Page 84 of A Thief to Die For

‘Well, then, you should sit.’ He gestures to a tree stump.

‘I don’t need to sit. I don’t want to sit,’ I clarify. Then, inconveniently, I sway on my feet. I wince as I’m struck with a bolt of pain down my back. Mutinous tears sting my eyes. We stand in silence as I fight to pull myself together.

‘Why are you here?’ he asks, gently.

‘Because …’ The two people closest to me, the two I would give my life for are now –

I sniff hard. Don’t think about it.

‘I didn’t know where else to go.’

‘Well, you look awful.’

My head bobs. ‘Thank you. I feel awful.’ And as if that weren’t enough, an image of Agatha pressing her lips against Ryland’s flashes in my head. I reach for a tree for balance and miss. I start to fall, then catch a branch on my second try, awkwardly lowering myself to the ground.

‘Marian,’ Lucky shouts, lunging for me.

‘I’m fine. Just distract me,’ I say. ‘Tell me about what’s going on with you. How’s your leg, where Soren got you with the whip? Or your ailments?’ You never stop talking about that. Don’t fail me now.

A switch seems to flip in him, and the concerned lines in his face smooth out. ‘Well, actually, I have been doing pretty poorly, myself. My leg’s not too bad. But that pain I have just never goes away any more, and I think I’m getting a fever –’

Ryland’s face flashes in my mind.

‘I can’t sleep. I can’t –’

I clear my throat. ‘And Grendle has nothing that will help you?’

‘She wouldn’t even look. Said I was fine. Called me an incessant complainer.’ He shakes his head. ‘If only I could see the spot myself, I’d know what I’m dealing with.’

Agatha didn’t hesitate to kiss him.

My head tips back with nausea. Now that Ryland is Agatha’s husband, he’s too honourable to turn her away. He’s going to love her back. Eventually.

Suddenly, I need to move, so I crawl awkwardly to my feet. ‘Show me,’ I say.

Lucky’s bushy orange brows shoot up. ‘What?’

‘Show it to me. Whatever’s the problem.’

‘You’re going to –? Oh, thank the saints.’ He starts to unbuckle his trousers. ‘It’s on my lower back, maybe a bit beneath that, but it’s nothing carnal, I promise. I just need someone to –’

I throw up a hand. ‘I know.’

‘Okay.’ He nods aggressively, then turns around.

I hear his trousers come down a little.

At first, I only give the area a cursory glance, blocking most of it with my hand. But there is something there. I squint. ‘You definitely have a wound.’ I move closer but then jump back, nearly losing my footing.

He whirls around, dragging up his trousers. ‘What is it?’

I exhale harshly. I don’t know; maybe I imagined it. ‘Show me again.’

He does, but this time he’s also trying to look.

‘Stop moving,’ I scold. Then I see it.

I spin away and dry heave.