AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Three
Ash
I was already shivering before I fully regained consciousness, expecting to feel needles of ice stabbing my throat and bare torso. Expecting to feel the weight of freezing manacles sticking to my skin, tearing at it.
I was warm, though. Covered in thick fur. My arm throbbed, phantom pain tingling in fingers that were no longer there. The scent of heated earth was in my nose, and when I opened my eyes, they fixed on an old wooden bookcase crammed with books and bowls and bottles on the opposite side of the dirt-walled room.
I wasn’t in the Carlin’s court. I was in some underground dirt house with Nua and Gillie. The knowledge didn’t make me feel any more relaxed. I’d passed out after Gillie had applied cold salve to my stump and Nua had bandaged it, the whisky making my head swim until I was seeing double and couldn’t open my eyes.
Anger at myself made me grit my teeth, which sent stabbing pain through my skull. I couldn’t believe I’d let myself getdrunkwhen I still wasn’t safe. I’d passed out on this little pallet of furs, where they could have doneanythingto me.
Ignoring the pain throbbing in my temples and my arm, I looked around quickly without moving to try and spot anything I could use as a weapon.
“Gillie, wait, Ash is—”
Nua’s hiss made my head jerk up, which in turn made my stomach roil, threatening to expel its meagre contents. I stared as Gillie, with his pale, faintly grey skin, sauntered into the room through a curtained off doorway. Completely naked.
He froze. “Shit, forgot you were here.”
Then he was gone again. I sat up quickly and nearly dropped right back down as my head swam. Was I still drunk? I was shaky from a lack of food. It felt like I hadn’t eaten for days. I went to hoist myself up and fell flat on my face, realising too late that I didn’t have a left arm or hand anymore.
“Sorry about that, lad.” Gillie reappeared with a chuckle, wearing deep grey leather trousers. He was still buttoning up a loose, off-white shirt. “How are you feeling? Bet you need some food in you now, eh?”
Nua appeared behind him, dressed in a brown shirt and loose linen trousers, green eyes already worried before they fixed on me.
“Are you well, Ash?” He winced. “As much as you can be. How does your arm feel?”
I stared down absently at the stump where my left arm used to be. I swore I could still feel my fingers. In my mind’s eye, I curled them up into a fist, and a flash of intense pain made my breath catch.
“I’ll get you some water,” Nua said hurriedly, pushing past Gillie who’d been walking into that open doorway. I assumed it led to a kitchen of some kind.
“What are you fancying for breakfast, Ash?” Gillie asked, scratching his stomach, as if this was a normal morning. “Mushrooms on toast?”
I balked at the thought of ingesting anything, but especially that.
“So you can try to drug me?” My voice was hoarse and rough, tone petulantly accusing. I felt a flash of guilt but tamped it down.
Just because they’d helped me, that meant nothing. The Carlin and all the unseelie had claimed they were trying to help me too. And look what had happened.
Gillie just chuckled. “Not mushrooms of themagicvariety. But if you’re worried, how about some plain toast then? You need something to settle your stomach and get your strength up.”
He vanished before I could tell him no. Nua appeared a few moments later carrying a horn cup and a metal pitcher. He knelt beside me, lips pursing when I flinched back and nearly fell flat on my face again.
“Here.” He held the cup out to me, and I leaned back slowly against the wall before carefully lifting my one remaining hand to take it.
I sniffed cautiously. It smelled cool and clean, like normal water. And my head was pounding, making me squint even though the light in here was dim—it only came from a skylight I could see above the fire, to let the smoke out.
My stomach squeezed when I sipped the water. My mouth tasted hideous, so I swilled it around my teeth with a grimace.
Nua was watching me with sympathetic eyes. “How does your arm feel?”
I swallowed the water, exhaling shakily as I stared into the cup. “Gone.”
He was silent for a moment. “I don’t mind taking the injury for you, Ash. I—”
“No,” I barked, which made me cringe in pain. “No,” I repeated. “I don’t want any favours from you.”
When I glanced at Nua, his narrow face was creased with hurt. But he nodded once. “I understand.”
