Scorched Treachery (15 page)

A
s I searched, I sang. I sang the song I had written for her all those hundreds of years ago. The song that was only for her.

I left the song inside of her head
hoping that it would, at least, welcome her home.

My
stomach growled with the lack of food, but I just ignored it. I had gone longer without eating. Forced starvation was one of my father’s favored techniques. But I had been living in comfort for too long, my body had become used to consistency. Being trapped in a cave for the past few days had not helped to give it the consistency it now felt it needed.

I laid my head against the back of the cave, ignoring the hard cold stone that pressed against my body and focused instead on the soft warmth of the girl that was curled against me. At least I could make Joclyn comfortable. I pulled Dramin’s robe around her, tucking the edges
under her in an attempt to trap her body heat against her.

Her
heartbeat was steady against me. It hummed against my skin as it followed the rise and fall of her chest. I focused on it, waiting for her body to seize again.

I had slept with her here for the past few nights, her body warm against mine. But t
onight I could not sleep. I didn’t know what was going on in the prison she remained in, but her body had twitched and moved more than usual. Only an hour ago, her knee had been hurt so badly that the tendons had been ripped away from the muscle.

I repaired it dutifully as she slept, wrapping it in heavy bindings as she twitched, and I sang my song to her. I let
the words fill her mind, my voice imprinting inside of her whether she was there to hear it or not.

It had been the same pattern for the past four days –
heal her and sing to her. Then, after every time, I connected with her mind in an attempt to find her. I would keep trying everything I could to save her, to bring her back to me. I would wait forever if that were what it took.

Her body seized again, and her chest racked as she coughed, more blood drizzling from her mouth. I wiped it with the back of my hand and then onto my jeans. With nothing to clean her with, my pants had been stained a
warm red hue, her blood deepening the color every day.

My fingers clung to the once soft fabric of her shirt, pulling it down just enough to check the skin on her shoulder, where the Štít lay inside of her, the dark red scratches deepening in color as I watched, a small trickle of blood appearing on the surface. I replaced the shirt and held her ag
ainst me, rocking as I clung her to me.

Desperation
, it was a feeling I had rarely felt in my long life. I had never really been hopeless enough to feel it. I was always the one in control, powerful and resilient. I laughed at battle and found joy in an impending death. But with Joclyn’s injured body in my arms, I only felt desperation.

If I had ever believed in G
od, now would be the time I would call to Him, beg Him to save her, to bring her home. But I didn’t, and whoever had called my kind to come forth from the mud had always been strangely silent.

“Have you slept?” I didn’t even move at Dramin’s question. I kept my head curled against Joclyn, my hair falling around us.

“No,” I whispered loud enough for him to hear me. I knew my voice would carry through the cave. “Last night was bad.” I didn’t dare elaborate.

“Any new developments?” He knew there would be none, just as I did. We were still trapped in the cave, and Joclyn was still trapped in the Tȍuha.

“I can stay with her again today if you would like? Thom can shift rock on his own for a while, it would give you time to rest.” I knew he meant well, but I didn’t need to be coddled. Resting while Joclyn writhed was not a possibility. I would rather shift rock with Thom as I did every day. At least then, my mind could focus on other things.

“I see you braided her hair again,” he said when I didn’t answer him. I nodded at Dramin’s question, waiting for what would come next.

I had braided her hair after some of her blood had dried in it. I had been able to repair the head injury easily enough, but the dark mass of curls needed to be washed. With nothing to clean it with, I resorted to re-braiding, weaving the clumps into the intricate five strand braid. I hadn’t even realized what I had done until it was finished.

“The wedding braid is an interesting choice.” I ignored him. “To match the shoes, I take it.”

I leaned my head back and looked at him out of the corner of my eye, almost daring him to continue.

“You can imagine my surprise when she showed up wearing those things on her feet. They are excellent workmanship.”

Dramin let his unasked question linger heavy on the air. I could feel it swirl around us, the intensity of it growing the longer I left it unacknowledged.

I knew I owed him no
reply; it was not my place to allow insight into my every thought. But Dramin did not ask as a curious servant, he asked as my friend and Joclyn’s brother, and in that regard, I did owe him an explanation.

“I made the shoes as a gift,” I finally said, refusing to look at him. I focused on Joclyn’s heartbeat as I spoke. The steady thrum moving through me.

“She had lost something I couldn’t even fathom; I wanted to give her what she was due
. What her husband should have placed on her feet on the night of the bonding.”

“And so, with him gone, you tried to take his place.” I could hear the accusation clearly, but instead of making me angry it only made me laugh.

“You know, that was never my intention, strangely enough. I made the shoes as a gift from her newfound brother, a wedding gift. Part of me fully expected Ryland to return, to fight Edmund and reappear as if nothing had happened. But then, when she wasn’t recovering, when Ryland never came, I knew he was gone. Then, I had begun to make them for an entirely different purpose.”

“As a gift from a husband to his wife.”

I nodded. I knew it was a foolish line of thinking, and one I still resented ever having, but if that last visit into the Tȍuha hadn’t cured her, I would have replaced Ryland’s bond with one of my own. I knew that would have saved her, because I had seen it done before. I would have gladly taken that role if it was necessary, but it wasn’t.

