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Excruciating pain in his leg woke Bernard from his uneasy doze. He lashed out with a fist, and felt the satisfaction of hitting flesh.
A voice down near his feet said, "I told you to keep the patient still."
The pain in his leg, impossibly, grew worse. Bernard risked opening his eyes.
His father's physician bent over his leg, hiding it from Bernard's sight.
"He was still," the man to Bernard's left muttered, giving him a dark look. "Until you woke him up. Dumb luck he hit me at all, really. He wouldn't be able to land a blow on me in a fair fight."
Bernard hated to admit it, but the man was probably right. He'd had precious little arms training at court, for the King kept his pages far too busy to let them take their turn in the practice yard. Bernard had sneaked a few session
