Chapter 11
Rhys and Feyre stood by the window staring out at the darkness and flickering lights of the city of Velaris. They didn't speak much and had their jaws clenched in stress as they processed Azriel's sudden return.
"Had it been anyone else, Azriel would have found them months ago," Rhys barked. "He's been out there this whole time."
"We didn't know, Rhys. It's not our fault. We looked, everywhere. We shouldn't blame ourselves...at least until we get the whole story." Feyre tried to console him but Rhys was wracked with guilt. His friend had been injured, suffering, and he hadn't been there for him. He saw Azriel fly off with the Lubelli aerial soldiers during the battle. He knew Azriel was weakening, they all were, so he should never have ordered him to take on that legion on his own. It was a brash move out of desperation, and it had cost his friend - his brother - his life. Or not.
After months of searching the Night Court had begun to accept the worst. Rhys couldn't reach him through the mental link. No emotion or sense that Azriel was out there. Of course there was always hope, but with no sign, no clues, no whispers, they'd had to continue with other matters. And with no shadowsinger to reach out into the dark places of the world...Rhys clenched his fist and brought his hand up to his face as he controlled his rage. He was wrenched from his thoughts as Amren stormed into the house.
The tiny fae had menace in her eyes as she took in the room: Rhys and Feyre standing by the window, Mor seated on the couch with her face in her hands, worry in her shoulders. Cassian leaned forward and stared into the fire. Elain had a book open on her lap but was looking at the wall, and Nesta was arranging food on a platter as though the presentation might encourage others to eat it.
"What the hell happened?" Amren demanded. They all looked up at her with vacant stares, each waiting for the other to speak. Cassian continued to gaze into the fire.
"His wing...did you see it? It was...ruined." Cassian looked like he was about lose whatever food he had managed to swallow earlier. Nesta came over and placed her hand gently on his leg.
"The healers are with him now. They'll know what to do. They saved your wings when they were in shreds, and I think yours were worse." But it did little to reassure him. The memory of the agony of his wings being broken, and then mended, was still raw in his mind.
"His wings wrap around a world that bursts into pieces," Elain said cryptically to the wall. Rhys had learned to listen to Elain's statements but not spend too much energy trying to understand them. She equal parts Seer and poet, so it was difficult to know what was prophecy and what was metaphor. He mulled over her statement briefly then filed it away.
Amren was getting impatient with the lack of information. "And the human? There was a girl with him? What of her?" she demanded.
Rhys took in a breath, "We don't know anything Amren. They're both unconscious and in rough shape."
"I thought they were fighting," Cassian interrupted as he stood and walked to the mantle. "It looked like they were struggling against each other, and then she took that rock and raised it to smash it down on Azriel's face. I knocked her away. Hard." He looked at them guiltily. "But she was aiming for the Myotes. She was trying to protect him." Then his eyes turned pleading. "I didn't know."
They looked to each other for answers but no one had anything to offer. There was a soft knock on the door and Nuala showed one of the healers in. He was a young fae, just barely one hundred. Rhys had been uncomfortable when he arrived as Madja's trainee, but she had reassured him that he was a gifted healer and would be supervised at all times. The young fae looked exhausted from his work, but also terrified to be speaking to the High Lord and Lady of Night, and the entire Inner Circle. They all stood expectantly, waiting for his report.
"Milord, milady. Madja sent me down to give you an update. She's still working on the human, but the Illyrian is resting." He stopped as if unsure whom he should be addressing, as the whole group as hanging off his every word. "Milord, perhaps we should speak in private. Appropriate protocol is to discuss a patient's health with only immediate family…"
Cassian stomped forward and screamed in his face, "To hell with your protocol, tell us what is going on!" Feyre stepped between them and gave Cassian a stern look.
"That's not helping, Cassian," she reprimanded.
Rhys nodded to the fae politely. "It's alright, we are his family."
The young fae looked extremely uncomfortable but swallowed and began his update. "Azriel has multiple cuts and scrapes that are all minor, except for a particularly large gash across his chest. It looks like it was caused by a short sword, or perhaps a dagger. However it had been cleaned nicely and closed with crude but effective stitches. The scab has only begun to form, suggesting it was a recent wound, so Madja would like to leave the stitches in until he regains the strength to heal the gash himself. She says whenever possible the fae should heal naturally, in order to train the body to take care of itself."
He spoke as though he were reciting a text he was memorising for a future exam. His careful speech was grating on Rhys' nerves and he wasn't the only one. But before he could say anything it was Nesta who spoke out.
"That's it? He arrived here spent and practically unconscious from some cuts and scrapes?" she spat out.
"Nesta…" Feyre murmured with a sigh.
The healer was practically trembling now. "Um, well, no. There was also a wound in his abdomen, presumably from an arrow, and a badly sprained wrist. But the major injuries were to his leg and wing. It took us some time to pull what was left of the cast off his leg. It was surprisingly resilient, made up of some mixture of mud and powder...It seems someone had tried to protect the leg while it was healing. The cast was clearly worn and faded, suggesting he had been wearing it for some time. But strangely the leg was still in bad shape. Madja found that while the bones were aligned properly they had only begun to heal. Based on the age of the cast, the bone recovery should have been much further along. We'll have to wait until he wakes to find out what happened. It was a bad break, and he'll need to stay off it for a while - "
"The wings!" interrupted Cassian. "What about his wings?" No one faulted him for asking; it was what they were all waiting for.
