Dorian Wraith's Arc

Chapter 11 of 27

Dorian woke to a low ceiling and the smell of clean linen. His head throbbed. His chest felt tight, and when he looked down he saw white bandages wrapped around his ribs and a strip bound at his temple. He lay in a bed in the cabin. A hand pressed a cool cloth to his brow. He turned his head and saw Callie sitting beside him in her white and pink dress, her brown hair pulled back, a bowl of water in her lap. "Don't move," she said. "You tore something inside. I stitched what I could." He tried to sit up anyway. Pain cut across his ribs and he fell back against the pillow. Why am I undressed? Where is Evander," he said. His voice cracked. Callie set the bowl down. "The king took him," she said. "Your magic knocked the soldiers flat, but it knocked you flat too. The king got back on his horse. He rode out with Evander before I could reach you." Dorian shook his head. Tears started before he could stop them. "I have to go. I have to bring him back." He pushed at the blanket. Callie put a hand flat on his shoulder and held him down. She was stronger than she looked. "You can't stand," she said. "You cast something that should have killed you. If you get up now, it will." He grabbed her wrist, not to move her, only to hold on. "He's alone with that man." "I know." "He'll hurt him." "I know." She did not soften it. She let him hear it. Dorian's breath broke. Callie leaned in and pulled him against her shoulder, careful of the bandages. He cried into the cotton of her dress, quiet at first, then not. She held the back of his head with one hand. "Beak left at first light," she said. "He went to the palace road. He's going to find a way in. He said to tell you he would not come back without Evander." Dorian closed his eyes. He pictured Beak's wings against the dark trees, moving toward the man who wanted them all dead. "He shouldn't go alone," he said. "He knew you'd say that," Callie said. "He went anyway." She kept her hand on his head. "You heal. That's the job today. Tomorrow we decide the next one." Dorian nodded against her shoulder. He did not stop crying, but he stopped fighting the bed. Outside the blue door, the sunflowers moved in a small wind. Inside, he let himself be still, and let the people who loved him carry the weight for one more hour.