Shadows of Distrust
Sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled down to sting the corners of her eyes. It might be a draught meant to inflict terrible pain. It could even be poison.
Yet Thalia parted her lips, unable to shake the suspicion. He tilted the vial and poured the bitter liquid into her mouth. She coughed and instinctively turned her head aside, but he caught her chin and pressed the vial back against her lips. Thalia swallowed the liquid seeping into her mouth with weary resignation and looked up at him.
Light flickered across his pale eyes, veiled as if by a curtain. Thalia searched those glassy depths for any trace of emotion, then let her limbs go slack. She strained to keep her eyes open, fighting to hold onto consciousness, but her mind grew hazy and her vision blurred rapidly. Thalia blinked slowly, then sank into a silence as deep as death.
She had no idea how much time had passed. It felt like only seconds, yet also like an entire lifetime.
Thalia stared blankly into the air until the steady rhythm of hoofbeats and the rattle of wheels made her brow furrow. As her fogged vision cleared, the dim interior of the carriage came into focus.
For a moment she wondered if everything had been a dream—the monstrous creature, Barcas abandoning her to rescue Aila, the near-fatal encounter with the wyvern. Perhaps it had all been nothing more than last night’s nightmare.
As if to refute the thought, a searing pain shot from her knees up to her waist. Thalia bit her lower lip and clutched at her burning knees. Beneath the thin chemise she felt the rough texture of fabric. Her fingers explored it, and she realized her entire left leg was wrapped in thick bandages. Her eyes flew wide.
She lifted the hem of her skirt. Stained scraps of cloth, soaked with blood and pus, clung to her thigh and side. With trembling hands she touched them, then let the skirt fall and pushed herself upright.
The spacious carriage was lined with thick sheets stuffed with cotton; cushions and summer blankets lay tangled everywhere. Thalia gazed at them blankly, then gripped the handle fixed to the wall and tried to pull herself up. Her legs refused to obey.
She struggled to straighten limbs that felt like lead, but the agony lancing up her spine forced her down with a heavy thud. A scream tore from her throat as pain stabbed through her entire body.
“Are you all right, Your Highness?”
The carriage lurched to a halt at the sound. The door flew open.
Thalia squinted up at the man silhouetted against the light. A royal guard knight, his usually tousled hair even more disheveled, looked down at her with worried eyes. He climbed inside and rummaged through a small box in the corner.
“The pain must be severe. The healer prepared a painkiller for you. If you drink this—”
“Why wasn’t healing magic used on me?”
The abrupt question made the man freeze and turn his head. Thalia pulled the sheet closer, her gaze sharp with suspicion.
“Did my brother order you not to treat me?”
“N-no, Your Highness. That is not the case.”
The knight waved his hands frantically.
“The healer set the bones and closed some of the wounds as best he could, but Your Highness’s injuries were too severe to treat all at once. He said it would be better to leave the prognosis to the imperial palace’s specialist healers…”
Thalia stared at the flustered man with distrust, then lowered her gaze to her own legs. Vaguely she recalled a massive rock crushing her knees and thighs. Indeed, if the wounds had been allowed to close as they were, she might never have walked again. She accepted the fact grudgingly, yet the complaints kept coming.
“So I’m supposed to stay like this until we reach the palace?”
“It will be difficult, but please endure a little longer. We plan to take the fastest route to Giliam.”
Thalia regarded him through narrowed eyes, then turned her gaze to the window. Knights stretched in a long line across the broad plain beneath the pale sunlight. Unconsciously she searched among them for ashen-blond hair, then shuddered at herself and yanked the curtain shut. Even that small movement left her exhausted.
“I’m surprised my brother agreed to return to the palace.”
“A considerable number of our people died in the wyvern attack. Even he could not openly oppose the argument that we must return at once to hold their funerals.”
Startled by the unexpectedly cynical reply, Thalia looked back. The knight, belatedly realizing the sarcasm in his own tone, hurried to change the subject.
“More importantly, you look unwell. Please take the medicine first.”
He held the vial out in front of her face. Thalia stared at it for a moment, then waved it away with an irritated hand.
“I don’t need it. Take it away. I need to rest.”
“……If you cannot trust me, I will summon Sir Sheerkan.”
Thalia, settling back onto the bed, looked at him with a hardened expression. Her heart dropped as though struck without warning. She masked it with a cold smile at the corner of her mouth and spoke icily.
“Do I look like I trust that man?”
“But Your Highness, you—”
“I trust no one.”
Thalia cut him off savagely. Then, enunciating each word as though chewing it, she added to his stubbornly earnest face:
“Especially not him.”
“……”
“So stop overstepping and get out.”
The man’s lips moved as if he wanted to say more, but he only sighed softly and left. Moments later the halted carriage began moving again.
Thalia pulled the thin summer blanket up to her shoulders. The pain that had briefly subsided flared once more, and her skin felt as though it were sizzling. She tossed restlessly, swallowing groans, then squeezed her eyes shut as if fleeing the agony.
By dusk a plump mage arrived to cast recovery magic. Thalia accepted his touch in silence. The touch of another person was repulsive, yet she no longer had the strength to refuse.
“I will light an incense that dulls the senses. The pain should ease considerably.”
Having heard that she had refused the medicine, the mage placed a small censer at the entrance and lit it. The heavy scent filled the carriage in an instant. Thalia had been about to snap at him to stop the pointless act, but she felt her taut nerves gradually loosen and let her shoulders relax.
The bone-deep pain slowly faded and her consciousness grew dim. He must have burned herbs with a sedative effect. She welcomed the drowsiness that washed over her, but sleep did not last long. Before long the pain began to rage again.
Thalia awoke groaning and forced her eyelids open. She would probably have to summon the mage and ask for more incense. As she rubbed her throbbing head and struggled to sit up, her breath suddenly caught in her throat.
Thalia stared into the deep darkness with dilated pupils. She did not know what had startled her.