An Aimless War (Greatest Thief 2)

Chapter Twenty-Six

I slowly opened my eyes.

I was lying on some sort of mattress, tucked into the corner of a ruined room. I could have been back in Zianna, in the room I had shared with Baisan and the others. Except that our room in Zianna had been in better condition.

The walls looked like they had begun to crumble; there were a few gaps near the roof. Sunlight filtered through multiple holes in the ceiling. The most stable looking part of the roof was right above me. I moved to push myself upright, and groaned as a sudden sharp pain spread across my right shoulder. My head hurt and my vision swam.

My groan woke up Tannix, who was sitting beside the mattress, leaning against the wall. He opened his eyes, and when they landed on me, his face broke into a smile.

"Finn!" He threw himself over the mattress and pulled me into a tight hug, which did nothing to help my aching shoulder.

I tried to complain, but my mouth was so dry I could hardly make a sound. Tannix pulled back, finally noticing that he'd hurt me.

"Sorry, Finn. Here." He handed me a flask. "Drink. You're dehydrated. Slowly," he added, as I lifted it to my lips.

I forced myself to drink it slowly, and distracted myself by inspecting him. His right arm was still in a sling, but his shoulder didn't look wrong anymore. The bruising on his face was still dark, but with a hint of yellow that meant he was healing. He was wearing different clothing, which was dirty but not spotted with blood.

I swallowed the last drops of water in the flask and dropped it. "Is—" I paused to clear my throat, "Is this always how you're going to greet me? By hurting me somehow?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when we first met, you tackled me to the ground."

"It was a training exercise." Tannix shuffled closer, and started to inspect the bandage wrapped around my right shoulder and part of my upper arm. "How do you feel?"

"Terrible. The second time we met, you slammed me into a wall and held a knife to my throat."

"You were sneaking around outside my window. I thought you were a spy. Or an assassin." He awkwardly began to unwind the bandages with one hand. "I was told to put more salve on your shoulder when you woke up. It might hurt."

"I can handle it." I shrugged, which was a terrible idea. I winced as a new wave of pain blossomed. "The third time we met," I said, trying my best to ignore the pain, "You shocked me into almost hanging myself and then you bought me."

"I saved your life." With a frustrated huff he finished undoing my bandage. "Here, lie down."

I carefully leaned back, and once I was comfortable, quickly glanced at my shoulder. I immediately wished I hadn't. Around the somewhat circular wound, my skin was discoloured—almost gray. I made myself stare at the ceiling again. One by one, I wiggled the fingers on my right hand, just to make sure I could.

Tannix was struggling with a small jar. I let that distract me. It was almost funny. "In prison you said you weren't an invalid because you can fight with your left hand as well as your right. So... why can't you open a jar?"

"I never practiced opening a jar with one hand. Finn, I can't even... thank the Goddess you've woken up. I was so worried about you. And the knights were, too." He popped the lid off with a victorious grin. "We've been taking turns watching over you. Did you hear us talking to you?" He dipped his fingers into the paste and began to gently rub it around my wound.

It stung. I flinched away.

"Finn. I have to do this, and then we'll get you some food. But if you aren't going to stay still I'll have to call Jalor in to pin you down."