…
Zachary softly shut the door and pressed his forehead against it. Despite all of their encouragement, he still felt like a fool for being cheered for walking down the hallway. Fedir and Marli had tried to engage him in lively conversation, but AnnElyse's dismal presence in the corner served as a reminder for why he had tucked himself away in the bedroom in the first place.
He pushed open his window, then crawled back onto the mattress and slipped beneath the wrinkly blanket. There was food on the table beside him. He wasn't hungry, but it still smelled delicious. Rena's cooking. She had remained devoted to him, bless her dear, adoring heart. Fedir made a point of coming in and talking inanely to keep him company. Ainsley and the boys had showed up at one point, and even Potts, now sporting two black eyes, paid his respects. He allowed himself a small smile. Before he was king, the time he had spent in Hillander had shown him how genuine the common man was. They were often far from common. After he was crowned, he was cut off from them. He became an icon, a figurehead, never a friend or a comrade. Here, he had friends. Real friends. Friends that cared for him, thought about him, joked with him, argued with him. Even his enemies were friends, in a way.
And they were concerned about him. Not just about his health; his burns were healing nicely and mysteriously fast. In reality, he could do far more than take a walk around the house, he simply did not have the desire. There were other things keeping him down, other things that concerned them. A grim smile crossed his face. They thought he was becoming…unstable—emotionally, maybe even mentally. Perhaps he was. After all, he had lost everything: his castle, his kingdom, he had almost lost his life and now Karigan was gone. Wasn't this the part when he fell into endless despair? Drove himself mad with grief and hopelessness?
Fedir wanted him to go. Not that they had had a falling out or anything of the sort. The gentle man simply thought that leaving the island would be best for him, as there were "too many memories here." Marli agreed. She thought he needed to get out of this entangling village as quickly as possible. It was making him obsessive.
But what was at the castle for him? Apart from traitorous soldiers, there were Lady Estora and a loveless wedding, lord-governors that would turn in an instant, ingratiation, insensitivity, codes, rules, walls, prisons. There were Mornhavon, Eletians, magic, Black Shields, and Green Riders. There was responsibility. There was duty. There was his collar, too, still probably sitting on its velvet pillow. Unless, of course, some usurper had taken it. A choice lay before him: return to that, or wallow in despair here.
He pulled the blanket up around his ears and stared at the wall. And they were worried that it was his grief that was overcoming him.
The door opened and Fedir entered with a cautious smile. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he settled on the end of the bed. Zachary pulled down the blanket and sat up. Fedir was going to tell him to leave again.
"Very well."
Fedir was avoiding his eyes. It was as though he was seeing something there that unnerved him. "It was good to see you outside today."
Zachary's eyes darkened as he watched Fedir looking at everything but him. "Yes."
"Right." Fedir stood and began pacing. "I came in to tell you…there are some villagers traveling north to Draper Hollow. There are merchant ships there from Corsa that are taking passengers."
Zachary looked down at his hands. "I see."
Fedir sighed. "Zachary, please. You have to accept—" He seemed unable to complete the sentence. "I want you to stay, I do, but it's not good for you here. Too many things happened."
"I know." How strange this was. In the castle, his advisers would be ordering him about. Here, it was his choice. He didn't know if he could ever go back after experiencing this freedom. "You're worried about me."
Fedir ran a hand over his balding head. "You aren't...acting yourself."
Zachary shifted, irritated. "I don't understand."
"You won't leave this room. You've gone out only that once to see AnnElyse's house and today was only the second time you came to the front rooms. Zachary—" He leaned in, taking the king's wrist. Zachary frowned at his hand. "Your life is gone. We can see it. This town, these memories, they're sucking it out of you."
Zachary's frown turned into a scowl. "It hasn't even been two days since the woman I love died." He pulled his arm away. "Please leave."
Fedir leaned back. "Zachary—"
"Go."
Fedir sighed and stood. Pausing in the doorway, he said softly, "The villagers are leaving tomorrow at dawn." He shut the door behind him. Zachary slid back down beneath the blanket and pulled it up around his ears. He couldn't leave. Regardless of where he went or what he did, he would always be missing a part of himself that could never be refound. This place was all he had left of her.
