Exercising the enormous control she had trained herself to wield when performing surgery, Evie wrestled all her nervous energy back under her own control and focused her mind on Barro.
She was surprised by how quickly she found her calm but she was genuinely shocked at the new and strange sensation that felt like electricity running through her as she went to work on her patient. She had no time to ponder what it meant, though. All that mattered right now was seeing if she could save Barro. It didn’t matter that he had attacked them. She was a doctor. She had taken an oath to preserve life.
Corbel was breathing hard, watching Evie, hardly daring to believe that she was offering ministrations to their enemy. The man had done his utmost to kill him and yet here she was snarling at him, accusing him of murder, swearing at him. His offence deepened when he realised that she wasn’t even going to turn her attention away from Barro for a second to check on his injuries.
He angrily shifted his gaze to the other two bandits. Blacktooth looked to be dead, lying in a surprisingly large pool of blood. The old man was groaning, also prone; Corbel had probably dislocated or re-broken that hip. He didn’t care.
‘Finish it!’ Barro growled at him. ‘Soldier to soldier.’
‘Don’t compare us,’ Corbel replied. ‘Suffer on. I —’
‘Quiet! Both of you, just shut up!’ Evie yelled. ‘I need to concentrate.’
He heard Barro sigh but it didn’t sound like the sigh of someone accepting a rebuke so much as the sound of someone resigning. Corbel had heard it before. And he was sure Evie had. Barro sighed once again, accepting his death.
‘No, please, no! Hang on. Stay alive, Barro. For me.’
‘Evie. Let him die,’ Corbel urged. ‘I hope you’re not thinking of —’
She turned on him, though her hands never left Barro’s major wound. ‘Don’t you dare!’ she raged, her voice barely under control. He had seen her annoyed before, he’d even seen her angry but he had never seen this; this hot rage, and the temper directed at him! Corbel bit back on his next words and staggered slightly, shocked by the snarl on her mouth, the contempt of her tone. He was sure he could see disgust in her gaze. ‘Don’t you dare tell me what to do, de Viz, or whatever the hell your bastard name is!’
It felt worse than a shock slap, worse even than a punch in the belly. Corbel felt his very world tilt. ‘It’s de Vis,’ he corrected, unable to think of anything else to say. He heard his own voice sound soft and shocked.
But she didn’t care, it seemed. ‘Go to hell!’ she spat at him before returning her attention to Barro.
‘Evie,’ he began.
‘Don’t,’ she warned. ‘Don’t say anything more.’
He didn’t. He left Evie to her ministrations. He carelessly hauled Blacktooth’s body away and left it behind some rocks. Then he busied himself, studiously ignoring the old man prone nearby, pushing soil around with his boots to disguise the pool of blood that had begun to dry into the ground. Satisfied that the worst of it was covered, he glared at the injured man.
‘I won’t be helping you,’ he snarled.
‘Just something for the pain — arack perhaps?’
Corbel shook his head.
Evie silently moved in front of Corbel and knelt down beside the wheezing old man, laying her hands on him. Corbel was desperate to speak but bit back on his words, this time looking away in despair. Her defiance might get them both killed.
He looked back over at Barro and saw what he most dreaded. The man was sitting up, holding his head. ‘What just happened?’
Barro asked, touching his chest, his belly, looking down at his body with incredulity.
Corbel walked over to him but said nothing.
‘You killed me. I died. I’m sure of it. I felt the life leave me.’
‘Seems you imagined it,’ Corbel muttered.
Barro’s crazed eyes searched his own. ‘You killed me, damn it!’
Corbel put his hands up defensively. ‘All right. Hush.’ His mind was racing. How could he keep this situation under control?
Barro’s confusion deepened, his brow almost hooding his eyes. ‘All right? All right?’ he demanded. ‘You mean you agree?’
Corbel sighed. ‘I clearly didn’t kill you,’ he said, his exasperation spilling.
‘It’s done,’ Evie said, sounding suddenly drained. ‘I’ve put him to sleep. We need to talk,’ she said, her voice hard, eyeing them both.
Barro shook his head. ‘I don’t understand any of this.’
Evie glared at Corbel. ‘Are you going to explain?’
He shook his head slightly. ‘You’re the one taking control. Why don’t you throw us straight into deeper danger? Your father —’ he began but was cut off by Evie.
‘My father, whoever he was, was a cowardly dog. If I’m to believe what you’ve been telling me then what on earth was in his head to think he was doing me a favour sending me off with you in the manner he did, all the secrecy, and the risk of such dislocation?’
‘He kept you alive,’ Corbel said.
‘For what? Ask yourself. What do you think we can achieve in terms of the grand fight you seem to believe we are up against?’
Before Corbel could think of how to answer her, Barro began to get to his feet and Evie snapped her head around to glare at him. ‘And I’d suggest you remain still for a while longer.’
‘Who are you both?’ the bandit asked, sounding deeply bewildered. ‘I thought I heard the name de Vis being bandied around. But perhaps that’s just part of my present madness because I am sure I am dead.’
Corbel felt momentarily sorry for the man. He walked over and helped Barro to his feet. ‘Slowly,’ he said. ‘Listen to her regarding your health. She knows what she’s talking about.’
Barro’s fist bunched Corbel’s shirt. ‘Answer me, damn you. I should be dead, right? Gar knows I felt the keen pain of your sword entering my flesh.’
‘Listen to me, Barro,’ Evie said, her tone plain. Gone was her polite bedside manner. ‘You’re going to have to accept something that seems impossible. You are walking proof that magic happens. Get past it!’
Corbel threw her a glance of gratitude. He’d feared for a moment that she was going to launch into a discussion about medicine and physiology. But she ignored his gaze, continuing to stare hard at Barro. ‘Do you believe in magic, Barro?’
The man looked between them both but Corbel refused to look at him. This was too difficult. Besides, it wasn’t right. It was opening them up to a raft of new problems.
‘I believe only in what I see,’ Barro answered carefully.
Corbel watched Evie’s eyes flare. ‘Excellent,’ she said, all brisk efficiency. ‘Then you believe yourself healed?’
‘I have no choice, do I? But I want to understand how it comes that I am whole.’
‘I’ll explain again. I used magic on you,’ she said matter of factly. ‘I healed you.’
‘But that’s impossible,’ he began, again flicking his glance between the two of them. ‘Prove it. Heal the boy,’ he said to Evie.
‘I don’t have to prove it to you. I have already shown you by the fact that you are not bleeding out into the soil. I’m sorry to say that it’s too late for him. He is already dead.’
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