Chapter 28
Dawson woke with his head pounding and a weight on his arm.
He was also sticky and vaguely nauseous like he’d had far too much to drink, and something had gone horribly wrong.
He tried to open his eyes a couple of times, and the panic of not being able to see returned.
For several seconds, he thought that he was blind, but it was only that his eyelashes were glued shut that made it hard to open them.
When he got his eyes open, he was in a dimly lit room, and he wasn’t alone.
The man resting on his arm lifted his head. “You’re alive.”
The way Ul said it gave Dawson pause for concern. Was he supposed to be dead? He opened his mouth, cracking his lower lip in the process, and no word formed.
“A moment.” Ul picked a cup up off the little table and offered it to him. When it was clear Dawson didn’t have the strength to lift his head, one of Ul’s tentacles reached out and assisted.
Dawson took a couple of gulps of the tepid water, only then realizing how thirsty he was and how weak. “What happened?”
How long had he been in what was clearly a sick room?
“I am still figuring that out.” Ul laid Dawson’s head on the pillow. “All you need to worry about is recovering.”
“From what?” It felt as though Ul was keeping secrets from him, and he didn’t like it.
“Someone tried to kill you last night, because we are compatible. I set a trap, and I will have to check if it caught the traitor.”
Last night was Samhain. “Did I ruin the party?”
Ul gave him a small smile. “No, though I did tell people you drank too much and fell. Which was only a partial lie, as you did bang your head.” He untangled his tentacle from around Dawson’s hand. “I should wake the healer so she can check on you.”
Dawson grabbed the tentacle before it could slide away. “I dreamed I couldn’t find you.” He’d been running around the dark corridors of the palace until he was completely lost and out of breath.
“I had to leave you for a little while, but you were not alone. The healer and the guard were here to protect you. The only thing I could do was try to catch your assailant.”
His tone was so serious that it chilled Dawson, or maybe that was the wet sheets clinging to his skin. He smelt like sweat and wasn’t sure if he wanted to eat something or throw up…or both. “What did you do?”
“I believe your attacker wanted to ensure there were no heirs, so I implied that we are waiting to get married until after there is a successful hatching. If I am correct, then he was caught seeking to destroy the eggs that do not exist yet.”
Dawson took a moment to let those words settle around him. Ul was talking about marriage and children…or was that only to catch the man who tried to kill him? He hesitated before asking. It was the topic they had both avoided, as it was complicated and painful. “Do you want that?”
“To catch him, yes.” He glanced away. “To keep you by my side…that is also a yes. Though I understand I am asking a lot. While Felloi may now be part of your world, it is not your world.”
“The world I knew no longer exists. We are all living somewhere else and having to figure out what that means.” Maybe he had never really belonged, and that was why he saw the remote job far away from human civilization.
Dawson attempted to lift his hand to bring Ul’s tentacle to his lips and failed.
“Lift my hand up. More. All the way to my mouth.”
Ul frowned.
Dawson kissed the blue skin of his tentacle. “Of course I will stay. Though I think we should talk about the marriage and the egg thing.”
Ul placed Dawson’s hand down. “What is there to talk about?”
“I thought you didn’t want either.”
“I asked for clarity, and my eyes were opened. I cannot avoid loss, but I can live. And living means taking chances. There will be some who are unhappy that I married a human from this world, but perhaps it is exactly what is needed.”
“I don’t care what is needed.” He was not something to be acquired out of duty, and he would not stay because of duty.
“I need you because you remind me to live…not only exist. I let the palace become my prison. I used the duty to my people to keep me safe. It didn’t.
The walls echo with the losses, and they smother the memories of laughter.
I want to make new ones. With you. Though I understand if you would rather not remain in the palace after this. ”
“I’m not going to let fear decide my future.” He didn’t want to die because someone had it in for Ul, but at the same time, he’d known for a while that he didn’t care if the boat never came. “And I believe you will catch the person.”
“That is my intention.” He drew in a breath.
“I should leave and check my trap. I will put off negotiations with your people until later today when you are recovered. If they come to see you, remember it was simply a case of a clumsy fall after too much to drink.” Ul leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I do not want to leave you.”
He didn’t want Ul to leave either, but if he was going to date a king…be married to a king…then acknowledging there were specific things Ul needed to do was part of the deal.
That his lover had tentacles and blue skin and laid eggs was also part of it. He smiled as he watched Ul pick up his crown with a tentacle, place it on his head, and walk out the door in yesterday’s clothes.
“Be safe,” Dawson called before Ul disappeared entirely.
“Be well,” Ul replied without glancing back.
Dawson barely had time to sigh and wonder how much of the story he was missing when the ogre healer bustled in. She looked as though she could pick up one of the massive, hairy cows, the way humans picked up their pet dog, and the room suddenly seemed quite small.
“Are you going to give me all the details, or has he told you to not say anything?”
“I’m glad you’re feeling chatty this morning.
You had us very worried last night. Thought we might have missed the window to give you the antidote.
” She lifted his torso up as if he weighed nothing and shoved a pillow behind his back.
“There you go. I’m going to check your head.
Last night, that was the least of your worries.
But head injuries have a nasty habit of creating problems.”
She didn’t wait for him to reply, just unwound the bandage he hadn’t even noticed was on his head. She poked at something and ignored his question.
“Ow. What happened?”
“You fell and banged your head. That part is true. But at some point during the night, someone stabbed you with the spine from the statue fish. Part of it was still embedded in your calf.” She made a few noises, then swabbed at his head with something that stung.
He clapped his teeth together, unable to lift his hands to push her away. “When will I be able to move my arms and legs?”
“The toxin is still in your body. It will take time.”
“Will I recover fully?”
“I’m assuming you can see perfectly well?”
“Yes?” Now he was slightly more concerned.
“People who get their vision back usually recover fully.” She placed a fresh bandage around his head.
He hadn’t imagined being blind.
“You were lucky that it hadn’t started attacking your lungs and heart yet. Very lucky.”
He remembered going outside because of the noise in the heat, but after that, he didn’t remember much.
What if he’d wandered outside and no one had noticed he was missing?
He’d have fallen over and by morning, he’d have been a statue.
Unable to move or talk… How long until he would have stopped breathing?
“So what now?”
“Now I check your leg, and then if you’re up to it, you can have some food.
A little herbal tea to dip some bread in.
Nothing too chewy.” She flicked back the sheet without warning and crouched to examine his leg, where there appeared to be a two-inch cut that had been sewn closed.
He did not remember getting stitches. “This leg, where the poisoned entered, may take longer.”
“Am I supposed to hide here until he tells me it’s okay to move?”
She stood. “You are supposed to lie here until you can walk on your own. I’m going to make up the other bed and move you to it so that you are not lying on poison-sweat sheets. Are you going to make this difficult?”
“No. Though I don’t expect to be much help either.” He managed to curl his fingers.
“Doing as you’re told is plenty of help.” She patted his leg. “Let’s hope the king returns with good news.”
And if he didn’t? That meant his killer was still wandering around the palace. Who had he pissed off? But he knew the answer in his next heartbeat. There was only one person who stood to gain if there were no eggs…
Ul’s cousin.