Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

A corn bumps his nose against my hand. “I brought something for you.”

“What?” I mumble.

“The fairy gave me clothes for you. It took me all night! I had to drag each piece the entire way. Do you know how much energy that took?”

I peel my eyes open and find I’m on my left side with my forearm aching. My right shoulder has a dull throb, and...Garrett’s arm is wrapped around my stomach, holding me against his chest. His cloak is over the two of us and I think I might have actually slept.

His warmth seeps into me and I am grateful for it. His breath is soft, and with him sleeping, I can look over my shoulder and see him without feeling like I’m staring. The edges of his beard on his cheeks have filled out and are no longer carefully groomed, and his mustache is no longer curled. His brown hair is messy too. And I notice for the first time a light scar on the left side of his jaw.

Why do I keep letting my emotions run back to Kai when Garrett is right here? He has kept me safe and put up with my attitude, and he’s funny. We’re probably a better match that Kai and me. Maybe it’s time to let Kai go.

“El?” Acorn speaks up.

“Hm?” I refocus my attention on him and the pile of clothes he’s standing on. “Right. Clothes. Wait. The fairy gave these to you?”

He nods, rolls onto his side, and tucks his body together into a little ball. “I heard you talking to him yesterday. I wanted to adventure, because I’m hungry and there aren’t worms coming out of the rocks, so I was trying to find something to eat. I saw him. He told me his name is Temarilian, that he is the missing king of the fairies, and that he had clothes for you.”

I put my weight on my good arm and push up. Garrett’s arm is heavy on my side, so I have to carefully lift it and set it against his own body. The cold nips at my exposed skin. “Wait, he’s a king?”

“It took me all night to drag it all to you!” Acorn continues. “Do you know how difficult it is to run with something longer than you? And I didn’t find anything to eat! Now I’m starving. Did you know there are rats as big as me? They told me I looked good and I prickled them.”

I reach out and muffle a groan of pain when it explodes through my shoulder. I reach out with only my right hand and pick him up. “Acorn, what do you mean he is the king?”

He shrugs. “He’s the king. The orb told me to go and find him. That he’s good.”

“Is everything okay?” Garrett asks, voice heavy with sleep. When I look at him, he’s propped up on his elbow.

“Acorn brought me clothes.” I rise up onto my knees and turn back to the hedgehog. “The orb talks to you?”

He licks his hands and cleans his face. “Yes. It told me the fairy was going to eat you so I had to save you.”

“Hm. I wonder why it talks to you.” I pick up the trousers. They’re brown and in perfect shape. Tem wouldn’t have extra clothes, in pristine condition, inside of a prison if he weren’t someone important. They’re going to do much better keeping my legs warm, and my body overall. “Has it told you why it talks to you?”

Acorn scrunches up. “It likes me. It said something about being connected to you, and Kai to you, and you to Kai. I wasn’t paying attention. I’m sleeping now. Good day.”

“It’s connected to us? What do you mean?”

“I’m sleeping. You ask it,” he mutters.

“Acorn. Acorn?”

He ignores me.

I roll my eyes and set him into the pouch. “Stubborn thing.”

Garret rolls onto his back and places an arm under his head. His muscles bulge against his shirt. How have I not noticed that? “How long have you had him?”

“A few years.”

“He’s amusing.” He smiles.

I manage to get to my feet without hurting my shoulder. “Garrett, Acorn said Tem is a king. Do you think he could be?”

He raises his eyebrow. “Huh. I mean, that explains why the prisoners and soldiers respect him. Do you need some help?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer before he’s rolled up to his knees.

My first reaction is to refuse his help. It’s what I would normally do—be stubborn and fight through the pain in order to appear independent. But just leaning over to pick up the pants sent pain burning through my shoulder. If I want to get over Kai, I may as well accept Garrett’s assistance.

“I would appreciate the help,” I reply.

“Let’s get your boots off first.” He carefully grasps my bare calf, and the heat of his hand rushes blood and heat through my body. I nearly lose my balance and have to grab his head to avoid tipping over. He chuckles.

My heart skips and I can feel my cheeks flush. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He remains steady as he bunches the pant legs so I can easily step into the holes. His thumbs glide up my legs as he helps me pull them up, sending even more tingles through me.

Kai has held me before. We have held hands, and he even kissed my forehead yesterday. But no one has ever been this close to me.

