In the fort

Wim rested in the remain of the of the fort. The place gave him some comfort as he ate some of the rations they had brought and drank the water from the water skin.

In a state of exhaustion, he leaned back against a pillar and fell asleep. Dreams haunted him. Dreams of dying in the wild, dreams of losing his arm and leg, dreams of Elizabeth being mad at him, and worse dreams of him going to the gallows marked as a killer. He woke sobbing from the dreams and the pain he felt, The wounds throbbed and ached.

When he woke, Wim decided he would tell the truth. He knew he would be standing in front of the Duke at some point about this matter. There was no way around that. Well, unless he died on the way. It was possible.

He groaned at the thought of riding the wagon back. The shifting and rocking, the bumps all made his body ache.

This would have sounded romantic if it was not him being wounded. A battle over a girl, winner takes all. Wim knew he did not win, he got lucky. Lucky and alive was better than good and dead. He thought about Islana and wondered how she would take the news. He wasn’t sure if any of that group would believe him. This thought made him feel very alone.

He ate and drank a little more letting sleep find him again.