Page 57 of Shardless
Aiden shrugged. “No. She scares me.”
“Please!” Taly pleaded, trying her best to make doe eyes at the healer. “She’s not going to listen to me. At this rate, I’m going to be stuck in this bed until I die of old age!”
“Uh-oh,” a new voice interjected. The door creaked open, and Skye appeared, a smirk on his face and a half-eaten piece of toast in hand. Knowing him, that was already his third meal of the morning. “I hear complaining—which must mean Taly’s up.”
Taly scowled. “Ha, ha… very funny, jerk.”
“I thought so,” Skye replied, lazily shuffling into the room. “Hey, Aiden—Ivain and Sarina are about to leave. They wanted to know if you needed a ride into town.”
“Probably,” Aiden answered, turning to face Skye. “The hospital was supposed to receive the new medical provisions for the temporary clinics this morning, so I should go and help the menders sort through it. There’s no telling where it all will end up otherwise.” Aiden bent down to start gathering up his supplies, neatly arranging everything inside a small black bag. “You know, I’m really starting to regret offering to help you and Ivain with preparations for the Aion Gate connection. The amount of work these temporary clinics are taking to set up is truly astounding.”
Skye stifled a chuckle as he sat next to Taly on the bed. “I tried to warn you.”
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t listen.” Standing, Aiden leveled a glare at Taly. “Please take it easy. And whatever you do, don’t get me in trouble with Sarina. I’ve been good to you this week, so try to have a little mercy.” When Taly rolled her eyes in reply, Aiden just shook his head and gave her a fond smile. Then, with yet another tired sigh, he turned and disappeared through the open doorway, his footsteps echoing down the hall as he muttered to himself.
“What was that all about?” Skye asked, scowling when Taly plucked the toast out of his hands and finished it off.
Licking the remaining jam off her fingers, she smiled broadly, bouncing on the bed as she turned to face him. “Aiden took me off bedrest!”
Skye huffed out a laugh. “He must have a death wish. Ow!” He flinched when Taly punched him on the shoulder. “Geez, I don’t know what kind of extra magic Aiden weaved into those restoration spells, but you hit way harder than you used to.”
Taly’s eyes widened, and she gave him a sly smile. “Awww,” she cooed. “Is the big bad shadow mage scared of the teeny human?”
“No,” Skye grumbled, the irritation in his voice undercut by the wide grin that threatened to break through. “But maybe try to pull your punches a little. I’m very delicate.”
Taly snorted indelicately. “So where were Ivain and Sarina headed?” she asked, moving up the bed and stretching out on her belly.
Skye fell back on the mattress beside her. “Litor—Ivain said he needed to go check to make sure the storehouses had been repaired.”
“Why is Sarina going?”
Skye shrugged and closed his eyes. “Not sure. She didn’t seem happy about it, though. I have a feeling Ivain may have concocted some reason for her to go just to give you a break.”
“If that’s the case, then that man is a saint,” Taly said, turning her head and studying Skye’s profile. The two of them had done a lot of healing since she’d decided to stay. Once he promised to stop prying, and once she stopped trying to push him away, they had found some middle ground—managed to mend the bond she had tried so hard to break and come out the other side, stronger than ever.
Tapping his cheek, she smiled when he cracked open one eye to give her a good-natured glare. “So what are we going to do?”
“Come again?”
“Don’t you get it?!” Taly pushed herself up and then used the mattress to bounce into a sitting position. Skye gave an indignant yelp when she almost landed on top of him. “I’m free! So please, for the love of all that is good and holy, get me outof this house.”
Skye groaned, wrapping an arm around her waist and tugging her back down beside him when she continued to bounce. “While I’d love to break you out, Tink, I can’t right now. Ivain asked me to go to Ebondrift today. We still haven’t heard anything from the Gate Watchers stationed there, so I’m going to go check on them.”
“Ebondrift works too.” Taly wriggled out of his grip and hopped off the bed. Putting on her best pout, she pleaded, “Please? I don’t care where we go. I just need a change of scenery.”
Skye stared at her from where he still lay on the bed, his expression warring between amusement and disbelief. “No. Even if I thought that was a good idea, Sarina would kill me.”
“If we hurry, we can be back before Sarina ever knows we left.”
“Oh, really?” Skye gave her a smug grin as he sat up. “What about Eliza and the rest of the household staff? You don’t think someone is going tell Sarina that you just took off for two days?”
Taly growled, rocking back on her heels. He had a point there. Still, she wasn’t to be deterred.
“Do you have a guide?” she asked in a clipped tone.
“Nope. Only one came back last night, and Ivain needed him more.” Taly glowered at him through narrowed eyes. “What?” Skye muttered defensively. “I don’t need a guide to go to Ebondrift. The wards on the central highway have been repaired already.”
Taly chewed on her lip for a moment, mulling over her current situation. Sheneededto get out of this room. And while she was sure that both Sarina and probably Aiden would have a fewchoice words for her when they found out she’d left the manor grounds, she could deal with that later.
