Moonlight shone through the bars of the prison door, barely illuminating a section of uneven stone wall. Nadia stood in the center of the room, shivering in the dampness, and occasionally shuffling her sneakers over the dirt. Eventually she felt the walls rotating around her. She closed her eyes, but it started again whenever she opened them. The spinning became faster, until it felt as if the whole room engaged in a mad whirl and her head felt like an anchor. Barely able to stand, she stumbled into the back wall and pressed herself into bricks which felt as if they were made of ice.

A pile of straw felt more inviting, yet even the straw felt cool as its thin grasping arms enclosed her torso and cleaved to her hair. It felt protective compared to the feeling of touching cold steel everywhere else. Cold vibrations moved like ice picks into her body, so she folded her arms and legs into her chest so the straw provided more insulation. She became comfortable for a few minutes, but then her clothes moistened with sweat, which irritated her condition in the humid cell. It wasn’t long before she shivered again. Sweat beaded on her forehead. A relentless migraine stole what remained of her comfort. Finally, with her sanity just about torn apart, she groaned before passing out. Her shivering continued.

Josh sat on a pile of straw in a separate cell, watching the moonlight change shape as it passed the through barred opening of the thick wooden door. He chewed a long piece of straw until the door opened and he stared blankly at the guards. A guard in a blue shirt, thick shorts, and a brown belt with a holstered sword entered first, holding a small lantern in his left hand. Another man followed from behind, ready with a sharply tipped spear. The first man surveyed Josh discerningly.

“What’s this about?” Josh asked.

“Lord Nostrum has decided to show you his mercy, but if you dare approach his dwelling again, it’ll be considered an unforgivable crime.”

“Fair enough. Where’s Nadia, shouldn’t she be with you?”

“We’re retrieving her next,” said the second guard, “I understand you two have a business arrangement with the lord. Fulfill your obligations without further disturbance.”

They led Josh to a cell at the opposite side of the long building, which looked as though it might have once been a stable. There were no guards posted at her door when they arrived. The guard with the sword pulled a key chain from his belt and opened the door with a heavy lead key. He waited outside while Josh entered with the other man. The room looked desolate but for the pile of straw to the back.

“We have another escape. Call an alarm!”

The straw shifted slightly, but the guards hadn’t noticed.

“Not so fast!” Josh said.

The guard retreated quickly, assuming Josh’s words to be a threat. The door slammed shut before he could explain and the latch locked. Once they left, the moonlight shone through the bars to provide the only light. Josh brushed away straw until he found Nadia curled up deep within the center of the pile. Her clothes were soaked with sweat, she shivered violently as her pale skin rivaled the moonlight.

“You don’t look so hot,” Josh replaced some straw, stood, and rushed to the door, “Hey you people, she didn’t escape, she’s still in here. Isn’t anybody listening, she’s sick! What’s wrong with you people?! Don’t you people get it, she’s gonna die in here.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Josh leaned against the door and waited until he heard something, it was the guard with the lantern approaching. The guard stopped by the door and lifted his light until it shone through the bars.

“Answer my question, where would your partner be most likely to go if she escaped?”

“She hasn’t gone anywhere! She’s laying in that straw pile burning up with fever.”

“Let me see,” with the help of the lantern the guard saw as much of Nadia’s outline which wasn’t covered in straw, “Get her up, we have to be sure this isn’t trickery.”

“She’s half dead and you want her up, what next?”

When she didn’t respond to his urging, he lifted her into a sitting position by pulling from under her arms. The guard, satisfied with a look at her face, opened the door and entered the cell. Nadia pulled away from Josh in a half-conscious attempt to sink back into what remained of the straw pile, but before she could accomplish it, the guard shook her forcefully by the shoulder. It aroused her senses somewhat. She glanced at Josh tiredly and started shivering.

“This lass isn’t well. Wait here until the search is called off.”

The guard hurried from the cell without closing the door.

Nadia stared at Josh blankly through her shivers and spoke in a barely audible rasp, “What are you doing here?”

“Hey. Don’t look so glum, we can go now.”

First, she grasped the top of her head, then she squirmed with a gruesome whine, “Why does it feel like my head is cracking open? Why can’t I pull it together?”

“You’re just feeling a bit sick.”

She leaned against him, nestling close.

“Warmth…”

“You must be really sick. You feel like a furnace!”

The guard returned a few minutes later to escort them back to the inn.

“I’ll carry you back to the inn.”

“No. I won’t let you do that,” she weakly pushed herself to her feet. She stood convincingly at first, but after one step she twirled right into Josh’s arms. He put his hand over her forehead.

“She’s burning, what’s wrong with you people!?” He yelled, tapping her face to keep her awake. “Nadia, we have to get back to the inn. It’s just a little way from here.”

“Not sick,” she muttered, “I d-don’t need your help.”

Her left hand grasped his shirt collar as her head fell limp over his right shoulder.

“Do I have to carry you?” Josh asked.

“Don’t you-”

She squeezed his shirt collar weakly and didn’t struggle when he lifted her. Her head fell back and her arms hung loose, like a body no longer animated by a soul. They were halfway to the inn when without moving anything other than her lips, she suddenly finished her sentence.

“…dare.”

Not another word came from her for the rest of the night. He carried her body back to the inn. They placed her on a long straw mat in the center of the room. A thick black blanket provided by Swabert covered her snugly. Several towels were helped keep her dry. A rolled mat of soft hay served as her pillow. Swabert provided a compress, a bowl, and a bucket to show Josh how they tended to someone with a high fever. He listened intently and made a cold-water compress. Nadia grimaced when it went over her forehead. Josh looked to Swabert.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done tonight.”

“She’s still contracted to the lord, consider it my obligation.”

Swabert left her in Josh’s care once the initial preparations had been completed. An owl hooted outside the window. Moonlight shone inside but the lantern outshone it. With no glass or screen in the window, only the scented candles kept the insects at bay. Josh kept a towel for himself to deal with the sweat as he occasionally fanned Nadia. Once the ocean breeze flowed the insects retreated, though the cooler air made Nadia shiver more.

After fifteen minutes, the wet compress on her reddened forehead became warm again, so Josh removed it. He wrung the warm water into the old metal bucket, then dipped it in cold water from the ceramic bowl. He wrung it out again to release the excess water, folded it, and replaced it. Heat radiated from her cheeks palpably as she sighed. She muttered something that sounded like the incoherent language of the feeble. Josh had fifteen minutes before the compress would need replacing, so he folded his legs and sat back in the corner to watch over her as crickets chirped in the grasses outside.