29. Tahlia
Chapter 29
Tahlia
T ahlia opened her eyes for the third time since she'd fallen from the city wall. This time she was less dead so she actually felt the injury in her side.
"Ugh. Kill me."
The room was bright because the evil sun was shining through a high window. A bandage wrapped around her torso, a bit of blood staining the linen.
A female human approached the cot she was resting on. "Never saw someone with Fae blood heal in front of my eyes. Amazing."
"Glad to entertain. Why don't you stab me with another little something and we can both enjoy the power of magic all over again?"
"Oooh, would you be willing?"
"Kidding, woman. I was kidding."
She bit her lip and had the grace to look ashamed. Gods, Tahlia wouldn't be able to murder her in order to escape. She was too sweet.
"Is Durniad around? Where exactly am I? What happened?"
"You were shot with an arrow. It didn't pierce anything important."
"I count skin as important."
"Ah." She shook her head like Tahlia was silly. "King Durniad will be here shortly. You're in his fortress."
"The same place where he stashed that horrible crown and tried to kill me the first time?"
"Probably, yes, although I wasn't privy to all of that business," she said chirpily.
Tahlia shut her eyes. She definitely hadn't healed fully in front of this woman's eyes because with every heartbeat, pain lashed at her side.
"Tons of guards outside, huh?" Tahlia asked, hoping to tease some information from the Healer.
"Of course. The king wants you to stay put on account of your upcoming nuptials."
"You think I should marry him?"
The Healer glanced at the closed door and grimaced. "No. I do not."
Tahlia snorted. "Great. Then can you help me escape?"
"I wish. But I just landed this job. I used to be a tanner's wife."
"You left him?"
She grinned widely. "He died."
Tahlia laughed. "I guess he deserves that vicious joy on your face?"
"Completely."
"You remind me of my friend, Fara. She's a Healer too. Maybe a person has to be vicious to sew folks up all day."
"You do, yes. Or you'd be weeping or puking or both during every shift."
Tahlia nodded. "Now, about that escape…"
"I could look away maybe while you check out the window up there…" The Healer raised her pale eyebrows.
Tahlia twisted, wincing, and eyed the window in question. "It's forty feet up with nothing to climb to get there."
"But you're half-Fae."
"I hate to burst your bubble, but we can't leap that high. At least, I can't."
"Too bad your dragon isn't here. I heard you're a Mist Knight of the Shrouded Mountains."
Of course she knew who they were. Ragewing had completed their already-pretty-much-blown cover situation. King Lysanael was not going to be best pleased. But Tahlia wasn't going to worry about any of that until she got out of here still breathing.
"What about that door there?" Tahlia jerked her chin at a slender wooden door in the corner of the room.
"That's a privy."
"Perfect." It would dump into a body of water, hopefully.
The Healer helped her up and walked her to the door. "I'll leave you to it unless you call out, all right?"
Nodding, Tahlia entered the privy. This wasn't going to be fun.
"I hope the humans and Fae alike appreciate my sacrifice here."
They had managed to take the crown from Durniad. The mission was at least successful in that regard. Marius would try to come back for her. She had no doubt about that, but would he have any support? They'd already created a fantastic mess and sending someone back in would only make more waves. The human high queen and her regent didn't want this snatch-and-grab job to point to them at all. So perhaps it would make sense to return and rescue her so Durniad wouldn't have her to question?
Well, Tahlia wasn't waiting on Marius. She was leaving. Now.
Even if she had to deal with a privy.
She lifted the wooden seat and squinted through the hole carved into the stone floor. Several stories down, a narrow river ran quickly along the fortress's base, no doubt heading for the sea. She blew out a breath. Could she fit through that hole? Would she break her body further if she landed wrong? Lots of questions. No answers. And she wouldn't figure it out mulling about in here.
Wishing she had her boots and bemoaning the fact that they'd stripped her of her weapons belt, she sat backwards on the privy's seat, held her feet together, then launched herself down, down, down.
The carved hole out of the fortress hit her spine as she fell awkwardly. Pain shook her and she tried to straighten her legs again, working her position so she'd land feet first in the water.
The river's embrace wasn't for the faint of heart. The cold and the strike of the surface made her cry out in agony, her side flaring with pain and her back shrieking with what was going to be a mighty bruise. Carrying her past the fortress, the river gurgled around her ears. She spread her arms wide to keep her head above water.
She could practically hear Fara's voice in her head.
Can't believe you jumped into a privy and the refuse river with a hole in your side? And how many times have you fallen through the air today alone? You truly do want to perish horribly, don't you?
Tahlia's thoughts tumbled along with the river, her cheeks flushing though her body was cold from the water. She hoped she wouldn't be suddenly dumped into the sea. She'd really had quite enough of the ocean for the time being.
The river widened and shallowed. She swam toward the edge. A stand of trees blocked this part of the river from the city streets beyond. No one was around. Finally, she was having some good luck. With shaking legs, she lumbered out of the water.
Her nose caught the scent of something familiar. She looked up into Durniad's smiling face.
"Damn it."
A few hours later, they had her rebandaged, dressed in a trailing pearl-colored gown, and standing beside Durniad at an altar dedicated to a goddess Tahlia knew nothing about. A man droned on about commitment and care, and she rolled her eyes for the ninth time.
"Remember," Durniad whispered, his lips at her ear. "Smile and do as you're told and you'll live. If not, I'll hand you over to my guards. I like to watch."
"Classy." She drew away from him.
A sneer curled his lip. "Say one more word like that. I dare you." His voice was barely audible. He gripped her hand and attempted to crush her fingers.
He wasn't nearly as strong as he believed himself to be.
Well, the plan now was murder . She'd end this fool's life tonight in their wedding chamber and it would be a good deed done for anyone and everyone he'd ever met. Forget the human and Fae relations, screw the agreement between King Lysanael and the human high queen. Tahlia had had enough. She'd spit this monster like the pig that he was, then fight her way out of the fortress. Maybe Marius would show up at some point and help out. Maybe not. But no matter what, she wasn't giving in to this idiot.