I lift a hand, fingers skimming over the healing split. I haven’t seen my reflection in a long while, and I’d rather it stay that way.
“The cheek could be better,” he muses, the accent pulling at hist’s like his tongue wants to drag them under. “You didn’t ice it like I told you, did you?”
“Yes...” I say, trying to keep the guilt out of my tone. “For a couple minutes.”
He sighs and shakes his head, the corner of his lips looking like they want to fuse in a frown. “They always ignore the order to ice it,” he grumbles under his breath.
“I’ll do it tonight,” I assure him quickly.
“Sure you will,” he says, brown eyes rolling, like he doesn’t believe me at all. “If you like, I can make you another tonic for the pain? If you let me check your ribs, that is...”
I quickly stiffen. “No thanks.”
Hojat sighs. “You Midas lot are a distrusting bunch, aren’t you?”
My body goes still.
Midas lot. He’s seen the others.
It takes a lot of effort not to jump in eagerness. “Can you blame us? We’re captives in Fourth’s army.”
“We’re all captives of something, even things we don’t want to admit to.”
I frown at his words, but I don’t have time to linger on them. “I’m actually headed over to visit them right now. I could help you talk them into whatever treatments they need if you want to walk with me?”
It’s a bad lie. I know it, and based on the way he looks at me, he knows it too.
“You are allowed to do this?” he asks doubtfully.
“Yes,” I answer quickly.
Apparently, he’s not buying my lies, because he shakes his head. “If you want to see the others, you’ll have to get permission from the commander first.”
A breath of frustration slides between my teeth like a hiss.
“Please,” I say, my tone begging. “I’m not going to cause any trouble. I just want to make sure they’re all okay. Surely, as a mender, you can understand that?” It’s a cheap shot, but sometimes, cheap shots have a way of paying off.
A hesitant yet sympathetic look crosses Hojat’s face, and for a moment, I think I’ve got him. But then he shakes his head. “I can’t, my lady. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll take her.”
We both flinch as a soldier suddenly appears beside us, like she materialized out of the shadows.
For a second, I’m so stunned to see a woman soldier that all I can do is openly gape at her. She’s dressed in black and brown leathers, a sword at her hip, and a cocksure expression.
She has beautiful, smooth dark skin like umber, warm undertones that bloom at the apples of her cheeks. Her black hair is cut short against her scalp, and it’s been shaved in intricate designs. At first, I think the designs are pointed petals, but when I look closer, I see that they’re actually sharp daggers shorn around her head like a crown, tips pointing up.
“Who are you?” I ask, my gaze lured to the small piercing above her upper lip. The shard of wood fits perfectly into the middle of her cupid’s bow, topped with a tiny, gleaming red gemstone.
She doesn’t answer me, her attention on Hojat. “You should go get your supper before all the assholes finish off the last of it, Mender.”
The left side of his mouth tugs down roughly, a frown that’s more apt as a grimace. “Soon. I’ve got to stir for at least five more minutes before I can leave this to cool.” He looks from her to me and then back again. “You sure you’ll be alright with the lady?”
He still addresses me aslady, never anything crude, not even setting me apart as a captive. It’s hard not to like Hojat when he does things like that.
The woman smirks. “I can handle escorting our plated prisoner.”
Hojat hesitates. “The commander—”
