Tobias
Icame to with a blade to my throat, the pain radiating from my leg waking me as easily as it had pulled me under. Tears streamed down Quinn’s face as she watched me from the opposite side of the bars.
“—a lesson that chains or not, you are still under my control.” Silvius finished, the sound of his voice making me wish I had stayed unconscious. “Any more questions?”
Quinn didn’t answer, looking stricken.
I hung limply from my chains, trying and failing to push away the pain. It wasn’t the first time my bones had been broken. I wanted to tell Quinn it wasn’t her fault as I watched the guilt mix with the tears on her face, but it was all I could do to breathe.
He hadn’t hurt her, though. A grim smile came to my lips. She was far from safe, but at least she wasn’t in this cell.
Quinn’s hand shook as she filled up a glass of water. Steeling her jaw, she looked at Silvius, then the guard beside me. “Please, can I…I’m not going to try to free him. Just make sure he’s okay.”
Silvius smiled benevolently. “Of course, my dear. But do be careful.”
My eyes narrowed at the obvious threat. Silvius nodded at the guard. He backed away one step, the movement jerky, then lowered his sword.
Lucky for him. If he hadn’t acquiesced, I knew she would have found a way to get to me, whether or not it meant going through him.
Silvius turned on his heel. The guards followed except for the one next to me, the door vanishing behind them once it closed. The wall shimmered in that uncanny way now that I knew what to look for as I stared at it, trying not to pass out again.
Quinn hurried back into the cell, barely glancing over at the guard as she reached me.
She could easily overpower him. But there was no way out if she did, and I knew Silvius would take it out on me—something I was sure she realized as well. We would have to put up with his presence until Pari was cured.
She fell to her knees in front of me, hands forming into fists as she took in my injury.
“Hey Sagray,” I drawled as best I could, my voice gravelly. I relished in the way her amber eyes widened. “Miss me already?”
She glared at me. “This isn’t the time to flirt.”
“I wasted too much time not flirting with you to worry about the timing, sweetheart.”
I leaned in, my chains going taut as my lips brushed hers. Her hand cupped my cheek as she returned it, the taste of her the best sort of distraction.
It was over far too soon. A ghost of a smile flickered across her face, gone before I could appreciate it. Then she swallowed hard. “Tobias, your leg…”
I glanced down, then immediately wished I hadn’t. My knee jutted to the side in an angle that left me even more nauseated.
“He would’ve done that no matter what,” I said softly. “He was just waiting for an excuse.”
Her lower lip trembled. She firmly pressed her lips together.
“I need to splint it until I can heal you.” She glanced at the guard, but his sword remained at his side. “This will hurt. I’ll get you comfortable after, I promise. You’re going to lose circulation to your hands if you keep hanging like that.”
I already had. “Ready when you are.”
Her thumb pressed into my boot. “Can you wiggle your toes?”
It took a second before I could. Quinn let out a relieved exhale. “Good. That should mean the fracture’s isolated to the bone and there isn’t major nerve damage.”
Dolion stumbled forward, two metal rods in hand and a roll of what looked like tape. “I took these from the ring stands not in use. And found some parafilm to help bind the splint.”
Quinn gave him a nod in thanks. Then she reached down, gathering her shirt in her hands before ripping it to expose her midriff.
“Padding,” she explained. Her mouth twitched as she caught me blatantly ogling her exposed skin. At least the pain hadn’t blocked my ability to see her.
I winked. “I’d have to be dead not to admire you.”
Seeing her smile, as tremulous as it was, was the best sort of balm.
The guard shifted his weight as Dolion entered the cell, but didn’t stop him. Not that he was much of a threat—he looked like a strong breeze could knock him over. He laboriously knelt next to Quinn, then dipped his head to signal he was ready.
I choked back a cry as her hands touched my leg. It was about to get much worse. I bit my tongue, trying not to make Quinn feel any guiltier as the pain and pressure swiftly became unbearable.
She pressed down. The second my leg shifted, my vision went dark, but the mercy of unconsciousness lasted barely a second. I found myself momentarily thankful our bond was blocked as I held in the scream building in my throat—though I doubted I was fooling either of them.
Quinn had gone pale, her hands trembling as the two of them worked to wrap my leg in tandem. My breathing came in ragged pants, my ears ringing by the time they finished.
I brought my forehead against my sleeve, wiping away my sweat before it dripped into my eyes. Quinn didn’t look much better. She trembled as she got to her feet, returning with a stool from the other side of the bars.
