Page 8

8

Farah had been happy to wake from her nap to find herself alone. There had been more broth waiting, and she hadn’t even minded that it was cold. Sitting up seemed easier. Her muscles protested from lack of use, and she had to be careful about how she moved her leg, but she propped herself up.

Her gaze was pulled outside again. She saw a man standing at the shore with his shirt removed. Kalyani , with her distinctive curls, walked up. That’s when Farah realized the bare back she stared at was likely Rohan’s . The siblings exchanged words before he bent to retrieve something. She squinted and realized it was a spear of sorts. They walked into the sea together.

She looked at the cup of broth in her hand. Of course, they would fish. Farah looked up in time to see both go beneath the waves. She leaned toward the window to see how far down the ground was. It had been a long time since she’d stood atop the cliff with Nitya . She couldn’t see much, so she attempted to scoot forward. She sucked in a quick breath as pain radiated from her injury. She decided to stay put for the moment.

Farah searched the waves for any signs of Kalyani and Rohan . Just when she was about to get worried, she saw their heads bobbing in the waves. Then they were gone again. She scanned the rolling water as she finished the broth and set aside the cup. It would be the perfect time to get a good look at the space she was occupying, but she couldn’t turn away from the ocean. She sat straighter, hoping it would give her a better angle. When that didn’t work, she cautiously lifted her injured leg with both hands and placed it in a different place before carefully scooting forward. She made little progress, but it was something she could do while examining the sea.

Farah managed to move about four inches when she saw Kalyani come up for air. Rohan didn’t. The female gave a frenzied look around before she saw something in the distance. Farah tried to see what it was, but she couldn’t make out anything. Whatever Kalyani saw seemed to calm her because she dove again.

It wasn’t uncommon for elves to swim. The mesa had hundreds of lakes and numerous rivers running through it. But they swam only on the plateau. The only ones who dared to venture into the ocean were the Sea Elves . Was that who Kalyani and Rohan were seeking? Farah could’ve told them that Sea Elves stayed far from humans.

Not that she knew any Sea Elves very well. They could be found in the many waterways throughout Shecrish , but she had always kept her distance. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was something she’d heard as a child. Perhaps it was just who she was. Nitya had been the only one who could bring her out of her shell. Once her sister vanished, Farah became more reserved, closed off. Guarded .

Durga had told her that trait made her a good candidate for undercover work. Some naturally opened themselves and their lives up to others, telling them everything. She chose what to share.

Farah scanned the water again. That’s when she saw what looked like someone swimming. She watched until they got close enough to see the person’s arms moving. Then , they stopped. Even at a distance, she knew it was Rohan . A current must have swept him back.

“ Too bad it didn’t take him farther,” she muttered.

She blinked, and then he was beneath the surface. She once more waited for him and his sister to come up for air. It felt like an eternity before Rohan and Kalyani appeared again. Then they started for shore. She continued to observe them until they walked out of the water. Rohan still held the weapon, but he had something red in his other hand.

Farah angled herself to the side to see when they headed toward the cliff, but she lost sight of them. Since she had no intention of going anywhere with Rohan —tomorrow or otherwise— Farah returned to her original position. She didn’t know how long it would take them to reach her, and she moved slowly. When the minutes ticked by, she began to wonder if they were coming back at all. Maybe they were just out for a swim. Could be they’d retrieved that red stuff for someone. She was just getting stretched out when the door opened.

Water beaded Rohan’s bare chest and dripped from his wet hair. He didn’t look her way as he walked to the table at the back of the space. He left the door open, and Kalyani entered behind him. She , too, still wore her wet clothes. Brother and sister didn’t speak. Kalyani briefly smiled at Farah as she checked the cup and found it empty. She seemed pleased that Farah had drunk the broth.

She went to the kitchen and returned with some water. Farah rose on an elbow and took it gratefully. As she drank, she looked at Rohan , wondering if the red stuff was meant to cause her pain to force her to comply with his plan.

The pain part was senseless. She already had that. It seemed more plausible that it was meant to somehow bend her to his wishes. She might not be able to stand yet, but she could still fight him. And she would.

Farah handed Kalyani the empty cup. She kept her gaze on Rohan , uncaring that his sister saw. Rohan took some deep red leaves twice the length of his forearm and wider than his hand and stacked them. When he finished, he gathered them and started toward the bed. He still didn’t look at her. In Farah’s mind, that meant nothing good was coming.

He sat on the stool but didn’t immediately reach for the blanket. He carefully laid the leaves over his knee and took a deep breath. Then , he met her eyes. “ We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

“ And what is it we’ll be doing?” she asked.

