Gloria Oliver (31 page)
Authors: Cross-Eyed Dragon Troubles
Kel slowly shook his head. “It’ll only make things worse.”
She yelled at him. “You’re not making any sense! How would it do that? They should pay for what they’ve done.” Why did he have to be so stubborn?
“Many already resent me,” he said as a matter of fact. “And my actions lately haven’t helped.” He struggled to speak clearly. “Accusing them of attacking me wouldn’t improve anything. Besides, many would think I deserved it.” His eye closed. “Maybe I do.”
She stared at him in shock. How could he say this? No one deserved this. Not him, not even those who’d done this to him. “You’re wrong.”
He opened his eye to look at her again. “Please, it’s what I want. And this should have satisfied them.
They won’t try it again.”
She wasn’t so sure.
Halfheartedly, Kel wiped away some of the blood drying at the edge of his mouth. “Curfew will be here soon. You should go.”
Talia didn’t move.
“You can—check on me in the morning. I won’t be going anywhere.” He tried hard to smile.
It hurt to see it. “I should at least clean you up a little.” It was the only thing she could come up with to say.
He stared at her for a long moment and then finally nodded.
Talia turned away, looking around for anything she could use. Eventually, she spotted a washcloth in a corner and after filling up one of his buckets with water from the tub, she brought both back and set them down next to the narrow bed. Sitting on the edge of it, she dipped the washcloth in the clean, warm water and then gently used it to wipe his face.
Kel closed his eye under her ministrations and his breathing eased a little. “Thank you.”
She said nothing, but curiously studied his face as she washed it. Why did so many things about him make such little sense to her? Was he trying to punish himself for what he did to Nertak? Didn’t he feel the Administrator’s punishment was enough? She thought he was isolated due to his strange situation, but what if he was doing it on purpose? Would she grow to resent him as the others did because of it?
Would she think he was putting on airs? The idea felt alien to her yet at the same time it felt right. She just didn’t understand it.
By the time she finished with his face, she could tell Kel had fallen asleep. She got up quietly and covered him with one of the discarded blankets. As silently as she could, she cleaned up his blood from the floor and tried to straighten his room.
It was getting late, and she knew it, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave. She looked at his sleeping face—his cuts and bruises swollen and angry. If she left, she knew she would betray him and go get help, even if it meant getting caught after curfew. There was no option for her but to stay.
Kel’s light globes dimmed but didn’t go out, so she kept working. Not too many of his things were damaged and only one or two broken; most were just scattered everywhere. She was amazed at the number of books Kel seemed to own, but more so at the large variety of topics they covered—dragon maintenance, law, the seven general rules of magic, architecture, politics, a little bit of almost everything.
Was all this part of what made Lareen think Kel would make a good Judge? Or was it more due to the fact he kept himself so isolated?
As she put his clothes back into the drawers, she ran across a jar which resembled the one Yllin and Mandee gave her for her aches and pains. Quickly opening it, she took a sniff of the contents inside and knew from the pungent odor they were the same.
She glanced back in Kel’s direction and frowned. This would help his wounds, wouldn’t it? Should she wake him so he could use it or dare she apply it to him on her own? After some thought, she decided to let him rest and do it herself. Since he didn’t bring up the salve before, it was possible that if she asked him, he would refuse to use it. She wasn’t going to take the chance.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she dipped her fingers into the thick mixture and gently spread it over his bruised face. He frowned as her fingers touched his cheek, but almost instantly relaxed again.
After making sure she covered his face, especially around his swollen eye, she slowly pulled back his blanket and exposed his chest and the torn shirt barely covering it. Knowing it was beyond repair, she removed her knife and carefully cut out what was left of it.
She inhaled sharply as she spotted the rapidly darkening bruises on his right side. Were they so cruel as to kick him? She spread the salve carefully there working her way inwards. She felt Kel stiffen beneath her hand a couple of times. Each time she held her breath waiting to see if he would awaken, not sure what he’d make of her ministrations and not really wanting to find out. Luckily, he never did.
