A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3) - Chapter 26: Chapter 26

When I woke up, I was in a bright tent. The canvas turned the sunlight slightly blue, which tricked my mind into thinking it was a little cooler.
No, the damp blankets draped over my entire body were making me feel cooler, not the colour of the light.
I pushed myself upright, leaning heavily on my left arm, and looked around. Tannix's tent was relatively bare. A few carpets lined the ground to give the tent a floor. In the middle of the space, two boxes were pressed together to create a table. More boxes were neatly stacked in a few places along the sides of the tent. Between the stacks there were five mattresses and blankets. I counted them twice before realizing that the knights would never all be asleep at once, so they didn't need to each have a bed.
When the tent door shook, I turned to it eagerly, expecting Tannix. Instead, a young Zian man I almost recognized stepped into the tent. He looked surprised to see me sitting up and immediately came over to kneel beside me.
"How are you feeling?"
He was wearing circular, wooden frames in front of his eyes, connected by a piece that balanced on his nose. Each frame held a glass disk. I tilted my head.
"Are you wearing spyglasses?"
"Spyglasses?" He opened the wooden box that was sitting beside my bed and pulled out a drawer. "I've heard that you're smart. Do you still have a headache? That could explain it." He plucked a small bottle from the drawer and pulled the cork. He touched my forehead briefly, tutted to himself, then held up the bottle. "Open your mouth."
I shied away from him. "Is that morkartice?" Of course it wasn't, I knew that, but my thoughts still felt fuzzy.
"Bloomshade? Lord West Draulin would drag me into the middle of camp and behead me himself if I gave you bloomshade," he said. "No, it's just a mixture of herbs that will settle your stomach, so you can have some water and food."
I held out my hand. After a pause and a sigh, he let me take the bottle. "Ignore the taste and swallow all of it."
I lifted the vial to my lips. It was a good thing I had never been a picky eater, because as soon as the medicine touched my tongue, I wanted to spit it out. It was bitter and salty and somehow sweet all at once. I forced myself to swallow every drop and gave the bottle back to him.
He put it back in the box, closed up the drawers, and handed me a flask of water. To my complete shock and delight, the flask was cool to the touch.
"Drink it slowly." The physician got to his feet. "I believe Lord West Draulin sent someone to get food. I'll tell your guards that you're awake."
The chilled water felt amazing in my dry mouth. After two gulps I replaced the flask's lid, forcing myself to slow down and take a break. The physician was already reaching for the door flap when I had a sudden jolt of clarity.
"Wait," I called after him. "Do you know if they found Castin and Kovin? The, um, the—" It felt like I was fighting with my own mind.
"Yes," he said. "The Navirian patrol dropped them off not long after you arrived. They're both dehydrated and malnourished. Castin's injuries will heal and his sunstroke wasn't nearly as bad as yours. Kovin is unconscious. We've done what we can for his injuries. If it's just exhaustion and sunstroke he should wake up on his own, if not... well, we've done what we can for his injuries. As I said."
"Can I see them?"
He seemed to consider, then shook his head. "Not now. You're still quite hot. You need to let your body rest and cool down. I'm sure Lord West Draulin will allow you to visit the medic's tent once you have recovered more. Is that all? I have other patients I need to check on."
I fiddled with the flask lid. "Oh, sorry. You can go."
"Remember, drink and eat slowly," he said. He reached for the door again but before he could grab it, it was whisked out of the way. He stepped aside. "Sorry, my lord. I was just about to—"
"You're awake." Relief flooded Tannix's voice and he stepped around the physician without even seeing him. He crossed the carpet, dropped to his knees and pulled me into his arms. "I need to know everything, but for now, just... I'm going to hold you for as long as I can."
That sounded perfect to me. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face against his shoulder. I could feel his heartbeat. He was here, he was alive. After relishing the feel of him for a moment, I pulled back. Not far enough that I was out of his arms, but just far enough that I could take a proper look at him.
