Chapter 5: One After Another

Ina woke up the next morning and got dressed in her boy clothes. She went to the baby room and took care of them. Eric was glad that she was there. All of a sudden, the door slammed open. Devin walked in. He grabbed Ina’s left arm and shoved her into the wall. He kissed her.
“Leave us,” he said.
“Yes, My Lord,” Eric said leaving at once.
Devin let go of Ina’s arm. “Sorry,” he said. “I have bad news. Your sister is getting worse. I had the best doctors take a look at her, but they said it’s too late.” Ina began to cry. She covered her eyes with her hands and fell to her knees. Devin took her hands and kissed her. “Your brother has been sent to war. I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop him.”
“My Lord,” Eric said retuning. “It’s Miss Black. She’s..”
“Lets go,” Devin pulled Ina to her feet. They rushed to Karin’s room.
“Karin,” Ina yelled when she got inside.
“Sister?” Karin wheezed. “Is that you, Ina?”
“Yes, I’m here,” Ina said.
“I’m going to die, aren’t I?” Karin asked.
“No! Of course not!”
“You know I can’t say long. All I wanted to say was that I love you.” Ina’s eyes filled with tears. “Don’t cry. I’m not afraid. I’m ready to die.”
“Don’t say that! We can save you!”
“I don’t want to be saved.”
“But Spencer needs you. I need you.”
“Tell Spencer that I love him. Oh, and Ina?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry for taking the last apple.”
Ina laughed. “It’s just one apple. We can go apple picking together and get more.”
“Ina! I told you, I’m not afraid. Just promise me that you’ll take care of yourself.”
“I will!”
“L-lord Devin? P-protect... Ina... for me!”
Rain began to fall. Memories of all the times Ina spent with Karin flashed through her mind. Some of them were sad, but several were happy. Ina remembered the apple incident and laughed.
“Karin once took my apple,” she said. “It was the only one I got. I was mad for a long time. My mother gave me another one, so I forgot about Karin taking my first one. She never apologized, until now.” Tears rolled down Ina’s face. They were falling faster than the rain.
“I promise to help you at all cost to get Spencer back,” Devin said placing his arms around Ina’s waist. She reached up and kissed him. Eric picked up Karin’s body and buried her. The stone above her grave read:

“Loving Sister, Daughter, & Lady!”

Devin placed flowers on the grave. Ina placed Karin’s favorite picture of the whole family next to the flowers. Eric did the engraving then washed the stone. The rain fell down in a fast lilt. Devin picked up Ina and brought her pack to his room. She refused to eat. The maids tried to cook her favorite foods, but she refused them all. When Devin returned in order to sleep, Ina removed her clothes. They made love to each other.
Later that knight, Ina got dressed in her boys-clothes. She grabbed some food and set off. She was going towards the battle field in order to retrieve Spencer. Devin woke up six hours later and rode after her on a horse. By the time he caught up to her, Ina was in the mist of battle.
She spotted Spencer and ran towards him. Devin was close behind. A man came at them. Devin was too quick for him. The man was killed instantly. Ina closed her eyes. All of a sudden, she felt a tug. Spencer was being pulled away from her. She opened her eyes to see an enemy plunged his sword into Spencer’s stomach. She let out a piercing cry. Devin held her back as the man kept pulling his sword out of Spencer’s stomach and pushing it back in. Ina pulled free of Devin’s grasp and grabbed his sword. She ran at the man and shoved the sword through his heart. Blood splashed on Ina’s face and clothes. She kept cutting the man.
“He’s already dead,” Devin said as he pulled Ina off of the man.
“S-Spencer,” Ina whispered.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t make it in time,” Devin said as he picked up Spencer’s body. “I’m sorry.” Eric and some others arrived with a carriage and some horses. Their side pushed back the other, as they left the scene.
Ina didn’t say a word on the way back to Devin’s. She refused to eat. She made no movement nor did she change her expression. Devin tried to force-feed her, but it didn’t work. Nothing he did made her smile. He tried to make love to her, but when she didn’t react, he left the room. Neither of them slept that night.