A reddish glare crept into Garinor’s sight as his eyes cracked open hours later. A fire sizzled nearby, and Garinor could also hear a strange tearing sound. Garinor let his eyes adjust to the light.
From his odd angle lying on the floor, he noticed that he was in a stone house of some sort. Large bricks were staggered upward, making a wall, and he could see a small table and chairs. There wasn’t much else around, but he realized he was lying on a soft bed. It felt as if there were fifteen blankets under him, raising him up from the stone floor.
He didn’t want to move for several reasons. There was clearly someone else in the room, and also his body hurt. He remembered falling off the horse and bounding over the boy who hadn’t survived the fall. The memory of the forced ride to this place, bound and gagged on horseback, made him shudder.
Apparently his shudder was too noisy, for it alerted the man in the room. The soft tearing sound stopped and a wooden chair creaked in protest as he spun around. “You awake, then?”
He walked over to Garinor and knelt down beside him. He wasn’t fooled when the boy had closed his eyes and pretended he was still unconscious.
“Yeah, you’re awake. Breathing is different, you know. Come on, open up.”
Grudgingly, Garinor conceded and opened his eyes. He wished he hadn’t, because he recognized the face staring at him and he gasped, which hurt. It was one of the men who had captured him, though he realized a moment later he shouldn’t have been surprised at all.
“Things are quiet enough right now, but we gotta be careful,” said the man.
He sounded much more intelligent than Garinor remembered.
“Listen,” the man continued, “you’ve broken a rib or two. It’s going to hurt for a while if you move and breathe. But you’ve got to find the strength to do both. It’s quiet now,” he repeated, “but it won’t be for long.”
“Why?” Garinor gasped painfully. “So you can… kill me later?”
“I’m not here to kill you, boy,” he whispered. “I’m the one who convinced Dascal not to do you in, remember? That fool’s about as smart as a horseshoe.”
Garinor barked a laugh, which brought tears to his eyes from the stab of pain in his chest. “What then?”
“I can’t give you all the details, but look,” he said, reaching around his neck and pulled out a thin gold chain. Dangling from the chain was the depiction of a fist clutching a dagger. Garinor’s eyes widened. “You’ve seen it before, right?”
He nodded and thought back to the guard who had taken him out of his home. He had recovered the same type of necklace from him and had put it into this tunic pocket. But then, he had been in his nightclothes and since then had been wearing his best friend Tomli’s things. Seeing it again, he was reminded once more that he thought it looked even more familiar than that, but he still couldn’t place it.
“Well, my job’s to keep you safe if I can. I’m Merlumo.”
“Garinor.”
“Nice meeting you, Garinor. Now listen, there are different remedies for a broken rib, but in my experience there is one that is best. Some will say to wrap it tight, and that helps the pain and all, but it’s only a temporary relief. And I lost my father to that because he took on this breathing sickness that wouldn’t go away. So no binding. And, even though it hurts, you’ve got to try to breathe deep once in a while.”
The prospect of that didn’t sit well. “Not sure I can.”
“You can. You know it’ll hurt, so you can brace for it. But you have to.” Then he walked away and took a flask off the wall and brought it over. “There’s a place where they make good healing water. This isn’t the best, but it’s fashioned after what they know. It will help, so drink the whole thing right away.”
That wasn’t a difficult request, because he was very hungry and thirsty. The water had a sickly sweetness to it and a strange aftertaste, but it wasn’t bad. He gulped it down and then sank back to rest a moment.
Some stale bread and slightly moldy cheese were offered next with a flask of plain water this time. It was hard getting it all down, but he convinced himself that he could do it, so he did. When he felt capable, he drew in a slow, deep breath as directed and, although it hurt, he felt like it might actually help in the long run.
“So here’s the thing,” Merlumo said after Garinor was finished. “That slave boy who escaped had a nasty fall and he didn’t make it, which I think you know. Dascal went off to try to get some silvers for him anyway. He won’t be back for two days, and that’s if he goes quickly. It’ll more likely take five days, especially if he spots a tavern.”
“Won’t he think it weird you stayed with me?”
“Nah, as I said, he’s a bit of an idiot. We shot dice for who would take the bounty for the other one and I made sure he won. As for you, he believed me when I said there’d be no pay for you yet. So he would only think I’m here babysitting.”
Garinor’s eyes opened wider. “But if he finds out otherwise—Ow!”
“Easy now, your ribs are right by your lungs, and if you get excited, it’s going to hurt.” He sighed. “I hear what you’re saying, but that oaf isn’t too bright. He wouldn’t chance someone hearing he’s got another boy lined up, so there isn’t much cause for anyone to find out.”
Garinor nodded, but something else was bothering him. “Why would anyone be paying to kill us like this?”
Merlumo bit his lip and shook his head. “I don’t know for sure, myself. I’m kind of new to the group,” he admitted, fingering the chain around his neck again. “All I know is that if I find a boy about your age, I’m to try to save him and sneak him away without giving away what I’m up to. I think when I prove myself then I get to know more about what’s going on.”
“So you’re sort of using me?”
Merlumo laughed. “Lucky for you, though, isn’t it? Otherwise you’d be dead.”
Garinor grinned and nodded. “I suppose you’re right. So, what’s next?”
“Well, you have to rest a day or so, but then we’ve got to set out before Dascal comes back. Thing is”—and here he bit his lip again—“I can’t stay here the whole time. I’ve got things to do for the ones I’m playing for, and if I don’t show, they’ll know something’s up.”
Everything felt so complicated and up to chance. Still, Merlumo had, in fact, saved his life, fed him, and given him advice on how to deal with the broken ribs. It wouldn’t make sense to do all that and then lead him into a trap. Unless, of course, the whole point was to demoralize him as much as possible before the very end.
For now, he listened as Merlumo pointed out the amenities in the house and explained that no one but himself and Dascal would come inside. Soon after, Garinor’s concentration faded away and he welcomed the veil of sleep that swept over him.
His dreams were riddled with plots and subplots and he wondered whom he was supposed to trust. Had he been wrong to avoid Erina’s offers? Was Merlumo’s scheme any worse? He had no idea. His rest wasn’t peaceful and the hours dragged through the night.
When dawn broke at last, Garinor started the day as well as he could. Merlumo served up eggs and stale bread for breakfast then set off on his errands, leaving Garinor to himself for the entire day.
If he was going to act, he had to do it now.