Jex wanted to shout at the man to leave Enari out of this, but knew that if he expressed any outrage or concern, it would put her in that much more danger, so he held his tongue.
The captain reached up and patted his cheek. “I won’t leave you to ponder your demise for too much longer, I promise. Just be a good boy while I’m gone.”
* * *
It was very late, or very early, when the captain returned. Jex forced his eyes open and sighed.
“How did your chat go?” he asked on a yawn. Everything hurt, but he’d be damned if he let the discomfort show.
“The little witch was nowhere to be found and that dragon who rooms with her refused to tell me where she was. In fact, she read me the riot act for not looking for the girl hard enough!” The man was fuming.
Jex began to giggle. “Oh, Goddess bless you, Vasi. Here I thought I was to be your only target tonight.”
“I think your tongue will be the first to go,” the captain ground out, reaching for the knife at his belt. “Not even the Consorts could have the patience to listen to your blather.”
The cell door burst open and the captain whirled, knife still in hand.
“I thought I told you that under no circumstances was I to be interrupted!” he roared. But his rage evaporated when he caught sight of the figure in the doorway. Babbling an apology, he fell to his knees and bowed his head.
Standing in the entrance of the dingy little cell, dressed in nothing but a cloak covered nightdress, was Tora Aelani.
Her hair fell in unbound waves around her and Jex could tell from the swollen, puffy state of her eyes and the blotches on her skin that she’d been crying. Yet despite her grief, her head was high and she gazed at the scene before her in mounting displeasure.
“Explain yourself,” she ordered coolly, eyes settling at last on the captain.
The man remained on his knees. “M-Your Majesty. This prisoner is being interrogated for the murder of your husband, and the others before him.”
“Your interrogation is over. Release him.” Aelani’s voice was hard as steel and the look on her face said that she was in no mood to be challenged. The captain blinked up at her, swallowing hard before climbing to his feet and returning his dagger to its sheath.
“I have proof of his guilt, and—”
“I’ve already spoken with the maid who gave testimony against him and she’s recanted her tale.”
“No.” The man shook his head violently before thrusting his hand forward to display the coins and twists of hair. “He had the second one on his person before he was arrested! He’s an Atromorese outlander, here illegally! Min Ha probably sent him to spy on us and I refuse to give him the opportunity to report back to his master! He’s already done enough damage!”
“He is indeed Atromorese.” At her words, Aelani saw the fight go out of Jex’s eyes and he bowed his head. It made her heart ache even more.
“Oh, Eryk,” she thought mournfully, “you keep so many secrets. Whatever became of that open, carefree little boy who kissed us goodbye as he left for the Tower?”
“Reginold,” Aelani sighed. She strode forward and put a hand on her captain’s shoulder, “Despite his place of birth, this man is not here illegally. If you wish, I can provide you with papers to show his immigration was approved by both Brinon and myself many years ago.” She wasn’t sure who looked more surprised by the news.
“They’re Atromorese,” he protested weakly, “You of all people should know the significance of that, my tora. He murdered Brinon…”
“He wasn’t even here!” she barked.
The captain flinched and looked away.
Aelani’s tone became gentler and she took his hand. “I know why you feel the way you do, but that is in the past and everyone knows you protected my uncle the best you could. Battlemage Xander had nothing to do with Iradi’s treachery, nor has he anything to do with Brinon’s death. You’ve let your hatred color your judgment, my friend.” She stroked his bearded cheek. “I’m asking you, Reg, to let him go. Please don’t make me order you a second time.”
“I—as you wish.” Shoulders slumping wearily, he held out the key to Jex’s manacles.
“Thank you.”
Aelani approached the bound mage and stretched to unlock the thick cuff around one wrist, catching his arm and gently guiding it down to his side. They both winced when it snapped back into the socket. He tugged until his other arm was low enough and she unlocked that fetter as well.
