Joss interrupted my thoughts, “We don’t care much for the King of Sinnendor or how they run things, but that wouldn’t stop us from offering help.” The look he gave me was a questioning one, as if he himself was still trying to figure out where I fit in. “You were unconscious, so I took the liberty of healing your wounds.”
“So you are a Denai?” I looked at him surprised.
Joss nodded yes. In embarrassment he looked down at the ground before looking back up at me, and it made me realize he was probably only a year older than me.
Taking a quick breath he went on. “You had intensive internal injuries and I wasn't able to heal everything. So there will be scarring….” he looked solemn and nodded to my arms.
I glanced at my arms and saw that the cuts, burns and scars had faded to faint silvery lines where before they were a deep infected red. The black and blue bruises were gone. I hadn’t felt so good in a long time, but I felt a cold sweat start to break out at the thought of Joss using power on me, while I was unconscious. It was too similar to what the Septori had done. I quelled the fear in the pit of my stomach, and swallowed my pride.
I nodded to Joss in answer. “Let 'em be, scars can heal in their own time.” I was about to say more when Darren brought over a bowl of broth with small chopped up vegetables in it. My stomach growled over the broth and I immediately started drinking it right out of the bowl. I finished with only letting a little dribble down my chin, but my gaze was drawn to the meat roasting over the fire. When was the last time I had tasted meat?
“Well, well, well,” Darren laughed. “Hungry little thing, isn’t she? Don’t worry; you can have more broth in a little bit. It needs to settle to see if it’s going to stay down before you can have more.” He caught my gaze drifting to the meat again. His demeanor became more serious as he politely explained. “Your body isn’t ready for meat yet, little one; it will just come back up.”
I took in his appearance now that he was closer and I saw the neatly trimmed triangle of hair under his bottom lip. He sported one gold hoop earring with a single blue bead that added to the carefree rover look of him.
“Why don’t you explain how you ended up in the river and then we will give you some more broth, eh?” Darren interrupted. My thoughts immediately flashed back to my time as a prisoner and I began to uncontrollably shake.
“Now, now,” Darren said. “It’s okay, but I think it will get easier if you face your fears and talk about it.”
Glancing at Joss I saw that he had become quiet and sat back as if steeling himself for the news. I shrugged my shoulders in indifference. “I'll talk as long as Darren keeps my bowl filled.” Darren’s bold laughter eased the tension as he shook my hand to seal the deal.
Even though their friendly manner made me want to trust them, I wasn't ready to give them the whole truth. I was still a lone woman amongst two strangers and who knows, they could be lying about who they are? Maybe they lied and they were part of Sinnendor’s Elite. I decided to play it safe.
“I was running away… and I slipped and fell in the river.” I couldn't look either of them in the eye as I said it.
Darren's brows drew together and he frowned. It was as if he could sense my lie, and he pulled the bowl of broth back toward him, away from my grasp. “Sorry, girlie, I wasn't born yesterday. That's not the whole truth.”
“Yes, it is,” I countered. “I fell in.”
“I'd wager there’s more to it than that. So tell me what were you running away from?”
I couldn't help it. My eyes darted a look over their shoulder to check for signs of hooded robes.
Darren saw my scared look so he took a deep breath, kneeled in front of me and very gently put his rough hand on my shoulder. “Thalia, it is obvious that you are scared of something or someone. The state that we found you in spoke of more than just falling in a river. You show the signs of long term abuse. And even though you just met us, I assure you that we will do everything in our power to keep you safe.” Darren's voice spoke truth, and I felt the protective wall I had built start to crumble.
“The Septori, I was taken by the Septori,” I choked out in a barely audible voice. This time it was Darren and Joss' turn to look at me in confusion.
“They are a cult led by a horrible leader we only knew as the Raven.” My hands began to shake and I dug my fingernails painfully into my palms in an attempt to quell the hatred that rushed me. “They kidnapped, tortured and performed brutal experiments on us. I was lucky to escape with my life. Most didn’t. They are a heartless group of red robed monsters,” I spat out angrily. Feeling a stinging pain I looked down and noticed that fresh blood coated my fingernails. I had dug my nails in so hard I made my palms bleed. Feeling slightly ashamed that I had reinjured myself, I tucked my hands under my arms and looked at the ground. I hoped Joss wouldn’t notice my self-inflicted injury and want to heal me. He didn’t.
Joss sat back in shock. I don't think he was actually prepared for what I had said. “What were they trying to accomplish?” he asked.
“I really don't know and don't care. And I would prefer not to wait around until they find me.” I glanced around the camp in urgency to see what I could find that could be used as weapons. Joss and Darren were hardly prepared for an attack. “But I can tell you this. There were others with me, even Denai, and if they can capture them, there is no doubt that they could take on you two as well.” I tried to make my voice as steady and determined as possible so that they would understand the seriousness of what I was saying.
“How did you come to be with them?” Darren asked, as he filled my bowl with more soup. I watched as he only filled it a quarter of the way full. I gave him a pointed look, but he refused to budge and add anymore to my bowl.
“I can’t remember? I only remember waking up bound and gagged in a dark, dank windowless cell with two other girls. I was the only one who couldn’t remember anything about my previous life. I held out my bowl to Darren. He stared at me in shock before shaking himself and refilling my bowl. This time it was almost full. He kept reassuring me that I would be safe.
“I don’t know if we were purposely chosen, kidnapped or bartered away, but all of us down there were experiments. The two girls I originally shared the cell with disappeared within a week. Others came and went, I was the only one they couldn’t kill or break.”
“What did they do to you, with these experiments?” Joss asked.
I dug my fingernails into my palms and my chest felt like it was going to explode as my breathing came in shallow gasps. All of the control that I had carefully gathered was waning as fear took over. Darren saw my panicked face and intervened.
“Joss,” he spoke quietly, “Maybe you don’t want to know. Some things are best left unspoken.” Refusing to make eye contact, I turned my head and decided that I wasn’t going to say anymore, no matter how many times they filled my bowl up.
Joss, who had been sitting quietly up until this point, jumped up in anger, throwing his tin cup he was holding into the fire. The splash of liquid on the flames made it sputter and I jumped in surprise.
“I really wish that you were making it up,” he fumed.