36
Penance
“I’m such a fool.” Tolburt hung his head, refusing to look up at Raedrick, or even at anything except his own lap. After a second, his breath caught and it sounded as though he was weeping, or trying very hard to keep from doing so.
They sat in the treatment room at the Healers Circle, and Raedrick had just finished telling the events of the last several days. He tried to keep a stern, calm face while doing the telling. But especially now, as Tolburt broke down, he had to work hard to maintain his bearing, so he thought of other things to keep himself calm: the sound of wind through the trees, the taste of finely mulled wine on a crisp autumn day, the pleasant ache of his muscles after a hard workout in the sparring ring with Julian.
Finally, Tolburt got himself a bit more u
