Rio kept the iron particles thicker around us as I helped her walk through one of the mirrors at the front of the throne room. She directed me to the one with the pillars on its frame. We came out to that courtyard from the feast. All of its standing rocks still had blank reflective inserts, showing us a three hundred and sixty degree perspective of the courtyard. Rio let down a gap in her field enough to set her palm against the glass. The frame grew a fox head at the top with chains twisting down from it. Our reflection morphed to a dark curtain swaying with the breeze from our side. Rio grunted as we stepped through into the burrow.
The second we were both through, her full weight dropped on me. Her energy floated around us thinner than at Tara. I carried her by her waist to the cot in the back and laid her down. Some of her bruises were more green and yellow than black and blue. Her scorched burns had new red and pink edges. She held her stomach more like a sick kid than a woman who’d been nearly beaten to death.
“We should’ve stayed and gotten your aunt to look at you.” I brought the water pitcher and knelt beside the cot. The blanket I usually slept on was right there, so I dipped a corner in the water and dabbed it at Rio’s burns. “She didn’t seem that bad.”
“I only need rest.” Rio swatted me away and hissed when one of her dislocated fingers bumped my hand. “Aos Si don’t heal as slowly as humans do. I have no need of Brigid’s abilities.”
“How long will this much damage take?” I took her wrist and pressed the cool fabric back into her palm.
“A few days. Ah!” She groaned when it touched her open wound. “Perhaps a week, depending on how my internal parts are damaged.”
“Damn it! Bodb got off too easy for this.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“He will get what he deserves for it, dear one, I assure you.” Rio turned up to me, her jaw tight. “Answer me this. Do you think Daire trusts you?”
“Um, yeah. I’m pretty sure.” I focused on cleaning her up. Looking her in the eye might make me give away Daire’s secret. “I mean, at least enough to believe me when I ran to him and told him you were missing.”
“I want you to pay him regular visits then.” Rio’s breathing shifted, becoming tight and controlled. “Tell him you have changed your mind and are interested in his help. I have guaranteed our physical safety as much as I can, but I cannot protect against a ploy to spoil my campaign. If you befriend that welp, get him to tell you things. Then I might gain an edge against Midir in the election. I’ll be starting late, so I need every advantage I can find.”
“You’re not mad I asked him to help?” I ran my fingers up and down her forearm without thinking. I’d done it to comfort Mom when she was sick. It just came natural.
“It seems not. If you hadn’t known where to find him, then I would still be trapped at Tara.” Rio followed my hand as it moved. Her pupils dilated to big circles like she’d found something interesting. “Without you to play my nursemaid.”
“I’m glad it all worked out.” I laid Rio’s hand across her stomach and set the blanket aside as my cheeks got as warm as my chest. “I should probably let you rest. Maybe I’ll get a leg up on figuring out how to calm Daire down after seeing me almost kill his mom.”
“Not yet.” The three fingers that still worked on her hand dug into my shirt. Her eyes had lightened to a stormy grey, but they turned pitch black. The buzzing field thickened around us as it whined. “Stay. Please.”
“Alright. I’m here.” I set my palm on her forehead and raked back her hair. At first the motion went slow, awkward. She closed her eyes and leaned into it. Queenie used to do that when I scratched her behind her ears. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I waited and talked to her like nothing had happened, like nothing had changed, and nothing was wrong. My heart beat harder every second I sat there. It could’ve been guilt that I was going to leave her when the election was over, if Daire and I could pull off his plan. It might’ve been fear that a dangerous part of me didn’t want to.