Chapter 23
Whatever Madge did, it helped with the pain, and Tal soon relaxed enough to fall asleep.
She awoke in her bed the next day with Carrick by her side, like so many times before.
He scolded her for barreling into danger without hesitation.
Described the terror at seeing her carried in by Faron, unconscious, battered, and bloody.
“I’m tired of seeing you hurt,” he said.
“It was wolves, Carrick. I had a bounty to fill. Mages had nothing to do with it, just bad luck, something that could have happened any day.”
He pursed his lips before saying, “And what am I supposed to do the next time you bleed out because you’re too drunk to take an elixir?”
Tal raked a hand over her face. “Did you forget that we live in the docks? Life here isn’t fair, nor is it lengthy.
I could turn a corner tomorrow and run into an angry client with a knife and nothing to lose.
You can’t protect me from reality, nor from the mages.
Stop acting like everything will somehow be okay. ”
Carrick sighed, but didn’t say more. Instead, he told her about Faron, how the man was torn up over her, and Tal rolled her eyes.
Faron had described her state when Pepper burst into the stables.
There was so much blood, he initially thought the mare had also been injured.
She collapsed in her stall upon their return, after what must have been a nonstop journey home.
Tal made a mental note to visit Pepper and express her thanks.
“He brought three vials of healing elixir and a basket full of food for you. Said he’d be back tonight.”
“I don’t want him here,” Tal snapped.
“Hells, Tal, the man probably saved your life. The least you can do is hear him out.”
Rather than have this argument, Tal turned her head and closed her eyes.
After a few minutes, Carrick sighed and left the room.
Tal let sleep find her again. She woke up sometime in the afternoon and instantly regretted it.
Her wounds throbbed. Any movement sent spears throughout her body.
She was dehydrated, ravenous, and had a pounding headache.
Tal scowled at the sight of the basket of food and healing elixirs.
She tried to convince herself she didn’t need any of it, but Madge’s words from the night before came back to her.
“Your leg will never be the same. And good luck throwing those knives without pain,” the healer chastised as she worked.
Tal bit her cheek but ignored Faron’s gifts.
“Just accept it and get back in this fight, or infection will kill you before the mages do,” Sybil criticized from the doorway.
“Oh, you’ve seen that, have you?” Tal retorted.
Syb exhaled sharply and shook her head before grabbing one of the healing elixirs and walking it over to Tal. She pulled the cork out and held out the vial. “Just drink it already.”
Tal pursed her lips but did as she was told. When the yellow liquid hit her tongue, a wave of electricity washed through her body. After a few moments, her headache began to subside, and soon the pain from her wounds started to dull.
Sybil handed her a second bottle and nodded for her to drink that one as well. Satisfied, she left the room, but not before turning back to order Tal around some more. “Make sure you drink that third one and eat everything in that basket.”
It took an hour for Tal to feel well enough to walk around, but she complied, albeit a little reluctantly.
Hydrated, fed, and healing, she found her friends in the common area, not at all surprised to see them waiting for her recovery.
Already anticipating their concern, she told them she needed to go see the horse.
The men all tried to insist on someone joining her while Sybil ignored everyone.
Ultimately, Carrick chose to accompany her.
Tal limped through the streets, Carrick at her side.
He knew better than to offer help, but that didn’t stop him from walking close enough to catch her.
Movement in her periphery caught Tal’s attention.
A head full of dark brown messy locks disappeared around a building.
She waited for the man to appear around the other side.
Sure enough, a familiar face came into view, and Tal scowled at Waylon’s mischievous grin.
The noble bowed and flourished his hand, inviting her to continue.
“They’re following me,” she grumbled.
“Have been for a while now,” Carrick murmured in a deep voice.
Tal made a rude gesture at her stalker, receiving riotous laughter in return.
“We noticed them the day after you were attacked.” When Tal mumbled something about boundaries, he continued, “I confronted him. He said they were not to interfere unless you were in trouble. He’s only worried about you.”
“Oh, is that all?” she quipped.
Waylon followed them to the palace walls, and waved farewell with a cheery smile. Tal only narrowed her eyes in return.
