Chapter 15
Gisela’s heart pounded as she saw Xaydin fall. Fury unlike anything she’d ever experienced before rushed through her. She wanted to run to him, but first she had to take care of the bastard who’d tried to kill him.
Wanting blood, she lunged for the imposter. But before she could reach him, he vanished.
Or at least that was what she thought until he reappeared beside her, along with a man she didn’t recognize.
Before she could react, the imposter turned into a rat and the man had the imposter trapped inside a cage.
Grateful the matter was taken care of for the moment, she ran toward Xaydin who was on the ground, bleeding.
Biting her lip, she tried to think of what she could do. While she’d seen others bleed like this, she’d never tried to stop it. Mostly because she’d been the reason they were bleeding in the first place, and she’d wanted them to die.
Now…
How did she stop it?
The unknown man cursed as he knelt beside her. He pulled off his shirt and ripped a strip of cloth from it and balled it up. “Hold this.” He showed her how to put pressure on the wound in Xaydin’s side.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Ronan. I’m a friend of Xaydin’s.”
Her breath caught at a name she recognized from her mother. “You’re an Outlaw.”
He nodded. “You must be Gisela. Xaydin was just telling me you were traveling with him.”
That confirmed the fact that he wasn’t lying. “Please help me save him.”
“I will. Keep the pressure on that wound.”
While she did so, he ran off.
What the hell? Stunned, she was tempted to go after him and would have had he not come back within a few seconds.
It wasn’t until he sat down across from her that she realized he had Xaydin’s saddlebags in his hands.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Oh come on!” He started pulling out potions from the bags. “Are you kidding me! There’s not a single healing potion in here? Why, Xaydin? Why?”
Gisela winced as she realized that was one potion no one had thought to grab. “He picked others instead.”
Ronan looked as sick as she felt. “Why?” he repeated. That tone would have been comical if this wasn’t such a serious matter.
“Failure to think ahead. Why didn’t I get one?” She could kill herself for her idiocy.
Ronan gave her a dry stare. “Because no one thinks they’re going to be fatally stabbed until they are.”
Those words shocked her. More than that, they horrified her. “He’s not fatally wounded!” How could he say that?
Without a word, he went over to the cage where he’d trapped their imposter as a rat. “You better pray he survives. Because if he doesn’t, I’m locking you in that body and feeding you to a playful cat.”
The rat actually screamed as it tried to get out the cage.
Gisela grabbed the cage and shook it. “If he dies, you better pray he feeds you to a cat before I get my hands on you.” Because she wouldn’t be nearly as merciful.
“What is this?”
Gisela looked up as what appeared to be a group of royal guards came rushing toward them. When she started to unsheathe her sword, Ronan stopped her.
Holding his hands up, he rose slowly to his feet. “We’re trying to help the prince.”
Color drained from the captain’s face as he rushed forward. As soon as he reached Xaydin, he cursed.
“Who did this!”
They both pointed to the small cage. The imposter actually shrank back from the bars.
Ronan curled his lip. “That’s right, asshole, you can’t go any smaller. The cage is enchanted so you can’t shift.”
The captain’s eyes widened. “A shape shifter did this?”
Ronan nodded. “He ambushed the prince.”
The captain snapped his fingers at his men. “Get him back to the inn. Fetch a surgeon. The best they have in this tiny place.”
As they moved to help Xaydin, the captain eyed Ronan and her warily. “Make sure those two don’t go anywhere.”
Gisela went straight to Xaydin’s side. “I’m going wherever Xaydin goes. You will not keep me from him. Anyone who tries needs to arm themselves.”
That seemed to catch the men off guard, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t about to let him out of her sight. Not after someone almost killed him. She didn’t know anyone here, and if Xaydin was awake, she was sure he wouldn’t trust any of them, either.
So why should she?
But she would give credit that the soldiers picked him up with care before they gently took him back to the troll inn that was mostly empty this time of day.
“Where’s he staying?” the leader asked once they neared the stairs.
“Follow me.” She rushed past them so that she could lead them up the stairs to the room they shared.
Gisela winced as she opened the door and silently cursed. The day had started out so wonderfully. As Xaydin had suggested when she awoke, she’d taken her time getting ready.
If I hadn’t done that, I could have helped him.
Guilt tore her apart. This was all her fault. Why had she taken so long to dress? She should have been with him when he was attacked.
Five minutes sooner and none of this would have happened. The pain inside her was indescribable.
Five minutes. That was all.
Had she not rinsed her hair twice, she’d have been there in time to stop it.
Five fucking minutes.
Stop it!
No need in dwelling on what had happened or her part in it. That wouldn’t fix or improve the situation or heal his wounds. The only thing that mattered right now was saving Xaydin.
