I glanced at the sky. It wasn't dark yet, so the stone must have only just gone out. The man would have had a couple of hours left. So why was he unconscious? Unless Hallaxgral had cheated.
“No. No!” Vasren dove for the coffin and drew the man out onto his lap. “Katai? Katai, wake up. Please, wake up.” He gently tapped the man's cheek. “Come on, Katai. Don't do this. Please.”
I looked from the pin-straight black hair of the man in Vasren's arms to the hair I'd spotted earlier, still on his left sleeve. A visual match. Oh, fuck.
“Let me see him.” I hurried over.
Vasren looked up at me with wide eyes.
“I have experience with reviving humans,” I kept my tone calm to convey confidence. “You may hold him. Just allow me to examine him.”
Vasren angled the man to face me. “Please, help him.”
“He is not dead, Sir Vasren. I know that much at least. Here.” I took Vasren's hand and pushed his fingers against the man's throat. “Feel that? That's his heart beating. He flushed when you tapped his cheek. That means there is yet blood flowing through him.”
Vasren let out a breath and nodded. “They're so frail.”
“Yes, they can be.” I pried the man's eyelid open and checked the whites for discoloration. Took his pulse. Opened his mouth to check the lining. Smelled his breath for trace odors of toxins.
“I was just with him,” Vasren whispered.
“Yes, I know.” I glanced at him. “How long ago, precisely?”
“Uh. What time is it?”
“Time!” I threw the word at the gaping men watching us.
“After six, sir,” someone said.
So, Katai didn't have as much time as I'd thought. Perhaps he had run out of air and passed out. No, wait. There. “He has been drugged. You see this?”
“That tiny mark?” The King leaned over to look.
“It's a needle mark. They only put him to sleep.”
“How can you be sure?” Vasren asked.
“Because if Hallaxgral meant to kill Katai, Sir Vasren, he'd already be dead. Now, I believe he will recover—ah, here he is.” I waved at Katai's fluttering lids.
Katai opened his eyes and several people gasped—more than before. He had the markers of the humans of this region—dark hair, upturned almond eyes, high cheekbones, and fair skin with a yellow undertone. But those eyes didn't belong on him. They were golden-brown, more gold than brown. Almost metallic. Not only was their color uncommon for humans in the region, but it was also uncommon for humans as a race. I was betting they were also the way Katai had caught the attention of a Dragon.
“Vas?” he whispered, and then swallowed roughly. He looked around, displaying signs of disorientation that confirmed the sleeping drug theory for me. “Where am I? Vas, I think someone . . .” He touched his neck over the wound.
“It's all right now.” Vasren picked Katai up like a child as he stood, cradled the human to his chest, and nuzzled him. “You're safe now.”
“Hold, Sir Vasren!” I shot to my feet. “Your lover is a witness. I must—”
“Not now!” Vasren snarled at me.
“Sir Vasren!” the King snarled at him.
Vasren winced. “Your Majesty, please. Katai was buried alive!”
“I know, Vas. But maybe he can stop this murderer from hurting anyone else.”
“Later. Please. Ask him later.”
“Murderer?” Katai asked. “Hold on. I wasburied? As in underground?” He looked down and saw the hole. “Vas? Vas!” He clutched at the knight.