The twins and Acen had looked dirty and tired, Tannix was only marginally better. It made sense that he would have to make some effort to look well-kept. He had clearly been shaving and his hair was just a little longer than usual. There was a narrow scar on the left side of his face, just along his jawline. His sleeves were pushed back to his elbows, revealing bandaging around his right forearm. Other than that, he looked intact.
I trailed a finger over the bandaging. "What is this?"
Tannix shifted so he could sit on my mattress—his mattress, I realized—while still holding me. "Nothing, really. About a week ago, someone snuck into the camp and took a swing at me."
That wasn't nothing. "What?"
"It was my fault. There was an attempt on Tandrin just a few days earlier and I was supposed to be more alert, but I wasn't thinking. Well... I was thinking, actually. About you. So when he stepped out of the shadows I just threw up my arm without thinking. Jalor was there a moment later and it wasn't even a deep cut, but Terrow insisted I keep it wrapped."
There was something familiar about the name, but I couldn't waste any of my limited energy thinking about it. Instead, I reached up to run my thumb over the scar on his jaw. "What about this?"
"A skirmish just past Hoask. Tandrin sent us out with a calvary unit to rout a group of Deoran mounted archers who were sweeping in and taking shots at the infantry."
"Is that it?" I asked. "Or are you hiding other injuries under your clothes?"
He chuckled. "We've been sitting outside of Deorun for a long time. My other injuries had time to heal."
"Other injuries?"
"Finn, I'm fine. Better off than most."
His tone made me nervous, and I realized that I hadn't seen all of the knights yet. "What about everyone else?"
"Oh, we've been lucky," Tannix said, as if their skills had nothing to do with it. "Only one real injury. Mandell lost two fingers on his left hand, in that skirmish near Hoask. An axe took off his pinkie and ring finger. Nearly crushed his middle finger, too. Mandell fought through it, and we had the wound cauterized that evening. He's had the hand wrapped since, but he can still hold his maces with it and he refused to let me discharge him. So." Tannix shrugged like there was nothing he could do about it. "Everyone's had minor injuries, but that was by far the biggest. Oh, and Ender's side gives him a bit of trouble once in a while."
"And Tandrin?"
"Tandrin is frustrated because his advisors won't let him throw himself into every fight we come across. And even when he has fought, he's come out of it relatively unscathed. His knights are doing well, too. Finn." He paused like he was debating something, then surprised me by kissing my forehead. I didn't even realize that my eyes had drifted closed until that moment. "I can sit here and tell you absolutely everything that has happened since we rode out of East Draulin, if that's what you need to hear. But first, can I have a chance to ask you some questions?"
I nodded. I would tell him anything he wanted to know.
"Good. Thank you. Tandrin and Avaloni want to know how you got out of the city, what's going on inside, if you picked up anything that might help us. I'll ask all of that, just... First, I just want to know..." his voice caught, and hardened. "I need to know what they did to you."
of me liked the angry edge to his voice. Still, I didn't want him worrying about something that couldn't be changed. "Nothing, really," I said, copying the cavalier way he had answered me about his arm.
"Finagale."
"Kassia plays mind games. That's all she wanted me for. The King and Kalvahi wanted to use me to ruin you, but they didn't get a chance," I muttered. "But nothing happened to me. And I—" How was I supposed to explain how much I hated that fact? Kalvahi had certainly known what he was doing.
I was temporarily spared from having to come up with an answer when Mandell stepped into the tent, carrying a bowl. He crossed the tent and handed me the food. "The medic says to eat slowly."
"I know." I cradled the bowl on my lap. I was very hungry, and normally food worked to distract me. Not this time. I caught Mandell's hand before he could pull away. His thumb, index and middle finger were free of the bandaging, which just made his missing fingers that much easier to see.
He let me inspect it and addressed Tannix. "Acen's arguing with the King. He wants to come in."