Once she was through, Talia covered him again. She studied his face and thought his color looked better. She found herself feeling relieved. Maybe Kel was right; maybe he would be okay.
Suddenly bone-weary, she sat down on the floor after she put everything away and leaned her head on her arms against the bed. Her intention was just to watch him for a few minutes to make sure he was fine and then make her way downstairs to try and sneak back into her room without being caught. She never got that far.
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TALIA’S EYES FLUTTERED open as her hand reached back to rub at her neck. A dull ache rose into her head and formed a faint headache. She supposed it’s what you got when you let yourself sleep propped up through the night. Through the night…
With a jerk, she sat up straight and glanced around her for the first time. Oh, no. She’d fallen asleep. She didn’t leave Kel’s room last night as she planned. The globes were on at full power so she knew it was morning. Kel…
Her head snapped around to look in the bed. Kel lay there just as she’d left him, covered and unmoving.
As she saw his chest gently rise and fall in sleep, she allowed herself to believe he was all right. His eye had turned purple and black but didn’t look as swollen as the night before.
She started to relax, then felt another jolt of panic. What time was it? How long had she slept? She looked at the niche on the wall for his clock, and then remembered it was one of the few things Kel’s attackers had actually destroyed. She sucked in a breath through her teeth, making a thin, hissing sound, and jumped to her feet. If she’d overslept, if she’d missed breakfast, people would start wondering where she was. If Mandee or Yllin got worried enough, it would all quickly get out of hand.
Casting a darting glance at Kel to reassure herself he was still fine, she ran for the door. Oh, please, please, of all the mornings she could have chosen to oversleep!
As she came out onto the roof, she gazed to the east and saw the sun was already definitely above the horizon. It was later than first light, so she was without a doubt running behind, but by how much?
She took the stairwell almost recklessly to make her way to the fourth floor. She instantly slowed as she came to the landing, spotting people walking about. Most of them looked to be on their way downstairs.
She dared breathe a little easier, realizing that while she was late, she was not horribly so. Relieved, she followed them to the nearest stairwell and went down to her room.
Checking the time once she got there, she took a super quick bath and then redressed. She almost flew down the stairs to make her way to the dining hall. She stopped at the large doors to catch her breath and then calmly walked inside. A watcher on the other side raised a brow as she slipped in. Talia gave the woman her best “oops” smile and then headed toward the nearest table.
“Talia!”
Heads turned at the frantic call two rows over. Grimacing, she changed directions and hurried to join her friends.
“Where have you been?” Mandee’s worried gaze clung to her as she sat down. Yllin only stared at her silently with a deep frown. “Did you have trouble?”
“No, no.” She shook her head, aware of the other ears around them. “I just worked too hard last night. I overslept. Sorry I worried you.”
One of the watchers set a full plate before her. She picked up her fork to eat. “I’ve got to hurry. I’m really late.” Not looking at either of them, she quickly shoved her food into her mouth. She’d have to make this up to them later.
When she was finally able to put enough away to satisfy the watchers, she bid her friends goodbye and almost ran on her way to the kitchen. She was way behind. Helyn wouldn’t be pleased with her today.
But she also wanted to hurry and check on Kel again.
Returning the greetings thrown in her direction as she dashed through the kitchen, she went out the back door. She barely paused for breath before she grabbed the dolly from its resting place and hitched it to one of the barrels and then heaved it as quickly as she could over the uneven terrain.
With beads of perspiration running down the side of her face, Talia stopped in front of Clarence’s stall, almost dumping the barrel over in her hurry.
You’re late.
“I know!” She didn’t even spare the dragon a glance as she pulled the dolly out from beneath the barrel and rocketed with it back out of the dormitory.