“My thanks, Ma’am,” he whispered, eyes downcast, “and my deepest condolences for your loss.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she looked him over, noting every cut and bruise marring his exposed flesh. “Thank you, Jex. Brinon is—he was a good man and he never would have condoned this.”
Before he could respond, Enari was at his side and Aelani stepped back. She watched the young novice put her arms gingerly around the battered mage and press her face into his chest, heedless of the dirt and bloodstains. He hugged her back, eyes closing on a quiet sigh. Anyone looking at them in that moment would be blind not to see the depth of affection there and she prayed that Vasi never saw them this way. Jex had courted death twice already and she didn’t want to bet on his odds of surviving it a third time in such a short period.
He looked up and found her watching them with a small, sad smile gracing her lips.
“Your associate, Adept Wind-Strider, brought her to me,” Aelani explained, “He told me what you’d been accused of and what my men had done. I came as quickly as I could, though I’m sorry for not intervening sooner.”
He shrugged, grimacing as a twinge shot through his back and shoulder. “I’m grateful you saw fit to intervene at all. Thank you.”
“No need for that, but it grows late and I am so, so tired. I will tell you everything you wish to know on the morrow.” Aelani rubbed at her temples. “For now, off to bed, the both of you.”
Without waiting for a response, the tora turned on her heel and left the cell.
* * *
The screaming didn’t start until they turned the corner and entered the corridor outside Enari’s room.
Vasi descended on them like a Fury, eyes blazing. Eryk was not far behind, though he looked more worried than angry. Jex felt his shoulders slump and his headache grew infinitely worse.
They’d almost made it. Damn. One more corridor and they would have reached his rooms without the kvinna being any the wiser.
Enari started upon hearing her Sura’s raised voice and only then did Jex notice her attire. The borrowed cape fell open to reveal her torn and soiled clothing, and Vasi looked at him with murder in her eyes.
“That’s it!” she shouted at him, “I’ve had enough of you and your—your antics, Battlemage Xander. I—”
“Please,” Jex interrupted, “please can we not do this in the hall?”
“Come inside, Vasi.” Eryk took her hand. “It’s been a long night and no one else needs to hear this. The two of them clearly need a healer’s attention.”
She fumed at him. “I’ll care for my apprentice, but not him. I refuse, Eryk, do you understand me? He isn’t getting the benefit of my care a third time!”
“Fine,” Jex snapped, finally reaching the ends of his tattered patience. “I’ll get Lady Krighamre to stitch me up if I must. She plies a needle well enough. But can we go inside before someone comes out to see what the commotion is?” He jerked his chin at Enari. “Or before she passes out?”
All three of them looked at her. She stood with her shoulders hunched, huddled down inside the appropriated cloak, and swaying a little. Vasi put an arm protectively around her apprentice and the two men followed them into the sitting room.
Once inside, the women disappeared into the novice’s room and the door was shut very soundly behind them. Jex sat at the breakfast table and put his head down while Eryk went to the window. Neither spoke.
A half hour later, they returned. Enari’s hair was wet and her skin was pink
from scrubbing. Vasi had the torn gown and chemise bundled under one arm and a bag in her hand. She crossed to the fire and threw the ruined clothing into the flames, making sure they caught before advancing on Jex.
She let the bag drop onto the table in front of him, jarring him awake, and addressed her apprentice.
“I think you need to take some responsibility for this little adventure. You’re a grown woman, old enough to, I would have hoped, know better than to leave the palace without telling someone.” She began removing objects from the pouch; a thick piece of muslin with needles of various shapes and sizes stuck through it, a spool of thin silk thread, a pair of tiny shears, a glass bottle filled with antiseptic wash, and a smaller, opaque vial.
Enari’s face went pale.
“You’re going to make her stitch up my arm?” Jex demanded incredulously.
“And the cuts on your forehead and cheek as well, though I think your bruises and that lovely black eye will heal well enough on their own,” Vasi said matter-of-factly, “I’m sorry to inform you I have nothing with which to dull the pain, Battlemage Xander. You used it all on our journey here.”
