Page 97

“What happened?” Tallu asked, blinking in surprise at how quickly I had healed him.

“Come here,” I said, drawing Tallu onto the couch next to me. I frowned down at the scraps of my pants, the undergarments that were no more than shreds of cloth. I had no shirt and the cool air sent shivers across my new skin. It felt like a different kind of torture.

Tallu sat, so close that his weight tilted me toward him, and I let myself go, let my body lean against him at the shoulder. I faced forward. It wasn’t what he was thinking, but that didn’t mean that it was pleasant to live through or retell.

“What do you know?” I asked.

“We know you were kidnapped by two men that we took in after Tavornai. You left behind one of their bodies, and they weren’t able to hide it well. At first we had no idea where you went, but then Commander Rede noticed that one of the larger ships was missing a smaller airship.” Tallu paused. That made sense. If Bemishu had managed to build the large ones, he would also be able to build small ones and use them like rowboats.

“They caught me with the easiest trap,” I said. “What a foolish assassin, falling for his target. All they had to tell me was that you had collapsed and were asking for me. They had a powder that put me under. They had to reapply it twice. How did you find me?”

“Even though they don’t travel on the ground, they do leave behind markings in the sand. The goblins were able to lead us here. We also questioned the rest of the men that had once been Kacha’s soldiers. Any who survived the questions are marked for death.” Tallu’s eyes were cold. “Enough of them knew about the plan to kidnap you that I cannot trust any of them.”

“General Saxu won’t like that,” I said quietly, thinking of his face, thinking of how he had desperately wanted to recover as many soldiers as he could.

“It doesn’t matter. Enough knew of the plot and didn’t tell me or General Saxu. Perhaps they thought it wouldn’t succeed, or that the men would succumb to their cowardice.” Tallu lifted a hand, running it down my cheek and cupping my chin with his fingertips. “I have ordered General Saxu to kill them all.”

“They brought me here,” I said, closing my eyes. I knew it was my turn. I knew I had implied I would tell him, but how could he believe me when what had happened was impossible? “The first thing Kacha did was steal my magic again.” Tallu’s fingers twitched on my skin, but instead of drawing back, he leaned forward, pressing his forehead against my temple. “He took my magic, so I couldn’t call on any of the powers of the animalia. Then he tortured me. I have been trained to withstand torture.” That was all I could say on the issue.

Tallu pressed a kiss against my skin, wrapping his arm around my bare flesh, the fabric of his shirt scratching my new skin. He didn’t say anything, but I could feel him vibrate with anger.

“Then he began cutting off my fingers,” I said, lifting my hand and turning it over again.

Tallu said nothing, but I could feel his body tense, almost as if he had drawn back, pulling away from me.

“No. It was not some concoction that gave me hallucinations. He cut all of my fingers off. One at a time. He wanted to send them to you so that you would give him what he wanted.”

“I should have killed him myself when he touched you the first time,” Tallu said. “He did not deserve the mercy I showed him.”

Shaking my head, I said, “No. He didn’t. But not for what he did to me. When he was done with me, when I had provided enough entertainment, he released scorpions in the room. They stung me. They ate my flesh. No, stay here.” I covered Tallu’s wrist with my hand, holding him tight with me. I knew what he wanted. He wanted to leap up, run to the door, and demand doctors. I kept my grip tight, my muscles made from forest vines and trees that would live thousands of years.

“If you have been poisoned by the scorpions, we must ask for the goblins’ help. They will have antidotes,” Tallu whispered, his breath hot on my skin.

“I am long past any time when I could be saved by an antidote. My bones turned to liquid, my flesh melted. There was nothing of me left but my mind.” And even that I had questions about. “But whatever power the animalia gave me rebuilt me. I could hear myself choosing life over death. I came back like this.”

I held up my arm, turning it over. I opened and closed my fingers, displaying the ten digits that I had regrown.

“That is impossible,” Tallu said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement, because he had felt how effortlessly I had healed him, even taking away some of the gauntness that haunted his face. “That is something from the stories of old, from the legends of the animalia.”

“Yes,” I agreed. Because I could see a story like that.

Perhaps curious Fox who got too close to the fire and who came back stronger for having been burned. Or Sea Serpent, who ate a poisoned fish and died, returning with her scales turned black.

Or the One Dragon…

My mind spiraled, and I heard whispers in the corners of the room. A thousand voices echoed in my ears, Owl, Fox, Sea Serpent, Ox, and dozens more. I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to raise a hand to my ear, because I knew they were not actually there. It was impossible.

“But it happened,” I said, grabbing hold of that. It was impossible, but it had happened. I was not mad from Kacha’s torture. I had not fallen to the weakness of my own mind.

Tallu cupped my cheeks, turning my face until I was looking at him. “It happened. Because you are here with me again, and I will not let you go.”

Thirty-Five

Tallu helped me bathe, and I changed into imperial-style clothing that I didn’t recognize. It wasn’t a military uniform, so it must have belonged to the lord of this estate. Wearing a dead man’s clothing didn’t help me with the whispers in my ears, but Lerolian did.

Experience with him and the other blood monks had taught me not to react to things that were not physically in the room with me.

Which the voices weren’t. I was sure of that, even if my heart jumped every time I heard one of the voices whispering at me what to do.