The Liberian

Chapter 55

Derek sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, giving himself a moment before turning and kneeling in front of Halle. “Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded. Her stomach still felt like it was turned inside-out. Fritz and Hardy hovered a few feet away from them in obvious uncertainty.

“Let me see.” The prince reached out, and Halle removed her hand. It hurt to straighten her back. “Take off your armor,” Derek ordered, and she began to fuss with the latches up the front. “Here,” he said softly and reached out, helping her from the bottom. Halle hunched her shoulders, let her hair fall in front of her face, and hid her shame.

Derek took her scale from her; a few of the small plates were dented around the abdomen.

He sighed audibly. “I will fix this tonight, and have it to you by morning.”

She looked down at her chain; it appeared to be undamaged. There was a moment of silence and a soft night breeze ruffled her hair. Derek reached out and clasped a hand over her shoulder.She is ...” He sighed. “Do not pay what she says any mind.”

Halle nodded silently. It was a nice sentiment. But once some things were said they could never be unheard, and the brief exchange was already repeating in her ears.

Derek nodded back at her before standing, turning to a shocked silent Hardy and Fritz. “Hardy, take her back to your tent. You may have to burn through one or two of those altered shrubs.” He glanced at Elecia’s path out. “Fritz, come with me. I am sure Halle has internal bleeding from a hit like that, and I will not have her riding a horse tomorrow without getting a potion in her tonight.”

They both nodded, and Hardy slipped Halle’s arm around her neck, helping her to her feet.

“It’s not that bad,” Halle insisted softly, not wanting to make any more of a scene.

“There’s no shame in accepting help. This march is too long to justify acting too strong now,” Hardy told her sternly, yet gently.

“Listen to that one, Halle. She has a good head on her shoulders.” Derek pointed to Hardy, and Halle saw the Western woman’s face turn up to a small smile. “Fritz, come,” he ordered briskly, and the two walked off in a different direction.

Just as Derek had said, the brush needed to be burnt away in some places. It was riddled with vines almost as thick as Halle’s wrist, blocking the most direct route back to camp. Hardy used intense firebursts to incinerate a clear path.

“Groundbreakers can alter trees and plants?” Halle asked.

“Some can.” Hardy nodded.

They didn’t speak again during the rest of the walk back to their tent. Hardy offered to help Halle change into her sleeping clothes, but Halle insisted she could do it on her own. Elecia’s words ran through her head. The conversation had yielded too much information to dissect now. A sickeningly purple bruise had already formed on her stomach.

Halle only barely finished pulling on a long-sleeved nightshirt when there was a tap on their tent pole.

“Vhal? Hardy?” Fritz asked uncertainly.

“It’s fine, Fritz,” Halle called, and he poked his head in. Hardy shifted to make enough room for him to sit. It was crowded with three.

“Here, the prince told me to give it to you.” He handed her a small wooden vial.

“Thank you,” she said softly, taking it from him and downing it quickly. She recognized the fiery feeling of this particular potion and winced slightly. Halle was beginning to suspect the clerics healed everything with this one magic liquid. “Sorry to be trouble.”

“It’s fine,” Hardy consoled. “This was hardly your fault.”

“What exactly happened?” Fritz asked.

Hardy elbowed him in the side. “Not our business,” she scolded.

Halle fidgeted with her fingers.

“Fine, fine. I hope you feel better soon.” He reached out, ruffled Halle’s hair, and turned on his knees to crawl out of the tent.

“Wait,” Halle stopped him. There was a sick feeling in her stomach, but Halle thought it had more to do with nerves. “Wait,” she repeated again as he sat down. Halle passed the vial from hand to hand, unsure of her next words. But Fritz and Hardy had already proven to be kind and loyal. She took a breath.

“Halle, you don’t have to—” Hardy seemed to sense her trepidation.

“We’re Bonded,” Halle said directly, getting it out before she lost her resolve.

Both stared at her in shock and confusion.

“Wait, what?” Fritz had a dumb look on his face.

“You and ...” Hardy whispered, her voice leaving her before she could finish the sentence.

“Derek.” Halle cursed aloud. “The prince.” She shook her head; it was too late and she was in too deep. “Derek and I are Bonded.” Halle looked away from them. She barely understood what being Bonded meant so how they would react was up in the air. They both stared at her with their mouths open, shocked into silence. “Well, say something,” she sighed.

“You’re sure?” Hardy asked.

“Very,” she affirmed, recalling her Channeling lesson.

“Does he know?” Fritz asked.

Hardy cuffed him on the back of the head. “Of course he does,” she chided.

“How?” Fritz asked. The Western woman shot him a sharp glance. “I know how, as in I know how Bonding works in theory. But how did you become Bonded with the prince, of all people?”

“I don’t really understand it all myself.” Halle thought back to a night in the library, a night that seemed forever ago. “It was when he came back.”

“From the front? In the summer?” Hardy seemed to be already piecing it together.