Chapter 9 No
No
Karim was touching me–willingly. The Prince himself was going to carry me. He kept his face turned away from mine, which was now intimately close to his, but he was going to take me to safety.
Judging by the look on the others’ faces, I wasn’t the only one shocked.
This wasn’t a slight touch of a finger under my chin or some quick bandaging of my arm.
My whole right side was pressed against him, enough for me to feel the firmness of his chest and the shift of his abs as he moved.
His bare arms, in direct contact with my skin, flexed beneath me as he made sure not to jostle me along the uneven terrain. Shouldn’t he be grossed out?
“Karim, this is dangerous,” Deidre said to our left, eyes scanning our surroundings and bow at the ready once more. “You can’t be seen touching a human like this.”
Karim kept walking in silence.
He didn’t seem hindered by my weight, but I still tried to be as immobile as possible. I also kept my head down, because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to keep my eyes off his face right next to mine. Not even the pain could distract me from how close we were.
“Karim.”
He exhaled. “What do you suggest I do, Deidre? I will not leave her behind. She got hurt because of me, so I will bear the responsibility.”
The she-elf snorted. “None of us would leave her behind. All I’m saying is you shouldn’t be seen like this, or everyone will draw a dangerous conclusion. Let me carry her inside.”
Karim turned his head sharply in her direction. “No. You will get in more trouble than me for this transgression.”
“What’s the worst the Queen will do to me? Execute me for suspected mossy fun?” Deidre rolled her eyes.
Holy moly. Now I saw the problem more clearly. Being carried by any elf had a whole new meaning around here.
“You’ll be giving a bad example,” Karim replied. “Mesia will use you as a warning against fraternization with a human. Especially now, when there are humans in the Kingdom, making your example easy to follow.” I felt his muscles tense against me as he added, “She may order your execution.”
“Why are you so sure the Queen won’t execute you?” Deidre wouldn’t give up. “It’s not like you are her favorite baby brother.”
He shot Deidre a look.
She sighed. “I know, I know, you believe she cares for you, and the law forbids sibling execution. But the latest law she imposed despite your efforts forbids elf-human moss interactions! Can’t you see that you will be giving the Queen the loophole she needs to get rid of you?”
“Mesia will not execute me.” There wasn’t a single trace of doubt in Karim’s tone. “She will not murder her brother.”
“Half-brother,” Deidre stressed. This was the first time I was seeing her this angry.
Tisvali chose that moment to shoot three arrows in quick succession, breaking the tension.
The others stopped and turned to look back in the direction of the shots.
My head spun from the sudden change in direction so I didn’t see a thing, but I heard Tisvali say proudly, “How about that, Lake Lady? Three zombies nailed in the head from this distance in broad daylight?”
“You idiot,” Deidre hissed. “Karim may be signing his death sentence, and all you care about is competing with me?”
Tisvali’s shoulders slumped. “I was trying to distract you and improve your mood.”
“You thought I needed a distraction? Ugh! What I need is your support in this.”
“No, you need a distraction, because otherwise you are incapable of seeing that this is a battle you cannot win,” Tisvali insisted, his chest puffed out. “The Prince has taken his decision, and it’s not up to anyone to question it.”
“The Prince is also our friend,” she snapped. “And as my friend, he will hear my opinion on this stupid decision.” A pause. “I say his decision is stupid.”
“Yes, you are my friend, Deidre,” Karim said. “That is why I cannot put your life in danger by letting you carry Jasmine.”
One blue eyebrow soared. “You sure didn’t hesitate to bring me out here during the daytime.”
“Dying in a fight is one thing–we are all prepared for it; being executed is another. I will not let you risk it.”
“Nah, executing me would be an overkill. My family’s legacy is already tainted,” she stated, but there was hesitation in her voice. “My father made sure of that when he spread his seed, succumbing to the curse of his blood.”
What was that curse about? This was the second time Deidre was mentioning it.
“You still have a chance at finding a braid partner,” Karim told her as we resumed moving. “If I let you do this, that chance may be forever lost.”
“I don’t want to link my braid with anyone in the Kingdom, and you know it. No one will accept my half-human genetics, anyway… Even Tisvali can’t stand to watch my weekly saccaba procedure.”
“Hey, no elf should be made to watch hairs being removed,” Tisvali grumbled. “Any potential braid partner would fail to pass such a gruesome test.”
“You are covered in werewolf guts, and you call the sight of my legs covered in liquid saccaba gruesome?”
“Blood and guts are a natural sight. Saccaba over legs that aren’t supposed to have a single hair on them, is not.”
