Chapter 4 #2
Inside, I sit upon the bench beside my cage and pull off my shoes.
The skin has rubbed away from both heels, leaving two red, shining patches.
I line the shoes neatly beneath the far end of the bench, beyond reach of the cage.
I unfasten the knife from my trousers and lay it carefully beside them, still in its sheath, its handle facing out.
The unfinished duck and remaining soapstone come out of my pockets. I tuck them beneath the folded clothes nearest my cage, out of sight. I’m not ready for the men to see those.
Then I peel off my damp clothes and spread them beside the fire.
Several warmer outfits have appeared beneath the bench over the last few days. I choose soft trousers and a thick knitted shirt, grateful for the dry fabric as I pull it over my chilled skin. The bell jingles the entire time, announcing every movement to an empty room.
Talarin gave me the warm clothes, I know. Or maybe Mero. If Arrek had his way, I would be wearing something obscene, displayed at every moment.
I look towards the grinder, wanting that warm, soothing brew I’ve gotten used to, but Talarin was very clear.
No hiding wounds.
I sigh and decide to try his bedroom first, since there is no thudding from below. The door is closed, and I knock hesitantly.
He has been so focused these last few days that I feel as though I am intruding, an unwelcome presence here, a constant distraction for the three men.
It’s not fair. I never asked for this.
None of this.
“Come in.”
His voice is deep and reassuring.
I open the door, and it releases with a soft click. Talarin sits at the desk beside the window, an enormous book spread open beneath one hand while he writes with the other in a tall, scrawling script. I cannot read any of it.
The instant I enter, he closes the book.
Precisely.
He places it at the upper-left corner of his desk, aligning it perfectly with the edges, then turns towards me in his massive, hand-carved chair.
I don’t want to know what it is.
His gray eyes move over my face, my neck and my body before dropping to my bare feet. There is nothing sexual in the inspection. He is simply searching for any sign that something is wrong.
I turn and present my heels to him without being told.
“The shoes are really comfortable and everything, but they’re chafing at the back.”
“Okay. Come with me. We are going to the Med-Bay.”
I follow him through the passage, keeping silent and remaining half a step behind. Just as he instructed when he dressed me as a maid. He has not ordered me to do it now, but the position feels natural at this point.
When we enter the Med-Bay, I climb onto the nearest slab and sit without being asked.
“Do you think you could only heal the backs of my feet?” I ask. “I’m starting to get a little firmness back on the soles, and it’s nice being able to run without worrying about them being too soft.”
“Sit back.”
I lean away from him. The slab was built for a man more than seven feet tall, and I feel tiny upon it.
Talarin speaks a single word in High Aurelian that I am starting to recognize as a command.
The metal shifts beneath me, rising behind my back and pressing around my body until I am sitting comfortably reclined.
He takes one of my feet into his enormous hand. His thumb passes gently over the sole, feeling the slight hardness beginning to form there.
“I like your feet soft and delicate,” he says. “But I do not want to cause you harm. For now, I will allow it.”
He speaks another phrase in High Aurelian, different from the one he used before.
The circle in the ceiling opens, and an articulated arm descends. Its dark lens turns towards my feet. Black light passes over the backs of my heels, covering only the places where the shoes rubbed them raw.
Warmth sinks into the damaged skin. The stinging fades, and the torn edges draw together until both heels are smooth again. The light shuts off, and the arm folds back into the ceiling.
Talarin looks at me.
“There’s something else I wanted to ask.”
He waits.
“Do you think there’s any way you could convince him...” I hesitate. “I don’t know. I know Arrek is going to do it, but could you ask him to go easy on me?”
“You were told to drink without your hands. You disobeyed the command. Then you tried to hide it from us.”
There is no mercy in his voice. No tenderness. He is simply stating the facts.
“I understand, sir. It’s just...”
I bite my lip.
“You need to be trained.”
It is the first time I have heard heat in his voice for days.
A shiver moves through me as I look up at him.
I need to change the subject.
“Why are you suddenly training so hard? I used to watch you, and you might practice for a few hours each day, but now it’s endless. Are you planning to leave? Are you going to that planet I saw in your study?”
“By standard travel, it is eight months away. We will not leave you here alone.”
A wave of guilt hits me, intense and powerful. Talarin’s nostrils flare as he tastes it.
“Even if you were not here, we would not go back,” he says. “Those days are behind us.”
“Then why?”
“Nell, I do not want you to worry. I do not believe there is any greater danger right now, and there is no immediate reason we must train like this.”
He pauses.
“But I smelled your fear. I smelled your terror, and I understood in that moment that it was unacceptable. There cannot be anything in this universe that makes you feel that way.”
His slate-gray eyes hold mine.
“We have been studying the Aelor-dravir. We are learning everything we can, and there is precious little. But I promised you I would keep you safe, and I am going to do everything I can to honor that promise. If those things come, I need to be ready to kill them.”
I picture teeth forty feet long and giant wings unfurling across the sky, blocking out the sun.
Yet the way Talarin looks at me...