My blood was suddenly ice cold, like all the warmth had been sucked from my soul. I started to violently shiver as the cold spread from my neck, down my torso, and into my extremities.
The straps make sense now, I thought as I felt my mind drift away while my body convulsed.
The last thing I remember before the blackness rushed to meet me was Rohak’s voice. The pain and cold muddied my mind, and I couldn’t discern what he was saying. But I knew he was there, watching over me as he always did.
Chapter 6
Lex
The pounding in my head woke me first, followed by the throbbing in my neck.
I groaned, but the sound hurt my ears, so I stopped.
“Lex? Lex, are you awake?” The concerned voice was familiar and warm. Like honeyed whiskey.
Who would be worried about me?
I groaned again, and the throbbing in my skull only intensified.
“Can one of you help him?” The voice was angry now.
Not angry at me, I realized.
At someone else in the space.
“No, no. It’ll wear off in a minute. We have to alert Lord d’Refan,” a raspier voice sounded from somewhere far away before a door opened and closed with asnap, causing my head to pulse again.
I felt a warm palm stroke my forehead with a loving caress, and I leaned into the touch. Or tried to. My head was still restrained.
I mumbled something incoherent and felt the tight leather give way on my forehead, the pain from the strap instantly replaced by a warm, calloused palm.
Gradually, with each stroke of the kind hand, I felt my headache subside, and my body turned to jelly. After a period of time, the stroking on my forehead ceased, and I creased my brow in annoyance.
I heard a chuff of a deep laugh before I felt the straps pinning my arms, chest, and legs to the table give way, and the hand returned to my face. Large fingers smoothed away the lines in my forehead and between my eyebrows.
Pain receded, and I felt my mind drift into a space of peace and comfort. The repeated motion of the warm hand pulled me under, into sleep.
“Rest, brother. Rest,” the honeyed voice said, and I instantly obeyed.
I’d follow that voice anywhere.
I woke all at once.This time, to a lack of pain, thankfully.
My limbs were loose, and I felt more refreshed than I had in a relatively long time. I vaguely remembered the feeling of a thick palm against my forehead and the deep timbre of a voice I recognized, but the memories were fleeting and faded. Like a wispy haze I had no business attempting to catch.
“Good, you’re awake. Lord d’Refan is here,” the gravely voice of the elderly man rasped through the space, and I pulled my eyes open.
The other two once-occupied beds were empty, the men in robes conspicuously absent. The only people who remained were myself, the old man, Rohak, and Lord d’Refan. The lattertwo stood together against the farthest wall but seemed to ignore each other. Instead, Lord d’Refan’s unnerving black eyes focused on me, even as his pupils shook.
He looked so much like Rohak it was almost uncanny.
But where if found warmth and love in Rohak’s eyes, I only saw cold calculation and intelligence in Lord d’Refan’s. I shivered involuntarily.
Lord d’Refan seemed to catch the motion and he smiled, though his grin was more of that of a predator rather than of humor or friendship.
“Lex d’Talionis. We meet again,” his silky voice carried through the space easily.
I nodded, unsure of what to say.
