The Queen's Blade Prequel II - God Touched (3 page)

Blade woke
again the following day when she sat beside him to feed him. His
eyes opened as she leant over to prop him up on the pillows, making
her recoil a little. She sat back to regard him doubtfully. His
eyes flicked around the room and came to rest on her.

“
So why aren't I dead on the street?”

“
Because I'm not a murderer.”

“
Ah.” He looked away. “I need something for the
pain.”

“
I told you, I can't afford it, so don't start making demands.”
She picked up the bowl of broth, which gave off a rich, meaty
aroma. “Now, you must eat.”

Blade glanced
at the bowl and turned his head away. “Take it away.”

“
You have to eat.”

“
I can't.”

Lilu
hesitated, then put the broth down, frowning. “Why not?”

He glanced at
her. “You don't know much about pain, do you?”

“
I know enough, after birthing two babies.”

“
And if someone had tried to feed you broth in the middle of
it?”

She snorted,
then realised what he meant. “Right.”

“
I need a pain draught.”

“
So where do you propose I get the money for it?”

He closed his
eyes, and for a moment she thought he had lost consciousness again,
but then he said, “In my jacket, there's a key. It opens the door
to a room on the top floor of number seventeen Firetree Avenue.
You'll find money in a pot behind the hearth stone. Take as much as
you need.”

Her brows
rose. “Oh, so now you trust me? I thought you thought I was a
thief?”

“
You are, but I can't do it, and I need that
draught.”

“
I am not!”

“
So prove it.”

She leant
forward and poked him in the chest. “I'll not be treated like a
servant, running errands for you. I've done enough. If you want
that draught, I expect some civility, starting right now.”

He opened his
eyes and glared at her. “I'll be more civil when I'm not in
agony.”

She folded her
arms and raised her brows.

He sighed.
“Please.”

Lilu nodded
and rose, picking up a shabby cloak before going over to the
cupboard to find the key in his jacket. Blade watched her, his jaw
ridged as he gritted his teeth. His immobility spoke volumes of his
pain, and her eyes stung. He was too young and fragile to suffer
so. She considered that as she walked towards Firetree Avenue. He
did have an air of fragility about him. His features were so fine,
almost too handsome for a man. Perhaps his neutering had had a hand
in that. Whatever the reason, she found him devastatingly
attractive.

The key opened
the door to a tidy, sparsely furnished room with mottled grey
walls, a hard, narrow bed, a fireplace and a copper tub in a
curtained corner. That was unusual, and she wondered at it, and all
the soaps, oils and washing cloths around it. She went over to the
fireplace and searched for the loose stone, prying it out with the
poker. The pot was much heavier than she had expected, and bigger.
Its contents shocked her. At least fifty goldens glinted within it,
a vast fortune. He must be in agony to send her here, thinking her
a thief. Indeed, the money was tempting. He was a rude, ungrateful
bastard, and he owed her.

Lilu pondered
the problem for several minutes. Blade would not be able to return
for many moons, with his injuries, and in that time his empty room
might be robbed. In fact, if he did not pay his rent the landlord
would get another tenant, who might find the money. It would be
dangerous to carry so much back to her shack, but who would think
that a trollop would have such a fortune? Making up her mind, she
emptied the pot into a pouch that was lying on the table and tied
it under her skirt, where no one would think to look. After tidying
herself in the mirror, she left, locking the door behind her.

Blade opened
his eyes when she entered her room, raking her with a hard glance.
She approached the bed and sat on it, studying him.

“
Did you get the draught?” he asked.

Lilu pulled a
flask from her pocket and poured some potion into a cup.

He slugged it
back and pulled a face. “Tastes like shit.”

“
It is. I didn't see the point of wasting good money on a
worthless assassin, so I filled that from the gutter.”

He nodded. “I
thought so.”

Lilu smiled
and hitched her skirt up to her thighs to grope between her legs
for the pouch.

Blade watched
her with a suspicious frown. “What are you doing?”

“
Finding some crabs to give you.”

“
How nice.”

“
Yes, I thought you might enjoy the company.” Lilu untied the
pouch and drew it out, opening it to pour the coins onto the bed
beside him. “I used one to buy the potion. Here's the change.” She
took fourteen silvers from her bodice and added it to the
pile.

Blade eyed the
coins. “Of course, you took it all. Why doesn’t that surprise
me?”

“
I didn't take it, I brought it to you. If I'd left it there,
someone might have stolen it. You won't be going home for some
time, you know.”

His eyes
flicked up to meet hers. “And now you have it, and I won't be able
to prevent you from spending it.”

“
True. Who did you kill to earn it?”

He sighed and
lay back, staring at the ceiling. “Graleth.”

“
So it was you. They say it was impossible.”

“
They're wrong.”

Lilu scooped
the money back into the pouch and dumped it on his chest with a
thud. “Here. Keep it under your pillow or something, since you
don't trust me.”

“
Why should I trust you?”

“
Oh, I don't know, perhaps because I saved your
life?”

“
That doesn’t mean you’re trustworthy.”

“
Listen, you ungrateful bastard, I could have kept that money
instead of –”

“
All right.” He raised his right hand in an appeasing gesture.
“You're right.”

“
And?”

“
And what?”

“
How do you feel about treating me so badly after I saved your
life?”

He looked
puzzled. “I wish you hadn't?”

“
That's not what I mean and you know it.”

“
No I don't.”

She leant
closer, frowning. “You've never heard of 'sorry', I suppose?”

“
I've heard of it. I just don't use it.”

“
Then you'd better start learning to, or you'll be the sorry
one.”

“
Because you'll hit me with a broom again?”

“
Exactly.”

