Chapter 4 #2
‘You think I’m shaking the hand of some dirty stray?’ he had said with a sneer.
Wren had warned her that she’d made an enemy of him. As usual, her sister had been right. Whenever Sebastos Barlowe was near, a fight was never far away.
Now, the laughter sounded again, louder this time. Followed by the sneering voice that never failed to make her skin crawl.
‘ — look at the blithering idiot. Can’t even walk in a straight line —’
Thea didn’t think, she moved.
Shrugging off her sister’s grip and protests, she rounded the corner.
There, Malik’s giant form was surrounded by a group of shieldbearers, who were prodding him with their training swords. Malik was backing away from them, stumbling over his feet, his huge hands raised before him, trying to block them out.
Blood roared in Thea’s ears. ‘Seb!’ Her voice echoed down the passageway as she planted her boots wide apart, her body tense.
She heard Wren’s groan from behind her.
The shieldbearer in question whirled around. ‘What do you want, stray?’
Thea took a step towards Seb, her cheeks flushing in anger. ‘Still haven’t come up with a more imaginative or relevant insult?’ She fought to keep her voice even as she noted the cuts on Malik’s arms and the confusion in his grey eyes. ‘Half the population of Thezmarr are orphans.’
‘But you’re the dirtiest and most unwanted. Look at the state of you,’ he said, his nose wrinkling in disgust as he surveyed her pants, tunic, and muddied boots. ‘I can’t tell if you’re more like a dog or your monstrous friend here. Or are you trying to look like a man?’
She could feel the fury rippling from Wren behind her, but Thea didn’t glance back. Instead, her fingers flexed again, itching to grasp the dagger she no longer had. No matter, she’d kill him with her bare hands if she had to.
Seb continued to sneer at her. ‘What’d you want?’
Thea took another step towards him, ignoring the shieldbearer’s lackeys, who had turned away from Malik to jeer at her, gripping their training swords menacingly.
‘Leave him be,’ she told them.
Seb snorted. ‘Or what?’
Fists clenched, Thea didn’t reply. She had no weapon, and they outnumbered her, but there was no part of her that could have ignored what they were doing to Malik, no matter what it cost her.
She took a deep, trembling breath. ‘Leave him be,’ she repeated. ‘He is a former Warsword. He deserves your respect. Your behaviour is an insult to Thezmarr.’
‘You’d know all about insults to Thezmarr, being one yourself.’ Chest puffed out, he approached, ensuring that he loomed over her.
Thea didn’t yield a step, despite what she saw in his eyes.
His lackeys closed in as well, shoulders pushed back.
‘I’d get away from my sister, if I were you,’ Wren’s voice sounded.
‘Like we have anything to fear from this scrappy mess,’ Seb retorted.
‘I didn’t say she was the one to fear.’
A puff of air blew past Thea’s ear. A cloud of violet dust billowed and then settled over the shieldbearers.
Someone coughed.
And Seb looked down at his powder-covered tunic, annoyed. ‘What’s this, some witch’s trick?’ He brushed the dust from his shoulder, glaring at Wren —
His eyes bulged and his hand flew to his neck.
An angry rash appeared instantly on his exposed skin and suddenly he was scratching wildly. ‘What have you done, bitch?’
Behind him, his followers were red-faced and clawing at their own flesh.
‘I suggest you get yourselves to the infirmary,’ Wren said, coming to stand beside Thea and survey her handiwork. ‘I’d hate for that to get anywhere delicate. You wouldn't want your dick to fall off. You seem to enjoy swinging it around.’
Seb’s eyes bulged again. ‘Bitch!’ he shrieked, before staggering away from them, his friends close behind.
Thea turned to her sister, her own eyes wide.
Wren raised her brows. ‘Let’s have it then,’ she said. ‘Let’s hear all about how you didn’t need help, how you had it all handled.’
‘I…’ Thea struggled for words. ‘That… That was brilliant.’
‘Oh.’
‘Remind me not to piss you off too much.’ Thea caught a streak of violet dust on her own skin. ‘Why am I not —’
‘Not affected?’ Wren interjected. ‘You’re immune to Widow’s Ash.’
‘What? How?’
‘Because I made it so.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ve been sprinkling it in your bedsheets for the last few months. Building up your tolerance.’
‘So that’s why I woke up itching a bunch of times… Gods, Wren. You’ve got to be joking.’
‘I don’t joke about Widow’s Ash.’
‘You’re mad…’
‘Am I? Or am I just prepared for the inevitable moment where my reckless sister bites off more than she can chew with a group of small-pricked shieldbearers?’
Rubbing her temples, Thea shook her head. ‘Both.’
Wren laughed. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We’re late for Audra.’
But Thea’s attention was on Malik, who now stood a few yards away, his face red and sweat beading at his brow.
‘I have to take him back to his quarters,’ Thea told her sister.
