I sort of apologize for last chapter. Even though I didn't really get any complaints, apparently, it was a bit graphic. I'm used to watching and enjoying all sorts of medical stuff, so I wouldn't have realized. Maybe I should have put a warning or something, though by the time you'd have read "Let's go cut her fingers off", I suppose you all would have realized what was coming.

Chapter 37

I cursed vividly in Tortallan, cursing the absent gods, the cold wind, and the stupid ship that dumped me here.

Faolan watched me with mild curiosity. "Why do I get the feeling you've got some interesting words you haven't shared with me yet?"

"Watch your mouth, girl." Tallulah cuffed me lightly. "You're not acting like a lady."

"But that hurt!" I protested, clutching my arm. As padded as my arm was, Tallulah's stick had numbed it.

"You should've blocked it." Tallulah grinned with amusement as I shook out my arm. "Next time you will. Guard."

Instead, I went on the offensive, surprising her and gaining the advantage for a split second. With a nod of approval, she disarmed me. "Pick it up."

As I leaned down, she slapped me on the rear with her stick. I yelped.

"Be quick about it." She advised. "It's best if you roll to get it, as soon as it leaves your hand. Just don't fall on it."

I straightened up, red-faced. The Lioness probably would've done the same thing.

"Haven't you got work to do?" Macarth dumped a load of brushwood by the fire.

"This is work." Tallulah retorted.

Macarth picked up a stick and swung around to face me. "Let's see how she does with both of us, eh?"

Before I had time to protest, Tallulah and Macarth simultaneously attacked me. I was able to batter Macarth's rotting stick to pieces before Tallulah forcefully pressed the base of her stick into my neck. She danced closer, swinging behind me, leveling her stick, and effectively cutting off my air supply.

"What are you going to do?" She whispered. "Think, you'd have been gutted by now if I was an enemy. No magic, girl."

I twisted and wriggled, but I was stuck good. I weakly exhaled and went limp, completely relaxed. Tallulah immediately loosened her grasp, and I ducked, twisted, and pivoted away.

Tallulah reached out and ruffled my hair. "Very nice. We're done for now."

Shainin sat by the fire, sharpening our swords and daggers. "The conquered hero returns."

"Beaten and bruised." I tenderly sat down next to him, wincing as my aching bottom rested against the log.

"Here." Shainin tossed me my hat.

I pulled it down over my ears. It was a sunnier, warmer day than most and I had worked up a slight sweat, but I would soon grow cold again.

"I don't think it's fair that I can't use my Gift." I remarked, stretching out my legs. "If I had a third arm, I'd be allowed to use it."

Shainin laughed. "No one can know that you're here, Adda."

I shrugged. "Leave no survivors."

"I'm going to stick with Adda in a fight." Faolan wandered towards us. "Magic or not."

"After watching her get trounced with sticks?" Shainin sounded amused.

"She's got the right philosophy." Faolan pointed out. He gestured to the tent as he walked off. "I'm going to get some rest."

Shainin groaned. "I've got the night watch tonight."

"Too bad." I replied.

He winked at me. "Wanna stay up with me?"

I shivered. "Not on your life."

"Too bad." He grinned.

"Besides, it's unprofessional." I decided. "We're soldiers, not..."

"Humans with natural desires?"

"Ugh, stop." I squished up my nose at the awkwardness of his phrasing.

Shainin laughed easily, throwing back his head.

I nudged his side with my elbow, then winced as a dream-memory shot forward.

"Adele, Adele!" One of the little girls stretched out her arms to her older sister.

"Here." Adele found a board and laid it across the mud pit. "C'mon, Winnie."

Winnie trotted across the board unsteadily, tugging along the littlest sister. "What's next, 'dele?"

"Well, we've crossed the fiery pit of flame." Adele looked around for the next obstacle. "Next we got to escape from the awful...no, the dangerous dungeon."

"The dungeon?" Winnie's eyes went wide. "What are we doin' in there?"

