Silk & Steel (Spellbound #3)

Chapter 28: Aftermath

Everything hurt.

Isobel blinked, but everything was a blur. There was a ringing in her ears and a strange smell in her nostrils. Her blood was on fire, scorching her as it moved through her veins. It reminded her of when the Orc's Blood poison spread through her, only worse. So much worse.

With a whimper, she tried to look around. The room had been upended, furniture was strewn across the floor amongst the debris and broken stones from the outer wall that now had a gaping hole the size of three men. An icy wind pulled at her hair, but it did nothing to cool the burning in her blood. Castel lay on the floor a few feet away. Fear gripped her for a moment before she saw him pushing himself up.

Where was Devin? The door to the hallway was open. Was he gone already?

"Isobel!"

Someone called her name, but it was muffled as if they were far away. Indistinct bodies poured in through the open doorway. The fight had not been quiet and must have alerted the guards. Two explosions within minutes were a difficult thing to hide. The wound in her abdomen throbbed. The blood seeped between her fingers where she held her hands against the already-soaked dress.

"Isobel?" A hand on her arm startled her. Boreas's face appeared. His gaze dropped to her injury, and he cursed. Turning his head, he called for help before turning back to her. "What happened here?"

"C... Castel?" Even getting that one word out was difficult through the fog of pain.

"We've got him. He'll be all right." Boreas eased her hands away so he could inspect the injury. When his eyes widened in shock, she looked down, too. An unusual green light shone from the cut.

Well, that didn't look right.

Boreas swallowed. He must be thinking the same thing. She giggled, despite the pain. It was strange. Even with the excruciating pain, she felt lightheaded. Almost as if she had over-imbibed on her favourite Andrean wine.

Two guards in armour approached them, and Boreas instructed them to take her to Castel's chambers. When they helped her to her feet, the pain washed over her in a wave so heavy she fell into darkness.

   By the time she came to, she lay in Castel's bed. The pain was still there, but it had subsided and was now more of a dull ache than a fire consuming her. Her mind still felt like someone had wrapped it with a woolly bandage, but it was a relief to no longer be in agony. With a groan, she pushed herself up to lean against the bed's headboard.

"Oh, good. She's awake." Boreas stood on the other side of the room next to Castel, who sat on a stool wearing only his boots and trousers.

Castel's skin bore red marks that would soon turn into large bruises, and one of his arms hung at an odd angle. An ugly gash on one of his cheekbones looked as if it could benefit from stitches. She winced as Boreas lifted the dislocated arm and moved it around until it slid back into place with a sickening pop. The only sign of the pain that caused was Castel's hand gripping the fabric of his trousers so hard his knuckles whitened.

Glancing down at herself, she noted the bandage now covering her midriff. Someone had ripped apart her dress to make access, leaving her in a frayed skirt and odd top that only covered the top half of her chest. If the wound still had the green glow, the linen bandages hid it.

"Sorry," Boreas said, having noticed her inspecting her dress. "There wasn't much time to mind your clothing. You were bleeding out."

She gave him a lopsided smile. "It's all right. I kind of like it. I've seen similar dresses in the south where I believe it's quite fashionable."