"To the ships!" cried Amrhost. "Before more of the enemy arrive! We must depart this place!"
As they neared the ships, Amrhost saw with relief that only one of them was smoking badly, a few others slightly. There were no other dragons to be seen, at least for the moment. Meanwhile, the people of Hollind were being ferried, quickly and efficiently by longboat, to the awaiting ships.
Bix, he saw, was walking to and fro, giving orders, chewing his pipe. Julina lay with the wounded. A doctor was working to remove the arrow from her leg. Rhia was at her side, holding her hand. He thought Julina to be unconscious, until her features clenched in pain, and her back arched.
"Well, Master Amrhost?" Bix asked him. "Are you coming, or making your own way?"
Amrhost became very still and, closing his eyes, listened as Julina began weeping with pain.
Though half asleep, Rhia smiled to herself as she watched Julina wake late the following evening. She had pretended to be asleep, so as to give Amrhost a sense of privacy.
Julina blinked the sleep of her eyes, and frowned at the man leaning over her. She would have rubbed at her eyes, but he was holding her hands. She thought about that a moment, but something inside her yielded, and she held his a little tighter. "What happened to your beard?"