A sudden caw made him jump. He twisted around. A seagull perched on his windowsill. Its head twitched at him, beady eyes unnerving in its stare. He frowned at it. It cawed at him again. And again. And again. He slammed a pillow over his ears, but the irritating sounds still clawed at his frayed nerves. Finally he lobbed the pillow at the window. The bird left in a flurry of feathers and screeches. After a few moments, it returned and continued its jabbering. Feeling like he really was going to go mad, Zachary stood and rushed to the window. The seagull swooped away and he grabbed the panes, but paused before shutting them. A gray horse stood near the cliff edge. Beneath its ragged saddle, its spine drooped with age. Its ribs visibly lined its tattered coat. It gazed at the house with tired eyes. Zachary gazed back. A faded green breast collar hung from its sagging neck. A Rider horse.
Suddenly full of energy, Zachary pulled his boots over his bandages and limped out of his room, his shirt untucked and wrinkled, his hair sticking out at weird angles. He almost knocked Marli over in his rush.
"Zachary, what is it?" she asked, grasping his arms. "What's wrong?"
He mumbled incoherently as he pushed her hands away and stumbled outside. He rounded the house and came to a stop. The horse had turned and now faced him. Its eyes no longer looked tired; instead they stared at him with frightening intensity and intelligence. The king approached slowly. The saddle was warped but intact, the bridle was missing, and great patches of hair had disappeared from the gelding's flank.
"Who are you?" he whispered, running a hand down the horse's nose. The horse suddenly snatched his sleeve and yanked, tearing the fabric.
"Hey!"
The horse started and knocked Zachary back as it whirled around. With a whinny like none the king had ever heard, the gelding raced into the trees. Fedir hurried to Zachary's side. "Are you all right?"
Zachary frowned at him. "I'm fine. Why did you scare it away?"
"That horse is dangerous," Fedir said, checking Zachary's arm. "It's mad."
"It's a Green Rider horse."
Fedir paused. "Yes. It was Rider Trembal's horse. It appeared in town a short time after his body was found. It comes and goes, and runs wild down the streets. Oldest horse I've ever seen. Flat out refuses to die." He shook his head with a sigh.
Zachary stared at him, his brow knuckled. Fedir's words reminded him of something. Something...a faint memory... He said, "Take me to Rena's."
"Now, I don't think you're—"
"If you don't take me, then I will walk even if it makes my feet bleed."
Fedir considered him carefully, then nodded with a slight smile. "All right." He hitched his old horse to his wagon. After explaining to Marli where they were going, they set off. Zachary huddled in the back of the wagon, struggling with a distant memory niggling his mind. It was after Karigan found out about Lord Alton in Blackveil, after the hayloft. She knew he was alive, somehow, because of his horse. Something about his horse.
The moment Rena's house came into view, he leapt off the wagon and ran to the stable. As he neared, he heard thumping and shouts from inside. Stepping into the dim building, he saw Night Hawk pacing in his stall, ears pinned back. Beside him, Trev fought to catch Condor, who was, by all appearances, crazed. He reared and bucked, kicking the walls of his stall and tossing his head. Zachary stood for a moment, staring, trying to figure out what it meant. Night Hawk had refused to leave the D'Yer Wall after Alton disappeared…. Forming a plan, he carefully pulled Night Hawk from the stall and tacked him. Trev was too preoccupied to notice. Fedir, however, watched from the doorway.
"Zachary," he said suspiciously, "what are you doing?"
Zachary glanced at him wordlessly as he drew close to the boy. His anonymity here had given him a taste of something he hadn't had in a very long time: power. And he was afraid he liked it a little too much. In one movement, he shoved Trev aside, unlatched Condor's stall, and pulled the door open. The gelding burst out and charged from the stable. Fedir yelped and dove to the side. Zachary hauled himself into Night Hawk's saddle and urged him forward. As he raced away, he heard Fedir shouting, "You're as crazy as the horse!"
Condor was fast. Unguided by a rider, he flew across fields and through yards. Zachary followed, ignoring infuriated shouts from those he passed. His heart pounded in his throat. She was alive. She had to be. Condor knew it.
They ran past Fedir and Marli's home and finally stopped before the black remains of AnnElyse's. Condor pranced around in the ashes, tossing his head and snorting. Zachary watched him carefully. Night Hawk had stayed at the wall, waiting for Alton. Condor came to the house. There was something else. Something he was missing. Alton was knocked off the wall…by that sergeant…. Karigan was in the fire…she was in the fire….
