different from other women. They all played one game or another. “It shows off what few curves you have, admirably. Now, back to helping me leave here.”
Tig chewed her bread, looking extraordinarily pleased with herself. “I told you, already. If you’re going back to create murder and mayhem, then you do it alone. Where do you come from, really? What’s all this
my world
, business?”
She had the brains of a court jester. A shrewd mind hidden behind a façade of flippancy and deceptively simple words. He’d promised her the truth.
“I’m from another dimension. A world far from this one in time and in space.” He braced himself for laughter, or a witty come-back. Incredulity, even. Tig simply scrutinised him with half-closed eyes while she sipped her tea.
“When I lived in my husband’s camp, I often talked with his mage. He told me many strange stories. Not sure how much was truth and how much exaggeration. Most mages are frauds, anyway. All talk and mumbo jumbo that’s meant to impress but doesn’t do squat but make you poorer. Fabian, I think you maybe hit your head harder than you realised.”
“There was a treacherous betrayal. I was made to take the Dark Fall.”
“The Dark Fall?”
“An abyss that cycles through time and dimensions. A kind of purgatory where men confront their sins. For my sins, I ended up here.”
“Then you must have been bad.”
Tig continued eating and then, after a moment of thought, she extended a hand and covered his, offering the pity he’d begged for so desperately, back in the desert.
“I was. Very bad, as you so eloquently put it. A thousand of our years bad.”
“So, you just fell out of the sky after a thousand years in purgatory, and now you want to go home so you can slaughter everyone who did you wrong? Have I missed anything?”
“That sums it up, yes.”
She turned his hand over to study the lines of his palm. Her gaze lifted to his face. Reaching out, she stroked his stubbled chin. “You’ve a day, maybe two day’s growth of beard. Unless your attackers shaved you before leaving you to die, you weren’t out there long.”
“During the Fall, I felt only pain and fear. Other things became irrelevant.” He caught her gaze, daring her to mock his words
“Fabian. You said you would speak only the truth from now on.”
“My word is sacred.”
“I know.” Tig returned to her tea. “That’s what’s scaring me. Eat more. You need the strength.”
“I need to go home. With or without your help. Lend me a weapon and tell me where the nearest township is. The Frey, are they creature, or man?”
“They’re carrion birds that only feast on dead flesh, which you will be within two days of leaving here. That, or in the slave market, although, with that tattoo, it will probably be a public execution. It’s as good as the mark of Crolos to some people. And even if you did get to the township alive, you wouldn’t find a mage clever enough to magic you back through your black hole.” Tig pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. She tapped the side of her head. “Is this getting through to you? If you want to be dead by tomorrow, then walk out that door right now. I won’t stop you.”
No mage clever enough to get him back?
His insides plunged into his boots. He did not doubt his ability to survive this world, but the rest could only be achieved by magic. Unless she lied to keep him here.
“No,” she said, catching his accusing look. “I know I promised to help you, but that was before all this. It’s beyond me. I couldn’t if I wanted to.”
A growing panic propelled him from his own chair. He lurched at the sword, propped by the stairs. Every moment away made a victorious return less likely. Never mind that he had last stepped foot on Anxur a thousand years ago.
“Will anyone even remember you if you get back?”
“Time will have moved more slowly for those left behind, but I will have become the stuff of legends. They will
Tig chewed her bread, looking extraordinarily pleased with herself. “I told you, already. If you’re going back to create murder and mayhem, then you do it alone. Where do you come from, really? What’s all this
my world
, business?”
She had the brains of a court jester. A shrewd mind hidden behind a façade of flippancy and deceptively simple words. He’d promised her the truth.
“I’m from another dimension. A world far from this one in time and in space.” He braced himself for laughter, or a witty come-back. Incredulity, even. Tig simply scrutinised him with half-closed eyes while she sipped her tea.
“When I lived in my husband’s camp, I often talked with his mage. He told me many strange stories. Not sure how much was truth and how much exaggeration. Most mages are frauds, anyway. All talk and mumbo jumbo that’s meant to impress but doesn’t do squat but make you poorer. Fabian, I think you maybe hit your head harder than you realised.”
“There was a treacherous betrayal. I was made to take the Dark Fall.”
“The Dark Fall?”
“An abyss that cycles through time and dimensions. A kind of purgatory where men confront their sins. For my sins, I ended up here.”
“Then you must have been bad.”
Tig continued eating and then, after a moment of thought, she extended a hand and covered his, offering the pity he’d begged for so desperately, back in the desert.
“I was. Very bad, as you so eloquently put it. A thousand of our years bad.”
“So, you just fell out of the sky after a thousand years in purgatory, and now you want to go home so you can slaughter everyone who did you wrong? Have I missed anything?”
“That sums it up, yes.”
She turned his hand over to study the lines of his palm. Her gaze lifted to his face. Reaching out, she stroked his stubbled chin. “You’ve a day, maybe two day’s growth of beard. Unless your attackers shaved you before leaving you to die, you weren’t out there long.”
“During the Fall, I felt only pain and fear. Other things became irrelevant.” He caught her gaze, daring her to mock his words
“Fabian. You said you would speak only the truth from now on.”
“My word is sacred.”
“I know.” Tig returned to her tea. “That’s what’s scaring me. Eat more. You need the strength.”
“I need to go home. With or without your help. Lend me a weapon and tell me where the nearest township is. The Frey, are they creature, or man?”
“They’re carrion birds that only feast on dead flesh, which you will be within two days of leaving here. That, or in the slave market, although, with that tattoo, it will probably be a public execution. It’s as good as the mark of Crolos to some people. And even if you did get to the township alive, you wouldn’t find a mage clever enough to magic you back through your black hole.” Tig pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. She tapped the side of her head. “Is this getting through to you? If you want to be dead by tomorrow, then walk out that door right now. I won’t stop you.”
No mage clever enough to get him back?
His insides plunged into his boots. He did not doubt his ability to survive this world, but the rest could only be achieved by magic. Unless she lied to keep him here.
“No,” she said, catching his accusing look. “I know I promised to help you, but that was before all this. It’s beyond me. I couldn’t if I wanted to.”
A growing panic propelled him from his own chair. He lurched at the sword, propped by the stairs. Every moment away made a victorious return less likely. Never mind that he had last stepped foot on Anxur a thousand years ago.
“Will anyone even remember you if you get back?”
“Time will have moved more slowly for those left behind, but I will have become the stuff of legends. They will
Similar Books