After Vasi retreated into her own room, Eryk came forward and offered Jex a flask. He smiled apologetically. “Best I can do, I’m afraid.”
Jex took it, unscrewed the cap, and downed the contents in a long swallow before handing it back with a little cough. He laid his forearm on the table and nodded to Enari.
“Go ahead.”
There was no way she could do this. She simply couldn’t. He was a living, breathing person who would bleed and feel pain when pierced by the needle, by her needle. The cloth dummies she’d stitched on in practice hadn’t truly prepared her for the real thing.
“How can I inflict pain on someone I love?” She shook her head, feeling her stomach roll, and her breathing grew fast and harsh.
Jex grasped her fingers as she stood and looked up at her, trusting and confident. “It’s alright. Do it.”
“Jex, I can’t. I’ll hurt you.”
“You didn’t flinch in the alley,” he reminded her, “Don’t start now. This is what your Sura trained you for, and if I’m to be your first in this as well, so be it.”
Eryk put two basins down on the table; one empty, one full of steaming water, and retreated to the window again. Enari took a deep breath to steady her nerves and sat. Trying not to cry, she carefully cleaned the wound on Jex’s arm before threading one of the smallest needles.
The liquor, Jex discovered, barely took the edge off, but he ground his teeth and forced himself to remain still and silent. He watched as she worked, completely focused on each precise, tiny suture.
After forty, he stopped counting and turned his gaze to the ceiling.
“I’m sorry. I know it hurts.”
“Don’t mind me, I’ve had stitches before and I’m sure I’ll have them again,”
Once she finished with his arm, she had him lean back in the chair and tip his head so she could better treat the lesser wounds. The position left her standing between his splayed legs and if circumstances had been different, she would’ve found it rather nice. Jex bumped her knee with his in understanding and smiled wearily.
She began dabbing at the laceration above his eye and the scrapes on his face. The strokes of the cloth were slow and the warm water alternated with the cool herbal wash soothed him. Eyes closed to keep the stinging liquid from dripping into them, he began to drift off under her touch.
Until the first prick of the needle.
Then he was wide awake and unable to stop a flinch. She jerked back and almost dropped the small sliver of metal. Her expression was apologetic and she chewed nervously on her bottom lip.
“Sorry,” he shook his head tiredly, “you startled me, that’s all. Go on.”
She closed the gashes quickly, then moved back so he could look in the mirror. He whistled in appreciation; the sutures were incredibly tiny and he guessed the cuts would leave only a very thin scar, rather than the ragged lines he was anticipating.
“Very nice.”
She bowed her head in acknowledgement, then turned away and began cleaning up the detritus of her work. After a moment, she stopped and turned back to him, laying one hand on his shoulder.
“Your ribs?”
“Later. She’s giving me The Eye over your shoulder.”
“Leave it, Enari. I’ll take care of that,” Vasi said from the doorway of her room, “Go on to bed.”
Her apprentice obeyed with a bow and disappeared behind her closed door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Enari lay in the dark, eyes squeezed shut, and listened. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the tale of what had transpired while they were in the city unfolded and her heart ached for the royal family. Losing Brinon had devastated them in a way only death could accomplish, and would cast a pall of uncertainty over the entire kingdom.
It was Kylan who’d found him as afternoon faded to dusk, when Enari and Jex sat drinking tea around his mother’s kitchen table. The torina had thought him asleep, as it wasn’t the first time he’d nodded off over decrees and letters before supper, and wasn’t suspicious of his slumped posture and closed eyes. Thinking to wake her father with a kiss, she crept into the room and made her way to where he sat, lit by a stream of reddened sunlight.
It was only when she clambered into his lap and put her lips to his cheek that she’d known something was wrong. His skin was cold and he just didn’t feel right, his ribs ‘all spongy and soft’ against her hand, she’d said, and his heart was still. When she shook him, his head lolled from side to side but he didn’t stir.
