War Bird

35. Over The Shadows and The Rain.

"Marla, open your eyes," Finlay whispers, right by my ear.

"Urgh, I’m gonna vom." I'm lying on my back in a room that smells of damp. The floor is cold, my head bent against a rough wall.

"Sorry, Flights do that." He coughs and struggles into a sitting position against the wall.

"Flights?" My lip is throbbing. I touch it and it twinges, my finger coming away with a red smear. Great.

"A super fast escape spell." He looks really out of it, and I'm suddenly alert. Stuff my upset stomach, and my cut lip, Finlay's way worse than me. I pull myself up to my knees and the room spins. I shake it off.

"What's wrong?" I grip his shoulders.

"Powerful magic...tired now." His chin sags to his chest and he’s spark out within seconds. I touch his forehead, his dark hair soft against the back of my hand. He's so cold. I stand up and look around me. We're in a small windowless room with rough stone walls and floor, and now I'm more awake, I'm aware of a musty smell, like animals or something. A pale bulb flickers overhead. There's a large wooden door at one end, and opposite it, near me, is a table and a couple of chairs, plus a couple of trunks. The walls are hung with saddles and bridles, which sort of explains the smell. Horses are gross.

I hurry to the trunks, yanking open the lids. Yes! Blankets. They're stiff and wiry, kind of stinky, but they'll do. I grab the biggest one. I sit next to him and pull the blanket over us, wrapping my arms around his slumped body. Maybe my heat will help, I just don't know what else to do. I position his head on my shoulder, pull him close and rest my chin on his hair. I think healing thoughts, try and imagine his bruises getting better under the power of my touch. It's strange, I'm supposed to be helping him, but holding him comforts me. It's the way my Mum used to cuddle me and the memory stings. I don't know how long we sit there for, I might even have dozed off, but all of a sudden I'm aware that Finlay is stirring.

"What's that sound?" He mumbles, coughs and spits out some of my hair that's in his mouth. 

"I didn't hear anything." It's so good to hear him speak. He lifts his his head up, those brilliant eyes droopy with sleep. The swollen one is looking a lot better.

"What happened?"

"Alice Mecaster happened," I reply and his gaze sharpens straight away.

"Oh. Of course." 

"Where did you bring us?" I stretch my arms and crick my neck.

"It's a stable keep, attached to the Chateau," he says, running a hand through his hair. "It was the first place I could think of when I performed the Flight spell."

"We're at the Chateau?" The most dangerous place he could have chosen. "The Traitor’s base. Her army is here. Why would you do that?"

"I was delirious with pain, True. I was 99 per cent sure I could out-fly her, but I wasn’t going to risk leading her to the Compound for the sake of one per cent. I've seen this place on various manoeuvres and it just popped into my mind. And don't fret, it's always quiet here. We're right at the edge of the Chateau property line, not actually near the house itself."

"But still, a dick move Finlay." I jump up, run to the table and start rifling through all the horsey gear to find something I might be able to use as a weapon. I could barely raise a decent shield against Alice, who knows what she will do when she finds us here? I can’t believe he’s landed us right under her nose.

"I'm sorry alright?" He stands up and hugs the blanket around his shoulders. "She was going to kill you. I didn't know what else to do."

"She was going to kill me because she wants Birdie. She’ll kill everyone in the world to get to that kid.”