The littlest girl tugged on Adele's skirt. "Where's Bertie? Can't he play wit' us?"

"No, he don't feel much like playin' today." Adele patted the girl's head and turned around. "Now if we don't escape soon, the guards'll be at us."

"We'd best hurry." Winnie's foot slipped on the edge of the mud pit and she lost her balance. Waving her arms wildly, she accidentally knocked her younger sister into the mud.

For a moment, the little girl was too shocked to realize that she was stuck in the slime. Then, she opened her mouth wide and began to wail.

"Stop that, Gia," Adele leaned over to help her up. "Help me, Winnie."

I fought it back for a moment. "Sorry, I-"

"What was that?" Shainin's eyes were wide. "Was that you?"

"Sorry." I managed to get out, before the dream surged forward again.

"I'm sorry." Winnie's voice began to tremble. "I didn't mean to."

"It's alright." Adele and Winnie pulled at the little girl. The mud let go with a loud squelch.

"Ma's gonna be mad." Winnie's voice shook.

"We'll wash her in the fountain." Adele suggested. "C'mon, Gia."

Gia refused to move. She was soaked in mud from her waist down, and she had rubbed it on her face.

"Let's go." Adele tugged on the girl's arm. "I'm not gonna carry you, as messy as you are."

The fountain was a dilapidated, rundown fountain with a crumbling stone base. Adele pulled Gia's shift off and dipped it in the water. Gia shivered in the cold fall air.

"No decency." A housewife with a basket of wash on her hip and a kerchief on her head clucked at the children. "Can't you do that at home?"

"Nope." Adele replied cheerfully. "Winnie, you wash her and I'll tend to the clothes."

"Whose children are those?" The housewife quietly asked the woman standing next to her.

"Winifred Archer's." The plump woman shook her head in disapproval as she whispered back. "She lets her children run wild. They're afraid to go home, I reckon, with all the strange men Mistress Archer entertains."

Adele's ears flushed bright red and her cheeks flamed, but she pretended not to hear. "Come now, Gia, we're almost done. Winnie?"

"Yep." Winnie tossed her the rag that she'd been using. As Adele scrubbed the rag against a washboard that someone had left, Winnie pulled Gia's shift over her head.

"It's wet!" Gia protested, shaking.

"It'll dry off." Adele promised. "Let's go."

"Wait!" The housewife began to fish in her pocket. "Take this and buy yourselves a treat from the market." She offered a coin to the children.

Adele hesitated for a split-second, then ashamedly reached for the coin with her small, muddy hand.

I shook my head as soon as the dream-memory had run itself out. "Sorry. I can't help that sometimes."

"That was you, wasn't it?" Shainin smiled. "Adele?"

"I guess." I shrugged. "I can't ever remember being called that."

"You mean, you didn't know all that before?" His brow furrowed curiously.

"Only what I've learned from the dreams." I answered. "I can't really remember anything from before I was eight."

"Hmmm." Shainin nodded, looking back at the knife and whetstone in his hands. "Was that what your city was like?"

"Only some parts." I smiled fondly. "Other parts were very nice."

"Help!" Macarth stumbled into camp, half-carrying Brevan. Shainin tossed down the knife and jumped up to help.

I slapped the tent. "Faolan, they're back!"

Brevan's teeth chattered uncontrollably and her eyes danced wildly.

"Adda, find Tallulah." Shainin ordered.

I took off in the direction that I had last seen Tallulah headed. I found in a pile of snow covered brush, digging up some roots with Pirjo. "They're back!"

We raced back, boots slipping on the snow as we ran back to our campsite. Macarth was helping Brevan to drink some cold soup while Faolan wrapped a blanket around her.

"Where are the others?" Tallulah demanded.

Macarth shook his head slightly. Tallulah took a step back.

"What?" I gritted my teeth. "All of them?"

Brevan shuddered. "They almost got me too, but Raith told me to run and I did. I left them to die."

"And well that you did." Shainin squeezed her shoulder.