"Was it…"
Emmi. What had she said?
"Was it…the man?"
"What man?"
"The man in the fire. He scares me…"
Zachary pulled Night Hawk around and hurried back to Fedir's house. AnnElyse sat in her customary chair near the window. She looked up in surprise as he came toward her.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"What?"
"What started the fire?"
AnnElyse's eyes flickered past him, fear making her hands tremble. "It was—an accident. I knocked over a-a lamp."
Zachary grabbed the arms of her chair, leaning into her face until their noses almost touched. "You're lying to me," he said in a low voice. "Do not lie to me."
Her eyes glanced past him again. "Pl-please, I don't—"
"Tell me what happened."
"I d-did."
"Tell me the truth."
"Please, I just lost my—"
He grabbed the back of the chair and shook it. "Karigan is dead!" he shouted. AnnElyse shrunk from him, clutching her embroidery to her chest. In a calmer voice, he repeated, "Tell me what happened."
Tears trembled on her lashes. "It-it was…Mickey."
Zachary leaned away, looming over her with his considerable height. "Mickey Morriseen."
"I'm just a blacksmith…"
AnnElyse nodded, gulping. "Yes. He came after you left. He was…angry and drunk."
"What did he want?"
AnnElyse looked away, anger and pain evident in her features. "He was just…"
"Just…?"
She tossed her head in agitation. "He was looking for something."
"What?"
AnnElyse stood. She barely reached his chin, but she was angry. "It's none of your business."
Cold fury rose up in his chest. "You will tell me."
"What's happening here?" Marli pulled Zachary's arm and he took a step away. She looked between the two. "AnnElyse?"
"He's disoriented," AnnElyse said. "He's going mad, just like I told you."
"I am neither disoriented nor mad," he responded coolly. "What did Mickey want from you?"
She glared at him. "Plans."
"Plans?"
"Instructions, from my grandfather. The page was upside-down under the glass."
"...You've found my maps."
"I see Sacoridia and Rhovanny... What is this third one…?"
"Instructions for what?"
AnnElyse looked away again.
"The device," Marli said. "Mickey attacked Dagon because he found my family's machine. He said that even if Dagon wouldn't tell him how it worked, he had found information about it."
Looking suddenly very tired, AnnElyse lowered herself back into the chair. "My family lives on the other side of the island. A man that worked for my grandfather was short on funds, so he sold some family heirlooms to my grandfather. They were left over from the Long War." She stared at Zachary's boots. Zachary peered into her face.
"There's more."
AnnElyse met his gaze. "The machine was dead until you came." At his surprised expression, she laughed. "The same day that you arrived, it suddenly lit up and began humming. Mickey became obsessed."
"How did he find it in the first place?" Marli asked. "I hid it deeply in the caves."
AnnElyse's face flamed and she looked everywhere but at them. "I don't know. He must have been exploring."
"I can't imagine what he would be doing so far back in the caves…Perhaps he was hiding a body…"
"Perhaps he was hiding a body," Zachary mused.
The tears in AnnElyse's eyes finally spilled. Marli gaped. "AnnElyse?"
Zachary breathed deeply. "The Riders."
She was on her feet again, pacing, waving her hands in agitation. "Mickey was jealous. Even after Fedir's father's crime, I still—" She glanced at Marli, "—I still loved him. Mickey didn't understand it. He was drinking again and he was—beating me, outside."
"…All Mama says about him is that I need to find a man that will treat me better than he treated her."
"The Rider—the boy—"
"Shenden Trembal," Marli murmured.
"Yes. He saw it and tried to protect me. Mickey—" Her voice caught in her throat. "Mickey had a knife."
"Up there – it's dead. It's all rotted and dead and there's a knife in its neck."
"I've never—seen anything so…" She paused and turned away. Marli had sat down, head in her hands. Zachary was feeling sick. "He took the body and hid it up in the caves. Then the second Rider came, the girl, and he took the body out again and—put it in your stable."
"I think I'd notice a body rotting in my hayloft…Someone had to have planted it there, to frame us…"
Marli's head was shaking slowly.
