My neck hurts.My eyes snap open in shock.
I should be dead - not sitting on a remarkably hard bed in a spartan room.
The sight of the man on the only chair in the room makes me do a double take.
Those blond locks, playful brown eyes and handsome but boyish looks... It"s a face I didn"t think I"d ever see again.
For a moment, I think I"m still dreaming but my dreams never have details this accurate.
Perhaps I am dead.
"Riel?"
Merely saying the name causes a ridiculous amount of strain on my battered throat.
He gives me a wry smile.
"The one and only."
I frown before closing eyes in acceptance.
"So I am dead, then."
He releases a very undignified snort.
"I"m afraid you"re not that lucky."
I stiffen at the admission.
"Then you"re alive as well."
I open my eyes again when I feel the silence has gone on too long.
He"s still there, but the look in his eyes tells me his mind isn"t even remotely in the vicinity.
With my throat in the state it is I would rather not speak unless necessary.
I mean sure I could -
/Don"t think./
Right, there is one way to get his attention and take out some of my frustration.
I grab one of the pillows and throw it at him as hard as I can.
It bounces off him easily but it achieved its purpose.
He"s looking at me again and I can"t help but want to slap the amused grin off his face.
"Is that really how you react to finding out your husband is alive?"
I have a retort for that, but he"s not worth putting myself through more pain.
I"ll chew him out when my throat heals.
That thought has my brow furrowing.
How did I survive, anyway?
It was with that question circling my thoughts that I fell asleep.
***
I"m alone the next time I wake.
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It doesn"t take me long to realise what woke me.
I am practically starving.
Still, the thought of swallowing food is nearly enough to cause me to wince.
I swallow involuntary and that"s when I notice it.
My throat doesn"t hurt anymore.
I turn my head to check and - sure enough - there"s no pain.
I frown.
I"m not about to complain about being painless but this was unnatu-
/Don"t think./
I push those thoughts from my head and make my way off the bed.
The moment I leave the room I hear voices deep in conversation.
At least three people and of them at least one female.
I hesitate for a moment before heading towards the voices.
If they"d wanted to harm me they could have done so while I was asleep.
I enter the room to realise I was mistaken.
There were 3 occupants yes, but no females.
Instead 2 adult males and a child - also male.
One of the adult males was my husband.
He flashes me a smile when he notices me.
"So sleeping beauty awakes."
I look away to stifle the urge to claw his face off.
Still, I notice the child tugging at his shirt insistently.
"Riel, Riel, hey Riel, is that your wife? She"s pretty."
"Yeah, she is."
It takes me a moment to realise that I"ve seen the child before.
At my hanging.
Of course that also means -
/Don"t think./
"I take it that you all know, then."
"We wouldn"t have saved you if we didn"t."
The third male in the room - a large man with dark hair and darker eyes - spoke for the first time.
Something in his voice has my hackles rising.
It almost sounds as though he believes that having saved me - he now owns me.
"You shouldn"t have bothered."
"Don"t say that, Mrs Riel!"
I"m almost chagrined by the obvious anguish the thought seems to cause the child.
"Do not call me that. I refuse to be referred to as merely the wife of a man who abandoned his family."
"I did what I had to."
"That doesn"t change the fact that your sister is mourning for you."
"I"d rather she mourn me than get caught up in all of this!"
"What exactly is all of this?"
My husband exchanges an uneasy glance with the other man.
"This, Milady, is a rebellion."
I have to stop the mocking laughter that threatens to escape me.
They will not take kindly to that, no doubt.
"A rebellion? Against the king and his court of mages? Are you daft? You"d be killed in an instant."
The child whimpers and draws closer to my husband.
He rests a consoling hand on the child"s shoulder and shoots me what I suppose is a reproving look.
It only highlights the absurdity of this even more.
He is too much of a soft touch to ever hope to stand a chance.
The other man seems to be made of st.u.r.dier stuff and seems more amused by my reaction than anything.
"Before perhaps, but now we have a mage of our own."
I only just barely stop myself from glaring at his smug expression.
"I hope for you sake that you don"t mean me. I have no intentions of joining this rebellion of yours."
"Then what are you going to do, hmm? As far as the world is concerned you"re dead and if you were to resurface you"d just be sent straight back to the gallows."
There was truth to that statement.
Still it was comforting in its own way.
If people believed me to be dead then there"d be no danger to Kent or Arabella.
Of course, Kent would protect Arabella but who would protect him?
He is -
/Don"t think./
/Focus./
Right, the middle of a conversation is hardly the place to drift off into a long internal monologue.
"A lone mage will not turn the course of a battle. The rebellion will be snuffed out - it"d just result in more casualties. I refuse to be involved in this campaign of needless death."
"Needless?! Listen here you pampered little -"
"Larcen!"
The two men glare at each other before the other man - Larcen? - storms out.
"Daddy! Wait for me!"
The child runs after him and I find myself mildly surprised at their relation.
Only mildly though - it"s not like I look anything like my own father.
"Larcen can be abrasive, but don"t hold that against him. He"s lost a lot of people he cares about for this cause."
It is only natural that one would lose people one cares about when undertaking such a hopeless cause.
"He should cut his losses."
"How can you say that? You know the injustice the king subjects people to! He has children taken from their homes the moment they show signs of magic and kills all who object."
"An untrained mage is capable of immense destruction. The training they undergo to become part of his army gives them much-needed control of their abilities."
"If all he was doing was training them that"d be fine but you and I both know that it"s not. He uses the mages to suppress his people and any who object or resist are killed. Heck even you were sent to the gallows for refusing to join his army once he found out what you are!"
"He is the king. We are his loyal subjects."
"You can"t tell me you feel any loyalty to the king who ordered your death."
"I don"t feel any loyalty to you either."
"We saved your life!"
"That was your choice - a choice made in the hopes of recruiting a mage."
"You"re right - we were hoping to recruit you and can you really blame us? A single mage could level a city if they wished!"
"That is precisely why this a horrible idea. Did you even stop to think of the fallout of such a battle? The king could have every village razed looking for you rebels and what about those innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire? What if Arabella was in one of those villages razed?"
I take one last look at his conflicted expression before leaving the room.
I"m not hungry anymore.