I grab the waist of the pants when they’re at my knees, but bolts of pain etch through my shoulder like the pain carving deep veins through my arm. Garrett shifts his hands to the front, allowing me to grasp the back so I can pull them up and over my bum. I also notice how he is looking away while doing so, allowing me privacy even though my nightgown hangs down over the front.

“They’re up,” I say softly.

He nods, drops his hands, and collects the shirt and his cloak.

My hands are trembling as I button the pants, and not from the cold.

“I’ll hold up my cloak for some privacy. Let me know if you need help with the shirt. You may want to start by putting your right arm in first.” He holds up the cloak and closes his eyes. His facial hair is growing on me.

I chew my bottom lip. I accept the shirt from him and glance at the bandage on my shoulder. It’s soaked with blood. “Do we have any more bandages?”

Garrett lowers the cloak and looks at my shoulder. He frowns before returning to the basket Tem gave us to get the last bundle of bandages. “We’ve got this and the last of your poultice. As for your...” He pauses and then lifts up the vial of healing liquid I didn’t drink. “Elowyn.”

“Okay! I’ll drink a little.”

“Or all of it.”

“I don’t think my shoulder is that bad.”

He frowns. “Let’s take off your dress so I can wrap it a little better. You can hold my cloak as a shield.” He holds it out. “Are you all right if I rip your dress to make it easier to pull off?”

I feel my cheeks flush with heat and avert my gaze. “It’s an under dress, and it’s now stained with blood. I don’t care if you shred it, just as long as it doesn’t hurt.”

I know Garrett will be polite and keep me modest, so I accept his cloak. He helps me tuck it under my right arm so I can wrap it around the upper part of my body, and then he grabs the collar of my nightgown and easily tears the thin fabric.

This would be intimate were it not for the bandage soaked well through with my blood. It’s also slipped so it’s barely on, as he was only able to loop it under my armpit. One of the bites is half visible.

I understand now why it feels that something is digging into me. Black veins stretch out from the wound like the spiny legs of a black widow spider. “I...I think I’ll drink that healing liquid.” My voice feels so small.

“Drink all of it. And we need Tem to take a look.” He gives me the vial and I drink it as he massages the last of the poultice into the bite marks before wrapping the bandage under my armpit and then around my chest for some added stability.

My stomach knots. Kai was the one who saved me. Would I feel differently about this moment if Garrett had reached me first? Would I feel differently if Kai weren’t married? I shake my head. Of course. Everything would be different if anything were different.

“I’ll close my eyes and hold the cloak up at the door so no one can look in,” Garrett says, looking away. “Get the shirt on. Tell me if I can help.”

I nod silently.

He keeps his gaze away as he takes the cloak from me and goes to the cell door to hold it up.

Once my nightgown is off, cold bites so hard I’m surprised I can’t see my breath. I guide my injured arm into one of the long sleeves first so I don’t have to twist my shoulder, then my other arm. Getting it over my head makes me hiss, but I don’t have to raise my shoulder much. I instantly feel warmer.

“Can you help me get my boots back on?” I ask.

“Yes.” He drapes his cloak back over his shoulders and takes me in with his eyes. “Do you feel a little better?”

I nod. “Much, thank you.”

“There has to be some sort of medical bay. We have those in our prisons.” Like before, he takes my leg but this time guides my foot into my shoes. “You need some repairs.” He pokes his fingers into the hole by my pinky toe.

“I know.” I sigh. “I just haven’t done it yet.”

A squeaking wheel and metal rattling echoes down the hall. There’s a loud clang, and Garrett quickly turns to face the door.

I look over to see a fairy crouch and slide two trays of food under it. The fairy has a broken left wing, which has faded blue tones while the other is still vibrant.

“Thank you,” Garrett says before I can. He steps over me to retrieve the food.

“Don’t know how tolerable it is,” the fairy replies.

Garrett offers a slight smile. “Food is food.” He crosses over to me and holds out a tray. “I recommend you eat, even if it doesn’t taste good. We don’t know what their feeding schedule is here and you need whatever energy you can get.”

I accept the tray and lift my lip in disgust. It’s a blob of gray with some sort of lumps in it. “You want me to eat this?”

Garrett has seated himself near the door and already has his spoon in his hand. “Like I said, we need whatever energy we can get.”

“Unless they’ve poisoned it.” I raise my brows at him.

He shrugs. “We have no way of knowing.” But he stares at the poor excuse for food on his tray. “They wouldn’t kill us.”

“You have such confidence in strangers.” I sit across from him.

