convinced there was an angel watching over him. When he was hit, he was dismounting. It changed the angle of entry. And just that morn, he donned his pauldron over his normal mail. It protected his heart but..."

"It was bad then?"

Drew hesitated to answer but saw the pleading in her eyes and knew that as a healer she could handle the particulars without swooning.

"I thought him lost when first I got to him on the field. He was in a bad way. But the arrow struck the pauldron first. It pressed out a deep groove before it pierced the mail beneath the lower edge of the pauldron. The arrow head went in thusly..."

Drew held his right hand in front of him, palm facing him so his fingers went horizontal and spread them to show the ribs.

"It stuck in his ribs like so."

With his left hand he pointed two fingers perpendicular and showed how they could not pass betwixt the ribs. "Had it all not happened just as it did, I am afraid that Erec..."

Gwyn held up a hand. She did not wish to hear anymore. Erec lived and for that she was grateful.