Jay sighed and tugged him away from the havoc he’d wrought, making him sit down on the ground a little way off. He didn’t resist—he was exhausted. And for a short time at least, there was no danger. It would take a while for the village’s lord to learn of the incident and send for more Kaydorians. So he let himself sit, and she settled down beside him. “Talk to me,” she whispered.
“About what.”
“Anything.”
He eyed a beetle crawling slowly toward his boot. “Did the Elikwai get to the outpost alright?”
Another sigh. “Yes, I passed them on my way. Why did you come to free them by yourself?”
“Because I wasn’t sure I wanted to win.” He put his hands on the back of his head, elbows on his knees. Why he’d admitted that to her, he didn’t know. He shouldn’t even be having the conversation with her in the first place. He should be…doing something. Figuring it out.
Except…what else was there to do? He had freed the Elikwai. He had defeated the Kaydorians. There were no more goals to accomplish. All that was left was to decide whether he would go back to that outpost.
She nodded slowly. “Okay. So you did. What do you want to do now?”
Nothing. “I don’t know. I’m not sure if I can go back to the way things were.”
“Because of Grrake. Did he have an explanation?”
He frowned at the beetle as it climbed up the side of his foot. “I don’t care what the explanation is,” was all he muttered.
“I don’t think that’s true.” She was looking at him, even though he wouldn’t look back. “I understand why you would feel that way, but in the end, I don’t think you’ll be able to come to terms with the matter one way or another if you don’t know the full story. I’m not saying there’s justification for what he did…but maybe there’s at least a reason that would make it less of a betrayal.”
His muscles tightened. “He abandoned us. Four children, left with our aunt in a village, when she had no way to provide for us all. And then he lied to me for fourteen years. You know,” he laughed darkly, “it’s ironic, really. The one person I fully trusted, since I was ten years old, and turns out he was lying to me the whole time.”
She set her hand on his gently. “Then if nothing else, you deserve to know why. If you know…there’s no loose ends. If things have to end, then they end with clarity.”
Yhkon left his scrutiny of the beetle to instead look at her hand, lightly holding his. Distantly he realized that it should irritate him, or at least make him uncomfortable. It certainly shouldn’t be making him wish for something more, for her to move closer, or to interlock their fingers.
No. He shook his head. Pulled his hand out from under hers. “I don’t care about his explanation. And I don’t—” he stopped. What was that? Creaking leather?
The captain. He hadn’t seen him among those he’d killed.
Jaylee looked behind him. He had a split second to see her eyes widen and mouth open, a split second for panic to flare in his chest, before a knife pierced skin and muscle to slide between his ribs at the same moment as something slammed into his head.
Everything went dark, as if a blanket had been draped over him. He sensed rather than felt himself falling, his palms in the dirt as he scrambled to get away from the invisible threat. Reeling. His body moving forward, his mind spinning backward. A fire in his ribcage. Something gripping his skull, squeezing, crushing it with excruciating pain. Jaylee screamed his name and her voice rang in his ears again and again. He sensed a struggle behind him. Her voice still echoing, the only thing he could hear over his racing heartbeat that seemed to fill his whole body, he lunged at the attacker. Grabbed his ankle and yanked him away from her. His eyes saw, allowing him to react and respond, but his mind didn’t register any of it. The man was grappling with him, throwing punches. Yhkon felt each blow as if it were dealt by a sledgehammer. He grabbed the captain by the shoulders and threw his weight to the side, sending them both rolling. A single hit was all he managed before the man ended up on top. Yhkon had a momentary glimpse of the descending fist before fresh pain exploded in his temples.
Everything was black.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. His heartbeat was the only sound.
He couldn’t move. Trapped inside of his body, no longer in control.
Something touched his chest, then throat. “Yhkon!” Jay’s voice woke his senses, alerting him to his surroundings again. The slight breeze. The warm stickiness of blood on his head and neck. “Yhkon, please wake up! Say something!” He could hear her breathing, rapid and uneven, hitching in her throat.
He forced heavy eyelids to open. All he saw was blurred colors and shapes, one of them a tan oval above him.
“Thank Narone! Can you hear me? Yhkon?” She brushed his cheek with her fingers. “Please, please can you hear me?”
His vision began to clear, a distraught Jaylee only inches above him coming into focus. “Yes,” the word was barely audible. His tongue and jaw didn’t feel right.
Tears pooled in her eyes as she cupped his face with her hands. “I thought…I thought he killed you,” she whispered, her lower lip quivering. “Are you okay?”
He was surprised to feel his hand lifting, his thumb wiping away a tear from her cheek. “I’m…” The word wouldn’t come. I’m what? “I don’t…know. C-captain?”
She nodded shakily. “I took care of him. Okay. Do you want to try and sit up?”
Yhkon blinked his assent, wrapping his arm around her back while she slowly pulled him up. Pain flared in his head with an intensity that took his breath away, a groan escaping his lungs. Jaylee stopped, instead putting her arms around him and leaning into his chest.
She was hugging him.
The pain was making it impossible to think, but he didn’t mind at all. He held her as best he could, trying to steady his breathing, hoping it would ease the strange burning sensation in his side. “Jay…” He pulled her closer, fear bringing a lump into his throat. “Some-something’s…wrong.”
“Shh, it’s okay,” she pulled away enough to look at him. He squinted, trying to keep his focus on her. Then he ended up blinking, as blood began trickling into his eyes. “We just need to get you out of here. Do you think you can stand?”
Stand? Where did they need to get out of? He got his legs under him and gripped her arm as she stood up, drawing him with her. His vision dimmed as his whole head throbbed with pain. Sensation left his limbs, only enough remaining for him to feel his knees buckle. Jaylee kept him upright until the strength returned to his legs, enough for him to stand. The pain only receded slightly. “I can’t…my h…” What was the word? “My…head. I can’t…”
She kept an arm around his waist but rotated to face forward. “We’ll take it slow. Alright? Just one step at a time…there you go. I’ve got you. We just need to get out of the village.” It would have been more reassuring if she didn’t sound so scared. He made his feet move, leaning on her heavily. Out of the village. Just out of the village. He still couldn’t see normally, and kept his head down to alleviate the pain some, trusting Jaylee to guide him.