Page 29 of Of Blood and Fire
“They spelled us. One minute we were fighting, the next we woke in these fucking cages.” He drew back slightly. “I’m sensing a great sadness in you—what’s happened?”
Garran had inherited a touch of his mom’s seeress abilities—though it tended toward reading emotions rather than seeing possible futures, which was a good ability for any leader to have. It was also one that had, in the end, solidified him as my father’s choice of heir rather than selecting a basically unknown cousinseveral generations removed—a consequence of my father being an only child.
I drew in a deeper breath, bracing against the wave of sorrow that was already rising, but the thick stench of unwashed flesh and feces-covered floor caught in my throat, and a violent coughing fit ensued.
“Yeah,” Garran added, his tone dry. “It pays not to breathe too deeply in this place, though most of us have been here long enough to be immune to the stink, personal and otherwise.”
“I’ve had people complain about the drakkon scent that lingers on me, but it’s the sweetest perfume compared to the stench in this place. But to answer your question...” I hesitated, then rushed on, “both my parents are dead, as is most of the advising council and military generals. You, Garran, are now Esan’s rightful king.”
Horror and disbelief shot through his expression. “No, that can’t?—”
“It is,” I cut in flatly. “The Mareritt are working with the riders, and they developed a weapon that blew the war room apart. The only reason I’m standing here now is because I was in the military quarters visiting a sick soldier.”
“I knew the Mareritt and the riders were working together—that was evident enough at the encampment. But this—” He stopped and scrapped a hand down his face. “This is all too much to take in right now.”
“Oh, there’s more. But let’s get you and everyone else free from these chains first.” I glanced around briefly. “There’s a stream at the base of the hill—everyone should go get some water before we lift off again, but don’t in any way wash everything off. Your clothes won’t dry before we go home, and the last thing we need to deal with on top of everything else is hypothermia.”
A smiled tugged at Garran’s lips. “Sounding like a grand commander there, Bryn.”
“I had no choice but to step into my father’s shoes, Garran, as there was no one else left. But I’ll gladly hand the reins over to you the minute you don’t look ready to collapse.”
As Aric had noted, I couldn’t be grand commanderanda drakkon rider. Even if it were possible to sever the link between me and Kaia without killing us both, thereby allowing me to continue as queen, I wouldn’t do it. While past me had definitely railed against the injustice of being Rion’s only child and not being able lead my people because of my gender, the small taste I’d had over the last week had shown how naïve I’d been. I simply didn’t have the depth of knowledge and experience it needed. Garran might also lack the latter, but he'd been taken under my father’s wing since becoming a teenager and had been taught the fine art of commanding with integrity, wisdom, and foresight from one of the best.
“And there is the cousin I love, always underestimating her abilities and skills.” He lightly flicked my nose, a gesture harking back to our early teenage years and all the time we’d spent together roaming the Jakarran wilds. “Free the others first.”
I dropped a kiss on his grimy cheek, then stepped back and began the long task of cutting the chains away from the metal rings. When each man was freed, he staggered to the door, sucked in a deep breath, then hobbled with varying degrees of stability down the hill toward the creek.
“You need that wound tended to,” I said when I finally released Garran. “We’ve enough problems without you coming down with a fever and infection.”
“We Jakarrans are a might tougher than that—it’s all the sea air. Walk with me—” He paused. “Can you walk?”
I wavered a hand. “Limp, walk, same thing.”
He snorted. “Then limp with me, and tell me everything that has been going on.”
As we stepped out of the cage, Kele walked over and returned my knife. “You want me to follow everyone down to the creek with a first-aid kit and do what I can about the worst of the wounds?”
“Please. But keep an eye out for any signs of approach, especially from above.”
She nodded, grabbed the first-aid kit from her packs, and then strode off after Garran’s men.
I met my cousin’s gaze again. “What about I fill you in as I’m treating that damn wound?”
He rolled his eyes at me, and it once again felt like old times. “You’re not going to let it go, are you, despite the fact there are men with wounds far worse than mine.”
“Those men are not the heir to Esan’s throne, nor are they one of the few close relatives I have left.”
“Ah, Bryn, I’m so sorry.” He threw his good arm around my shoulders and briefly hugged me.
“Thanks,” I murmured, desperate to keep the undertone of grief from my voice but not succeeding. I cleared my throat and motioned to a wide, flat stone near the platform’s edge. “Go sit over there while I grab my packs, and then I’ll tell you a story.”
He obeyed, his movements surer than those of most of his men; determined not to appear too weak, I suspected, rather than being in any better condition.
The field kit not only contained all the usual pain tonics, numbing and antiseptic salves, and bandages needed to treat wounds in the field or keep them stabilized until proper medical help could be reached, but also additional bone straps, wound sealers, and silk webbing—the latter generally being used to patch drakkon wings of late.
I handed him a small bottle of pain tonic, waited a few minutes for its effects to kick in, then carefully cut away the grimy remnants of his shirt from the wound. It was deep and ragged, and already looking far too red. I grabbed the water flask and washed it out as best I could, dried it with silk wound pad, then smeared numbing potion over it. He hissed but otherwise remained silent. I gave him the water to sip and gave a quick rundown of everything that had happened since the attack on Jakarra, finishing off with Aric’s arrival and his determination to take Esan’s throne.
“Which he can’t do now that I’m alive,” he said.