"He wanted to ruin you and Fedir. The girl went to Rena's inn before leaving. I couldn't—I couldn't let her report to the king. I followed her. I was just going to talk to her, beg her to keep it secret. I tried to explain that it wasn't Fedir who had done it. But she was so…so angry, so upset." AnnElyse dragged a hand through her hair. Her voice became almost incomprehensible as sobs bubbled up in her throat. "We were outside. She walked away from me. I was—I was just trying to help. I grabbed her. She tripped, fell, and her head—" She took a few scratchy breaths. "—There was a rock—" She collapsed into heaving sobs. "I was just trying to help."
"I loved him. I would have done anything for him."
"Would you kill for him?"
Marli covered her face. "Oh, gods…"
Zachary leaned against the empty fireplace. "What happened next?" he prompted gently.
AnnElyse laughed harshly through her tears. "I didn't know what to do. I went to Mickey. He k—he killed her horse and buried it in the trees behind my house. He took her body and went into the caves, deeper than he had gone before because the village children were playing there. That's when he found the thing."
"So he came to your house to get the instructions."
"Yes. I was afraid of the machine. I didn't know what it was supposed to do, but I didn't like what it was doing to him. I told him I didn't have them. He knew I was lying and he went on a rampage through my house. He threw lanterns to the floor, saying that if I didn't tell him, he would make sure the children never made it out of the fire. We…fought, even as the fire spread. I finally told him where the paper was and he was going to leave, but I think he saw you." She looked at Zachary. "He turned and ran up the stairs."
"I didn't see a man."
"…He was angry… He yelled… Karigan yelled back… She probably finished him off…"
"Why didn't you tell us?" Zachary murmured.
"I was going to, but then Karigan…she never made it out. And I knew…" She was avoiding his gaze again.
"You knew what?"
"What's a gladstone? ...The fire man wanted a gladstone, but I don't know what that is."
Zachary pressed a hand to his forehead. "G'ladheon. That's the name of the man that sold the instructions to your grandfather."
"…I doubt your name means much to him…"
AnnElyse nodded. "He thought that she would know how it worked."
Zachary stared into the empty fireplace. "She's alive," he mumbled. "He has her." He suddenly looked up, fixing AnnElyse with a furious glare. "You knew. You knew this entire time. You knew she was alive."
AnnElyse stood and backed away. "I don't. They couldn't have made it out of the fire."
"But you knew he was there. You knew he wanted her."
She raised her chin. "Don't come near me."
Marli reached for Zachary's hand, but he only leveled AnnElyse with a cool glare before turning to Marli. "Where are the caves?"
"Outside of the village, in the cliffs."
He dropped to his knees before her and took up her hands. "He must have her there. Take me to them, please."
"Zachary, we stayed with the house until the fire died. No one came out after you and Emmi." He turned a resolute stare on her. Marli met his eyes firmly. "You aren't well," she said. "Not only physically, but emotionally—"
"Marli, let me do this. If I don't find her, then—" He inhaled. "Then I'll leave. Please, please don't destroy my hope."
She gazed into his features, where new lines creased his eyes. With a sigh, she threw her hands into the air. "Fine, fine. If you insist." He beamed at her and dashed back to his room. Marli turned her gaze on AnnElyse, who had curled up on her chair. "You will be dealt with later."
A short time later, he and Marli stood on the beach staring at a cliff wall. A cave yawned at them, water trapped inside flickering across its limestone walls. Night Hawk shifted uneasily. Marli passed the king a lantern and a small bag. "There's an extra jar of oil in there," she explained. "Please don't run out. There's also charcoal—use it to mark your way so you don't become lost."
"You don't remember where it is?"
"If you think you've gone far back enough, go farther. I didn't want anyone to find it." She huffed. "A fat lot of good that did."
He smiled at her. "Thank you, Marli."
She returned it. "Just make sure you come back out, with or without her. We don't need another death in this town."
He nodded and turned to the cave. Silvery sunlight lit up a small portion of the entrance. Before stepping inside, he glanced over his shoulder. Behind Marli and Night Hawk, a gray gelding stood. Even across the distance, Zachary could feel its gaze. I'll solve this, he promised. The horse tossed its head and Zachary entered the cave.