It was not yet my place. She wasn’t mine to keep.

“It is not my place, Dramin.”

“Not yet,” he said. I could only smile, letting the beautiful visions of the sight from so long ago wash over me.

“She is bonded to my brother, Dramin. That is a sacred connection and one I would never take advantage of. I will protect her for him. I will keep her safe as my soul calls for me to do, but I will never take her from him. She is not mine. I love her more than I have any other. I love her enough that I would rather see her happy than in my possession. My time will come.”

I didn’t doubt that any of my words were true, and it wasn’t the fickle truth of having convinced myself to believe something. I truly believed it. I had felt it from the beginning when I first saw Ryland swing her around on the grass at her school. I knew then that I could never take that away from her, that con
nection. It wasn’t my place. Besides, doing things like that was not who I was.

“But she loves you, Ilyan.” Dramin’s voice was deep, almost as if he was trying to convince me I was making a wrong decision, but I could only laugh at him.

“I know, Dramin. She told me so,” I whispered, my fingers moving to run over the soft skin of her face. “And those words flow through my head every night as I keep her safe in my arms, holding her until the right arms can take my place.”

She sighed as I held her, almost as if she heard me, though I knew that wasn’t possible, her mind was not there to hear me. I smoothed my hand over her hair and the soft skin of her face. Her deep breathing seeped into me, relaxing me as well. The heady beating of my heart slowed,
the uncharacteristic relaxation making me feel more in love with her than before if that was possible.

“It will be harder than you think, handing her over to him.”

“I know,” I couldn’t help it, my muscles tightened around her, bringing her against me tightly. I knew Dramin was right, but no matter how hard, I still would not interfere. I would not break such a sacred vow. It was not mine to break.

“You are a better man tha
n I thought you to be, Ilyan.” Dramin sat up slowly, his back leaning against the cold wall beside me.

I looked at him curiously, not sure if his words were that of a compliment or not. He just looked at me
with pride and knowledge lining his handsome face. I could feel my eyebrows rise as I waited for him to continue, sure that the threat on my face was evident.

“All those years ago,” Dramin explained, “when I first saw the fate of what was to come for you, I was happy for you, so
šťastný. But the heartbreak at her being with another…I thought you would purposefully tear them apart to get what was rightfully yours.  I am sorry I ever thought badly about you. You are a man beyond words.”

I smiled, but chose to say nothing. For years I had thought the exact way that Dramin had. I had been possessive, needy. She was mine, and no one was going to take her away from me. After all, I had waited for hundreds of years, what could one mortal do to stop me? But, it wasn’t a mortal
; it was my brother.

The child of Sain, the first of the Drak, the
Silnỳ, the woman who was created for me, was in love with my baby brother.

My brother who had stood up to our father and refused to torture me
; who had fought him to give me a chance to escape. Ryland who had been poisoned at such a young age, a mere science experiment to our father. A boy who had known no love in his entire life had found that love, that sanctuary, in a girl I had been waiting for the majority of my life. I could not take that away from him, from either of them.

Once that realization had occurred, my heart no longer ached for her. It still longed, but it no longer ached. Because I could see her face alight in love for Ryland, and that happiness was enough for me.

“Sain’s going to love you, Ilyan,” Thom’s voice came out of nowhere, and we both jumped. “Of course, he had no idea it was his own daughter he was showing you when the sight was first delivered. Noble Ilyan, so kind to his only daughter.”

“Am I detecting a touch of resentment in your voice, Thom?” I asked as he came to sit across from me, the light in the cave increasing a bit as we all woke up and the magical pulses inside it increased.

“Oh, always, Ilyan. As my perfect older brother, I will always resent you.” We both smiled, but it was strained. The bonds of family were always tense between us, between all of our father’s children.

“Well,” Thom began, leaning back on the palms of his hands. “I’m tired,
bolák, sore, hungry, and dying of thirst. What do you say we get out of here today?”

Dramin and I turned toward him, the looks on our faces showing our confusion. We had been shifting rock at the mouth of the cave since the collapse first happened. It was a long process. We had to make sure that what we shifted didn’t cause more of a collapse while
we tirelessly worked toward the exit. We had almost made it out yesterday, but another small collapse had hindered the process, and Thom and I had returned more dirty and disheveled than before.

I knew why Thom wanted to get out
. We all needed food and drink, and I could feel my skin prickle with dehydration, but acting rashly wasn’t going to get us out of here any faster; it was just going to get us killed.

“Brzy, Thom,” I said, hoping to convey that a rush was not needed.

“Dnes, Ilyan,” he countered, his inflection so modern it brought a smile to my face. “I don’t want to wait anymore. We almost made it through last night. If we had used all three of us, we might have been able to do it.”

“What are you saying?” Dramin asked, leaning toward him. I could tell how interested he was, and that confused me a bit. He wasn’t actually going to give Thom’s idea his support, was he?

“If we all work together, we can make a hole big enough for us to escape through. Ilyan can carry the Silnỳ, and we can all be in Rioseco by nightfall.” He paused, and we just looked at him. I had to admit, part of what he was saying made sense. The small collapse from last night made me worry, however; the rocks may not have had a chance to settle yet.

“Just think about it,” Thom prompted, “S
kutečný, beds, food, and mugs for Dramin’s poison…”