Page 49 of Untempered
Kadan’s breath hitched. My attention zeroed in on his still form as his lungs worked and his shoulders shook, but he quickly settled.
“Collapsed lung. Mage fixed it, mostly.” He shook his head a little, as if trying to unstick a thought that niggled at him. I waited, but he didn’t say anything else.
I hadn’t been there because of my own stupidity.
The memory of the way Audrey had taken the knife I’d passed her, the way she’d gone for Mikus’ back like a cornered animal, sat alongside the reality of my friend, grievously wounded, nigh-dead.
“What do you need to know?” I asked Darrius, the question flat.
He shook his head. “Whether she’d cut Luca’s throat, for a start. Whether she might be a power in and of herself. If the wedding isn’t needed, if we could just take out Victor and trustherto hold the city…”
“Women can’t hold property,” I reminded him, my mind turning slowly.
He shrugged. “If she was an ally, she couldchooseher husband, at least. And free Luca to choose a wife.”
“You could change the rules,” I reminded him, knowing it was pointless.
“I could. Eventually.”
And how many other people’s friends would end up as Kadan was?
I wanted to sit beside ’Dan, hold his hand. I wanted to see his lashes flutter open and watch him try on his shit-eating grin.
“Victor’s going to respond to the assassination attempt,” Darrius told me quietly. “My best information says he’s going to strike back at the South.”
As if what he was doing to the captive wasn’t punishment enough. As if the eternity of poverty they were restrained by wasn’t punishment enough. “Why?”
“They killed Von Rhea. It’s a publicity thing. And war is good for business.” I felt sick. The horrific image of marching alongside the same men who’d almost killed my friend filled my mind. Following my thoughts, Darrius said, “You saved yourself a pew at the front of that service by getting yourself sworn to the lady. He won’t bring her. Especially now the wedding’s off. If she were married, it might’ve been tempting to see an heir faster.”
“I’m glad I’m the nobody son of a backwater fief,” I said, my body holding as much rage and hurt as it could. “I want to puke just talking about all this.”
Darrius pulled me closer, and I stooped so he could press a kiss to my head. “Anyone who believes that is the true nobody,” he told me, giving my back another rub. “Because you’re my son, regardless of whose seed sprouted you.” It wasn’t the first time I’d heard it. But it still made me feel like I couldn’t quite breathe right. “Would you rather not know the rest, Chay?”
I considered it for a moment as Kadan lay peacefully and entirely unresponsive. I wasn’t going to get to say goodbye to him. So, I’d better figure out how I could get to say hello again. “Tell me what our new plan is,” I said, and drew in a deep breath. The boy inside of me rested comfortably, trusting Darrius, and the rage ebbed, leaving sadness in its wake. “But tell me fast, not polite. I’ve a post to return to.”
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
THOMAS
“The greatest riches are the ones we love.” ~ Raider’s Ban proverb
When Chay finally returned, my feet still ached, but my heart was sitting lighter in my chest, and I was more than ready to go home.
“Thanking you,” he said as he entered, his shoulders straight, the words thick.
There were tears on his cheeks, and I looked away, pretending not to notice as I busied myself removing my tabard. Borrowed embarrassment and compassion sat ill against thoughts of Rose. “I’ll be by in the morning,” I told him, hanging my tabard in the side room set up as a small sitting room for us. “I don’t know when Mortemon will attend.”
“Sure,” he said, waving a hand. “Farewell.”
I opted not to hear how heavy that word was or how he got all choked up, waving myself off and shutting the door behind me.
Had they been lovers? Had I misjudged it? I stood on the castle side of that thick door, staring at the reinforced wood, and second-guessed my choice to leave. Should I cover for the whole night, allowing them to have their last moments together?
The sound of the iron bar settling into place in the brackets on the other side of the door broke me from my reverie. He’d asked for a half-hour, I’d given it. He’d be risking too much to go back and linger with that crowd while he was supposed to be watching the lady.
I walked alone the entire way home, and while I was glad I could control my pace, I didn’t like feeling so disconnected after the day I’d had.
The shadows weren’t too long by the time I reached my little door, easing it open around the spot where it stuck, lifting my feet over the step to get in.
