The Wolf and the Snake (English version)

Chapter 5

Half-naked, her hands tied, Guiraude is brutally pushed into the void. Hilarious soldiers then threw huge stones at the broken and bloody body of the unfortunate woman.

"The wench isn't moving at all! She's dead," one of them sneers.

"Before her execution, the heretic saw and felt our cock! We were so generous," another laugh.

Stones have covered the one who was Lord of Lavaur.

I wake with a start.

It was a horrible nightmare, and I was the helpless witness of an atrocious murder.

That of poor Guiraude of Lavaur, a relative of mine according to the crossbowmen's master!

This courageous woman and her brother confronted the cruel Simon of Montfort, who once led a war against the South of the kingdom to eradicate Cathar heresy.

In the distance, bells are ringing. It's already morning.

Reyn and Aurel didn't come back.

It's not in their habits.

I remember that unpleasant affair from the day before.

Will Bernard of Congast stop threatening me? Strangers bravely supported Aurel and me against this horrible monster.

But Aurel didn't like it.

"Those Italians feasted their eyes on you! So as not to forget you and relate your existence to the Visconti demons!" he shouted on the way to Damietta.

"Nothing is certain, Cousin!" I protested. "You should be reconciled with Mistress Hersende rather than tormenting yourself over foolishness."

"Great God! I don't desire to marry one day, least of all with Hersende. Am I clear, my cousin?" he growled.

Once we reached Damietta, he wished me a good evening. Then he slipped away to take his command in towers.

At the end of a long wait, anxiety seizes me.

They should already be back.

I finally get movement outside the house.

I also hear Aurel's and the lord of Terme's voices:

"Be careful! He can hardly stand!" Aurel warns.

"Damn it! Let's hope she can heal him," Oliver replies.

I cry with despair as they enter the patio, firmly supporting Reyn, whose hauberk is heavily stained with blood.

I anxiously cup his handsome face.

He's pale as a dead man and breathing with difficulty. "It's only a scratch," he murmurs.

I beg him to be quiet because he must save his strength. His wound is bleeding a lot, and it's not safe to go upstairs. So instead, I will take care of him in the kitchen where there's a large table. Oliver and Aurel lay him down on it, and I check the wound.

Reyn has been badly stabbed with a sword.

Fortunately, no major organs seem to have suffered. But it's necessary to suture quickly to avoid dangerous blood loss. Oliver and Aurel remove his hauberk while I prepare my instruments. I start by carefully washing flesh. The blade hit Reyn on the left side, just below the lung. Little higher up, it would have been pierced.

This idea makes me sick.

He half-opens his beautiful eyes when he breathes in a blend of medicinal herbs. My mixture puts him asleep, and I can stitch the wound with two needles and a single thread between them, as my father taught me. I finish with a bandage.