“Rowan’s been worried sick about you,” she said, drawing him back to the present.“We all have.”Her eyes roamed over his bandaged chest and arm.It was quite the opposite of the way Ulla’s gaze had burned into him last time he’d been in this room.“Do you really want to know what happened, or do you want to go find her first?”
Heat flooded Bastion’s face.“Am I that obvious?”
Nesrin smirked.“You’re practically crawling out of your skin.”
“Tell me what happened,” he replied and swung his feet to the floor.The movement made him dizzy, and his stomach bucked with nausea.
“Two ships arrived at dawn,” Nesrin said.“When my father received my raven, he sent several of his own, requesting aid from the nearest vessels.There was a weather mage on board one, which is the only reason they got here in time.They captured one of the pirate ships before it could flee.”
“Only one?”Bastion asked.“Did it have the weapon on board?”He picked up a silver pitcher on the bedside table, his hand shaking as he poured himself a glass of water.
Nesrin shook her head as he drank.“No.We found the usual bounty and a bunch of unwashed men, who now sit in our prison.My father intends to bring them to Tynamara.”
“Your father has arrived?”Bastion exclaimed, breathless.He filled the cup again and lifted it to his lips.
“My father arrived two days ago, and–”
Bastion spat the water out.“Two days ago!How long have I been out?”
He clutched his aching rib, and Nesrin gave him an incredulous look.“A week.You almost died.”
Bastion stared at her.A week.It had felt like mere moments in that dark, starry place.
“And Ulla?”Bastion swallowed nervously.
“She’s stayed quite close to the keep," Nesrin said."Except in the evening, when she goes down to the sea.She avoids the dining hall and has kept her focus on the injured… and you.”
__________
Rowan returned, his tongue sticking out in concentration as he balanced a tray loaded with food.Behind him, a tall, stern woman followed, two pitchers in her hands.She traded the smaller one for the now-empty pitcher on the table and dumped the larger into a basin on the desk.Then, she scraped her gaze over Bastion as if he were little more than a dust bunny, bowed to Nesrin with a murmured, “Milady,” and left.
As Bastion ate, Rowan relaxed.Nesrin kept the conversation light, going over the planned repairs to the keep and the headache of accommodating her father’s men and those who came to their aid.Rowan remained silent in front of Nesrin, but his expression loosened, and he returned Bastion’s smile when he made a joke.
After Bastion had eaten his fill, Nesrin shepherded Rowan out of the room.“Why don’t we take Finn a treat while Bastion bathes?”The boy resisted at first, but at a nod from Bastion, he relented, even if it was with a pout.
As soon as they were gone, Bastion stood, swaying.As he caught his balance, he clenched his teeth and went to the basin to wash up.He was in a hurry, but he could smell himself, and hygiene demanded he remedy the problem before he left the room.When he wasn’t brimming with the need to leave, go, follow the pull in his veins, he would soak in a proper tub of scalding water and wash the last two weeks of travel and battle from his skin.For now, the sponge and rosemary-scented soap were enough.
Finally satisfied, he dressed, moving stiffly as he settled clothing into place and tugged his boots on.He hated the feeling of weakness in his limbs and the fatigue that tried to persuade him back into bed, but it wasn’t going to stop him.
Lastly, Bastion reached for his sword belt.He grasped the grip without looking, and stilled when his fingers settled into familiar grooves.He lifted it to trace the lines of his own blade.
Bastion collapsed on the bed and swiped a hand over his face, overcome.A sense of profound relief hit him, and he pressed his forehead to the hilt as a single wracking sob escaped.One hand reached for the pommel and the divot he’d worn smooth from worrying it with his thumb over so many years.Fat tears erupted from his eyes.They raced down his face and hit the scabbard with an audibleplop!He clutched the sword more tightly, clinging to it like a lifeline as all the fears he’d kept bottled up since leaving the island surged through him, as violent as a riptide.He hadn’t realized just how dear it was to him until it was gone.
How could he have ever considered throwing it into the sea?
Slowly, something tense and knotted unraveled inside him.The tension in his muscles loosened, leaving him limp and exhausted.When he was sure the last wave had subsided, he rose and buckled the belt around his waist, a sense of rightness settling over him.He dragged his sleeve across his face and took a deep breath.
Feeling as well as he could, Bastion left the room… and ran straight into Minato and Lawrence coming down the hall.
“Just the person I wanted to see,” Minato said.The way he deadpanned suggested otherwise.
Bastion angled to go around him, but the Yvri blocked his path.
“Can this wait?”Bastion frowned.“I have somewhere to be.”
Minato stabbed Bastion with a finger.“I know.”
Bastion tensed, sucking in a breath.The Yvri had hit his chest right where it hurt the most.Where his heart was trying to leave his body.