Rohan simply stared.

Kalyani sighed and nudged him in the shoulder with her elbow. “ The leaves have healing properties. We need to lay them over your wound.”

Farah looked from Kalyani to the leaves to Rohan . “ Why not just tell me that?”

“ The leaves heal,” he replied.

He didn’t like her. That much was obvious. But he also didn’t know her. And he never would. Why should she care if he believed her to be something she wasn’t? He was holding her against her will, which made him the enemy.

“ You can travel tomorrow healed or limping,” Rohan stated. “ The choice is yours.”

All this time, she had been thinking she would have to wait to heal to escape. Farah hid a smile. Now , he was giving her exactly what she wanted. She held his gaze as she pulled the blanket away from her left leg.

If she expected him to be rough, she was wrong. Rohan surprised her with his light touch as he removed the bandages. She pushed herself up, bracing her hands behind her back, and got her first look at the wound. The jagged laceration went from the outside of her thigh, across the top, and ended near the inside of her knee. Now , she fully understood why the pain was so horrendous.

It wasn’t because she had a low threshold. It was because the wound was severe.

“ I have to remove the stitches.”

She saw the gray thread of the neat stitches. Farah had seen them on humans, but she had never known an elf to have them. There usually wasn’t a need.

“ Ready ?”

She swallowed and glanced at Rohan . His eyes were on her. Farah nodded.

Kalyani walked around to the other side of the bed. “ Maybe it would be better if you lay down.”

Farah looked at Rohan again. He hadn’t moved. His expression was unreadable. Perhaps he wanted her to feel the pain just as she had wished the current would’ve tossed him farther out into the ocean. She needed to forget everything and everyone and concentrate on healing so she could make her escape.

She lowered herself onto her elbows and then down to the pillow. Farah looked at the stone ceiling above her. Rohan’s fingers touched her leg near the wound. At nearly the exact moment, he cut the first stitch. Farah relaxed when she didn’t feel anything. She had been worried for nothing.

It wasn’t until Rohan finished and Kalyani leaned over her that they began pulling out the stitches. Again , she was surprised that it didn’t hurt. She could feel the thread moving through her skin, and it was odd, but it wasn’t painful.

With the laceration being as long as it was, it took the pair some time to remove all the thread. Rohan inspected the injury once more. Farah found herself watching him. Or rather the top of his head. He bent low over her, and locks of his dark, wet hair fell forward and came within a hair’s breadth of brushing her leg.

Her eyes lowered to his shoulders. The water had dried on his tan skin, leaving nothing but corded muscle. He had a light dusting of hair on his chest and down his stomach. He lifted his arm, causing the thick sinew to bunch and flex. When he turned his head, she saw the color of his eyes: a pale grayish green with a hint of yellow undertone so light it was almost without color and a band of deep gray encircling his irises. Such an unusual and beautiful color for such a ruthless man.

Rohan straightened before he began laying the cold, wet leaves across her thigh to cover the entire injury. She didn’t like the feeling of the leaves clinging to her and tried to move one, but a look from him stopped her in her tracks.

Farah bit back some choice words when he wrapped a bandage around her leg, most likely to keep the leaves in place so she didn’t move them. When he finished, he stared at her leg for a moment and then lifted his gaze to Kalyani . Farah looked between them, but the wordless exchange was something only the two of them understood.

“ Don’t touch it,” Rohan told her, then got to his feet and walked out.

Kalyani straightened the blanket over her leg. “ He’s a good healer. He knows what he’s doing.”

“ It’s not his healing skills I take exception with,” Farah retorted.

Kalyani’s dark eyes met hers. “ How would you act in his place? Tell me what you would do to find your missing sister.”

What hadn’t she done? Farah looked away as she thought about the blood on her hands.

“ You may not understand us or even agree with what we’re doing, but we’re just trying to find our people.”

“ This plan of his won’t work. We’ll never get inside Mortham .”

“ Rohan has thought this plan through. I trust him.”

Farah turned her head to Kalyani . “ But I don’t.”

“ I wouldn’t do you the disservice of asking you to even try.” Kalyani drew in a breath and released it with a sigh.

“ Yet you ask me to risk my life for a cause that isn’t mine.” That wasn’t exactly true, but no one needed to know that.

Kalyani’s lips twisted wryly. “ I ask you to do what’s right.”

“ You know I was in Mortham . That I worked with the Masters . How can you ask me that?”

“ A hunch.”