The Crow King's Wife (The Elder Blood Chronicles #5)(133)
“Going to carry two people up all those stairs then?” Grim asked as he tossed the third door aside and gazed down at the crumpled figure on the floor. “Bloody hell. Carry one and a half people that is. There isn’t much left of her.” He amended in a sickened voice.
Grimacing at the description Shade nodded once as he stepped calmly into Charm’s cell. He had expected the rogue to come out the moment the way was clear, but there had been no sign of movement. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dimmer shadows inside the cell, but he froze the moment he did. Every surface of the walls was covered in dark script. On the first wall the writing flowed as if a scribe had begun to pen a book on the stone, but as the writing progressed it became shakier and by the time Shade’s eyes reached the broken figure huddled near the wall the words resembled the scratching hand of a child new to his letters.
Shade’s throat tightened painfully as he stared down at the rogue. The man wore little more than a filthy loin cloth and every inch of skin Shade could see was burnt, bruised, or scarred. His long blond hair had been shorn off to rough stubble, but it was the broken wings that caught Shade’s horrified eyes and held them. He had only seen Charm’s wings once before and they had been magnificent, like the angels from his childhood stories. Whoever had tortured Charm had taken the time to pull every feather from the wings and the bones themselves looked broken. Not broken, poorly mended. Shade corrected himself silently. He could tell the bones had been broken at one time, but they were healed now and painful to even look at. Someone had taken measures to ensure that they healed badly and by the way they jutted from Charm’s back Shade doubted there was any position that was comfortable for him to sit in.
“Charm?” Shade ventured quietly and wasn’t surprised in the least by the lack of response in the rogue’s vacant eyes. Nodding absently Shade approached him slowly and knelt. “Charm, it’s Shade. I’ve come to get you out of this place.” He said gently as he wrapped an arm carefully around the rogue’s waist and raised him to his feet taking care to not disturb the broken remains of his mutilated wings.
“Shade, we need to go!” Grim bellowed from the outer room.
“Coming.” Shade replied as loudly as he could manage in his sickened state. “It’s ok Charm. I’ve got you now and I’m getting you out of here. Can you walk at all to help me or do I need to carry you?” Shade asked gently as he took the first step toward the door and realized the rogue was nothing more than dead weight in his arms.
“Leave me.” The words were mangled so badly that it took Shade a long moment to decipher what the rogue had been trying to say. Charm’s face crumpled with shame and his head bowed as he struggled against Shade in an attempt to regain the shadowed corner he had been huddled in.
Swallowing heavily Shade shook his head and fervently hoped he had the chance to deal with whoever had taken Charm’s tongue and destroyed his body. Whoever had tortured him had known their work well. Shade couldn’t even see a glimpse of the charismatic Fionaveir that had been his partner and had risked his life to help him escape the city. “It’s ok Charm. You have nothing to be ashamed of, and I won’t even consider leaving you.” Shade said as he pulled on his Changeling talents to strengthen himself and lifted Charm’s wasted body to carry him.
Grim was waiting just outside the door with an impatient scowl on his face, but his expression softened the moment he saw Charm’s condition. His mouth flattened into a line and he nodded once for Shade to head for the door. “I’ll carry the woman, just concern yourself with him.”
“Faramir did this?” Shade demanded of Lex as he forced the Fionaveir to look at Charm’s wasted form. “Faramir destroyed him like this?” his voice was hoarse as he moved closer to Lex with more rage coursing through his veins than he could ever remember feeling before.
Eyes wide Lex nodded dumbly and took a step back from Shade as if he was afraid Charm’s injuries were contagious. “Faramir was the only one that ever questioned him.” Lex said quietly.
“Then I’ll see that she dies slowly and painfully.” Shade hissed through clenched teeth as he fought back the burning behind his eyes that spoke of unshed tears. “No one that can do this to another living being should be allowed to live. I don’t care what crimes someone has committed they don’t deserve this.” He added in a savage whisper and shook his head fiercely as he headed for the door.
“When the passive soul howls in rage villains cringe like babes.” Grim intoned in an almost musical voice. “Come along my passive soul we need to escape before we can plot vengeance.” He said with a heavy sigh as he shouldered gently past Shade to take point.
“Please don’t mock me right now, Grim.” Shade pleaded weakly as he fell into step behind the larger man.
Grim shifted Ingrid in his arms and glanced over his shoulder at Shade without a hint of amusement on his chiseled face. “I wasn’t mocking, Shade. That’s a line from a song and it seems very fitting right now. I see years of repressed fury in your eyes and I know how powerful you are. When you serve your penance on this Faramir it will be devastating.” He explained with a look of respect shining in his eyes. “I applaud, I approve, and most importantly I will guard your back while you do it. I agree with your words with every ounce of my soul. I may be coldhearted, but I have the decency to kill my prey when I hunt. Whoever did this to these two should suffer the same pain.”