I pulled the fabric up, and then I froze.
The knee.
It was massive. Red and swollen beyond recognition, the skin stretched too tight, angry and inflamed. Abrasions littered the surface, bleeding and oozing pus down the side of his leg in sickening streaks. I could smell it, the sour, rancid scent of infection, the unmistakable stench of rot that made bile rise in the back of my throat.
“Oh my god, Finn,” I whispered, my breath catching in my chest, my heart thundering in my ears.
“I just need to rest it,” he protested. “I swear it’s feeling better.”
He looked away from me, his face paling to an ashen grey, his eyes blinking hard, as though he could somehow wish the sight away. His lips trembled, but no words came, only the deafening silence of regret hanging heavy between us.
And I knew. I knew it wasn’t just the wound that hurt him. It was the knowledge that I had seen him broken, seen how much he had been hiding, and now there was no pretending it away. No more pretending to be okay.
I clenched my fists, my own frustration and helplessness rising. “Finn, this is... this is bad,” I said, my voice trembling now with the raw weight of my concern.
He said nothing, his eyes falling to the ground, the weight of everything unspoken crushing the air between us.
“I’ll be ok,” Finn muttered, his voice low and strained, as though even speaking the words caused him pain.
“You need a healer, Finn. Right now,” I said, my tone firm, desperate even.
“And how will we get one, Elle? Just stroll up and ask at the hospital?” he snapped, his frustration boiling over.
I bit my lip, looking down at the swelling on his leg, the redness of it searing into my thoughts. I had to do something.We had to do something.
“What about Mother Ashford?” I suggested, my voice steady but laced with a hint of desperation. She was the local warlord of the slums, known for having access to everything—if you could afford it. And if you couldn’t? You worked for her. I'd gotten tangled in her underhanded dealings once before, and I’d never want to go back to that. But I’d do it for Finn.
“No.” His response was sharp, cutting through the air like a blade.
“She would take me back if I asked…” I trailed off, the words hanging in the room, fragile.
“No, Elle!” Finn's voice rose, his frustration raw. “Gods, never again.”
“If there’s a chance…”
He let out a bitter laugh, empty and harsh. “She’d take every penny we’ve got left, then take your soul too. Do you really think we can afford that?”
“I don’t care what she does to me! Or the money!” My voice cracked, raw and strained, as I dashed over to the nook where we kept what little cash we had. Our ‘stash,’ as it was, barely qualified as one. Inside the faded tin box was a pitiful $80—the result of weeks of scraping by, of scavenging. We’d been hoping for a few hundred, enough to get us out of Varrowmere, but that felt like a dream too far. We’d heard rumours of a land beyond the shadows, where the moon shone on a Starlit Sea. Even if it was a myth, it was the only hope we had.
Finn’s gaze hardened, frustration flashing in his eyes. “But I do care! And it’s not worth it!”
“Finn, please.” The lump in my throat swelled as I fought back tears, my hands trembling around the meagre sum we had. “I’ll find something. Anything. Just let me help you.”
His expression softened, but the simmering frustration was still there, buried beneath the surface. “No, Elle. I won’t let you go to her. You can’t keep getting hurt for me. She’ll make you thieve again or worse, send you back to The Pit, and today—today is not the day for it.”
“I’m better than I was.” The words came out defensive, a shield around the vulnerability I didn’t want him to see.
“Maybe,” Finn said, voice low. “But she’s had her eye on you for months now. Don’t get caught in her web—especially not now, with the king’s birthday celebration. If they catch you stealing supplies... if they catch you—” He cut himself off, the weight of what he didn’t say pressing between us like an unspoken truth. “They’ll hunt you. And then they’ll kill you, Elle.”
I swallowed hard, the lump in my throat threatening to choke me. His words echoed in my mind, the reality of it all sinking in. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’tlosehim. Not like this. Not when he needed me the most.
“And if I don’t, you’ll die,” I said simply, though there was nothing simple about the way the words tore through me. It felt like my heart was ripping in two—one half desperate to save him, the other terrified it already might be too late.
“My life is not worth more than yours, Elle,” he whispered, voice thick with emotion. “It’s really not.”
“Yes, it is,” I said fiercely. “You areeverything. You saved me—don’t you remember? That day in the woods, when I didn’teven know who I was or where I belonged. You gave me a place, a reason to keep going. I owe you my life a hundred times over.”
Finn exhaled, a sound halfway between pain and surrender, and slid down the crumbling wall until he was curled on the ground. The light hit his face just enough to show the sheen of sweat along his brow. He opened his arms wordlessly, and I didn’t hesitate. I went to him, curled up under the crook of his arm like I had done a hundred times before. The closeness of him grounded me, even as the panic still thudded beneath my ribs.
