Relief swept through me. I looked through the trees at the horizon, where the faintest of pink glows peeked through the branches. Solasti was finally on her way, and I’d never been so happy to see her. It had been an extremely long night.
“Once she rises, the spirits should calm down,” Raithe continued quietly. “If... we can just avoid running into any statues before suns rise, I think we’ll be all right.”
His voice was tight with pain. I glanced back at him in alarm. Blood covered his white hood, the stains dark against the fabric, and the eyes staring back at me were hooded with suppressed agony. “Raithe, you’re hurt,” I whispered, remembering my terror when the sand dragon had gone down. “How bad is it?”
He grimaced. “The blood isn’t mine,” he replied. “Thank Maederyss that they were more interested in the sand dragon than me. Most of this is just bruising, but...” His jaw tightened. “If I had to guess, I think they snapped a rib.”
Alarmed, I glanced around the lightening forest. “We need to find a place to stop.”
He shook his head. “Wait until suns rise. We don’t want to be caught unawares by any more statues. At the very least, let’s finda place to take shelter. If we’re ambushed now, I don’t think I’ll be able to fight like this.”
I nodded, a fiery worry gnawing at my insides, along with the guilt that started chewing its way through my soul. He had been hurt trying to save me. No, not trying. He had literally saved my life, again. Even with all the distrust and hurt and anger between us, he hadn’t hesitated a moment. I remembered what he’d said in the square, the proposal that we leave him behind to fight the statues alone, and it made my throat ache. He really was willing to die so that I could live and get to the loom. Even knowing that it was simply because the queen had ordered him to, I still felt my insides blaze with guilt.
But he had survived. Somehow. Was it because of me being Fateless, or was his fate still out there waiting for him? I had no way of knowing, and that was even worse.
Solasti had finally poked her head over the horizon when we came upon a tower, a tall stone structure overlooking the valley below. Obviously set up to be a watchtower of sorts, it held no statues or any signs of life as we approached the rotting wooden door. Worryingly, I’d seen no sign of Halek, Kysa, and Rhyne as we’d traveled through the forest. Either they’d been delayed fighting their way out of town, or...
I shoved the thought aside. They would be fine, I told myself. Rhyne was just as strong as Ratuk, stronger, even. Kysa was a warrior, and Halek knew how to get out of any situation, no matter how bleak. I would not let myself think that they had been killed.
I slid out of the saddle, grunting a bit as I hit the ground.Turning, I watched Raithe dismount as well, but when the iylvahn landed, his jaw clenched and he sank to one knee, making my worry spike.
“Raithe.” Dropping to my knees beside him, I reached for his arm, but stopped when those pale blue eyes lifted. My breath caught under that look. Pain and exhaustion had stripped away the mask of the kahjai, revealing all the emotion churning beneath. I saw regret in the eyes that met mine, regret for past words and actions, for the shadow now hanging over us both. The shadow of the Deathless queen. I saw sorrow haunting his gaze, and shame, but also determination. Determination to protect, to stand in front of every danger that wanted to hurt not only me, but the rest of our strange little family, to keep us all alive. And overshadowing it all, a fierce, undeniable longing that made my breath catch and my heart stutter in my chest.
All this passed between us in a blink, then Raithe closed his eyes, shutting me out. Very gently, I took his arm and put it over my shoulders, feeling the iylvahn brace himself before I pushed us both to our feet. Raithe clenched his jaw and made no sound as we rose, though I could feel the tight coil of muscles through his shirt.
I helped him into the watchtower, kicking open the door to reveal a small but secure room. A wooden staircase spiraled up the sides of the tower, heading toward the top, though the middle of the stairs had rotted away to nothing. I lowered the iylvahn into a corner, wincing as he leaned back against the stones, breathing hard.
“Sparrow...” Raithe shifted against the wall, gritting histeeth. One arm was curled around his middle, pressed to his ribs. “I think there are some bandages in Ratuk’s saddlebags.”
I nodded and drew away, stomach twisting as I saw the pain he was trying to suppress. “I’ll be right back.”
Outside with Ratuk, I rummaged through his many bags and satchels until I found a roll of gauze and several bandages. There were also a few vials of milky liquid tucked into the cloth, making my breath catch with relief. I’d seen this kind of potion in the Thieves Guild and knew the liquid inside was used to dull pain as well as to help with healing. Ratuk stood quietly, half-heartedly trying to chew a petrified branch before dropping it in distaste. All of his battle rage seemed to have left him, and he was back to being calm, stoic Ratuk. But he was the only reason we were alive, that we hadn’t been ripped to shreds in that petrified town. I made a mental note to properly thank the rock beetle later, before closing the satchel and hurrying back to Raithe.
He was where I’d left him, slumped in the corner, but he had managed to remove his shirt and hood. I bit my lip, trying not to stare at the muscular chest and the vivid black and purple bruise covering nearly half his left side. His skin was streaked with blood, and the tips of his silver hair were stained with it, though I couldn’t see any open wounds on him. I hoped he wasn’t bleeding out from an injury I couldn’t detect.
“Here,” I whispered, handing him the vial as I knelt beside him. “Drink this. It will help with the pain.”
His eyes narrowed. Shaking his head, he tried to hand thevial back. “I’m fine, Sparrow,” he told me. “Save it for when we truly need it.”
“Raithe.” I closed my fingers over his, meeting his gaze. His face was drawn with pain and exhaustion, his eyes shadowed. “Take it,” I said softly. “Please. For me.”
He hesitated a moment more before slumping in defeat. Uncorking the vial with a thumb, he raised it to his lips and downed the contents quickly, swallowing with a faint grimace. I relaxed and began unwinding the roll of gauze.
“Are you injured anywhere else?” I asked, casting a glance at his discarded tunic and hood, both of which were stained black with blood. Raithe took a deep, careful breath that ended with a wince and shook his head.
“No,” he gritted out. “Like I said, the blood isn’t mine. I was just showered with it when the sand dragon got torn apart, poor beast. Unfortunately, I think one of the statues did manage to break a rib when it landed on me. There’s nothing we can do but wrap it.” He held out a hand again. “I can do it, if you don’t want to.”
I frowned at him and carefully began wrapping the cloth around his chest. He didn’t move or protest, sitting quietly as I wound the gauze around his ribs as tightly as I could, clenching my jaw as I drew it over the terrible bruise. The injury he had gotten from leaping in front of a horde of killer statues to save me.
My throat tightened. I finished binding his ribs but continued to kneel there, staring at my hands. Words and emotions flickered inside, regret choking them back. But I had to saysomething.We couldn’t keep going like this, the two of us, dancing around the thoughts and emotions we were both feeling, pretending to be strangers. It was going to kill one of us in the end. It almost had, tonight.
“Raithe,” I began, feeling his gaze on the top of my head. “What you did back there... It wasn’t a swarm of giant carnivorous insects, but... thank you. I don’t think I’d be alive right now, if you hadn’t jumped in.”
“I promised I would protect you, Sparrow.” Raithe’s voice was soft, ardent. “I will keep that promise. No matter what it takes. Even if it demands my life.”
“No.” I put a hand on his bandaged chest, still not quite able to meet his gaze. My heart pounded. How could I keep him from his fate, when he was so determined to meet it? “I don’t want you to die either, Raithe,” I whispered fiercely. “I know the queen ordered you to protect me, and I know I have to reach Maederyss’s loom, but... don’t throw your life away just to save the Fateless.”
“Is that why you think I’m here? Because the queen ordered it?”