…
The bone snapped in her hands. Karigan thrust the pieces away with a snarl and pulled her brooch off, using it to dig into the crevice she had found. The gold bent and she felt a jolt of regret before shoving it into her pocket. She stuck in her fingers and only managed a few weak scrapes until her hands dropped in exhaustion and pain. She plopped onto the hard floor and leaned her head against the wall. Blood from her fingertips and wrists dribbled down her skin.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. Whether she was running out of air in this prison or she was panicking, she didn't know. She began to crawl around the perimeter. It was getting smaller. No, that was impossible. But it was. It was closing down around her. She turned her head to the right. No…that was left. Wasn't it? Or was she looking up?
Something moved—over there. She flung herself against the wall, chest heaving with half-filled breaths. There was something else in here with her. It brushed her legs sometimes, tickled her arm. She glared into the impenetrable darkness, daring it to come near her. She couldn't run, or even walk—her feet were numb. Her hands were almost as useless. Huddling against the stone, she tried returning to her dream, back into the bed. Zachary was there, waiting for her. He held out his arms, but she couldn't feel his warmth. His speech was mumbled and unintelligible. She tried to move, to touch him, but her limbs were too heavy. They were frozen.
Her fantasies were mixing with reality. Sometimes he came and rescued her, but then he wasn't there. The blackness invaded her memories, darkened everything to night. The thing was near, she could feel it. She lunged to the side and banged her head against rock. Tears welled up in her eyes at the pain and she reached out her senseless hands. She found the rock wall, and feeling around it, she discovered an opening hidden behind a jutting stone. She knelt there for a moment, marveling. She'd crawled around these walls hundreds of times—how had she missed it? She felt around more. It was small, but large enough to squeeze through. A breathless, slightly hysterical laugh escaped her. From the opposite direction, she wouldn't have found it. The rock covered it. Had she been crawling in the wrong direction this entire time? Passing escape again and again?
She chortled as she maneuvered into the opening. She scooted through and popped out onto more wet, stone floor. But it was different floor. She laughed again. She'd done it. She'd escaped. Mostly. She used her elbows to drag herself forward. She'd find the way out. Her blood may be freezing, her body bruised and broken, but by the gods, she'd find the way out.
It wasn't until sometime later that she jolted and realized that she had stopped moving. Somehow the floor had become comfortable. You need to keep going, she told herself. But if she rested, then she would have more strength to move. Her head drooped, then jerked back up again. She'd find the way out, yes. She would. Zachary… She would find him again. She would find him and—and—she didn't know what she would do, but she'd do it. She'd tell him she loved him. She would. She'd find that golden room again.
…
The caves were indeed a maze; he understood why Mornhavon's troops weren't able to find the villagers here. He walked and climbed and slid. Some of the passages were large enough for him to stand, others he barely squeezed through. He felt he was making progress until he came across one of his earlier marks and he realized that somehow he had gone in a circle. Setting his jaw, he set out again. He was going to find her, if it cost him his life.
He crawled over a lump in the ground and slipped down the other side. He crashed onto the floor, banging his elbow hard against the stone. He clamped his teeth over his lip to keep from crying out, then carefully lifted his arm. Blood seeped through his sleeve. He groaned as he pulled himself up. Taking up his lantern, he limped forward only a few steps before he reached a dead end.
Another one. He slid to the ground. All that precious time, wasted. He looked into the flickering flame of his lantern. If he didn't find her…. No. He wouldn't consider that. He would find her. He would search until he died.
After another few moments' rest, he hauled himself up and clambered back the way he came. His blistered feet ached, his elbow throbbed, as well as a thousand other scrapes and bruises. A small corridor branched off and he stood before it uncertainly. Using belated logic, he determined that it would be a squeeze for him alone, and there was no way Mickey could have carried Karigan through. With a sigh, he continued on down the tunnel, passing other unpromising branches with hope fast deteriorating. What was that he had said? He would search until he died?
His laughter came out sounding harsh. No, that wasn't true, in spite of all its poetic allure. He would search until his oil ran out. How long had he been in here now? The water had seeped into his clothes, which hung heavily on his shivering body; the cold curled around his bones and numbed his burns. He paused to catch his breath, staring defiantly into the fading lamplight. He only had a small amount of oil left. As he looked into the flickering flame, he felt the last of his hope pitter out. He had to return to Sacor City and set things right, with or without her. Even though all those rights would be wrong, he shuddered at the knowledge that despite his feelings, his wants, his needs, he would have to leave.