"We found out where he is, though, before they found us out." Brevan bit her lip. "The prison camp Rhetok."

"That's good." Tallulah knelt down next to Brevan, grabbing her hand. "Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so." Brevan shook her head. "I just ran. I didn't stop."

"She's exhausted." Tallulah snapped her fingers at me. "Heat her up some soup."

I rushed to obey.

"Running for two days?" Faolan's eyes widened.

"I slept some." Brevan closed her eyes wearily. "I was so scared."

Macarth was pale. "Tiernay? Cante and Raith?"

I dumped some snow into a pot and had it boiling within seconds. I dumped in the dried soup mix, then set the pot on the coals to cook it. I put more energy into the coals to get them a bit hotter.

"Can you move your fingers and toes?" Tallulah asked Brevan. Pirjo subconsciously flexed her hands.

Brevan nodded. "I'm just tired. They got our ponies and our gear."

"It's alright." Shainin reassured her. "We've still got ours."

"I'm sorry." Brevan lowered her eyes. "Maybe I could've done something."

"No," Tallulah shook her head. "You tried."

"It's alright, Brevan." Faolan adjusted the blanket around her. "Adda, she's really cold."

"I'll heat up the tent." I pulled two stones away from the fire, slowly pouring heat into every inch. "They're ready."

"Alright, we'll carry her in." Shainin nodded to Faolan. The two men picked her up, carefully moving her into the tent. I followed behind, concentrating on the two hovering stones.

"Let's get these things off her." Tallulah pulled at Brevan's hat. "You men can leave. We'll call you if we need you."

We peeled Brevan's frozen outer layer off, fearing the worst. Luckily, the next layer in was dry. The innermost layer was warm to the touch.

"Thank the fates." Tallulah muttered.

"Yah." Pirjo agreed.

"Can you dry these?" Tallulah handed the wet clothes to me.

"By the fire." I gathered them. "I'd blow them to pieces if I used my Gift."

I handed the clothes to Faolan and took a bowl of soup from Macarth. I reentered the tent, which had become very cozy.

"Here." I offered the bowl to Tallulah.

She shook her head. "Brevan's going to be fine, once she gets some food and rest. You take care of her. I'm going to talk to Shainin and Macarth."

"Alright." I carefully spooned some soup into Brevan's mouth. Some dribbled down her chin. I tried to catch it before it dripped on the blanket, but I was too late.

Pirjo laughed at my frustration. "You've never fed a baby, have you?"

"Well, a few times." I defended.

"It's like this." Pirjo took the spoon from me, struggling to balance it between her healing fingers. She dipped it in the bowl, bringing it up to Brevan's mouth and expertly deposited it inside.

"Oh." I watched Pirjo do it. "You've got a son, right?"

"Two years old." Pirjo nodded. "He's staying with my mother while I'm out."

"Tiernay had children too." Brevan whimpered quietly.

"Hush." Pirjo soothed. "Eat this."

"Baed Cormac's alive." Brevan gulped down more of the soup. "We might be able to get him out."

"I hope so." Pirjo muttered.

It angered me to think that this might have all been for nothing. My hands shook and I stuck them between my knees so that no one would notice.

"All done." Pirjo set the bowl down. "Do you want more?"

"Later." Brevan laid her head down. "Can I sleep now?"

"Of course." Pirjo smiled and laid another blanket on the younger woman. "Will you stay with her, Adda?"

I nodded, sitting next to Brevan and arranging the packs and bedrolls around me.

"Adda?" Brevan met my eyes tentatively. "What if I have nightmares?"

I thought for a moment. "You probably will."

"I was so scared." Brevan bit her lip. "I don't want to have nightmares."

"I'll be here." I promised. "I'll put you into a dream."

"Alright." Brevan nodded, began to doze off. "Don't leave."

I slid into my bedroll and moved close to Brevan, hoping that the presence of a body would help keep the nightmares away, as it sometimes worked for me. I held her hand, to calm her and so that I would feel if she began to clench it. Poor girl.

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