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Asharp pain stabbed through her middle.
Jalissa woke with a gasp and curled into a tighter ball, trying to breathe through the pain. She pressed a hand to her middle. What was this? Her stomach twisted in agony, bile rising in her throat.
Behind her, Edmund groaned and rolled away from her, his arm sliding from around her waist and leaving her cold.
As soon as they lost contact, the stabbing pain vanished, replaced with only a vague sort of nausea and hazy pain.
The poison. Of course. She wasn’t the one in pain. Edmund was.
Jalissa bolted upright and reached for him. “Edmund.”
He curled around his stomach, sweat beading on his forehead. But he waved her away. “No, don’t touch me. Not yet. The medicine. Please.”
Right. Jalissa whirled, so frantic it took her a moment to even focus on the crates around them. Before she could scramble for the packs, Sarya was already there, opening a pack and digging out one of the vials. She handed the vial to Jalissa.
Jalissa drew in a deep breath, trying to steady her hands enough that she did not drop the medicine. She needed to be calm about this. No reason to panic. Not yet.
She uncorked the vial, then lifted Edmund’s head. As soon as she touched him, the pain slammed into her once again. This time she was ready for it, and she gritted her teeth and shoved the agony aside. Her hands remained steady as she held the vial of medicine to his lips.
He drank it in a few swallows, wincing as he coughed. “Linshi.”
She gently set his head down, handed the empty vial to Sarya, then picked up Edmund’s fingers. Already, he was breathing easier, and the stabbing in her middle—and his, presumably—was lessening as the elven healing magic soothed the agony.
After a moment, Edmund pulled his hand free from hers. “No, save your strength. I’ll be fine for a while yet.”
Jalissa clasped her hands in her lap. Despite the pain, it seemed wrong to sit there, not holding his hand when he was hurting.
Edmund glanced past her toward the doorway. “It’s getting light out. Once the train stops at a station to take on more coal and water, we need to get off.”
She had been so frantic on waking that she had not noted the ring of light around the door, nor the fact that she could actually see in the gray half-light filling the railcar instead of the inky black it had been when she had fallen asleep.
Jalissa scrubbed her fingers over her dark trousers. “Should we not ride this train as far west as we can?”
“Lord Crest knows we are on this train. While he might be on our side, somewhat, I don’t trust him.” Edmund sucked in a breath, his hand clenching over his stomach, before he exhaled slowly. “And if Jimson decides to hunt us down, he will wire to have this train searched. It was the only train leaving Landri during the night. I’d rather switch trains long before then.”
She had not thought of that. Apparently she still had a lot to learn about being a spy, especially thinking like a spy on the run.
She had never been hunted before. Not like this, anyway. They had sneaked across Escarland in disguise, but back then they had been the hunters, not the hunted.
Sarya held out a piece of dried meat toward Jalissa. “You should eat, amirah.”
Jalissa took the jerky and gnawed at the tough, though flavorful meat.
Edmund refused to eat anything. That was concerning since he normally never skipped breakfast. But she did not push him.
After she finished eating, Jalissa helped Sarya pack their things, including the still slightly damp clothing from the night before, and check the entire railcar to make sure they had not left any trace of their presence. No sense in making it easy for Crown Prince—soon King—Jimson to track them.
Edmund managed to roll into a sitting position, leaning his back against a stack of crates, so they could pack up his bedroll. Even with the elven medicine, his face had a white-gray cast to it, and he simply sat there, eyes shut, arms over his stomach, not a hint of a smile curving his mouth.
After picking up, they had nothing to do but wait. Jalissa sat with her back to the same crate as Edmund, but she did not touch him, as much as she wanted to hold his hand and reassure him—and herself—that he would be all right.
Finally, the train shuddered as it slowed. Sarya crept to the door on the right side of the train and peeked out. “It appears to be a station near a large town.”
“Perfect.” Edmund gestured toward the left side of the train. “And the other side?”
Sarya crossed the railcar, then peeked out once again. “Smaller huts and dirtier buildings.”
Edmund nodded again, this time a hint of his usual smile flicking at the corners of his mouth. “Even better. Can you get that door open, or is it locked from the outside?”