Wren followed her gaze, taking in the sight of the former warrior as he paced, blinking rapidly, his chest heaving. ‘I think you’re right. I’ll tell Audra.’
‘Never mind Audra, don’t worry about making excuses. You’ll be in enough shit already.’
‘I’ll come with you —’
But Thea waved her off. ‘It’ll overwhelm him. Just go, we’ll be fine.’
With a tight nod, Wren made for the stairs and disappeared through the door.
Thea approached Malik, trying not to startle him.
‘You’re lost again, aren’t you, friend?’ she whispered.
Malik looked up at the sound of her voice, his eyes wide. He opened and closed his mouth several times before his posture loosened.
‘Good thing I know the way,’ Thea prompted. ‘Come on.’
Although she wanted to take his arm to lead him through the corridors, she didn’t.
The injury to his brain was a web of complexities she knew she would never understand, but she had known him long enough now to recognise that sometimes he suffered from sensory overwhelm, particularly after a trying event or ordeal.
She crept through the fortress, noting that Malik’s balance was suffering today.
‘You just need some quiet,’ she reassured him as she held a door open and waited for him to shuffle through.
Audra had shown her the way once before when this had happened. The sharp-tongued librarian had been gentle and kind with Malik – familiar. It wasn’t until much later that Thea realised Audra had probably known him as a Warsword, they could have even trained together.
When they reached Malik’s quarters, the door was unlocked and, once opened, Malik’s dog, Dax, greeted them anxiously.
‘He’s alright,’ Thea told the mongrel as his wagging tail threatened to bruise her legs.
She waited in the doorway until Malik had eased himself into his chair before the cold hearth.
‘Do you want me to light a fire?’ she asked.
Malik stared at the black coals.
‘Alright,’ Thea said, more to herself than to the former warrior. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’
As she turned to go, a rasping sound came from Malik.
She waited, knowing he was trying to get the words out, knowing she could never understand that torment. Her own throat tightened, wishing there was something she could do.
Malik shook his head, as though he had read her thoughts.
Thea pushed the loose hair off her face and sighed, her own words tumbling out of her. ‘I lost it,’ she confessed, tapping her ankle where Malik knew she kept his dagger. ‘I lost it in the Bloodwoods and I’m sorry,’ she told him.
Of all the things, this Malik smiled at? But with an unsteady hand, he motioned for her to leave.
Regret left a bitter taste in Thea’s mouth. She had lost the only remnant of who Malik had been before his injury, the thing he had trusted her to keep and keep well. He had survived all that he had, only to have her lose the blade he had earned with his own blood and sweat and sacrifice.
No, she wouldn’t stand for it. Closing the former Warsword’s door behind her, Thea set out, not towards Audra’s waiting orders, but back to the Bloodwoods.
Outside, the day was grey, but not dark enough to move freely through the fortress and beyond the walls.
Still, Thea had her ways. During her short-lived fling with Evander, she had learned some of the least guarded spots of Thezmarr, some of the lesser known paths through the outerwoods.
In that regard, the relationship hadn’t been a complete waste of her time.
It wasn’t long before she was once more surrounded by the bleeding trees of the forest, the rich, damp scent of looming rain heavy in the air.
She found her trail from the night before and was sure to cover her tracks.
The last thing she needed was some curious shieldbearer on her heels.
She also wouldn’t put it past Seb to send out some lackeys seeking revenge on his behalf.
She hoped he was still in the infirmary, scratching his balls like some flea-ridden animal.
Soon Thea reached the clearing from yesterday.
She’d know the place in her sleep, but with the arrow embedded in the tree, there was no mistaking it.
Distracted, she ran her scarred fingers through its fletching, the feathers soft against her skin, in such contrast to the deadly tip buried in the trunk.
Whoever had shot it had almost impeccable aim; were it not for her quick reflexes, thanks to a lifetime of Dancing Alchemists, it would have found its mark.
But that was not why she was here.
Where did I drop it? Thea crouched in the leaves and skimmed her palms across the ground. She retraced her movements… She knew she had been holding it right until the arrow came flying at her. She berated herself. Dropping things when surprised was not the trait of a formidable warrior.
Thea circled the entire arrow-speared tree, sifting through the leaf litter, convinced that the dagger had to be somewhere nearby, even if she had kicked it during her getaway. It couldn’t have gone far.
But as she searched, a roiling sensation built in her stomach.
She scoured the forest floor more frantically, tracing her steps further back than she truly thought realistic. Her chest grew heavy and at last she fell to her knees on the damp earth.
‘Fuck,’ she murmured, staring at her empty hands.
A chill crept along her skin and her scalp prickled, forcing her to look up.
Her throat seized.
For leaning against a tree, clad in his black warrior leathers, was Wilder Hawthorne, twirling her dagger between his long, tattooed fingers.
‘Looking for this?’ he said.