Page 51 of Badmouths & Bards

The admission brought a lilac hue to Casimine’s cheeks. He knew that Amer was on a similar path as him. They had even confessed to one another that they were besotted with the woman, but this felt different. Affection for past bedfellows had never went further than the bedroom. Once they were out the door, outside of fond memories, the pair rarely mentioned them in passing.

Ameriden stopped plucking at his instrument and lowered it into his lap. Close enough for the bard to rest his chin on the side of it as he considered Casimine’s words carefully.

“She’s strong, Casi. She can take care of herself.”

“Can she?” Casimine retorted without meaning to. “I know she’s capable enough to be our bodyguard, but that doesn’t mean she’s invincible, Amer.”

“Seira wouldn’t have hired her if she wasn’t tough enough to deal with our fans, Casi,” Amer replied, brows furrowed. “What’s this about?”

“I—” Casimine licked his lips. “I don’t know. She was supposed to be back hours ago. Even Seira went to the tailors to book our fittings and she’s returned before Tala has. I just—I can’t shake this feeling that something bad has happened.”

The admission felt bigger than Casimine expected it to. Even if he wasn’t saying it outright, Casimine couldn’t deny that his worry was deeper than just the surface level. This was more than just his concern for Tala—both as a lover and a bodyguard. No, Casimine could feel something deep in his bones. The same way his ability to scry rattled his insides and left his lungs shaking in the spell’s wake.

“Wait—” Ameriden scanned him. “This is more than just being a worry wart, isn’t it? Is this your—”

“I don’t know.” Frustration laced Casimine’s exhale. “I don’t know if this is me being worried or if it’s my weird intuition, but I can feel something isn’t right.”

Intuition.

Foresight.

Magic.

Casimine didn’t have a word for it. He only knew that his family had always been in tune with the unsaid. In a similar vein to scrying, his mother and sisters were able to tap into some kind of divination. The ability to know secrets, reveal hidden truths—it was all so vague that it was difficult to explain to others. Casimine had kept the ability close to his heart, knowing it was one of the only reasons he had survived for as long as he had. It had kept him from danger, kept him safe, and now the more he thought on it, the worse the sensation grew.

There was something wrong and it involved Tala, but Casimine didn’t know what it meant.

“Okay.” Amer stood up, dropping his lute onto the table. “Let’s go get our girl.”

“Wait, you—”

“Five minutes,” Amer said, already moving to their bedroom. “Grab anything that’ll help us search—”

“Amer, we can’t leave. Seira will—”

Ameriden whipped around, expression serious. “You can feel she’s in danger, right? You feel that in your gut?”

Casimine nodded.

“Then that’s reason enough. Seira can get over it. This is important—”

A knock on their door cast the room into silence. Casimine exchanged a look with Ameriden, a feeling of dread crawling up his spine. Ameriden dropped his hand onto his shoulder, squeezing gently. A gesture promising that he would take care of whatever was on the other side of it. That didn’t still Casimine’s nerves as he wrapped his arms around himself, eyes trailing Ameriden as the bard crossed the threshold.

“Who is it?” the taller man asked.

There was a mumbled answer that Casimine couldn’t hear clearly, but it was enough for Ameriden to jerk the door open. Tala’s body tumbled forward and Ameriden just managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Casimine let out a distressed sound—one he would have been embarrassed by if he wasn’t already falling to his knees before them.

“Hey, hey!” Ameriden’s large hands cradled Tala’s weak form. “Tala!”

She was soaked through her traveling clothes and when Casimine brushed the wet hair from her forehead, her skin was burning hot. A shiver ran through her frame and Casimine felt panic grip him the moment he saw the angry wound along her ribs.

“She’s burning up,” Casimine said. “We have to get her to the bath—we have to close this wound—”

“On it,” Ameriden said, gathering Tala close.

Casimine bolted to his feet, running to the ornate bathtub that had been afforded to their lush suite. The pipes were as good as most, but the water was running too slowly. Casimine reached into the growing pool of water, and with something innate to his nature, he forced the water to come to him. A call that any water hanfen could do from the moment they were born.

“I don’t want a bath,” Tala managed between chattering teeth.