Harlan started to laugh, but the pain stopped him. He wanted to ask about Blake but did not know how to bring her up.
‘And then there was the other hero of the moment,’ Astin said, saving him the trouble. ‘The young merchant woman who ran into battle armed with a longbow and a handful of arrows. She fought off warriors three times her size and searched an ocean on the slight chance you were still alive.’ He waited for Harlan to react.
Harlan could not make jokes or dismiss it like he normally would. ‘Is she all right?’
‘Who?’
Harlan gave him a tired look.
‘She’s fine. She keeps coming to the gate.’
Blake’s bloodied and tear-stained face flashed in his mind. ‘What does she want?’
‘What do you think? To know if you’re alive.’ Astin leaned back in his chair. ‘The men guarding that gate are sick of the sight of her.’
Harlan imagined her showing up every day, determined as always, only to be sent away each time. ‘Have you seen her?’
‘Once. She was a bit banged up. Blended in with the defenders though. Wish I’d been there on the beach. Not that it wasn’t fun seeing Borin shit his pants atop the wall.’ He was quiet for a moment. ‘I’m surprised by Blake’s apparent devotion to you, given everything that happened with the tunnels and her brother.’
Harlan picked up the cup of water and tried to drink it without help. It spilled down his chest. ‘We’ve never really spoken about it.’
Astin’s eyebrows rose. ‘But she knows?’
Harlan brought the cup to his lips again and took a large gulp, welcoming the cool sensation on his throat. ‘She knows who I am.’
‘But does she know what you did?’
Harlan stared hard at the drink. ‘I met her for the first time that day. She was standing next to one of the shafts when the tunnels collapsed.’
‘“Collapsed” makes it sound like an accident.’
‘I should go see her.’
Astin rose from the chair and placed a hand on Harlan’s good shoulder. ‘While I acknowledge you’re doing much better with the cup, you should take things one drink at a time. I’ll update her. Do you have a message you want me to pass along?’
There were a hundred things he wanted to say. He took a moment to think about what she may need to hear from him. ‘Tell her I survived.’
Astin waited for more. ‘That's it? No promise of unbridled passion beneath the stars?’
‘When was the last time you saw stars?’
‘Fair point. I’ll tell her you survived, recite a quick sonnet, then be on my way.’
‘You don’t know any sonnets.’
Astin ran into the physician carrying a steaming bowl of broth at the door. ‘He’ll need you to feed it to him. He didn’t do so great with the water.’
* * *
Blake had just collected money from a customer when she spotted Fletcher walking down the street towards the shop. Their eyes met through the open window, and Blake’s hands instantly went clammy. She knew he was Harlan’s closest friend. If there were bad news, he would be the one to deliver it. If Harlan had recovered, he would have come in person—she was sure of it.
‘Is that Prince Borin’s bodyguard?’ Lyndal asked, walking up beside her.
‘Yes.’
They watched as he stepped up onto the veranda, but he did not enter the shop.
‘What’s he doing?’ Lyndal whispered.