Her screams had brought the tora running and as soon as she touched her husband, she knew he was gone. Anya, who’d followed her mother as far as the doorway, rushed in when she collapsed beside the chair, sobbing into Brinon’s lap. She’d sent Kylan to fetch her uncles and so it was that the hysterical child flew through the door to Eryk’s study and into his arms, startling everyone present. It had taken him nearly five minutes to calm her enough to tell him what had happened and less than half that long to race to his sister’s side.
He found Anya crouched beside her mother, crying and stroking her hair. Aelani lay curled in the fetal position, her cheek resting against Brinon’s boot. Fighting tears of his own, Eryk had lifted his sister gently and carried her to bed while Jordin had drawn the girls from the room containing their father’s body. Kylan, however, had refused to be parted from her mother and Aelani allowed the girl to climb into bed with her, holding and rocking her until they’d both fallen into an exhausted sleep under Eryk’s watchful gaze.
In the meantime, and unaware of the tragic event, Vasi had started the hunt for Jex and Enari. After searching the palace from top to bottom, she learned from the reluctant Master Librarian that they’d gone into the city near noonday.
“She is my apprentice, Battlemage Xander, and you should have checked with me first before taking her into the city. Look what happened!” Vasi was distraught and angry, though she and the High Mage were trying to be quiet.
Jex was making no attempt to do so.
“And how would checking with you have helped?” he demanded hotly, “We’d have been jumped regardless, Kvinna.”
“Jex,” Eryk said. “Her point is one of principle. Enari is not your apprentice, nor are you her guardian. I know you meant well, but you should have obtained the kvinna’s permission first.”
“She’d have said no.” Jex pointed out.
“You’re damn right I would have said no!” The profanity was unusual for Vasi. To Enari, at least, it was a truer indication of her fury than her tone of voice.
“Why would you have forbidden it, Vasi?” Eryk queried, clearly trying to act as a mediator.
“Because she doesn’t like me.” Jex stated before Vasi could speak. His voice had gotten a little quieter.
“I—” Vasi stammered, “It has nothing to do with whether or not I like you. You were irresponsible
with a child and she was injured in your company.”
“That brings me to my point,” the young mage sighed, “Well, two points actually. One, Enari isn’t a child. That was part of the trouble, actually. Two, and I say it with all due respect, Kvinna, but this was inevitable. If not today, than tomorrow, or a month, or a year from now. She has no idea how to defend herself and it’s dangerous.”
“You said she killed one of those men,” Vasi said tightly.
Jex laughed, short and mocking, “It was lucky. She isn’t going to get any bigger, and a lot of men will look at her as an easy target. If she doesn’t learn, she risks becoming a victim every time. That can be just as deadly for her companion as for her.”
“Why, that’s—”
“He’s right.”
The statement was calm, authoritative. Silence descended for a moment.
“Eryk, no,” Vasi protested feebly.
“Yes. You may not like it, but he’s right. Enari must learn something of how to defend herself. Just like today, you won’t always be around to watch over her.”
“I can teach her everything she needs to know,” Jex offered.
“Absolutely not! While I understand the logic, you’re still the cause of all this. I can find someone else to teach her.”
“You won’t find a better teacher,” Eryk pointed out, “Jex is…extremely skilled.”
“Oh I’m sure you are, shadow runner.”
“If you know about that, then you know I speak the truth,” Jex retorted. He was calm now.
“Fine, fine! But I’m warning you, if you hurt her, I will come down on you faster than you can run. Do we have an understanding?”
“Yes, Kvinna. Of course, you’ll have to get in line. The guards who arrested me tonight will probably want the first go after the trouble I gave them.”
“Arrested you?” Vasi asked, bewildered.
“Haven’t either of you heard?”
Errant Spark (Elemental Trials Book 1) Page 27