Page 64 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
“We’ll get her back,” Taryn echoes and nods. For a moment there, she almost looks just like her sister, Aldarelf Tierra.
I trail behind her silently past the sick bay towards the recovering area.
“If Shade’s been asleep all this time, how come no one tried to remove his mask?” I voice the question in my head out loud.
“A couple of acolytes tried, and so did I,” Taryn admits. “But the Grimsbane mask seems to have some kind of contraption to keep the assassin’s identity concealed while he’s unconscious. I doubt it can be removed without permission, even in his death.”
Taryn shows me her hand. I gasp at the bruising at the base of her thumb. “No permanent damage. It will heal soon without needing Anastarros’ blessing. Your assassin is on the last bed in the second row. There’s no one else in the dorm. You can’t miss him.”
“Thank you.” I nod to her and move down the hall, past the lined metallic framed beds. Shade lies on the simple mattress with his eyes close. His demonic mask makes him appear menacing even when he is sleeping. A small cask of ale and a water pitcher lay on the nightstand beside his bed.
My heart breaks seeing the cuts on his face and the bandaged wound on his abdomen. He saved my life more than once now… The Grimsbane seems to have a similar affliction with my husband; an allergy to clothes. I glimpse the tattoos cording on his muscles and hands. The runes are written in the language of Tiamat, but I can’t read them because of the bandages.
“Shade.”
He doesn’t rouse at my calling.
“Shade,” I try again, settling beside him. The bed groans over my added weight.
The assassin lays unperturbed despite my close presence. I remove a lint from his gray hair. It feels like I’m caught in a trance as I smooth my hand through the soft strands. If his hair is longer, I want to braid it like I did with Aerin’s. I miss her so badly. For some strange reason, stroking Shade’s gray hair stifles a small portion of that longing for my sister.
“That’s rude.”
I retreat my hand at the sleepy, gravelly voice from the mask. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t stop,” he says almost immediately. “But your husband might kill me if he sees us.”
I return my hand to my lap.
“The healers said I’ve been out for five days?” he asks.
I nod.
“They told me you visited every day.”
I nod again.
“I should return to the house…” the assassin says flatly, propping on his elbow to sit up.
“You’re not well, Shade,” I tell him.
“What about the Red envelopes?” He quirks his eyebrows. “Who is going to stop the Silverra from reading them?”
Ah yes, the Red Envelopes.
It contains the Aeonians’ demand for me to accept the punishment I am owed for disrespecting their order. I have nearly a dozen of them in my drawer, demanding my swift return to the capital. They still want me to accept the seventy-seven lashes for failing to bind Svenn. The Elders should have sent them to my tower instead of the Wiolant’s House. If Rainer finds out, he will burn the parchment along with the messenger to send a message.
Shade has been intercepting them at my request before it reaches my uncle.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Shade,” I say, shaking my head. “Lenna stole one yesterday from the mailbox before anyone could notice.”
Shade watches me with a tiny crease between his brows.
“I brought you meat pie from the town’s market.” I place the bag on the nightstand as the assassin watches me without word.
I don’t want Shade to exert himself but I know he is right. The Red Envelopes can’t reach Rainer. I wonder if I can ask another Grimsbane to help me with the letters. Unlike Shade, the rest of them truly embody the spirit and essence of theirmysterious guild. They’re deadly, unapproachable, and hidden in the shadows.
“Do you think I can ask Catnip or Rooster for help?” I ask. Those two are the other Grimsbane I often see hanging around my uncle.
