It’s a rare day, Ash thought, when a person actually wants to attract the attention of the King’s Guard of Arden.
Ash looked around. There was the washtub full of rum, some putrefying dead rabbits, his healer’s kit. A sick dragon. Nothing much to work with.
“If not for this bloody collar, I could at least give them a warm welcome,” Ash muttered.
Lila stared at him. Licked her lips. Looked shifty-eyed and guilty.
“What?”
“I think I can help you with that.” Digging into her carry bag with her good hand, she pulled out a small silver object. “Turn around so I can get at your collar.”
“What’s that?” Ash asked suspiciously, turning around.
He could feel her fumbling at the back of his neck. “It’s a . . . it’s a sort of a key.”
“A key.”
“To open the collar.” Lila was obviously struggling to operate the device with one hand.
“You have a key to open mage collars,” Ash said in a flat, deadly voice.
“Well, it stands to reason that there would be keys,” Lila said brightly. “Otherwise, there would be no way to get them—bloody bones!” Growing impatient, the dragon had nudged Lila’s leg, startling her. She flailed backward, ending up on her butt on the floor, nearly eye to eye with the dragon. The key landed next to her with a soft clank.
“Shhh!” Ash hissed, looking up at the ceiling.
“That—that—it—”
“It’s all right,” Ash whispered, stepping between Lila and the dragon. “It’s not in any condition to hurt you.” He hoped. He scooped up the key and handed it back to Lila. Knelt and took a closer look at her face. Don’t you dare pass out until you’ve unlocked my collar, he thought, but didn’t say it aloud because he didn’t want to give her any ideas.
He turned around so that she could get at the back of his neck. She fumbled with the collar again. Finally, he heard a soft click, and the collar slid forward a little. Ash gripped it on either side, pulled the halves apart, and dropped it onto the floor. Experimentally, he tilted his head one way, then the other. He fingered his amulet. It was like the floodgates burst open, and magic torrented in.
Above their heads, Ash could hear voices, startlingly close. “The scent is stronger right around here.” A cold finger of fear ran down his back when he realized that they were scenting his blood.
He turned to look at Lila, who was by now propped against the wall, eyes glazed with pain.
Squatting next to her, he began to unbutton her jacket. She took hold of his wrist with her good hand. It was slippery with blood. “No,” she said. “I’m all right. Save your strength. You’re going to need it.”
“Shut it,” Ash murmured, gently pulling free. “I’m just going to see what’s going on. I might be able to slow down the bleeding.” He decided to keep her talking. “How’d you do with the explosives?”
“The ship’s all wired and ready,” Lila said. “For all the good it does us.”
“Could you set it off from here?”
“No.”
“I’m not saying now. I’m saying if it comes to that.”
“I’m not blowing up this ship with you on it. I promised my da I’d keep you alive, and I mean to keep that promise.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a key before now?”
“Well,” Lila said, “I didn’t have a key, not at first. By the time I got one, I was afraid you were going to get killed in an unsuccessful attempt on Montaigne. Or you were going to get caught and ruin my plans.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence.”
“So. As long as you had the collar on, I knew you couldn’t use attack magic to do it. I’m just glad they never traced the snake and the poison back to you.”
“I told you. That wasn’t me.” Ash had continued working, and by now he had exposed the wound, a ragged cut that had bounced off her collarbone and into the shoulder. “Good news,” he said, releasing a sigh of relief. “It’s bleeding like a champ, so the risk of dying from poison is just about zero.”
“Hooray,” Lila said.
“If it makes you feel better, you were right. It was a bad idea to come here.” Ash pressed his fingers into the wound, trickling in magic. He had no time to do any diagnostics, but given the location of the wound, the blade was unlikely to have hit anything vital. Still, he had to stop the flow of blood, or Lila would bleed out.
A minute, two minutes, and the flow slowed to a seep. She could live with that. He took off his cloak and laid it over her to keep her warm.
Something bumped Ash’s shoulder. He turned, and it was the dragon again, looking at him rather plaintively.
“Look,” he said, “you’re going to have to wait your turn. I’ve got way too many patients, and vampire priests trying to get in, and—”