บท 11: Down Falls Another Body (3/3) || Reyin

And there on the ground, a man was, his body the vessel life leaked out of. I didn't know how, but I managed to stumble close enough to scrutinize his large body, and the disfigured numbers burned across his nape held my panicked attention. The number 87, with that familiar and scarred slash through it. Was it not similar to the brand the first rogue I'd encountered owned? It was, and eerily so.

Scrambling and frantic individuals jolted me from my observation, forcing me to return to the heinous scene before me. My chest rose and faltered upon its fall. And oh, how disorienting it was to absorb the symphony of screams, shop doors closing, and windows slamming shut. My head was spinning with returning fear and numb confusion. Did rogue nations have officers? I desperately hoped so. Maybe they'd be brave enough to save me from Hael.

That dangerous rigidness of his body scared me, and it felt as though his violence might carry on over to me like he hadn't had enough of it. He wouldn't, would he?

Try to hurt me?

I dared to lift my eyes. They traveled from Hael's used sword to his face, which was no longer pristine as blood speckled his skin like injured stars. His clothes had been sprayed in it. Something maddening marred his expression, something so intensely dangerous it seemed he was fighting to restrain. His frigid gaze met me, narrowing, and my next breath fled. It was like he'd never owned a pair of innocent eyes. Like he'd never looked upon me with that pure shimmer.

This gaze that captured me now could only belong to a murderer. And how foolish I'd been to believe that even a morsel of him could be pure.

My eyes fluttered, fear almost driving me to my knees.

Casually, as though it didn't affect him, Hael flicked the blood from his blade and sheathed his sword.

"Time to go," he told me dryly.

I wanted to be brave again—take the horse and abandon him, but the fear that he'd track me down and kill me if I left him here was too immense. Despite his promise to keep me safe, I was genuinely afraid he'd reconsider my worth and kill me should I become a nuisance to keep around. Swallowing came with difficulty, the walls of my throat scratching against one another while I worked it. I willed my feet to move but found it impossible as my eyes remained stuck on the dangerous man ahead.

When I didn't move, Hael gained a step, and my entire body jerked. I raised placating hands, my chest capturing my heart in a suffocating hold while I somehow managed to stutter an okay while retreating. It took a few tries to mount the horse with how my limbs trembled, my hands slippery with nervousness, but once I was seated on the saddle, my body shook so passionately that I thought I might slip off.

Hael approached, mounted behind me like nothing had happened, and the scent of blood was pungent as his rigid body pressed against mine. I could not prevent the flinch that overtook me when he brought something to my face—a pale piece of linen that secured around my head to conceal the lower half of my face. Then his arms came around me to reach the reins. My body trembled too violently for me to sit upright as he began leading us away from the murder scene he'd created.

"H-h…" my voice rattled, frantic breaths fanning the cloth hovering over my lips. "Hael," I pushed out, firmly enough that it surprised me. "I…I need to relieve myself. Can we stop somewhere?"

He was quiet for a moment. "I will find us an inn."

"Anywhere on the road is fine," I whispered, my stressed hands threading into the chestnut's mane and tugging. "Please pull over."

I knew he'd heard me, but he pointedly ignored my request and didn't pull us over for another half hour when we reached a large inn on the outskirts of the village. Hael slid off gracefully, unloaded two heavy bags, and swung them over his shoulders.

"Let's go." His voice was soft again, like our journey here had calmed him a little. And I hated how much the return of his gentleness eased my nerves.

My head was spinning from the dichotomy of his changing personalities. Hael watched me intensely as I followed off the horse, wishing I could remain with it for the bit of comfort it gave me. When we entered the inn, I was immensely disappointed when no one paid Hael's bloody image any mind. One of the innkeepers had merely instructed us to agree not to bring any trouble here, and a room was granted to us.

Across the inn, along a wall with splintered wood, was a dark staircase that Hael had me walking up first, likely aware of my incessant desire to flee when I received the opportunity. I didn't know where I would go, but anywhere I was not under the watchful eye of a murderer would ease my skittish heart millions. The scent of blood was becoming too familiar, and I desperately needed to escape it.

