Page 35 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
The tingling faded, just a shadow of what it had been moments ago. A hand behind her back helped her sit up, and Hallie winced with the movement. She swayed. Her head felt as if someone had bludgeoned it with a brick. Another wave of nausea washed over her, but it vanished soon as she steadiedherself. The pain lingered, drawing tears to her eyes, but she could take it.
“Blessed be Fate.” King Filip pushed back the golden hair that had escaped its tie. He moved the glowing orb closer to Hallie with a wave of his hand. “We can still defeat the Darkness.”
“Hal?” Niels asked from beside her. He looked peaky, his face ashy and wan. “Are you all right?”
His voice was terse, but whether that was from his injury or their companions, she didn’t know.
“What happened?” Her own was scratchy and brittle, but she was able to speak.
“You really do not know how to use your gift, do you?” Lady Fely said from somewhere behind her. With another touch of her shoulder, warmth blossomed through her again, and the tingling and pain vanished completely.
“How could I? Correa forced it upon me.” Hallie regretted the words almost as soon as they left her lips.
But neither Lady Fely nor King Filip acknowledged she’d said anything at all.
They were in a small chamber, lit only by the floating fireball. In the corner lay a small brick carved with symbols and emitting a faint light. It was very similar to the one in Ravenhelm.
Had she brought them to Myrrai? Had she done it?
As if to answer her unspoken question, King Filip closed his eyes and snapped his fingers. A small spark appeared just above them; with a few murmured words, the light grew bigger and brighter until it matched the other one floating just a few feet away. He pushed the newest light away from him and unholstered his pistol. “I will inspect the corridor. Please stay here and recover your strength.” He nodded to Lady Fely, then narrowed his eyes at Hallie and Niels. “I will return shortly.”
While Hallie knew she was too valuable to kill, she heard the unspoken threat. She might have made a deal with them, but it didn’t mean they were friends. It didn’t mean she was free. They could still kill Niels if she didn’t cooperate…and just because they couldn’tkillher didn’t mean they wouldn’thurther.
She closed her eyes briefly to push away the memories of Correa’s power running through her body. When she opened them again, Filip was gone, and Lady Fely sat between the Passage brick and the crude doorway the Cerl king had just exited.
Niels grimaced as he adjusted his position against the wall closest to Hallie. The woman didn’t say anything. Instead, she inspected her fingernails, her knees pulled to her chest. A ready pistol lay on her other side.
Hallie whispered, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t able to finish the…whatever I was doing. I think the bullet is still lodged in your leg, and…” She had to take a few breaths. Her strength still wasn’t what it should be. “I did something wrong.”
“You lost your focus.” Lady Fely didn’t even look up as she said it. “Trying to do something that advanced so early wasn’t a good idea.”
Her accent was different from Filip’s or Correa’s. Hallie couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly. It just didn’t seem to fit.
“It wasn’tmyidea,” she pointed out.
“It’s all right,” Niels said, pushing himself further up the wall. He winced as the movement jostled his leg. His other injury—the upper arm from the Stoneset cavern didn’t seem to be bothering him. “I’m no longer in danger of bleeding out.”
“Externally, maybe.” Lady Fely still hadn’t looked up from her nails.
Hallie refused to take the bait. Clenching her teeth, she said, “I’m sorry, Niels. I really am. As soon as I’ve recovered enough, I’ll try again.”
“Another healing so soon might kill you,” Lady Fely corrected, “and because you’ve already attempted once and failed, you likely made it more complicated, so it woulddefinitelykill you. And as frustrating as it is, we need you to stay alive for the time being.”
Hallie ignored the woman. “I’ll try anyway. It’s my fault.”
Niels shook his head, and for some reason a small grin whispered across his face. “I vowed to never let you fix me up again after I tried to teach you how to bake Ma’s apple streusel cake.”
She hadn’t expected him to make a joke, and a choked, disbelieving laugh bubbled up from her chest. “I didn’tintendto grab the cordial.”
“And you didn’tintendto spill it, neither.”
Hallie glanced toward the woman, but she didn’t act like she listened or even cared. Hallie looked back at Niels. He was smiling, looking at her. But instead of making her feel happy or nostalgic for time past, it frustrated her. She’d spilled the cordial on his shirt, and had been so startled she’d dropped the bottle. The cleanup led to an afternoon filled with laughter, a slipshod bandaging of his cut finger, and a few kisses.
It was a lifetime ago…and it had happened to a different Hallie.
She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her forehead against them. The memory wasn’t a bad one, but why bring it up now?
For one, it established the fact that they had a past, which the Cerl King and his…whatever she was…could use against them. Secondly, it was a little out of the blue. And last, it felt likea desperate attempt on his part, but for what reason, she wasn’t sure. There wasn’t anything there but just that—a past.