Carrick walked her to the palace stables, where he waited outside.
“What? You’re not going to follow me too?” she teased.
A smile cracked across his face. “Unlike our red leather wearing friend, I know better.”
Pepper poked her head out and whinnied before Tal reached the stall.
“Hey there, beautiful.” Tal scratched the bridge of the mare’s nose.
“I’ve got something for you.” She pulled a carrot out of her satchel, and Pepper ate it without hesitation.
“I hear you didn’t stop until you got home.
” She scratched behind the horse’s ears, and Pepper leaned into her hand.
“Thank you. You saved my life.” Tal hated getting emotional, but she would never forget how Pepper somehow knew that Tal needed help and then stopped at nothing to find it.
“She was meant to be the princess’s horse,” Faron said from behind.
She jumped back to face him and winced when she landed on her bad leg.
Faron’s eyes cut to the injury, then traveled the rest of her body, taking stock of her other wounds.
She could feel the weight of his gaze and the memory of his kiss heated her face.
She didn’t want to acknowledge his lies, but she didn’t want to forgive him either.
Instead, she kept the conversation on neutral ground. “The princess?”
Faron nodded and stepped to the other side of Pepper’s stall, almost brushing Tal as he passed her, causing her to tense.
He focused on a spot on the horse’s head, scratching her snout.
“Pepper would have been Elora’s birthday present, but she died in the fire before the celebration.
When my father was appointed king, he gifted the horse to me, but I couldn’t claim her.
It didn’t feel right. So, I rode other palace horses until I acquired Hazel.
” He nodded in the direction of the brown mare’s stall.
He watched Tal scratch Pepper for a few breaths.
“She likes you,” he noted. Tal didn’t know what to say.
Instead, she remained silent. “You’re welcome to ride her whenever you like.
I think she would enjoy having the same person in her saddle. ”
“You didn’t give her away?”
He shrugged. “As I said, it didn’t feel right.”
Tal could tell he debated what to say. Her thoughts warred between her attraction to him and the betrayal she felt.
The past two weeks felt strange not to have him around the tunnels.
He was still Faron, the joyful swordsman who made his own clothes, but his secret life that he rarely shared with her turned out to be much grander than she expected.
A small voice reminded her of the rumors of his philandering and the possibility that he was responsible for the mage attacks.
“I am not the one who hired the mages to come after you,” he said as if he heard her thoughts.
Tal inhaled deeply, her worries interrupted by the pain of the knife in her heart that day at the bakery. Sighing, she turned harsh eyes on the king. “I didn’t come here to have this conversation.”
“I need you to understand that you are not in danger with me.” His voice wasn’t exactly pleading, but Tal could see the desperation in his eyes.
If he had been the one to tell her, she might have wanted to forgive him more easily.
But Tal could not easily forget that Daire, of all people, revealed Faron’s secret.
And even if he hadn’t hired the mages, he had deceived her.
Trust was not easily given. Tal had yet to ever forgive someone who had lost her trust so completely.
“Then tell me this, why is that scum meeting at your palace?”
Faron gritted his teeth. “I don’t know.”
“Then I suggest you find out, your majesty. Seems to me like you have a rat.” She gave Pepper one last scratch behind the ear and refused to look at the king when she turned.
She limped out of the stable. Faron didn’t follow, nor did he say anything further.
When she found Carrick beyond the wall, he stayed quiet.
Faron didn’t come to the tunnels that night as he said he would.
Tal guessed her coldness that afternoon changed his mind.
She had no plans for the next day except to visit the cobbler and a tailor.
She noted the state of her bloodied clothes.
The boots and leather jacket would be expensive to replace.
Tal sat on her bed and tested the condition of her shoulder, rolling her arm around.
She tested her ankle next. Not a single ache or pain.
Her calf showed no signs of injury and bore her weight easily.
She felt refreshed and fully healed thanks to the three vials of healing elixir and tried not to feel gratitude toward the man who gifted them to her.
She tied up an old pair of boots and followed the echoing voices to the common area.