He finally reached a familiar room where multiple corridors branched out. It was here he refilled his oil for the last time. He peered at the empty jar, then tossed it aside. There were three paths he hadn't tried yet, in this section of the caves at least. One shot off somewhere behind him, and the other two reached farther back into the island. He considered them, then laughed. It didn't really matter, did it, which one he chose. They both held the same amount of promise. He took a step forward, his foot landed on a loose rock, and he slipped again, slamming his hip against the stone floor. He rolled over, groaning, stars reeling in his vision, wondering absently if Marli could heal broken bones. Shaking his head to clear it, he grabbed the rock and hurled it across the chamber, then placed his hands to push himself up. His palm moved unexpectedly as something liquid oozed beneath it. He pulled his lantern closer. Blood. A long smear of blood. His? He snatched up his lantern and clambered to his feet. No, it couldn't be. There was a long trail of the sticky stuff, leading into one of the unexplored corridors. Karigan's? Had Mickey dragged her through here?
Infused with both excitement and anger, he moved as quickly as the terrain allowed, gaining a few more significant bruises as he did so. The blood guided him through the labyrinth, back and back and back. Zachary tripped, banged his knees on the ground, shook his head, and got back up. She was close, he could feel it. She was close, just—
He stopped. Just behind solid rock. The blood seemed to just disappear into the wall. He stared at it with increasing dismay. Something had to be wrong. No…Mickey had tricked him. He had probably put the blood there purposely to lead him astray. With a feral snarl, Zachary punched the wall until his knuckles bled. Damn him. Damn him! When his hand was numb, he gave the wall one mighty kick, then slipped on water and dropped onto the floor. He hung his head in defeat. There was nothing left to do. His oil was running low—it would be just enough to get him out. He could come back, he considered. Come back and look more.
He closed his eyes. That would be impossible. He had been missing for too long: he needed to return to Sacor City. Tomorrow morning, dawn, he would leave. Leave this place forever. The wall jutted out to his left and he used the outcropping to pull himself up. Once on his feet, however, he found he couldn't find the will to move. His fingertips dug into the rock as his broad shoulders began to shake. Karigan…. Tears splashed across his hands. My Karigan…. His knees gave out and he fell, grasping the stone as if it were his last connection to life. He sobbed against it and found himself grieving for more than just the loss of his love. His hands curled into fists and he pounded the unfeeling rock. How cruel the gods were—how treacherous, to give him this taste of paradise and then rip it away from him. What sort of sick game did they play?
He slid back down to his previous seat, helpless and limp. He leaned against the outcrop—no, he fell right past it onto the floor. Cold stone bumped his nose and the back of his head. Pulling himself up, he snatched up his lantern and stared in wonder at the previously hidden opening between the outcrop and the wall. It was as though the wall had grown out and twisted to the right to conceal another cave entrance. Laughing in disbelief, Zachary dragged his arm across his teary eyes and crawled through the tight space—large enough, he supposed, for Mickey to squeeze through, dragging Karigan behind him—and into a small, dank room.
His lamplight fell across human bones. He stood, paralyzed, staring down at them in utter panic. Then he realized that there was no way they were Karigan's and his captured breath came out in a rush. Holding his lantern higher, he could easily see the entire pit. Apart from the bones, it was empty.
His teeth ground together. Another failure. But—no, she had to have been here. There were bloody smears all around the room, as though someone injured had crawled along the perimeter multiple times. But if Mickey had dragged her here, then where did she go?
Toying with a hopeful thought, he squeezed into the short passage and squinted in the dim lamplight. Handprints, smudged but still recognizable, littered the floor and sides. He raised his hand and covered one of the marks. It was small, thin—a woman's hand.
"Karigan…" he whispered. He struggled the rest of the way out. The blood he had followed to get here…. It wasn't Mickey dragging Karigan in, it was Karigan trying to crawl back out. Swearing and cursing himself for a fool, he raced back the way he came, praying with all his might that he wasn't too late.
…
His fingers trailed up and down her arm as his dark gaze mesmerized her. "Why did you run?" he asked softly, touching her lips with his other hand.
