I turned and looked into Khal’s face.
Was it possible for someone with green skin to look ashen? Because I’d never seen him so pale, so frozen as in that moment. I couldn’t read him, started to take a step back before remembering that his compatriot behind me wanted my blood.
Vrathgar’s voice cut the air. “So what are we doing now, brave leader?”
Khal swallowed. “Tyralk needs a potion. Is that right?” There were knives of ice in that voice. God, I was right. Now Khal hated me.
“He’s dying.” The muscles in Vrathgar’s jaw twitched.
“Then we get it for him.”
“How?” Another spoke up. “We received no pay. What are we supposed to buy with?”
Krashal shouted, “That was supposed to be two months wages a piece!”
“They’re cheaper when they’re stolen.” My voice had slipped out. I hated that it was so quiet, so squeaking. I was speaking where I was hated. But Tyralk lay in the room beyond, slowly dying.
“We don’t steal,princess,”one of them growled.
“Not by you. By someone else. They’re cheaper when you buy them fenced.” My throat was raw.
“And you know where to find that?” A sardonic growl.
“Yes. In Rowton. The warrens by the lower wall, next to the pleasure district.” I looked back to Khal. “Before the baron caught me, I sold things there.”
Vrathgar muttered, “A whore?”
My voice snapped, “A thief.” What did I have to fear? I looked back at him. “But the whores I’ve known were braver than you.”
“This fight is pointless.” Khal had spoken. He was moving to the doorframe. “Rowena knows the way. The two of us will get the potion for Tyralk.”
“And pay with what?”
“I still have my pay from the last campaign.”
They started speaking Orcish. Of course. They didn't need to include me anymore. I turned off my ears, focused on what needed to be done. This was over. Khal knew. Now I would help him get the medicine for his friend, and bid him goodbye. There was no way he could find me in the city, and he would be pressed for time. I'd give him this last apology, endure his contempt for a day and a half, and disappear. This escape was the best of all worlds: I had protection on the road, and he had a thief to guide him to his goal. My entire chest ached.
Khal paused beside me, still not looking at me. "I'll grab my effects. We can leave as the sun rises."
An hour ago I would have followed him into the room we'd shared. Now I stayed in this hall full of hostile eyes, and I waited.
Khal rejoined, his effects strapped to his body, boots on his feet. His gaze slowed over me, looked away. “We need to leave.”
I reached for his neck. He froze.
Had I done this wrong? I tried to read his face. He lifted me, ginger. Guarded.
He stepped through the columns. My head buzzed with that nauseous energy again, but I was able to push it back. And we were alone in the forest, surrounded by ancient stones. He set me down, not roughly. And he walked.
“Khal?” I said.
He stopped.
I swallowed. “My shoes.”
He pulled a sling off his pack, pulled them out, and bandages. I took them without speaking. I had for so long been afraid that he would become angry with me; it was almost a relief, like a weight off my mind. He could be angry. This was never fair to either of us. Of course we’d hurt each other. And now he could heal, because he was angry with me. When I finished off the bandages and pulled on, again, my ridiculous indoor shoes, he was waiting on the edge of the clearing, his back still to me. The world was so hushed, so chill.
“I’m ready,” I said.
