Page 76 of Destroyer

But no, she had heard their voices. Her friends were alive. She pressed a hand to her forehead, finding it feverishly hot and sweat-drenched.

“Can you walk?” Fen asked gently, so close that she could feel his breath on her ear. “We’re on the stairs leading up from the dungeon. I don’t want to carry you past the guards if I can help it. They’ll ask questions.”

Ru nodded, the movement causing her to wince in pain.

“Shit,” Fen swore again. “If they ask, you fainted because you haven’t eaten anything today.”

Ru groaned slightly.

“Up we go.”

The walk up the stairs was slow and painful. Ru’s weight was mostly supported by Fen, who seemed unhindered by her disorientation, her stumbling. When they came at last to the top of the stairs, Lyr turned to greet them.

“She’s unwell?” the rider asked, flicking up the visor of his helmet.

“Fainted,” said Fen. “She didn’t eat breakfast. She’s been working so hard.”

“Too hard,” said the other guard. “Morning to midnight, all of you. Unnatural, down there in a dungeon. Days on end.”

“Be quiet,” said Lyr. “Need help, Verrill?”

“She just needs rest. Her room’s not far.”

Then they were walking again, and with every step, Ru found her strength returning. By the time they came to her room, her vision had returned, but her head was pounding, and her stomach roiled with nausea like a stormy sea.

Fen helped her inside, closing the door gently behind them.

“I should sleep,” said Ru, making an unsteady beeline to the bed. “My head’s killing me.”

Fen caught her waist before she could get there, spinning her around to face him. “No,” he said in a low voice, “you should tell me what happened down there.”

She pressed a hand to her eyes; that was where it ached, just behind them, where she had seen… her breath came quicker. Whathadshe done? She hardly knew. She had uttered three words, and…

“Ru, look at me.”

Fen’s voice… He was upset. Frightened.

Ru made a sound of irritation, pulling away. She wanted to be alone. To sleep, to forget. Her head ached, and her stomach was in watery knots.

But Fen’s grip on her tightened. “Look at me.”

He had never spoken to her like that. Angry, desperate to the point of breaking.

Ru opened her eyes, finally meeting his gaze. She saw anguish in his face. Torment. And the longer he looked at her, the more pained he seemed, until he let go of her and turned away so violently it nearly made Ru lose her balance. He had looked at her as if he’d seen something, recognized something in her eyes.

“Fuck,” he spat, hand running through his hair. He began to pace the room.

Ru stood watching. His behavior confused her. No one had died — that had been clear from the moment she woke up, heard voices. They had sounded more worried about Ru than about themselves; she had only fainted.

“Fen,” she said after a moment, her voice small in the high-ceilinged room. He didn’t hear her. Or he ignored her, stopping every few moments in his pacing to rub a hand over his face or to mutter an expletive.

“You’re scaring me,” she said, louder this time, loud enough that there was no way he couldn’t hear.

He stopped dead, and when he faced her his expression was absolutely wrecked. “What did you do down there?”

Despite her throbbing head, despite everything, Ru became defiant. What didshedo? She had followed orders. She’d done what she thought was best. Fen had no businessdemanding things from her, had no business pacing about, his hair and eyes wild.

“What do you mean, what did I do?” she spat. “You werethere. You tell me, Fen. I fainted. I missed everything. All I did was speak to the stone. As ordered. Everyone heard me. And then…” she waved a hand, lost for words.

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