Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

My heart skipped a beat. "Should we take him home?"

Ben tucked the dart into a padded pocket and scooped the cat into his arms. "I have a better plan, but we must hurry. He may not have much time and our foe may want another chance at us."

Ben took off at a sprint and I hurried after him. He kept his speed slow enough that I could keep up but fast enough that I was winded by the time we'd reached the northeast part of the city. The narrow alleys of the Huthala stretched out in front of us and I realized where Ben was taking us.

Dakin. The curse-knower.

"Does he know about poisons?" I asked my companion.

His grim reply didn't give me much hope. "We'll see."

We raced down the slope into the sunken campsite. A warm fire crackled in the ring of stones and a half dozen people were crowded about slurping out of crude bowls. Most of them started at our sudden entrance, but Dakin coolly set his bowl down and stood.

"What's wanted?" he questioned us as his attention fell on the suffering form in Ben's arms.

"Our friend here was attacked," Ben told him.

Dakin pursed his lips before he jerked his head over his shoulder in the direction of his cave. "Get him in there and on the bed. I'll see what I can do."

Ben hurried to obey and Dakin followed on his heels. I tried to dog his steps, but the large man paused in the curtained doorway and half-turned to me.

He nodded at the campfire. "Stay out here. You can't do any good in there."

My shoulders sagged, but I couldn't argue his point. I knew nothing of poison. He slipped into his cave and the curtain shut behind him.

I turned and shuffled over to the fire. The others, sensing the tension in the air, had departed to their own dwellings, leaving me alone at the ring of stones. I took up a seat on one of the overturned logs and stared into the flickering flames. Guilt gnawed at my mind as my traitorous memories kept replaying the ordeal over and over again.

Qisa had thrown himself into the path of danger to protect me.

The curtains were pulled back and my heart skipped a beat. Ben stepped out and closed the curtain behind him. My heart sank as he came up to me and took a seat at my side with a heavy sigh. He stared into the fire with eyes filled with worry.

I couldn't speak above a whisper. "That bad?"

"It's not good," came the answer. He lifted his eyes to the curtain. "But we'll know in a few minutes."

Every minute felt like a lingering eternity, but finally the curtain rustled. My heart leapt and the rest of me followed as both Ben and I stood. Dakin walked out of his cave with heavy steps and his head bowed. My heart sank as I clasped my trembling hands against my chest.

Dakin paused at the fire and ran a hand through his hair as he shook his head. "That thing sure is stubborn. I think that's what saved him more than my medicine."

My heart filled with reluctant hope. "Then he's alive?"

Dakin dropped his hand to his side and nodded. "Aye, but he's weak. Very weak. That's a bitter kiss someone tried to give you with that dart."

"We'll have to be sure to repay the favor somehow," Ben promised, and there was a sharpness in his voice that I had rarely detected.

"Well, you can't move him, so I suppose if you're staying here tonight you had better get a note to that house telling them you'll be late," Dak advised us as he turned his attention to one of the nearby caves. "Sarie!"

I expected the curtain to be thrown aside, but instead, a tiny rag stuck in the rock beside the curtain fluttered. A moment later the tiny head of a fae peeked out. Their shoulder-length hair was already frazzled by a pillow and their bleary eyes glared at us. "What's wanted?"

"We have a message for you to deliver, that's what's wanted," Dakin told him.

Sarie wrinkled his nose. "At this hour?"

Dakin jerked his head toward Ben. "You fed like a king this night thanks to this man's generosity. The least you can do is get a note to his friends."

Sarie sighed but flitted out of his hole and over to Ben. "Written or verbal?"

"Are you sure you can deliver this without interference?" Ben asked him.

"Of course!" Sarie insisted as he reached into a pocket and drew out a tiny medallion. I leaned in close and beheld an inscription that read ‘Fae Union Member.' "I'm part of the union and we guarantee service regardless of the trouble!"

"Then I'll take paper."

Sarie patted his pockets and produced a thin bit of paper hardly larger than a paper clip and a stub of a pen. The fae handed them to Ben and my eyes widened as I watched the tiny office supplies enlarge in Ben's hands. He scribbled a few lines before he handed them back to the tiny folk. The items once again shrunk to fae-size and the creature tucked them into his pocket.

Sarie fluttered up a few feet and gave us a salute. "I'll be back as soon as a return message is given to me." He flitted off across the housetops and soon vanished.

I returned my attention to Dakin as I took up my makeshift chair while Ben did likewise. " So he'll be alright?"

Dakin wrinkled his nose. "Aye, but a few more minutes and I doubt even I could have saved him."

I looked between the men with wide, curious eyes. "That wouldn't matter, though, would it? I mean, he has a couple more lives."

"Is that what he told you?" Dak mused as he eased himself onto a block of wood and picked up the fire stick to prod the wood. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. He'll live, but he won't be of much use for a while. You'll have to carry him home, too."

"What sort of poison was it?" Ben asked him.

A dark look marred Dak's already gnarled features. "Some of the worst kind. Whoever blew that at you meant for you not to see another sunrise."

"Blew it?" I repeated.

He set the stick aside and tossed another log onto the fire. "Aye. It came out of a pipe. I've never seen one myself, but the books my old man mentioned them a few times. I even found a drawing somebody scribbled a while ago." He dug into his coat pocket and drew out a wrinkled piece of sketch paper which he handed to Ben. "That's what you're looking for."

Ben studied the drawing, but my own curiosity was dampened. I couldn't shake off what Dak had said about Qita's lives. My attention was drawn to those closed curtains and the faint candlelight that shone behind the cloth.

"This looks to be quite large," Ben mused as he studied the paper.

Dak nodded. "Yep. I guess it's at least a foot and a half, and maybe even two. They won't be able to hide that very well."

"Only if they have a bundle of dressings over themselves," Dak mused as he plucked a bowl from a short stone slab in front of the fire pit and held one up to Ben where he nodded at the pot that hung over the fire. "This isn't as fancy as what Harim can offer you, but it's what we got."

Ben smiled and shook his head. "It will be as a feast to us." He turned to me and his good humor faltered a little. "Are you alright?"

I pursed my lips and turned my attention away from the cave and to our host. "Can I see him?"

Dakin shrugged before he started pouring Ben a bowl. "Sure, just don't go jostling him about."

A faint smile appeared on my lips as I stood. "I think I can promise that."