Tannix groaned. "Tell Tandrin that if he pulls rank and forces his way through you, I'll take Finn home on the first ship I can find, and he'll never get his answers."
"That's an empty threat."
"Of course it is. Tell him anyway. He won't believe me but maybe it'll slow him down."
When I let go of Mandell's hand, he smiled and ruffled my hair affectionately. "It isn't too bad."
"It looks bad."
He shrugged. "Well, try to hurry this up. We'll hold off the King as long as we can." He ambled off, and I finally turned my attention to the bowl.
It was a very simple meal, plain rice with small pieces of fish. I had another gulp of water from the chilled flask, and ate a few mouthfuls of food. All the while trying to ignore the pointed way Tannix was staring at me and hoping he would just let what I had said go.
He waited until I emptied the bowl. "And I?" he prompted.
Eating had given me plenty of time to figure out how to finish the sentence, instead my mind was still blank. But I had to talk, and hope my thoughts would stay just ahead of my words. "You goaded Kalvahi so he would beat you, instead of coming after us. I tried to do the same thing for Castin and Kovin. When can I go see them?"
"Tonight. Once it's cooler outside."
That was fair. I nodded and took a deep breath. "But it didn't work. Kalvahi didn't care about them or me, it was just about hurting you. He said he..." I struggled to speak past the lump forming in my throat. "He said he wanted to destroy me. So he tortured Castin and Kovin, and he made me decided what... he kept making me pick. And I begged him to hurt me instead but he wouldn't. He was going to kill them, and then make me drink poison, and then give me back to you so you would watch me die. There was a..." The tears came. I tried to wipe them away with my sleeve. "A moment, when I was going to do it."
"Do what?" Tannix sounded both heartbroken and furious, his voice somehow both gentle and firm.
"Drink it. Before he could make me. I thought that if I drank it too early, maybe I would die before he could deliver me. But I guess... if I had, he probably would have just thrown my body over the city walls and, I... Tannix."
I was shaking, crying and still exhausted. I wanted to see the knights and Castin and Kovin, but I also wanted to stay wrapped up in Tannix's arms. I wanted to go to sleep with his arm draped over my body. With his protective presence to keep any nightmares at bay. I buried my face against his chest.
He let me cry for much longer than he probably should have. As my mind cleared, I realized that I had quite a bit of information that Tandrin and Queen Navire needed. It came back to me in bits. The sleep, food and water certainly helped, but so did breaking down. I had been on edge since Kassia appeared in Mayah's room. Constantly trying to think things through, navigate conversations and act like I wasn't completely terrified the entire time. I needed to break down.
But I also needed to talk. Once I could rein in my feelings enough to stop crying, I gently pulled away from Tannix. He let me go, but dropped his hand to rest on my knee.
"Finn?"
I met his gaze. "I can talk to Tandrin."
Tannix lifted his hand to cup my cheek. "I'm in awe of you, Finagale. Constantly. You're so much stronger than anybody expects you to be. I can't imagine enduring what you went through."
"You could have done it."
"Kalvahi threated to crush your hand and I broke, Finn. I've seen Castin and Kovin, I know what Kalvahi did to them. And to make you choose? I would have broken. I can't... it isn't a good quality in a leader, or in someone with personal guards, but I can't watch people I'm supposed to be protecting get hurt."
It was honest and raw, but it wasn't a surprise. We all knew that. "You're very hard to guard."
Tannix actually smiled. "Right. I'm impossible. And you're incredible." He slipped his hand behind my neck, but didn't actually try to tug me closer. It was an offer. Something I could refuse if I wasn't ready.
But I was ready, so I took him up on the offer.
I kissed him desperately. As if his lips could draw out all of my pain and fear. As if kissing him would instantly make everything better. As if the war was over and we were both still alive and whole.
And although I tried to ignore the dark thoughts clinging to the back of my mind, I knew it wouldn't be that easy.