Page 20 of A Deception of Courts

Hidden away within the great cabin on a Cedarfall ship, Duncan moaned beneath my caress, reacting as though my soft touch caused him pain.

His skin had drained of colour since I left him to unleash his magic. Its pale hue exposed a webbing of blue and red veins lingering just beneath the surface. It’d been a few hours since the attack had ceased, and still there had been little improvement in Duncan’s health. But at least he was awake. That was something, I supposed. Although it took an immense effort for him to hold his eyes open for longer than a few seconds.

Despite the chill that clung to him, Duncan’s body was coated in a thick film of sweat. Each time he gathered enough energy to open his mouth and speak to me, his jaw trembled and his teeth clattered. Exhaustion clung to every inch of Duncan’s appearance, making it painful to look at him.

Duncan had tested his new powers to the limit. Powers that should never have belonged to him. And it’d weakened him greatly. It took both Kayne and me to haul Duncan from the outer boundaries of the castle to the smaller vessels that waited upon Lockinge’s shore. I still felt the imprint of his slack, idle body across my side.

“You must stop doing that,” Duncan whispered, attempting to push himself from the slouch he had slipped into within the chair. “You’ll have no fingers left at this rate.”

I pulled my fingernail from between my teeth. If Duncan hadn’t made the comment, I wouldn’t have even noticed I was chewing my nails at all.

Needing to give my hands something to occupy themselves with, I drew the damp cloth out of the bowl. I wrung the water out and then reached to hold it to Duncan’s feverish forehead. “Duncan. It is not the time to worry about me. You are being unreasonable, and to make matters worse, you are innostate fit enough to refuse me.”

Although his body was still weak, his demanding nature burned brighter than the midsummer sun. “I would hardly refer to it as being unreasonable. My duty is to keep you safe, so tell me why I can’t worry about you?”

I wished to remind Duncan he wasn’t my personal guard. But as the words dredged across my tongue, I held them back behind gritted teeth.

There was only one person who had that mantle, and I couldn’t risk losing myself to the memory of him.

“Says the man who can’t even sit up straight,” I replied. “Duncan, please. I will be fine.”

“I know you will, because I’m coming with you, Robin.” Duncan shrugged off my attempt to trail the damp cloth across his sticky forehead for the fourth time.

“And what are you hoping to achieve with your stubbornness?” I asked, winning the fight with little effort as Duncan flopped back upon the captain’s red velvet chair in the centre of the room. “You have taken yourself to the limit. Practically reached the edge and thrown yourself over it. Duncan, if you don’t allow yourself to rest, then you will be no good to me, or anyone, for that matter.”

He peeked open an eye and looked directly at me. Haloed by the shadows that hung with pride beneath his stare, the green of his eyes seemed equally dark. Never-ending.

“Just give me a minute, and I will be ok. I’ve been through far worse than this, trust me,” Duncan said, glancing around the cabin with a single, raised brow. “Do you think the captain has something strong to drink? The right liquor, if sharp enough, could raise the dead… just imagine what it could do for me.”

“I hardly think alcohol is your saviour,” I retorted.

The truth was, I didn’t know what would help him heal. Duncan was a rarity. A human with access to magic that should never have been his to use. There was no knowing how his body would react to the power, and from the state of him, it didn’t look promising.

I glanced around the mahogany-decorated room. The walls had been hand-carved into one complete picture of a woodland, with trees, plants and small birds balanced on thin branches. The room itself was a work of art. Heavy crimson curtains did well to block out the light from the large bay windows that gave a view of the ocean beyond. Everything about the cabin was handsome, besides its scent. I’d taken to breathing in and out through my mouth. Anything to avoid the eye-watering aroma of salt and dried fish that seeped through the wooden body of the ship.

Duncan wasn’t the only one who would benefit from a drink. If it didn’t fix his ailments, perhaps it would solve mine. Even if the burn of alcohol allowed my mind to wander away from the winged humans for only a moment, it would be worth it.

If I wasn’t worrying about Duncan, I was dreading the meeting that would soon begin. A meeting with the winged humans who’d almost sunk all the Cedarfall ships. People who now waited on their own vessels for us to arrive. It was hard to discern if my urge to vomit was from the gentle sway of the moored ship or what lingered far across the waters.

I’d never found the concept of answers so frightening. Selfishly, I didn’t think I could cope with unveiling more secrets that each linked back to Aldrick and Duwar. It only solidified just how serious he was as a threat to both realms. If beings from another uncharted place joined the effort to stop him, Aldrick’s scourge was more of a widespread threat than I first believed.

“Never mind the drink,” Duncan said, drawing me back from my thoughts. He reached out a shaking hand and took my wrist. “I have other suggestions that may be a better remedy for me.”

“What you need is a healer,” I said, rolling my eyes at the mischief that oozed from him.

“What I need,” Duncan winced as he attempted to pull me to him. “Is standing right before me. You, Robin.”

I allowed him to guide me until I sat on his lap. Duncan was weak, his effort feather-light, but I desired to feel his reassuring touch, so I bowed to his wish. Duncan flinched as I sat upon his outstretched thighs. He didn’t complain with words, but the shake of his leg and the way his teeth bit down into his lower lip suggested that it was a struggle for him.

“Be careful,” I warned, wrapping my arms around his neck and resting them on his shoulders. “This isn’t the type of resting I had in mind for you.”

Duncan’s hand wound itself around my waist and anchored me to him. As fingers drummed on my side, my anxiety slipped away. This was something we had learned in the weeks past. Using one another’s touch to distract us from the world and its realities.

“Then we finally agree on something,” Duncan replied. “I thought it was impossible.”

“I know what you are trying to imply, and you are not getting anywhere with it,” I said softly. Worried that if I spoke too loudly, it would shatter this moment altogether.

Just us, me and him in a room, pretending that the world outside it didn’t matter.

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