A slight smile
curved his mouth. “I won't always be in this bed, you know.”

“
Damn right you won't, that's my bed and I want it back.” She
sat back, frowning. “But that's not what you meant, is it? You're
threatening me. You need me to take care of you, and you're
threatening me? How stupid are you, exactly?”

Blade looked
away, and his despondent expression tore her heart afresh. He had
been alone for a long time, she realised. At some point he had been
badly abused, and distrusted everyone. He had learnt to rely on
himself only, and now he needed her help. It must be hard for him,
and she was trying to force gratitude and regret from him when he
had none to give. He was at her mercy and he hated her for it. She
leant closer again.

“
I tell you what, Blade. You find a bit of civility in that
stone cold heart of yours, and I'll not ask for an apology.
Deal?”

He closed his
eyes. “Deal.”

“
Now, are you going to eat this cold broth?”

“
No.” A muscle jumped in his jaw.

“
Fine, in that case, it's time to change your dressings and
clean your wounds.”

“
You jest.”

“
Not even a little.”

He opened his
eyes. “Why don't you just let me die? Then you'll have my
money.”

“
What did I just say about civility?”

“
That I don't have any.”

“
Apart from that.”

Blade sighed
and turned his head away. Taking it as a tacit capitulation, she
brought the water basin and placed it on the bedside table, then
pulled the sheet down to expose the dressings on his belly and
flank. He hissed when she peeled them off, exposing red wounds
tinged with yellow. Lilu wrinkled her nose at the smell.

“
I think some of your rotten insides are leaking
out.”

“
More likely your dirty hands have given me a
disease.”

She poked a
bruise, making him flinch. “You should probably keep quiet.”

Lilu used the
grey rag, which she had boiled, to swab the wounds.

Blade flinched
and groaned. “I've seen washerwomen scrub clothes with more
gentleness than you.”

“
And I've seen small children cry less when they hurt
themselves.”

“
I'm not crying.”

“
Shall I hire a washerwoman, then?” Blade cursed, and to
distract him she asked, “Where are you from?”

“
None of your business.”

“
Why did you become an assassin?”

“
I enjoy killing people.”

“
That's a lie.”

“
No it's not.”

Lilu rinsed
the cloth. “How many have you killed?”

“
A lot.”

She clicked
her tongue. “Fifty-seven isn't all that many.”

“
How do – aah!” He gripped her wrist with his good hand.
“That's enough!”

“
It's common knowledge. The fishwives know it.”

“
It's wrong.”

She glanced
down at his hand, making her expression coy. “I didn’t know you
wanted to hold my hand. That’s so sweet!”

The assassin
released her as if she had become white-hot, a pink flush stealing
into his pale cheeks. Blade, she realised with a surge of wonder,
was pure. He must have been young indeed when he had been
castrated. She longed to ask him about it, but knew that if there
was one subject guaranteed to anger him, that would be it. He
fascinated her even more, though, for he would never want what she
sold. She found it strangely alluring that someone so handsome
should be so innocent, and it made him a precious rarity, to be
treasured.

Lilu glanced
at Blade, whose eyes were closed again. Dropping the rag in the
basin, she picked up the bottle of salve and applied some to the
wounds. He hissed again, opening his eyes, and she tried to be
gentle. When she had replaced the dressings, she inspected the gash
in his scalp, which was dry and scabbed.

Blade studied
the woman who leant over him. His head pounded, his throat burnt
with thirst, his right arm and left leg throbbed with dull venom
and shafts of agony shot from his ribs every time he drew breath.
Compared to that, the vicious stinging of the stab wounds was
minor, along with the aching tenderness of his bruises. He felt
like he had been trampled by a herd of wild horses, and wondered
what he looked like, longing for a mirror. At least all his teeth
were still in place.

The same could
not be said for the trollop who tended him, and he struggled to
remember her name. Lila? Lilu. His head seemed to be full of
pufftree seeds, and the pain draught made it worse, although it did
dull the agony to a more bearable level. He could remember only
fragments of his beating, a blurred muddle of thudding boots, heavy
breathing, curses and agony. His belt and clothes were gone, and he
wondered if she had sold them. His nakedness beneath the thin
sheet, so close to her, made him uncomfortable. Would she try to
seduce him, too, he wondered, like the rich lady. Not until he was
healed, at least, he was sure.

That she had
brought all his money to him amazed him. He had fully expected her
to steal most of it, but it would still have been worth it if she
cared for him while he was injured. No one else would. Her reasons
for doing it still puzzled him, but he was now prepared to accept
that she would nurse him back to health, even if he had no rich
family for her to sell him to. She looked to be a few years older
than him, perhaps five and twenty, although her trade had aged her,
adding lines and thickened skin to her face from beatings. He
wondered what the Guild was making of, and doing about, his
disappearance. Would they find a new Dance Master, or wait? Since
Talon had advised him to disappear for a while, they may assume
that he was in hiding.

Blade had no
doubt that the men who had beaten him had been hired by, or were
members of, the Trobalon family, bent on revenge. Someone from the
Artemann clan had betrayed him, probably under torture. That
happened sometimes, but it was rare. Had he not been so drunk, they
would have had less success, so the blame was partly his. He longed
for several bottles of good wine to dull the pain further and
lighten his mood. The whore sat back, and he studied her
heart-shaped face with its rather broad nose, generous mouth, soft
brown eyes and long, glossy brown hair pulled back in a plait. She
had never possessed any great beauty, and her abusers had stolen
whatever prettiness she might have once owned. Her well-rounded
figure was clad in a ragged gown that looked like it was a rich
lady's cast-off from several decades ago.

“
Admiring my ugliness?” she enquired.