The Unspoken: Book One in the Keres Trilogy (21 page)

Zink is only in my room a fraction of a second.
“
All clear. It
’
s rare that they do leave anything anyway. I think they prefer to speculate rather than eavesdrop, it allows for imagination to create a much more exciting reality.
”
He moves to his pack and starts pulling out jars.

One of the cans of broth is boiling over, I reach around Wex to pull it off the fire.
“
Oh, sorry,
”
he says trying to slide out of my way.

“
It
’
s fine, just keep drinking,
”
I tell him.
“
Wex, I
’
m so sorry I did this,
”

Wex lifts his chin, his eyes find mine and I feel a leaping sensation in my stomach, my knees threatening to give way to my weight. The side of his face close to the fire is illuminated with a warm glow, leaving the other side coldly dark. The outline of his square jaw and defined cheekbones is even more striking in this half light. I cannot look away. Something wonderfully hot steals up my neck and face. Wex turns towards Zink, breaking my gaze.
“
Thank you,
”
he says to Zink.
“
I don
’
t know how long it would have taken for us to get Doe back.
”

“
She
’
s far worse than the rest of you. Why? What happened?
”

“
I wouldn
’
t stop baiting her about Keres,
”
Harc says suddenly, like she
’
s spitting nails. She hasn
’
t moved since Wex helped her into the chair.

“
Doe was upset that Keres wasn
’
t racked with us. She was convinced that something much worse was happening to her. That Keres was being crushed or dying or something. After Keres came and left, Harc kept pushing Doe to admit that Keres is treated differently because of the black diamond. Doe- she had some kind of breakdown,
”
Wex says between spoonfuls of hot broth.

Zink looks at me and looks back at Doe. She is twitching compulsively on the sofa. Zink finishes dressing her cuts and lifts her gently up again,
“
Which one is her room?
”

“
This way,
”
I leap up and hold open the door for Zink to carry her through.

He lays her on the circular bed and turns to me,
“
Shut the door.
”
Clicking the door softly behind me, I walk over to his side to look down at Doe. She looks like a tiny animal who has been swallowed and is now waiting to die in something much larger
’
s round acidic stomach.

“
Can you help her?
”

“
Yes, but there
’
s something else happening here. I think she knows, Keres. I think she knows what we do.
”

“
How can she? I never-
”

“
No, you couldn
’
t of course. I think she must have seen Grainom.
”

“
Who?
”

“
Grainom. A few days ago he tried to throw a magus when he thought he was alone on his block. His guard tattoo knew there was someone watching him and it reacted. He ended up in the Healers
’
Building before they could get him to the med bay in the Warren. Journer said there was so much blood on the floor, it actually rippled in waves when they walked through it to get to him. Doe must have seen it.
”

“
She was agitated when she saw my guard. She told everyone to leave me alone, that the Unspoken could kill me with it.
”

Zink nods.
“
This might be harder than I thought. The others will be fine, they are just weak and tired. Their cuts aren
’
t even that bad. But I
’
ll have to help her.
”

“
What can I do?
”

“
Go back out there and change their bandages, apply the disinfectant and the ointment in the blue jar I brought. Rewrap them and make sure they drink at least two flasks of water and finish the broth.
”

“
Merit
’
s bandages are stuck to his cuts, how-
”

“
Wet them, they will loosen up.
”

“
What are you going to do to Doe?
”

“
Clear her mind, heal her wounds, try to soothe her fears. Her cuts are deep, she must have seriously fought against the shackles during her breakdown. Now go, the others will get restless if we are both in here too long. Wex looks like the protective type.
”

Closing the door behind me and leaving Zink blindfolding Doe, I bring a water flask over to Merit and start wetting down his bandages. I peel them up a little bit at a time, trying to keep the chicken and rice I ate an hour before in my stomach. The blood has congealed in hard amber-colored clumps that crackle when I pour the antiseptic over them. Merit avoids looking at me while I rewrap his wrists.

“
Eat, Merit,
”
I tell him, handing him a can of broth. He takes it from me and leans back in his chair, drained from the effort to hold back tears of pain.

I move on to Harc and repeat the wound cleaning process. Her muscles strain when I apply the ointment.
“
Thank you,
”
she says through clenched teeth. I lean over as I stand up and kiss her forehead, tears are welling up in my eyes.

Wex holds out his arms to me and I am about to fall into them when I realize he
’
s only asking me to redress his wounds. Grinding my teeth, I go to work removing the old bandage. His fingers wrap around my arm while I rest his wrist in my hand.
“
I know, Keres,
”
he whispers so quietly I have to lean my ear to his mouth.
“
I know what you are.
”

My guard tattoo sears my chest like a branding iron.
“
I
’
m a child of Chelon, just like you,
”
I say, pulling back. His fingers tighten, enclosing my wing tattoo and he shakes his head.

“
No, you aren
’
t. You are something unnatural.
”

My face contorts at his words and I can feel my heart pound against my ribcage. He thinks there is something wrong with me, that I am tainted, abnormal. Because of that, he will not want me. I am marked with the black diamond and therefore untouchable.

“
And it
’
s more important than ever that we leave Chelon,
”
he whispers.

“
All of us, including me?
”
I whisper back.

He nods and lets me finish wrapping his wrists.

Frehn already has his bandages off and sits down next to Wex.
“
My turn,
”
he says.
“
And be gentle.
”

When I tuck the end of the new bandage around Frehn
’
s wrist, Zink emerges from Doe
’
s room.
“
She
’
s sleeping now.
”

“
Will she be alright?
”
Harc asks with a sharp edge in her voice.

“
She
’
ll be fine. She understands now what happened, that Keres is fine and that you were under too much stress, you didn
’
t know what you were saying,
”
Zink says coldly to Harc.

Tears roll down Harc
’
s cheeks and she doubles over in the chair.

“
You should be sorry,
”
Wex says to her.
“
You gave in.
”

“
Stop,
”
Merit says,
“
Don
’
t, Wex. It
’
s not the time to reprimand. She
’
s sorry, she knows what she said was out of line. Let it go.
”

Frehn stands and pulls his shirt over his head.
“
Got anything for these in your pack, Zink?
”
He shows the dark red and purple marks.
“
They sting like I got into a hornet's nest.
”

Zink tosses a green jar to me. I gingerly apply the orangish-brown paste inside it to Frehn
’
s back and chest.

“
I must have really ticked them off. They went to town with the whip
”
Frehn says with a sigh of satisfaction.
“
That feels great, Keres. You have good taste in friends.
”

A smile creeps across my face as I look around Frehn to Zink, who is making notes in his book. I catch his eye and he half smiles back.

“
Alright,
”
he says as he rips out a page,
“
These are instructions for the rest of the night. Change the dressings every two hours and reapply the ointment. Your cuts should be gone in the morning. Doe will need some more time, probably through tomorrow, so be sure you send her back to Service hours with a fresh set of bandages. She will remember everything, but have sort of a removed perspective on it. So don
’
t treat her like she
’
s breakable. That will only make it worse for her.
”

Wex stands and moves to shake Zink
’
s hand. Zink seems surprised, but returns the grip warmly.