The whole situation was fucking hilarious.
Rudra found Tish in one of the quarters at the far end of the town, wrapped in a blanket. Pale. Shivering.
Nayan was doing her best to console her, something she was not exactly good at.
"It's just two fingers," she crooned. "You can still pick up spoons since your thumb is intact."
Tish whimpered.
Mamon scooted close, shaking like a leaf. "Saintess, I—"
"I told one of your men!" Nayan snapped. "What was his name? Oh yes, Yakov! Didn't he inform you something was amiss?"
Mamon opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. "Nobody has visited me in the bathhouse."
"Damn Yakov! Damn them all!" Nayan barked.
Konstantin, who had taken shelter under the bed, bleated.
Percival Leonhart stood by the head of the bed, hair dripping, wearing the same white shirt Rudra had failed to make him take off at the bathhouse. He had put on trousers that had gone damp. But he remained frozen, eyes fixed on Tish's curled figure. He didn't look angry, which was somehow more concerning. He just watched Tish as she fell quiet, falling asleep or passing out, Rudra couldn't tell which.
At some point Rudra had fetched another bowl of cabbage soup for himself and perched by the window. Mamon had left the room. Percival had sat down on the floor by the bed, hugging his sword.
"Rudra," Nayan came to lean on the wall beside him. "This village. It's... different. That child," she looked at Rudra, "was not normal."
"Gods, Nayan," Rudra said dryly. "I didn't take you for someone who bullies idiots."
Nayan neither laughed nor combusted with anger. She stared.
"I am joking," Rudra said. "So? What do you suggest?"
"I suggest we start at the kitchen," Nayan said abruptly. "We check their diets, because I need to know what they are smoking to act so high—"
"Nayan," Rudra cut in. "We are not doing that." A pause. "We are leaving."
Nayan blinked. "You can't be serious. You saw her. She was bleeding—!"
Her voice rose. From the corner of his eye, Rudra noticed Percival lifting his head to watch.
"Quiet down," Rudra said. "She has an army." His eyes flickered to Percival. "She has him. The man who is supposed to kill me."
"Rudra—"
"Nayan," Rudra's voice grew stern. "Nobody wants us here," and it was true, which made it a very good lie. The other reason he kept firmly out of his head.
Nayan's eyes widened.
"You know that," Rudra insisted. "We have overstayed."
Nayan frowned. "This isn't like you," she whispered.
"I have priorities," Rudra said. "And currently they concern saving your life and making sure you and Shia live a long, healthy life."
"I hate you," Nayan croaked out. "I hate that you're making a coward out of both of us."
"It's not cowardice, it's—"
Tish made a groaning noise. In the blink of an eye, Nayan had forgotten Rudra and was at the bedside. Percival stood up. Rudra hung back, not too close to the bed, but not so far that he couldn't see her face.
"Tish," Percival whispered. "How are you feeling?"
Tish didn't speak at first. She started unwinding the bandage around her wounded hand.
"I think we should wait a few more hours," Nayan said gently, catching Tish's hands. "Even though you have healing powers, this can still take time."
"It's fine." Tish pushed Nayan's hand away and continued unwinding until she finally revealed her fingers. They had grown back fully, yet were coated with dry blood. Her ring finger and middle finger were missing their nails, and their colour was a shade redder than the rest of the hand. Tish made a careful fist and then opened it. Testing. Then her hand shook. She quickly hid it under the blanket, blinking fast. "Davin...," she started.
"The soldiers have isolated the family," Nayan told her. "Prince Mamon will probably investigate them himself."
Tish forced herself into a sitting position. "His Highness needs to be more careful. Did Yakov..."
"Yakov is missing," Percival filled in. "This is bad, Tish. We need to leave."
"I don't think they will just let her leave," Nayan snapped. "Didn't you see them? They were literally salivating at the sight of her."
Percival clenched his jaw. "Then we fight."
"There are hundreds of them! Are you unaware of the concept of casualties?"
Percival cocked his head in Rudra's direction. "But we have him."
"Hey now," Rudra finally spoke. "Who told you I'd help? I am leaving. Nayan, you're coming." He tried to sound stern. "That's an order."
"Leaving?" Tish said softly. Rudra looked at her and saw her eyes going wide. He looked away fast. "Yes. Like I said, I'd leave after I helped you find Mirek's body, which I did. The rest is none of my business."
Tish was quiet for so long that Rudra had to look back. He immediately regretted it. She was looking at him with narrowed eyes that had started glowing a little.
There we go again.
"You were so hell-bent on dragging me back to Partha—" she started.
"Because I needed answers!" Rudra retorted. "Why did you save me?"
"Oh?" Tish laughed. Actually laughed. "So you attacked Benevia, burned down our walls—"
"I helped fix them too!" Rudra reasoned. But Tish continued anyway.
"—and then you almost burned down the entire forest of Perma fighting that stupid bird thing—"
"I didn't plan that!" Rudra snapped. But she wasn't listening. Tish kept talking with the single-minded, stubborn mentality Rudra was so annoyed by, the one that always painted him as a villain one way or another.
"—and then you followed us here. And the second things get difficult, you make an excuse and bail!"
"This is not an excuse!" Rudra's voice rose instinctively. The vibration rattled the windows for a second. Nayan looked alarmed. Percival gripped the hilt of his sword, but Tish didn't even blink. She sat on the bed, unimpressed, her hair floating lightly in the holy magic that leaked off her, which she didn't seem to have noticed.
"So what is this?" she pressed. "Did you see another dream? Did you draw conclusions all by yourself?"
Rudra swore under his breath, "He mūrkhe..."
"You know what?" Nayan straightened up and grabbed Percival. "I won't waste my time here. I need to investigate the kitchen!"
Percival looked confused. "Why are you dragging me?"
"To use you as a human shield."
"But—"
"Read the room, dumbass!"
Rudra doubted that Percival could read anything, let alone a room. But he didn't resist, or at least not hard enough to break free of Nayan's grip. They stumbled out of the room together.
"Try not to murder each other," Nayan said as she closed the door behind her. "Dead bodies are hard to get rid of."
And with that, they were gone, leaving Rudra alone in the room with the one person in the world hardest to reason with.