“I understand the dynamics of powerful people.” He scoops a spoonful and deposits it in his mouth. His lips tug down and he shrugs one shoulder. “Not the worst I’ve had, surprisingly.”

I glance over at Kai’s cell for the first time that morning. I haven’t wanted to. I can see his silhouette, sitting on the floor of his cell against the bars of the far walls. The way the light comes in from behind shields his face in shadow, but he must have been watching everything. Unless he’s sleeping sitting up.

“Did you sleep?” I call to him.

“About as well as a flea on a frog.”

I smile because fleas can’t live on frogs. It’s a common saying, but funnier considering he was a frog just yesterday. I let my attention drift back to my food, but my stomach feels heavy already and I don’t want to eat.

Garrett touches my knee.

I acknowledge him with my eyes.

The edge of his lip tugs sadly. “I know you care for him. He’s always loved you. It’s annoying how much he talks about you.” He looks at his food. “I understand why now.”

I shake my head immediately. “It’s too late. He’s married. I guess that’s what hurts the most. No matter what...I can’t have him.”

Garrett leans his back against the wall. “It’s hard losing someone you love.”

“You’ve been in a relationship before?” I look him up and down.

“What, I can’t love?” He smiles. “Yes. She was a seamstress and we tried to make it work.”

“But?” I shove a spoonful of slop into my mouth and immediately gag at the texture. It’s more sticky and thick than oatmeal with pieces of some sort of nut in it. Walnut perhaps? No. More like pecan. Garrett is right, it’s not awful. But the texture is.

He shrugs. “I had nothing to offer her family. Her father refused to let us be together, and she found someone else.”

“Not so different than me, hm?” I sigh and slowly return to eating.

“You aren’t alone, Elowyn.” I like the way he says my name.

The broken-winged fairy returns to collect our bowls. Mine is still half-full, but I can’t stomach any more.

Almost as soon as he’s gone, the alarm for the doors unlocking sounds. Is it already time for the morning break? Did we sleep that long?

With Garrett closest to the door, he steps out first, but I am quick to follow behind. The longer I’m away from Kai, the more I can’t help but feel like I want to be with him. There are bags under his eyes as he joins us in the hall.

“How is your shoulder?” he asks.

“It seems infected,” I reply and glance down at it, though he can’t see through the bandages.

“It looks like it’s branching out too,” Garrett adds.

Kai focuses his attention on Garrett. “How bad?”

I briefly catch a glimpse of Garrett shaking his head and my stomach drops. It must be bad. These two soldiers have undoubtedly seen a lot of injuries, and he doesn’t want to tell me out loud how significant it is.

“Good morning, human trio!” Tem greets the instant we are outside, his attitude upbeat and far more energetic than I feel this morning. “Ah! Acorn succeeded in delivering your clothes. How do you feel?”

“Warmer,” I respond. “But we’re concerned about the injury.”

Garrett scratches his scruff. “Is there a hospital bay where we can change the bandages out and get medicine?”

Tem grimaces. “Ah, well, I’m afraid not. This place is a prison to stay until you die. They don’t care how that happens.”

“Yet you clearly have some sway with the soldiers,” Kai points out.

Garrett leans his head to Kai’s ear. “That’s because he’s the fairy king.”

Kai’s eyes widen.

As do Tem’s. And then Tem sighs and glances at me. “Acorn?”

“He’s never been very good at keeping secrets,” I admit.

Tem rubs the back of his neck. “Not that it really matters. Not with you three. In spite of my previous rank, Genoa has removed me from my throne. I cannot force the soldiers to give you bandages or medicine. What I gave you last night was a courtesy, but they cannot show favorites to anyone, even if I used to be their king.”

“Do we have any chance of getting out of here?” Kai asks.

Tem shakes his head. “Possibly, but we must be very cautious.” He pauses and looks over his shoulder to see a handful of the evil fairies approach us.

“The prince is a murderer!” a hag snarls, pointing with a crooked finger in his direction. “He killed one of us!”

“Because that hag attacked her and tried to eat her flesh,” Kai replies calmly. “Do I have no right to protect her?”

“Did you have to kill him?” the other argues.

Three more head our direction.

Tem clears his throat softly. “Return to whatever you were doing. Let the humans be. Genoa claims dominion over them.”

One growls. “For now.”

“Do you really want to add more injury to them and risk her wrath?” Tem folds his arms over his chest.

The group disbands and I let out my breath, knowing this likely won’t be the last time we encounter them. We need to get out of here. And fast.