“… all right lad?” Kre looked up and cocked his head to one side. He had been lost in his own mind and he didn’t quite catch all of Ortho’s words.
“What was that?” he asked, not quite processing what Ortho had just asked him.
Ortho put a hand on Kre’s shoulder and pulled him forward a couple of steps. “Ah asked if ya was a’ight,” he repeated softly.
“Sure,” came the automatic response. He didn’t know why he’d be otherwise. He started to look down at his hands, which felt heavier than normal.
Talimar was there and placed his hand on Kre’s other shoulder, causing the young man to look up. “Kre, I…” he faltered a bit, which was odd given that Talimar always seemed to keep a calm composure no matter the circumstances. “We need to get you cleaned up.” He nodded over at Virryn who had regained her own composure and was now making her way over with the baskets.
Ortho nodded to Gnore and gestured over to the two guardsmen. Gnore needed no other prompting and soon the two men were securely tied up and locked in the cell with all of the other guards. All except the sergeant.
“Where’s their leader?” Kre asked, starting to turn around but both Ortho and Talimar held him fast and kept him from looking back.
“Kersath, please?” Talimar jerked his head to the side and the dark Ylveryan nodded once. He took one of the dirtier sheets from Virryn’s basket and moved out of sight. Meanwhile, Virryn was using one of the cleaner towels and was hastily swiping at Kre’s hands.
“Ouch!” he exclaimed, realizing for the first time that his hands really hurt, especially around the knuckles. “What happened?”
“You should not worry on that,” Talimar said. “We do need to be going very soon. Our time is short, and we still have much to do before we can call ourselves free.”
“The boy should know,” Ortho murmured. “Ya cannae let him carry tha pain o’it unknowin’.”
Gnore stepped up and nodded his agreement. “Ignoring it won’t be helpin’ the lad with the healing.”
Talimar was about to protest. They could all see it, but Kersath stepped up, wincing as he held what were likely bruised or broken ribs with one hand. “We have time for this. Gnore and I will stay with Kre, and we will either meet you at the entrance to the passage above or catch up.” With a shrug, he added, “It will take as long as it takes.”
“Very well,” Talimar said finally. He knew that arguing would only delay the inevitable. He gave Kre’s shoulder one last squeeze and a soft pat before stepping back to check on the other Dweorvkin.
Kersath gave both Kre and Gnore a short swallow of water from his stolen canteen as they waited for the others to gather their things and depart.
“What’s going on?” Kre asked the two of them as they gave him sympathetic looks. “Why…” he looked down at his hands and finally noticed just how bloody they were, even despite Virryn’s attempt to clean them. While some of the blood was likely from the cuts and scrapes on his knuckles, there was far too much discoloration to be just from him.
He turned to look back at the scene behind him. The linen Kersath had taken barely covered the body, or what was left of it.