She frowned halfway back to the kitchen, thinking Clarence’s words weren’t exactly what she would have hoped for. As she came back, she remembered how angry and frustrated she’d been with him the night before. Clarence’s attitude wasn’t what she would have expected from what little she knew about the dragon’s partnership. She was honestly hard-pressed to say whether she thought Clarence cared for Kel at all.
As she wheeled the second barrel in and moved to pick up the first, she hesitated a moment, waiting to see if he’d say anything, but he didn’t. With a kernel of ire rising inside her, she hefted the empty barrel up on the dolly and left.
When she returned, she found Clarence playing with the second barrel, twirling it lightly in his claws. As soon as she came to a stop, he set it down on the dolly for her.
So
… He said amiably.
Am I to expect
you this evening to finish my skin tonight?
Talia closed her mouth hard to keep in the retort which popped into her mind. Didn’t he care one bit about Kel? “Aren’t you even going to ask me?” She almost shook as she struggled to keep her voice level.
Ask you what?
The dragon’s skewed eyes turned to gaze at her, an arched brow raised high.
She forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths, so she could resist the urge to yell at him. “About your partner. About Kel.”
Oh
. Clarence’s tail flicked hay into the air even as he turned from her.
I sense he’s alive. It’s all I really
need to know
.
“You!” Why were the two of them so thoroughly exasperating? “You’re no better than he is.” Angry, and not trusting herself not to say something she’d later regret, she roughly grabbed the dolly and its cargo and left.
Still steaming when she got back to the rear of the kitchen, she smacked the barrel against the stone wall. Why’d she ever bother to help either of them? They deserved each other. The stubborn
idiots
. She stomped through the kitchen, not looking at anyone, and picked up Kel’s tray. The dining hall beyond was empty except for a few stragglers. She was only too glad of it. If she’d seen the face of one of those bullies just then, she would have…
When she reached the roof, she didn’t knock on Kel’s door, but instead hooked the tray against her hip and used her loose hand to open it quietly. Glancing toward his bed, she saw he was still sleeping. She considered waking him, and forcing him to eat, just to spite him and his dragon, but as she came closer and studied his tranquil face her anger evaporated. Looking at his bruises and the peace he carried in sleep, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The rest would probably be better for him anyway.
As quietly as she could, she set the tray of food on the table and then picked up the dishes from the night before. Luckily, none of them were broken, which at least meant she wouldn’t have to come up with a lie for the kitchen staff.
With a last, worried glance in his direction, she left him, closing the door softly behind her.
As fast as she could, she made her way to the kitchen to drop off the dishes, then made her way to class.
Talia found it suddenly hard to swallow. This moment had lain heavily in her mind for most of the morning. “I can’t go into it, but yes. And I need your help.”
“What did they do?” Yllin’s eyes flashed fire.
She shook her head. “I can’t tell you. But don’t worry; it wasn’t to me. And I do really need your help.”
Mandee and Yllin glanced at one another. “What do you need us to do?”
Talia stared at them fondly, her heart telling her she didn’t deserve them, while at the same time it filled with joy at the fact they were there. “I’ve got to finish a favor for Clarence, so I’m going to be tied up tonight. What I … what I’d like for you to do for me, if you can, is to stick around the staircase leading to the roof. And if … and if anyone tries to go up there, inform a watcher and have them go up there with you.”
Mandee and Yllin traded glances again.
She could see the questions building up inside them. “Please don’t ask me. I don’t want to lie to you. But will you do this for me?” She implored them with her eyes, needing this badly. She just couldn’t take the chance the bullies who’d hurt Kel the night before might return. He might not survive it. She hoped with them just being there, it would be enough to dissuade anyone from trying anything.
Mandee gave her a sudden, bright smile. “We’ll do it.” Yllin nodded her assent. “Sooner or later though, we expect you to tell us what this is all about.”
Their ready acceptance made her feel warm all over. “I will, I swear it. This means a lot. I won’t forget it. Thank you!” It was all she could do to stop herself from giving each of them a heartfelt hug.