Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 58

The silence rode heavy in the room. Tanwyn looked paler than normal and chewed on the inside of his lip as he stared intensely at the floor. Cole looked back and forth between these two fae creatures that she could not quite understand. While one was her own mother, she still felt as if she had been dropped down into a world she couldn't hope to figure out.

"If we can get that stone and fashion it into a ring, then we could stand a chance against Gethwine," he said.

Her mother shuddered, her eyes glazing over. The madness was returning, claiming the woman who had just moments before been so alive and present. Her whole body slumped, her jaw slackening, and her head slowly leaned over to rest on Cole's shoulder. A small whimper escaped from her mother's mouth and Cole gently patted her hands, holding them close and hoping that they would get her mother back soon.

"It isn't right that she's like this," Tanwyn said. "She was the queen once. She ruled the Eldritch and was enough of a threat to my aunt that she got rid of her."

"I don't care if she was the empress of the universe," Cole said. "She's my mother now."

Tanwyn frowned, but didn't argue any further. He pushed himself to his feet, wincing as his wound stretched, and pointed to the opening. "We need to leave now before the Eldritch track us here."

They had nothing to pack with them, so they ducked out of the opening and into the sweltering daylight. Cole had forgotten the oppressive heaviness of the city, with the breeze blocked by buildings and the smells assaulting the senses from all directions. Heat stuck to them like glue, matting their hair and soaking their clothes in sweat. They pushed away from Cole's old neighborhood and into the busy streets where they could more easily hide. The people around them gave a few curious glances to the man in beautiful silk that was bloodstained and torn and a woman coated in so much filth that her own skin was barely visible underneath it all. Only Cole looked as if she belonged in their streets, and she supposed she did. Finally she was the one who fit in, the one who belonged and was not a sore thumb to those who saw her.

Tanwyn pressed up close to her side, leaning in so that she could hear him over the din of the busy streets. "I need to slip away to send a message to Meegan," he said.

"Why can't we come?" Cole asked.

"It's easier for my to get there without being tracked if I'm alone," he said. "I'll be only a few minutes. Try to find something to eat and drink while I'm gone."

Before Cole could argue with him, he had disappeared into the crowd. How he thought he'd be able to sneak around in a blood stained tunic and with flowing black hair that was double the length of any man in the street, Cole had no idea. But he wasn't her problem, and she did realize that food and water were going to be a problem if they didn't hurry and address it. Already her mouth felt as if it was stuffed with cotton and her stomach rumbled loudly. Her mother probably was even worse, as there was no telling when the last time was that they had fed or watered her in the dungeon.

Cole crept through the crowds, inching close enough to stalls to swipe some smoked meat and then a bottle of ale at another. She and her mother ate under the eaves of a rundown building, hiding out in the shade to try and escape some of the overwhelming heat. After they had finished, Cole stuffed the rest of the meat and ale into her pockets to share with Tanwyn once he came back. They had to keep moving to avoid anyone paying too much attention to them, so Cole helped her mother back to her feet and they wandered in a large circle around her old neighborhood, killing nearly an hour before Tanwyn appeared from the shadows near the opening to Cole's old street.

"Meegan's at the safe house," he said. "We can head over there now. It's not far."

Cole handed him the rest of the food as they walked swiftly away from the crowds and toward the Sparkstone refining factories on the outskirts of town. He ate the rations in almost one bite, swallowing it down with two big gulps of ale. Swiping his mouth on the back of his shirt, he tossed the empty bottle into an alleyway.

Cole watched him closely, worrying at the way his skin had turned ashen and the ache she felt in her own shoulder. She had no wound there, but now that their bodies were connected, she felt what he did. And it was a bone-deep ache, as if her whole arm was about to rot off. She kept rubbing at it, worried about the burning that was building up in her core as well. It was another fever, and judging from the developing exhaustion that was not her own, she knew Tanwyn wouldn't be able to handle a prolonged sickness.

"Will Meegan have medical supplies?" Cole asked, trying to sound as casual as she could.

Tanwyn shrugged but didn't answer. Cole frowned, even if he couldn't see her.

"We need to get something for your shoulder. I think my mother's treatment was only temporary until she could get better medicine," Cole said.

"Why do you care so much?" he asked, only barely glancing at her over his shoulder. "You're going to skip away with your mother as soon as we get the stone anyway."

"In case you've forgotten, I bound my life to yours. If you die, then I die too. I'm not too keen on randomly keeling over because you never got your shoulder looked at."

Tanwyn sped up, putting more distance between them. "Don't worry, as soon as we get that stone I'll use it to take off this stupid bind. You won't have to spend another second worrying about me."

Cole rolled her eyes. "Stop being so difficult. We're not going to up and abandon you as soon as we have the stone--"

"We're here," he interrupted, pointing to a row of industrial buildings. Some were for tanning or disposing of the waste products that came with Sparkstone refining, and the stench was strong in the air. Men and women in heavy leather smocks walked in and out of the buildings, hauling boxes and pushing wooden carts, ignoring Tanwyn and Cole as they walked to the edge of the road.

"Down here," Tanwyn said, walking into a tiny alley that almost forced them to walk sideways between two brick walls. At the end of the alley, steps lead down to a door sunken in the wall of one of the tanneries. He pushed it open and they stepped into a dimly lit room that shook with the activity above them. It was mostly empty beyond a small row of cots, a wash basin, a cage with a pair of gray pigeons in it, and a table where Meegan sat with her feet kicked up on a stool.

"Greetings," Meegan said, sweeping her arms to encompass the whole room. "Welcome to our humble abode."

Cole gave a brief nod of acknowledgement and then swiftly walked over to the washbasin to gulp down the water in the jug there. She offered some to her mother, who also guzzled it down. The hydration seemed to pull her a little bit away from the madness, and Cole felt her shoulders relax a bit as her mother's eyes slowly began to focus more.