Page 48 of Pretense

“Linshi.” Despite his worry for Essie, Farrendel’s tension eased. This was the kind of care he could have experienced, if he had been able to do so before.

For the first time since Essie was shot, Farrendel felt like, perhaps, everything would be all right after all.

Chapter Sixteen

Essie’s head hurt. As did her shoulder. She groaned and squeezed her eyes even tighter shut against the pain.

“Essie?” Farrendel’s voice came from nearby a moment before his gentle fingers brushed hair from her face. “It is all right, shynafir. I am here.”

Had he said something like that to her before? She had hazy memories of pain and blood and sinking into Farrendel’s arms.

She managed to peel her eyes open, blinking until his blurry image started to clear. Strangely, the woven branch and leafy ceiling of their treetop bedroom in Estyra came into focus behind him. When had they gone back to Estyra? Last thing she remembered, they had been in Escarland.

Bright sunlight streamed through the windows, causing even more pain to stab through her skull.

Stretching a hand toward him, she managed to get his name out of her dry, gummy mouth. “Farrendel.”

She could not have said what she wanted. Just that she needed reassurance that he was close.

As if her saying his name broke something inside him, he leaned over her, cradling her head in both of his hands. Then he was kissing her, peppering her with light, barely restrained kisses to her mouth, her forehead, her cheeks, her neck, murmuring over and over between kisses, “You are alive.”

She fisted her hands in his shirt, tugging him closer. All she wanted was to be held warm and safe in his arms. Someplace where pain and fear couldn’t touch her.

But as he deepened the kiss with a relieved kind of desperation, another stab of pain flared through her head. She couldn’t help her moan.

Farrendel was rolling off the bed and on his feet by the time she even got her eyes open. He paced back and forth beside the bed with stilted steps, his hands making random motions in the air. “Water. I should get you water.”

He spun toward the cold cabinet with stumbling steps.

Essie grimaced and struggled to push herself into a sitting position. Pain lanced through her shoulder, and she sucked in a quick breath, trying not to cry out.

Farrendel whirled back toward her, reaching her side in a blink. “Sorry. Sorry. Should have helped you sit up first.”

He fumbled with the pillows, getting in Essie’s way as much as he was helping. But she wasn’t going to push him away. He had clearly been frantic, and she knew what it was like to be in his place, waiting and fretting at a bedside. She had done it enough herself. He was unpracticed at it, now that their roles were reversed.

When she was sitting propped on pillows, Farrendel stood there for a moment, rocking back and forth as if unsure what to do. Then, he started. “The water. I was getting you water.”

He was off again, rushing across the room. He fumbled through pouring a glass of water and returned to the bedside. When he held out the glass to her, his hand trembled so badly that water sloshed over the rim.

Essie quickly took the glass from him before he dumped it all over her. “Linshi.”

“Is there anything else I can get for you?” Farrendel remained beside the bed, still shaking so much he appeared about ready to fall over. “Are you hungry? Miss Merrick made soup. It is very good soup. I should get you some.”

Essie shook her head and sipped the water. The coolness soothed her dry mouth and eased some of the ache in her head. Before Farrendel could rush off again, she grabbed his sleeve. “No, don’t leave. Not yet.”

She needed him there with her. At least for a few more minutes.

Farrendel sat on the bed facing her, shifting as if sitting still for even a few seconds was difficult.

Essie managed another sip of water. Her stomach was still squirrely, but hopefully that would go away as she woke up. “What happened?”

“You were shot, and we had to go to Tarenhiel for a healer.” Farrendel’s gaze darted from her to his hands, up to the ceiling and down to the blanket on the bed. “You were shot in the shoulder and had a concussion from when you hit the cobblestones of the street. You are probably sore, yet. The magic is still healing you. It is best to go slow to heal head injuries, or so Rheva tells me.”

He was talking in a rush, almost babbling the way she did. Essie took his hand, holding it between both of hers. “Thank you for keeping me alive. My memories are kind of hazy on what happened, but I know that much. This must have been hard on you. How are you holding up?”

“I went to see Taranath. He gave me an extra strong dose of his medicine.” Farrendel waved toward the door, his hand still visibly shaking. “But it is not about me. How are you feeling? Are you all right?”

“I’m sore, but you said that’s normal.” Essie grimaced and leaned her head against the pillows behind her. The headache was worse than the stiffness in her shoulder.

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