He chuckled, clearly not concerned at all by my threat.He should have been.I was very serious.I didn’t like being told what to do, and I’d had about enough of him treating me like I was under his command.I climbed onto the bed, careful of my bruised tailbone, and opened my pack.Taio also climbed onto the bed and lay on his back, his body stiff and straight on the edge furthest from me.Good.That was where I wanted him.He’d better stay over there.
I found my brush, sectioned my hair, and teased out the tangles.When it was smooth and straight, I set the brush down and began to plait it.With an annoyed huff, Taio turned on his side, jostling the bed.I glanced at him, but now his back was to me.Perfect.I had annoyed him.I needn’t worry I’d wake up in the night and have to knee him between the legs to get him off me.
I placed my pack in the center of the bed, a sort of makeshift barrier, then pulled the blanket back and slid underneath.Taio lay on top of the blanket, which was another separation for us.I couldn’t sleep on my back, as I usually did because of my tailbone and my head, so I tried to find a position on my side that wasn’t too uncomfortable.I started facing away from Taio, but that side of my neck was the most bruised.I had to rise up and turn the other way then move about until nothing hurt so much that I couldn’t relax.The potion was definitely helping with that.
“Be still,” Taio hissed.
“You must want me to smother you,” I said, too tired to do anything of the sort by this point.
“I do not know that word.Smother.I assume it is a means of killing me.”
“You know me so well,” I said, my voice sounding far away now as I struggled to keep my eyes open.As though in a dream, Taio rolled over and looked at me.The room was dark, and I couldn’t really see his face.I wasn’t even certain if I was dreaming or if this was real.
“I do know you, Mara,” he said.“I know you better than you think.”
***
IWAS SHAKEN AWAKEwhat seemed like only moments later.Pain flooded into me, and I closed my eyes again, willing it to go away.“Mara, get up.”
I opened my eyes and looked up at Finnrey.Then I shot my gaze to the other side of the bed.It was empty except for my pack.“Where is everyone?”
“The barbarian is waiting outside the door with Lady Aine.He said the potion I sent made you sleep like the dead.”
I felt groggy and weak and pushed myself to sit.I hadn’t eaten anything last night.That might account for the weakness.“What was in that goblet?”
“I don’t know,” she said.“The healer said it would help.Did it?”
I swallowed and my throat did seem less swollen.I touched my neck, which was still tender.The back of my head felt somewhat better, but my tailbone was as sore as ever.“A little.”
Finnrey gestured to the table beside the bed.“She sent another.She said this one will not make you drowsy.”
“I’m starving,” I said.
“There’s bread and fruit on the desk.”She pointed to a tray with scattered food on it.“Looks like the Zulenii left a little for you.”
Wincing, I pushed off the bed.Finnrey caught my arm and helped me.I let her since no one was here to see, and I really did need the help.A quarter hour later, I was ready for the day.I’d taken the potion and tucked a small bag of herbs the healer had sent for the journey in my pack.I hefted it onto my back, rolling my shoulders at the weight, then tucked my skullcrusher in my belt.I grabbed another piece of bread and an orange just as Taio opened the door.“Time to go.”
“You will wait until we are ready,” Finnrey said, sounding every syllable the princess she was.
“In sixty ticks of the clock, I will put that one over my shoulder”—he pointed at me—“and walk out of here.”He slammed the door again.
“Well, he seems in a good mood today,” Finnrey said.
“As always,” I said.“Let’s go or he might really try and carry me.Then we’ll start off with a fight.”
She went to the door and opened it, and my mother practically pounced on me.“Mara, how are you?”she asked, running her hands over my shoulders and down my arms.“Your face looks better, but your neck.Oh, no!”
I’d had no time to spend at the looking glass, so I could only imagine how my neck looked.If I hadn’t been going on a journey, I would have wrapped a scarf about my throat, but a loose piece of cloth was a danger in the outerlands.
“I’m fine,” I said.
“You are hurt.”She spun and marched across the corridor, where Taio was standing in the shadows.“How can you force her to travel today?She is injured.She needs rest and to see the healer.”
Taio crossed his arms and looked down at my mother.His expression was unmoved.
“Mama, I—”
“You are nothing but a barbarian!May the gods curse you—”
