The Last Stand (The Eleven Years War: Book One) (Wattys 2019)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ulrick felt like hell.

Everything hurt, from his ribs to his arm. Especially his arm. He was pretty sure that he broke it at some point, last night. But, judging by his surroundings, they'd made it to Airde. And he was laying down in one of the beds of the medical barracks, and Doc had gone and stitched him up. And... and...

He grimaced, fanning the air by his nose with his hand. "What the hell is that smell?"

"I... sorry." Eza was sitting on a stool next to his bed, and between his and Elise's bed. Thank the Gods, she was awake! For a minute, he hadn't been sure that she would make it to Airde. "That would be Silas: his stench has lingered much longer than it usually does."

"Silas?" Ulrick asked. He began to sit up, but he didn't make it all the way up: he had to lay back down. "What do you mean, Silas?"

Eza began to rub the back of her neck. "Remember that time I told him that his belching after eating Chubb's curry could wake the dead?"

Ulrick shot up, putting the fabric of the quilt up by his nose. He hated to think it, but that dingy old quilt smelled better than the rest of the air around him, now infected by Silas. "Oh, sweet Gods! Why did he do that? And why the hell did you let him?"

"I didn't realize it was happening until it was too late." But, Eza didn't seem all that apologetic about it. Not that that was abnormal or anything. "I suggest you break his jaw once you feel up to it."

Ulrick nodded. He didn't want to open his mouth, nor did he want to breathe through his nose. Silas' belches were pretty rank, of course, but... well, he knew that it was ridiculous, but part of him wondered whether or not he could catch some sort of disease. Like... whatever thing made Silas the way he was.

"It's good to see you, Eza," Ulrick said. "And... I'm happy to see that you're alive, Elise."

Elise smiled faintly. Weakly, but... well, she was alive. At that moment, it was all that mattered to him.

"Where is Silas, anyway?" Ulrick asked.

"I don't know: I just told him to go find someone else to harass," Eza said. "Now that I think about it, that was probably the wrong thing to say."

"I don't know Silas that well, but... I think you're right," Elise said. "He seems like the kind of person that you can't-"

Her voice trailed off when she realized that Ulrick and Eza were looking at her. Her cheeks immediately got red, embarrassed, and she looked down at her hands.

"Sorry," she said. "I shouldn't speak like that about the commander of the Intelligence Service."

It was quiet for a few seconds, until Eza began to chuckle.

"Ulrick, I don't know who this girl is, but she's kind of funny," Eza said. She looked over at Elise. "Don't worry about speaking ill of Silas: he's an idiot. We all know it, including him." She looked back at Ulrick. "Who do you think he latched onto, anyway?"

And then, Eza got a look on her face. She groaned, putting one hand on her temple.

"What?" Ulrick asked.

"Polain got in early this morning," Eza said.

Oh, hell!

Eza stood up. "Hate to rush out on you like this, but I've got to go save Polain from the monster I created."

She left the barracks.

Ulrick looked over at Elise. She couldn't seem to look him in the eye, as if she were ashamed.