We arrived outside the last room of a dark and narrow hall, Hael using the only key given to us to open it. I walked inside first, my gaze immediately finding the single bed and repulsion flooding my stiff body. The door closed behind me with a quiet boom, and I flinched. I remembered Hael requesting a room with two separate beds, so either they'd made a mistake, or this was the only room available.

Hael came to a quiet stop behind me, and I could feel the air surrounding him tense. After an eternity of brutal silence, he quietly declared, "I will take the floor." Then he dropped the luggage.

The bright room was spacious and smelled of old books and dust, but I wasn't averse to any of it. Two windows sat along the opposite wall, large and fogged with dust. Tucked into a round table beneath the furthest window were two small chairs, and along the wall across from the framed bed was a dresser of old, peeling wood and deep scratches. There was even a desk adjacent to the bed, with enough space for a few piles of paper. Mostly, the room was quiet, but the busy sound of carriages and conversations from outside carried through the closed window.

"Reyin," Hael breathed, his voice even softer now as he spoke to me. And I gasped at the first-time use of my name past his lips. I didn't like the sound of it on his tongue. I vehemently wished for him to never use it again.

"Yes," I whispered, refusing to turn around and look at him how I knew he wanted me to.

"I need you," he murmured expectantly, and I hated how the neediness of his voice had me whipping around. It wasn't him, I tried to convince myself. I became soft for anyone in need, even murderers, it seemed.

Hael was inspecting a long slash across his upper arm, the blood spilling in a wave down his pale skin. "I trust a doctor's hands more than my own."

I had never mentioned to him my apprenticeship underneath my doctor, so his awareness only proved that he'd been spying on me. For how long had I not noticed?

Hael's eyes reached me, that innocent look that usually put me in a daze playing in them, and for the first time, I wondered if the innocence was sincere or merely a manipulation tactic. It was frightening how soft it made me want to be towards him.

Slowly, I nodded. "In the bath. I-I can patch you up after we clean it thoroughly."

His brows knitted at my stuttering, but he eventually nodded. He'd already requested a bath at the front desk, so we needed only to wait until the water had been heated and prepared for him. The wait was agonizing and tensely filled. I took refuge in a corner far from Hael, my teeth troubling my bottom lip while he moved around with his injury like he wasn't affected by it. He unpacked his things and delivered them to the storage provided in the room like he intended for us to stay a while.

He'd even paid someone at the front desk to tend to his horse.

Eventually, a knock came at our door, informing Hael of his prepared bath. He waited for me at the exit and instructed that I keep on my veil as I followed him to the only bathroom on this floor. The tub was made of a dull bronze and surprisingly spacious like it'd been designed to fit two. The rest of the bathroom appeared just as old, but it was clean. Above our heads was a lantern that could be adjusted if you were tall enough. I quickly realized I was as I reached and brightened it, even though the sun was still active and pushing through the bathroom's hazy window. I needed as much light as possible if I was going to mend Hael's arm properly.

Not like he deserved treatment, but if I was going to give it, it was my character to give it properly. The bathroom smelled of dust and roses, bubbles shining along the bath. Hael slowly began to undress, and I turned around quickly until I heard his body slip into the water.

I found myself on my knees beside the tub as he propped his arm on the edge of it. The blue veins in his skin pulsed when I looked closely at them, and his muscles twitched when my fingers came to his biceps.

I carefully inspected his wound. "You don't deserve my help," I found the courage to say.

"I know."

I looked at him then, found his eyes glued to me and his gaze too innocent for his own good. This time, I held his gaze, trying to reach toward that familiarity I felt towards him and pull it forward. I'd seen him somewhere before. I must've. But with disappointment, I could not remember where.

"Hael," I muttered, my eyes moving between his. "Just who are you?"

His eyes dimmed like extinguished candlelight. He turned his head forward and sank deeper into the water. "Someone you should stay far away from."

The moment I was free from his intense guard, I intended to do just that.