"I couldn't stay," she responded. "You know that…"
…Cold. She was too cold. There was too much pain. She had come so far…
"…I can talk to them," he protested. "I can make them understand."
"Not even you can do that."
His frown puckered his brow adorably. "So you would deny every chance for happiness?"
She reached up and smoothed his forehead. "Only the fleeting ones. They won't do anyone any good…."
…She hooked the ropes binding her wrists on a stone and used it to pull herself just a little bit farther before collapsing back down. If only that stupid, fat man hadn't used that rock…
…He sighed and took her waist in his hands, pulling her closer to him. "But you're going somewhere I can't follow," he whispered into her ear.
She was feeling cold. "I'm not going anywhere," she answered. "Hold onto me."
He looked sad as his hands released her.
"No, hold on. Please." So cold. She couldn't move anymore. The bed grew stony beneath her. Darkness swept through the glow. He disappeared into the black fog. No…please…. No light, no feeling. Cold stone pressed down upon her on all sides. She couldn't feel her body anymore. A whimper escaped her throat. It was just a little bit farther, she knew. Just a little more and she would be out…
"Karigan!"
The name stirred faintly in her mind.
"Karigan? Karigan, Karigan!"
She was right here. No need to yell.
"Oh gods, Karigan!"
Hands grasping at her. They lifted her from the cold stone and clutched her against warmth.
"Karigan, speak to me. Please, my love, please, please…"
Breath on her face, hands on her head. Zachary? Could it really be…? She tried to find his face, but her bound hands were trapped against his stomach. His real stomach. He was real.
She pried her eyes open. He found her. She gaped at him through the dim lamplight. He found her. He found her. He laughed breathlessly as he planted kisses all over her face. She had to close her eyes again.
"You found me," she croaked, wishing she could do something more than just hang there. "Zachary…Zachary, you found me." He kissed her mouth senselessly, bundling her up into his arms. He was laughing and it shook her whole body.
"You're alive," he whispered against her ear. "You're alive." He was still laughing as he strove to crush her in his hold. She felt his tears mixing with hers, her skin was raw where his bristly beard scraped it. She tugged at her hands and he pulled them out for her. He fought clumsily to loosen the ropes as she reached to grasp his face.
"You found me," she breathed. The terror of the past hours spilled over her and she began to cry stupidly. "You're really here," she croaked. "Zachary, you're really here." He abandoned her wrists in favor of more kisses and more laughter and more tears. He was here, holding her, talking to her. She was bleeding all over him. She should be hurting, she was hurting. He told her he loved her, repeated it again and again, and she kept crying like an idiot, her arms crushed uselessly between them.
"I knew it." His hands were all tangled up in her hair. "I knew you were alive." He kissed her again. She wished she could respond. She buried her face in his neck.
"I don't want to be here anymore," she told him.
"Karigan?"
She settled into his warmth. Take me away from here.
"Karigan? Karigan! Don't, no, don't."
Don't shout...I'm right here…
"Stay with me, Karigan, please."
Such wonderful warmth. Just like her dreams. Better than her dreams. He was moving, though. Her legs banged against cold rock.
"Karigan, hold on. Hold on…"
…
The door crashed open. Marli jumped and her tea went flying. The door banged against the wall as Zachary stumbled into the room, clutching Karigan like a doll in his arms. Marli stood, shocked. Karigan was lifeless, masked in dirt and blood, head lolling and limbs dangling limply. On the other side of the room, AnnElyse rose to her feet, just as shocked.
"Marli," Zachary grated, desperation blazing in his voice and eyes. Blood soaked his clothing. "Help her."
Marli ushered him to a room and rushed to fetch her supplies. After placing Karigan on the bed, Zachary retrieved a knife from the kitchen and used it to cut the ropes that bound her wrists together. He had to peel the cords from her flesh, tearing skin in the process, and he forced down a bout of nausea and rage. His hands shook so, he could barely hold the knife and it clattered as he set it on the table. Kneeling beside the bed, he cupped her face gingerly. "Karigan?" he whispered, a tremor in his voice. "Karigan, can you hear me?" She made no reaction, her face alarmingly pale beneath the grime. His teeth snatched at his lip and he cracked a hoarse, "Karigan, please."