What surprised her most was the care and regard the soldiers were using as they placed him on the bed and stepped back respectfully. While they might not know him, they appeared to at least respect him.
The captain came forward. “What’s taking so long on that surgeon? Galenorn!” he shouted at the one nearest her who had carried Xaydin in. “Go and check on it. Bring me someone fast or I’ll have all your balls!”
Galenorn took off at a run.
Once he was gone, the captain sent the other trolls outside to guard the door. Then, he turned back toward her. “Are you his woman?”
The question shocked her. How should she answer? It seemed presumptuous and yet it was what she wanted to say about their relationship.
Ronan cleared his throat to get the captain’s attention, then nodded. “She is…everything to him.”
She sank down on the bed by Xaydin’s feet in total stupefaction. It was a good thing Xaydin was unconscious, because she could only imagine the fury on his face had he heard that declaration.
But being called his woman wasn’t nearly as terrifying as it ought to be. Rather, she liked the thought of being his. Because after last night… He had claimed her in a way she’d never thought possible. She was his, and she wanted everyone to know it.
Except for the fact that it was causing the two men in the room to stare at her strangely.
Honestly, she wasn’t sure how to take it.
Part of her wanted to run and hide and the other part wanted to smile and tell them that she was proud to be with him.
Especially when the captain came forward and gave her a formal court bow. “My cousin is a good and honorable troll. For too long, he’s been alone. I pray you’ll take good care of him. He deserves someone who can appreciate him and love him for who he is.”
She wasn’t sure what to say to that. Not to mention the fact that they were watching her way too intensely. She felt like she’d been put on display against her will.
And she didn’t like this feeling at all.
Getting up quickly, she directed her attention to Xaydin and trying to stanch the flow of blood as best she could. She removed his shirt and winced at the jagged wounds left behind. How could she stop this?
As Ronan had shown her, she attempted to keep cloth against the three wounds. And by the time the surgeon arrived, she was covered in his blood.
The surgeon elbowed her away and took her place at Xaydin’s side. “What have the lot of you done to this poor creature with your inexperience?”
Ronan looked as offended as she felt.
“We kept him alive while you tottered,” she said between clenched teeth. “And you should be grateful. Because your life hinges on his. He dies and I’ll cut you from gullet to throat.”
“With the full backing of the king,” the captain added. “Prince Xaydin is highly valued.”
Ronan glanced away with an amused twinkle in his eyes that said that probably wasn’t true. But it was enough to get the surgeon’s attention.
“Nothing will happen to him in my care. I rarely lose patients.”
Rarely? Was he serious? That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “And I’m an assassin who has never lost or failed to kill a target.”
The surgeon paled, then immediately set to work.
She moved to the corner where Ronan stood with the captain and the small cage that contained their imposter.
The captain took her blood-soaked hand and placed a respectful kiss across her knuckles. “I’m his cousin, Rob. Pleased to meet you, my lady.”
“Princess,” Ronan corrected.
That caught his attention. “Really?”
“Technically,” she corrected. “Members of my family are less than thrilled that I hold the title.”
“Understood.” Rob kept his gaze locked on the surgeon. “Should we summon his sister and brother?”
Ronan passed a frown toward her before he answered. “I’m assuming you mean Candara and Masakage. I don’t think any of the others would care.”
Again, she was puzzled by that. “Exactly how many siblings does he have?”
Ronan shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t really know. Do you?” he asked Rob.
He duplicated the shrug. “At least a dozen half-siblings from his father, but I don’t know if we know all of them or not. With his mother…no telling. Not even sure if he knows them all.”
Wow. Her mother had four children. Her three half-brothers were centaurs from various fathers who were no longer living because the queen had grown tired of them.
Ferox was the heir, but to be honest, she wasn’t even sure if he was still alive given his screw up with King Dash where he’d been captured.
Her mother had been so angry over it that Ferox was persona non grata at court and anyone who mentioned his name risked a homicidal rage from Meara.
Then again, she risked a homicidal rage from her mother for nothing more than entering a room at an inopportune moment.
As did most beings.
“What are we going to do with that one?” She jerked her chin toward the mouse in the cage. “He’s holding Masakage. Or killed him.”
The color faded from Ronan’s cheeks at those words.
Then a dark fury descended over his face. He met Rob’s gaze. “There a place I can freely interrogate the bastard?”
Rob nodded slowly. “Let’s string him up and see what we can learn.”
Gisela took a moment to step near the surgeon again. “Remember…life for a life. Don’t let us down.”
He nodded as he continued to close the wounds. “He will live.”
Xaydin better. Because the one thing she was best at…ending lives. And those were ones she didn’t have a personal grudge against.
One who harmed someone she cared about…
The surgeon would meet with an awful ending.