She did not answer, but only pulled him to his feet and half carried, half dragged him to the cot next door. Are you sure you are not dying this instant?
I am very certain. I will die by falling, not lying comfortably in a bed.
What?
Damn the truth serum still raging through his veins. He should have censored himselfshe was no longer a bird. Make me some tea, would you? Everything you need you will find in the the repository, in the cabinet underneath the globe.
She gave him a narrow-eyed glance but left, returning a few minutes later with two steaming mugs and a tin of everwell biscuits.
He tried to sit up.
She placed her palm firmly against his chest. Stay down.
How do I drink tea on my back?
Have you forgotten who I am? A globule of tea the color and translucency of smoky quartz floated toward him. This is how you will drink tea lying down.
Her expression was somewhere between anger and grief, but closer to which he could not tell. I can sit up for a cup of tea, he said.
Dont. I was there. I knew what the Inquisitor did to you. I saw you bleed from the ears.
He sucked in a breath. You remembered ?
Yes.
Before he attempted his first transmogrification, he had read all the extant literature on the subject. Transmogrification was fairly old magic, so even though it had always been frowned upon and at times outlawed, there was no lack of records and studies.
In fifteen hundred years, there had been only two accounts of mages claiming memory from time spent in animal form. Most scholars considered those mages to have been either exaggerating or lying outright.
But Fairfax was clearly not lyingthere was no other way she
could have known what happened to him in the Inquisition Chamber except to rely on her own memory.
How?
Im not sure. I wonder if it has anything to do with the blood oaththat I had to maintain a continuity of consciousness so that I am never in danger of betraying my word.
He almost did not hear a thing she said as he recalled what he had said. If you loved me, everything would be so much easier.
She was still speaking, berating him for his stupidity in refusing to let the court physician treat him even though he had bled from his ears.
I was not bleeding from the ears.
Dont lie. I saw you.
I cannot lie to you while under the blood oath, remember? The blood came from the veins on my wristsI had extractors hidden inside my cuff braces. The court physician would have realized. That was why I could not see him. I cannot allow word to get back to the Inquisitor that I am not as badly hurt as I appeared to be.
The way she gaped at him, he could not tell whether she wanted to punch him or to hug him. Probably the former. He missed those brief hours when she would have hugged him. He never liked himself as much as when she had likedeven admiredhim.
How did you know youd need extractors? she asked, still suspicious.
Before their minds broke, Inquisition subjects often bled from various orifices. I had hoped that when I bled, the Inquisitor would think she had gone far enough.
She clamped her teeth over her upper lip. Did she stop?
No. He shook his headand grimaced at the sharp pain brought on by the motion. What happened in there? Did Captain Lowridge take it upon himself to break down the doors?
Interruptions during Inquisition were never allowed. If Captain Lowridge had indeed cut in, for the mans own safety Titus would need to dismiss him immediately, so he could hide from the Inquisitors wrath.
No, said Fairfax. Her minions rushed in first when they heard her scream. Captain Lowridge followed very closely on their heels, though.
He frowned. What made her scream then?
Iolanthe recounted her tactic, barely paying attention to her own story, still reeling from the revelation that the prince had planned the bleeding-from-the-ears part.
She ought to be more concerned that he was trying to make her fall in love with him, but all she could think about was the boy whose cat was killed on his lap, and who grew up terrified of the day he would be subject to the power of that same mind mage.
She recalled the precision of his spells, the result of endless, feverish practice. What of this nonspell, this pretense of bleeding? How many times had he rehearsed with extractors in his sleeves, falling down on the cold granite floors of the monastery, hoping that should an Inquisition come to pass, he would have a prayer of saving his mind?
I moved the chandelier. The light elixir spheres fell out. My eyes were closed, but I believe one of the spheres struck the Inquisitors person directlyI heard a thud before the crashes came. And then it was all to Captain Lowridges credit for getting you out of the Inquistory.
She didnt expect him to be grateful, but she did expect him to be pleased. After all, hed been deeply concerned about her inability to command air. Now shed not only saved him, but proved herself that rarest of creatures, an elemental mage who controlled all four elements.
But his expression, after an initial shock, turned grim. He pushed the sheet aside and struggled to get up. Why did you not tell me sooner?