Marli reappeared with AnnElyse in tow. "Zachary, if you'd please…" Marli gestured to the door. Zachary stared at her, then took Karigan's hand in a powerful grip and shook his head wordlessly. Marli sighed. "I didn't think so." Zachary was, however, ushered out of the way as the two women set to work. The king hovered around the bed, at once anxious, furious, and brimming with such bubbling hope he couldn't hold himself still.
Injuries appeared as the filth was removed. Most of them seemed superficial, until Karigan's shirt was taken away. He couldn't distinguish the wound itself, but enough blood glistened on her stomach to indicate its severity. He gripped the bedpost and it was a wonder the wood didn't splinter in his hand.
"You will find him," Marli said without looking up.
"Most assuredly."
"And you will punish him."
"Violently."
A smile crept onto Marli's mouth and she and the quiet AnnElyse finished their tasks in silence. Skin was cleaned, Marli's mysterious ointment was applied, the wound was stitched, hands and feet were carefully warmed, and a clean blanket was wrapped around the unmoving girl.
Zachary craned his neck to look over Karigan's swaddled body. "She's—?"
"Alive, barely. It should heal soon enough." Marli wiped her hands over her dress. "I'll come back in a little while to check on her." She turned on Zachary and looked him up and down. "Now, you I will not allow near her—" She overrode his fierce protests, "—until you have cleaned up. As much as she needs that blood, it's no use to her now." She waved her hands at him. "Go, wash up. There's a bath down the hall that shouldn't be too cold yet. I'll lend you some of my husband's clothing."
He left reluctantly. After his quick bath, Marli rewrapped the burns that still weren't fully healed, tsked at his new scrapes and bruises, and sent him back to Karigan's room wearing Fedir's oversized clothing. He dragged a chair up to the bedside and gently took Karigan's hand in his own. Her fingertips and nails were ragged and torn and he kissed them tenderly, watching her face for any sign of consciousness. None came and he scooted his chair closer.
Hours passed as he stayed by her side, refusing sleep. The news began spreading and one-by-one, villagers gathered at the house to see if tales of her survival were true. Mickey's infamy spread also and a search began for him, but he seemed to have disappeared entirely. Fedir and Ainsley came occasionally to report the progress of the search, but despite his loathing for the blacksmith, Zachary didn't much care to hear if he had been found or not. He managed to keep himself in the chair, but when she finally woke up, she was panicked and screaming and he barely kept himself from climbing into the bed to hold her. He wasn't sure if such intimacy would be welcome and so, once she fell back asleep, he contented himself with resting his head on her lap.
She faded in and out of consciousness. She would jerk, her eyes would open and search the room wildly until she found his face. Then she would mutter and sigh herself back into sleep. Despite his uncomfortable position, his rest that night was dreamless and calm. He awoke only when her anxiety disturbed him, but he could always calm her. He had to battle his soaring delight each time she responded to his voice, keep himself from kissing her each time his name passed over her lips. Her free hand had found a permanent place in his hair and occasionally, he would lean away just to watch it search for him. He let himself hope that she knew it was him, that she wasn't delirious and reaching for whoever was there. He also hoped he wasn't breaking any rules. He laughed bitterly. Not breaking rules? He took up her hand and pressed a kiss into the palm, then closed his eyes. Hang the rules.
Morning sunlight awoke him the next day. He raised his head and blinked groggily at the window. He began massaging his muscles, then stopped when he looked at Karigan. She was awake, gazing at him with bright, but weary eyes. "Is this a dream?" she murmured.
He dropped his hand to touch her face. "No."
She closed her hand over his. "I made it out?"
He hesitated, then nodded. "Yes. You made it out."
She took his face in her hands and tugged until he leaned over her. Her eyes searched his face. "You're real," she murmured. She combed her fingers through his hair, her brow puckering. "You cut your hair." Her fingertips trailed along his jaw. "And what happened to your beard?"
"It was time for a change," he responded lightly. She blinked tiredly at him.
"Oh." She rubbed her fingers against his scruff and giggled softly. "I like it." Then her hands fell and her eyelids drooped.
He traced her features and whispered, "Go back to sleep."
"You'll stay here?" she murmured.
"Nothing could make me leave."
She smiled faintly. "Thank you." Her eyes fluttered and shut. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and settled back into his chair. Returning his head to her lap, he vowed, "I will never leave you again."