"One wing has minor damage but the other suffered multiple breaks and the skin had been ripped off in places. I can't imagine how painful it must have been. A makeshift splint had been attached to the major bones but the fingers were too small to secure. There was some residue of a herbal poultice left on it, perhaps trying encourage healing or control a small infection that had set in. I've taken a sample to do some research, but we rinsed it off in case it was a poison."
Cassian looked devastated and sat down hard on the sofa. "But he'll heal?" he asked hopefully. The healer nodded, "Yes, Madja is confident she can repair the wings with some time. I don't know how this is possible, but she says she's seen worse." Cassian just closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. They all said nothing as this information settled in.
"What about the human girl? You said Madja was still working on her," Rhys prompted.
"Yes, she's very sick. The venom from the Myotes sting is conflicting with the healing magic. The human body just isn't capable of handling that much poison, so Madja has been trying to draw it out. She sent Lucien to search for a specific herb I haven't heard of before. It's apparently quite rare since it's only really helpful for humans."
Rhys looked to Feyre for a moment, remembering how badly she had been hurt Under the Mountain, and how she would have died had he not used his magic to heal her broken arm. The memory made him smile, actually. He saw the true strength of humans in her that day.
"Humans are a lot more resilient than you might be giving them credit for," Rhys said as he turned back from Feyre. She gave him a small smile too, as she accepted the compliment. "But with this herb, Madja thinks she can save her?"
"It's hard to know. Her other injuries are swollen and infected from the poison as well, and were difficult for me to repair. I've patched her up, but we'll have to see if she can break the fever to get a sense of what's to come."
Cassian looked up questioningly, "Other injuries? What happened to her?"
The healer looked surprised that he didn't know already. He cleared his throat and described what he had found.
"She had some general scrapes and bruises likely from their escape, though that's just a guess right now. The tendons in her knee were damaged but they had already begun to heal, suggesting it was an older injury. Same with her shoulder, which had been dislocated as indicated by the healing pattern around the joint. And her ribs were cracked but hadn't moved out of place so there was minimal damage to her lungs. I pulled the head and bit of shaft of an arrow out of her thigh. The blood was fresh and the wound had been aggravated from continued use of the leg while the arrow was stuck in it."
Feyre shifted on her feet uncomfortably. "She ran with an arrow sticking out of her leg?" He shrugged but it was a likely explanation.
Mor raised her eyebrows. "I have to admit, I'm impressed."
"Do you still have the arrowhead?" Cassian interrupted again. "We might be able to use it to figure out who they were running from?"
"Yes, it's upstairs in a pan. It's not much but I recommend doing all you can to find out where they were." The healer paused again before looking straight at Rhys. He took a deep breath and then spoke. "There are other scars and older wounds. Some are very old. She would have received them when she was a child. You should know: the injuries are consistent with torture. She has been beaten, kicked likely, in the ribs, and she has scars on her wrists from being tied for long periods. And her back…"
His eyes were filled with sadness at the thought. "Her back is a patchwork of scars. There are fresh cuts on top." The healer finished with that, like he couldn't go on. He pursed his lips and shook his head before lowering his eyes. He looked back at Rhys when he added, "I think you might be right, milord. A lot tougher than I thought."
The room was frozen in silence. Cassian looked horrified and Amren crossed her arms as if she were already plotting what she do to the culprit. Elain had begun to silently weep in the corner and Nesta moved to hold her in an embrace. Their humanity was so fresh in their minds, the healer's report seemed to strike them in the core. None of them knew this human but they saw that Azriel had cared for her, and they arrived together.
Rhys could feel Feyre's mind spinning wildly. He knew what she was thinking. Images of Clare Beddor's body tied to the table, broken and bleeding, came to her mind. Feyre stop. Don't think about that. This is different and we can find those responsible. A sob escaped her lips and she fled out of the room. Mor moved to follow her but Rhys reached out and caught Mor's arm.
"It's a memory is all. From Under the Mountain. It just brought back a bad memory and she needs to work through it. Give her a minute," he instructed. Mor nodded and turned back to the healer.
"What should we do?" she asked.
"When Lucien returns with the herb we'll need to make it into poultice and change it regularly. You'll have to clean out the wound and tie a fresh bandage on several times a day. If we can get the fever under control, she might have a chance." She nodded at that and began to make her way out of the room.
"What about Azriel?" asked Rhys. "What can we do for him?"
"Azriel needs to rest and regain his strength. He's underweight so go easy on the food at first but ensure he's keeping it down. Then, when he's ready, he'll need someone to talk to. Someone to help him work through what happened." The healer finished with that and showed himself back upstairs to clean up.
Rhys didn't say anything right away, mulling over the possibilities in his head. Mor squeezed his hand and said, "I'll go up and get directions from Madja. I'll do all that I can. I don't want to have to tell Azriel we lost her." She took a deep breath and went upstairs.
Nesta pulled Elain to her feet and guided her upstairs to her room as well. Amren announced she was going to ensure there were clean bandages and put water on to boil. That left Cassian and Rhys in the room in silence.
Cassian looked over to Rhys as tears fell down his cheeks. "How did we let this happen, brother?"