Raven paid no mind to the pain in her arm, she got dressed with some difficultly, wincing each time she moved her injured arm too much and opened the bedchamber door to the sound of arguing voices. They grew louder as she approached the common room.
“This is how you protect my daughter? You might not value her as a wife but you pledged to honor your agreement and that means keeping Raven safe.”
Raven recognized her da’s angry voice and hesitated along the narrow hall that ran from the bedchamber to the common room with two rooms off to either side of the hall.
“I will see my wife kept safe,” Wolf argued.
“Yet she suffers an arrow through her arm.”
That was Royden and he was as angry as her da.
“He could have killed her.” Her da pointed out.
Raven didn’t want to think of that. After fighting these last five years to return home to her family only to die was an unbearable thought.
“I will find the one who did this and the reason why, and he will suffer for what he did,” Wolf said with a confidence that didn’t have Raven doubting him.
“You all should temper your tone. You will disturb Raven.”
Though the voice was softer, Raven recognized it. It was Oria.
“Oria is right. Raven needs rest right now.”
That female voice was stronger and easily recognizable. It was Wren. Raven was glad to hear them both and proceeded into the room.
“What are you doing out of bed?” Wolf cautioned and went to her, his arm quickly circling her waist.
“I remembered something about the arrow that lodged in my arm,” she said.
Wolf nodded, knowing what she would say. “A Northmen symbol was carved near the tip of the arrow.”
“You tried to kill my sister,” Royden accused with a shout.
“That ends it. Raven returns home with us,” her da demanded.
Wolf’s hand shot up when Royden went to approach and Oria was quick to grab her husband’s arm.
“My wife stays with me and no one from here tried to kill Raven,” Wolf said with the strength of a man who spoke the truth. “Many Northmen engrave their arrows in the hope that they will claim many lives. Some tribes use the same symbols, but the one on the arrow that struck Raven is a common one and refers to no particular tribe.”
“One thing it does tell us,” Royden said, “is that the arrow belonged to a Northman.”
“Or the one who used it wanted us to believe that,” Wolf said.
Wren stepped forward. “You can speak or argue about this all you want but Raven’s wound needs tending.”
Wolf looked to see the cloth covering her arm had turned bloody. “You shouldn’t have gotten out of bed.”
“As much as I don’t want to admit it, he’s right,” Royden said.
“Enough!” Raven snapped and foolishly raised her wounded arm to wave her hand at her brother. A fierce pain shot through her arm and had her going limp and leaning against her husband, who immediately lifted her in his arms.
“Sit her at the table so I can tend the wound,” Wren ordered and Wolf did as she said.
Wolf remained near his wife’s side, his hand on her shoulder while Wren gently unwound the cloth covering Raven’s wound.
The door to the common room opened and two of Wolf’s warriors entered along with Brod and Clive.
“We lost the tracks,” Wolf’s warrior said once he came to a stop in front of him. “And we weren’t able to find any evidence of anyone camping in the immediate area. I have extended the search, but have found nothing so far.”
With Iver not there, she knew the man continued to follow the culprit’s trail, but said nothing. She wanted to see what he might find before confiding anything to her husband.
“See that our best archers are assigned to the battlements in the keep,” Wolf ordered.
The warrior nodded and both warriors left. Clive and Brod remained.
“You do well?” Clive asked.
“Minor pain nothing more,” Raven said. “I will speak with you later.”
“You will speak with them tomorrow and don’t bother to argue with me about it,” Wolf warned, a glare in his dark eyes challenging her.
“Tomorrow is soon enough,” Brod said. “Rest well.”
Raven watched the two men go, understanding the message. It would take until tomorrow for Iver to return, so it could wait until then for them to talk. And it was a good reason for her not to argue with her husband.
“You disturbed the wound that was doing nicely, causing it to bleed once again,” Wren said. “You need to rest it for a week or more so it may heal properly. You were lucky it caught such a small portion of your arm. That arrow could have done far more damage than it did.”
“Are you going to listen this time?” Royden asked with a glare at his sister.