Chapter 48
----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Diva Chapter: 48 Chapter Title: Waking in the Carriage -----------------------------------------------------------------
I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead trickling down, dampening the corners of my eyes.
It might be a drug that inflicted excruciating pain. Or perhaps a deadly poison.
Even as she couldn't shake off those suspicions, Talia parted her lips.
He tilted the vial, pouring a bitter liquid into her mouth. She coughed reflexively and turned her head aside, but he gripped her chin and pressed the vial back in.
Talia swallowed the liquid seeping into her mouth powerlessly, gazing up at him.
She could see the light flickering over his pale eyes, shrouded like heavy drapes. Struggling to find any remnant of emotion in those emotionless depths, Talia soon let her limbs go limp.
She strained to keep her eyes open, fighting to hold onto consciousness, but her mind grew hazy and her vision blurred rapidly.
Blinking her eyelids slowly, Talia soon sank into a deathlike silence.
She had no idea how much time had passed. It felt like mere seconds, yet also like a lifetime.
Talia frowned at the steady rhythm of hoofbeats and the jolting rattle of wheels, staring blankly into space. As her foggy vision gradually sharpened, the dim interior of the carriage came into view.
For a moment, she wondered if it had all been a dream. The monstrous wyvern, Barkas leaving her to rescue Aila, nearly dying in its clutches—could it all have been a nightmare from last night?
As if to deny that thought, a sharp pain shot from her knee up to her waist.
Talia bit her lower lip and clutched her knee, which burned like fire.
Beneath her thin chemise, she felt the rough texture of cloth. Probing it with her fingertips, she realized her entire left leg was wrapped in thick bandages and her eyes widened.
Lifting her skirt, she saw blood and pus-soaked rags plastered messily to her thigh and side.
Trembling, she touched them, then pulled her skirt back down and struggled to sit up.
The spacious carriage was laid with thick, cotton-stuffed cushions scattered haphazardly with pillows and a summer blanket.
She stared at them dazedly, then gripped the wall handle and hauled herself up. But her legs wouldn't obey, making it hard to stand.
Struggling to straighten her leaden legs, Talia collapsed with a thud as pain shot up her spine. A scream escaped her lips from the piercing agony.
"Are you all right?!"
Hearing her, the carriage halted abruptly and the door flew open.
Talia peered up at the man silhouetted against the light with narrowed eyes. A guard knight, his usually tousled hair even messier, looked down at her with worried eyes.
He climbed in and rummaged through a small box in the corner.
"The pain is bad, isn't it? The healing mage prepared some painkillers. If you drink this..."
"Why haven't you cast healing magic on me?"
Her sharp question made him pause and turn.
Talia pulled the sheet toward her, glaring warily.
"Did my brother order you not to treat me?"
"N-no, it's not like that."
He waved his hands frantically.
"The healing mage set the bones as best he could and closed some of the wounds... but Your Highness's injuries were too severe to heal all at once. He said it's better to leave it to the palace's specialist healers for the best outcome..."
Talia eyed him suspiciously as he trailed off, then glanced at her leg.
Vaguely, she recalled the massive rock crushing her knee and thigh. If they'd healed it hastily, she might have lost the use of her leg forever. Reluctantly accepting that, she still grumbled.
"So you're saying I have to endure this until we reach the palace?"
"I know it's agony, but please bear with it a little longer. We're taking the fastest route to Gilliam."
Talia narrowed her eyes at him, then turned to look out the window.
Knights stretched out across the vast plain under the pale sunlight. Unconsciously searching for ash-blond hair among them, she chided herself and firmly closed the curtain. Even that small movement brought a wave of deep fatigue.
"I never thought my brother would accept the suggestion to return to the palace."
"With so many deaths from the wyvern attack, he couldn't openly oppose returning quickly to hold their funerals."
Surprised by the unexpectedly cynical reply, Talia turned to him. Realizing his sarcasm too late, the knight hurriedly changed the subject.
"More importantly, you look pale. Take the medicine first."
He held the vial's cap to her face. Staring at it blankly, Talia waved it away irritably.
"I don't need it. Take it and go. I need to rest."
"...If you can't trust me, shall I fetch Sir Sheerkhan?"
Talia, lying back on the cushions, stared at him stiffly.
Her heart dropped like she'd been ambushed. Masking it with a cold smirk, she snapped icily.
"Do I look like I trust that man?"
"But Your Highness, you..."
"I don't trust anyone."
Talia cut him off sharply. Then, enunciating each word at his stubbornly earnest face, she added.
"Especially not him."
"..."
"So shut up with the nonsense and get out."
He seemed about to say more, lips twitching, but sighed softly and left.
Moments later, the halted carriage lurched back into motion.
Talia pulled the thin summer blanket up to her shoulders. The subsided pain flared again, her skin prickling as if searing. Tossing and turning while stifling groans, she squeezed her eyes shut to escape the torment.
At dusk, a plump mage came to cast recovery magic.
Talia accepted his touch silently. She loathed being touched by others, but she had no strength left to refuse.
"I'll burn some incense to dull the pain. It should ease it considerably."
Having heard she'd refused medicine, the mage placed a small censer at the entrance and lit it.
Thick smoke filled the carriage instantly. About to snap at him to stop, Talia felt her taut nerves loosen and relaxed her shoulders.
The bone-deep pain gradually faded, her consciousness blurring. It seemed he'd burned a sedative herb.
She welcomed the oncoming drowsiness. But sleep didn't last long. Soon, the pain surged back fiercely.
Moaning as she woke, Talia struggled to lift her eyelids. She should call the mage to burn more incense.
Rubbing her throbbing head, she pushed herself up with effort—then her breath caught.
Talia's eyes widened as she scanned the thick darkness.
She couldn't tell what had startled her.