“Now we need to get you situated,” she said with a cheer she could barely muster.
The guard gazed at her blankly, though his sword arm twitched in a way that made me want to throw myself in front of her. She ignored him.
Quinn’s arms wrapped around my middle, lifting while Dolion kept my broken leg steady. I straightened my good leg, trying to help. Pain exploded in the other the second I shifted, my breath escaping me in a hiss.
I sagged onto the stool behind me, leaning back against the wall so abruptly my shoulders slammed against the stone.
It was harder than it should’ve been to shove the pain away, even after years of practice. When I finally managed to catch my breath, Quinn reluctantly pulled away.
Dolion watched us, sadness shadowing his expression. “I’ll get you something to eat…”
“Tobias,” I supplied. “Nice to actually meet you.”
His eyes flared in surprise. “The northern king?”
I nodded, then winced at even that small movement. The pounding in my head almost matched the pulsing pain in my leg.
“Your Majesty, I’m Dolion,” he said, then grimaced. “Though I suppose you already knew that.”
“Let’s drop the honorifics, shall we?” I gave him what I hoped was a welcoming smile. “That goes for when we get out of here too.”
With a weak smile in return, Dolion backed out of the cell, his gait uneven. Quinn bent to pick up the glass of water. She was shaking so hard it sloshed over the rim.
“Easy,” I said, my voice gentle. “Breathe or I’ll make you start listing five things out loud.”
She obediently drew in a breath as she lifted the water to my lips. I drank the entirety in two large gulps, a few drops dribbling down my chin.
As she wiped them away, I asked, “Are you alright?”
“You don’t need to worry about me, Maris,” Quinn said, her tone both amused and agitated. “What about you?”
“I’ll be okay,” I said, wishing that was at all true. “Nothing you can’t heal as soon as we get out of here.”
Dolion returned with three dry rolls and apples that had seen better days, passing me one of each. He cradled his roll before taking a careful bite, as if afraid to waste a single crumb.
I waited until he swallowed before asking, “Who else is here?”
He blinked in confusion. “What?”
“Cures, plural,” I clarified. “That’s what Silvius said. Who are you trying to save?”
“He didn’t tell you?” Dolion’s hand started to shake. “My queen. He has her.”
“Queen Sariyah?” I nearly dropped my roll. Mayim had to be in chaos. “How?”
“I don’t know, only that she’s in bad shape.” Dolion looked bleakly at where the door had disappeared into the stone wall. “They brought her here today. I refused to help Silvius until now…but with her life at stake, I can no longer. This realm needs her.”
My respect for him rose. He had been through hell and hadn’t broken. Not until they found the right leverage.
Quinn’s mouth dropped open in horror. “The blood on the stairs…”
“Silvius must’ve told her we had the cure,” I said grimly. “Lured her to his lab. Then infected her before bringing her through the secret passage.”
“From the look of the lab, she put up quite a fight first,” Quinn said admiringly.
My fists clenched, squashing my roll. The queen had been nothing but helpful in the short time I knew her, and Silvius had taken advantage of that. With the secrecy involved, I doubted she had even brought her guards.
“He said he wants her compliant for what comes next,” Dolion said thickly. “But with her blood loss, she’ll be lucky if she survives the fever. Without my magic…I can’t heal her even if he would let me.”
While Silvius might want to use her as a puppet, Aviel’s supporters would rejoice in her death after their failed uprising against her during the war.
Either way, there was no way Silvius would allow Dolion to cure her.
I winced as I repositioned myself. “His goal was never just revenge.”
“Oh, Silvius wants revenge.” Dolion fished an apple from his pocket, taking a loud bite.
“On you, on the High Queen, and on everyone who took part in destroying his so called ‘True King’. He plans to follow in the False King’s footsteps and force the realm to bend to his will.
He wants this virus infectious in order to take down this entire city, so only he and his followers have the cure.
‘Only those who pledge allegiance will be allowed to live’.
” His imitation of Silvius’s aristocratic tone was uncanny.
“And those who stand in his way will find themselves trapped in their minds and essentially lobotomized.” He shuddered, gesturing at the eerily still guard at my side.
“We don’t need to worry about what we say in front of this one.
He’s a shell. A living corpse. He’ll fight back if we attack or try to escape, since those are his orders.
But if there’s anything else to him, it’s been erased. ”
Quinn looked skeptical. “And you know this all because…”