She scoffed before her lips curved into a knowing smile. “Trying to distract me again, ain’t you? Well, you failed!”
The smile disappeared when she turned to Karim again.
“Let’s ignore the idiot, my legs, and my never-going-to-happen braid linkage.
I get it: you won’t let go of Jasmine. But please consider taking her to the healers instead of fixing her arm and ankle in your home.
We can tell the gossiping asses that you carried a human because you had to save the life of the only person capable of replanting an edelweiss.
Not only will you not be punished for your transgression then, but you will be praised for your sacrifice. ”
Karim chose not to reply, and I soon saw the entrance to the cave ahead of us. It was camouflaged so well that I wouldn’t have been able to spot it, had we not left the underground world through it.
“Karim!” Deidre moved to block our way.
I looked up just in time to catch the look he gave her in response. There would be no changing his mind.
“Ugh! Stubborn males. You make us love you and then you expect us to back off and let you die of your own stupidity?”
Deidre was right. Why not go to the healers, if they could both save me and ensure that Karim would not get punished by his half-sister? And over something the two of us hadn’t done and would never do?
“Karim?” He kept going to bypass Deidre, so I placed my hand on his chest to catch his attention.
He stopped abruptly. His eyes were now locked with mine, his nostrils flaring, his hold on my body suddenly firmer.
I tried not to be distracted by how good that felt.
“Your friend has a point,” I told him carefully, knowing I was overstepping.
“You kept your promise to keep me safe: I’m still alive, and I’m back in your kingdom.
You don’t have to risk your reputation by bringing me to your home for healing. The healers can–”
“They will kill you.” His voice was flat, but his body was a coiled spring against me. “You need our healing plants to prevent an infection, and the healers would never spare any for a human. The only help they’ll offer is a blade at your throat.”
My words failed me at the sound of that.
Before I could think of something to say, Deidre spoke again, her blue brows knitted together in a deep frown. “Surely the healers won’t refuse you if you order them to heal her?”
Karim sighed. “When it comes to the humans, my power is limited to the gardens; Mesia made sure of that. Even getting Jasmine out of there was overstepping it.”
“Curses.” Deidre threw her hands up. “So you carrying Jasmine in the streets might be what makes the Queen’s patience with you run out. Congratulations–you’ll get executed over a flower! Which, just so you know, I will not be watering in your memory.”
“That wasn’t funny,” Tisvali mumbled close by.
“I know.” Deidre looked away, her expression grim.
Silence fell.
That, in combination with the pain from my injuries, somehow made me think more clearly. And I suddenly remembered something.
“What if you carry me over your shoulder, sack-of-potatoes style?” My excited tone got everyone’s attention. “That’s the way several other human women and I were brought inside the Kingdom weeks ago. Surely that won’t look so suspicious?”
Deidre’s face lit up. “She has a point. She’ll have to be unconscious, as per the scouts’ protocol, and all those dangling limbs might hurt her injuries, but–”
“I will not cause her pain!”
I jumped at Karim’s sharp tone, even though he hadn’t raised his voice.
“Pardon me,” Tisvali butted in hesitantly, “but aren’t you already doing that by prolonging our stay out here with all this arguing?”
“See, Karim?” Deidre exclaimed. “And if you don’t want to be the cause of further pain for her, you can always let me carry her over my shoulder. Problem solved.”
I felt Karim’s body tense like a spring ready to snap. “No.”
Why wouldn’t he see reason? He would put his life on the line just because he didn’t want me in pain? No, I couldn’t let him do this. If his friends couldn’t persuade him, I wouldn’t stand a chance, but I was going to try, anyway.
“Karim, it’s okay,” I said, hoping I sounded confident. Which I wasn’t. “I can do this. What’s a little bit more pain, if we both get to live afterward?”
His nostrils flared again. “You would do this?”
I nodded, though my pulse was galloping at just the thought.
He stared into my eyes for a moment, as if trying to see all the way down into my soul. “All right,” he said softly.
“Thank Jesus!”
“Holy Gods of the Underground, yes!”
I felt relieved, but now that this matter was settled, I also felt lightheaded. Whatever adrenaline had kept me going must have finally run out. I realized my head was lolling to the side toward Karim’s shoulder.
“Come on, give her to me,” I heard Deidre say but for some reason she sounded far away.
Was I imagining things, or did Karim really growl low in his throat? I was sure that his arms tightened around me. “Do not touch her. No one else but me will carry her.”
“Fine, fine.” Deidre sounded even further away now. “I’ll only help with the switch in positions. Just like a sack of potatoes, right, Curly-Q?”
“Mhm,” I replied. Or tried to, before I blacked out again.