Fiona nodded, then checked the movement, afraid of jostling T’mar.

“Zirenth thought he was dead,” Lorana said, her words coming with great effort.

“Not yet,” Fiona said. She glanced toward Lorana. “How did you hold on to him?”

“I didn’t,” Lorana said in surprise. “I thought it was you.”

“I thought it was you,” Kindan said to Lorana. “You did much the same when you pulled Caranth back.”

“I felt like I was pulled this time,” Lorana said, glancing at Fiona.

“I didn’t think it was me,” Fiona repeated. “I thought it was you.”

Terin arrived with the scissors, and a moment later, Bekka returned with her aid bag.

“Terin, Lorana, hold his head steady while I do this,” Kindan said.

“What about his leg?” Bekka asked.

“Wait until I get his helmet off,” Kindan said. Gently, he cut along the top seam of the wher-hide helmet, peeling it slowly away from T’mar’s head. Fiona gasped when she saw what lay beneath it. “His skull’s been smashed.”

“Will he live?” Fiona could see the white of his skull amid the freely-flowing blood, could see thin lines where the bone had cracked, but otherwise, the wound did not look as bad as others she had seen. She had never dealt with a head wound like this. If it had been his leg, she’d have given him a month before trying him on crutches.

Kindan pursed his lips. “It will depend upon him. He’s been concussed; he might be in a coma.”

“That would explain Zirenth’s behavior,” Lorana said. “He couldn’t hear T’mar, so he assumed the worst.”

“If Zirenth had gone between, T’mar wouldn’t have survived,” Kindan said.

“So what do we do?” Fiona asked.

“All we can do is wrap the wound and keep an eye on him.”

“We should get him to the Healer Hall,” Fiona said.

“I don’t think he’d survive the trip between.”

“Then we should get a healer here,” Fiona said. She gave Bekka an apologetic look as she added, “Someone who could help Bekka in her learning.”

“Perhaps Ketan would come?” Lorana suggested to Kindan. The harper pursed his lips thoughtfully.

“Perhaps.”

“Get a stretcher and let’s get him to the infirmary,” Lorana said.

“No, put him in the empty queen’s weyr,” Fiona said. The other two looked at her. “Zirenth will want to be near him and the stretcher-bearers can negotiate the queens’ ledge easily enough.”

“I’ll get a stretcher,” Lorana said, standing up, pausing only long enough to say to Fiona, “when I come back, I want you to take a cold bath—you strained all the muscles in your arms and back.”

“I’ll show you where the stretchers are,” Bekka said, trotting along after her.