lantairvlea | Yesterday

“We need to go,” Thelus said carefully. “The sedatives only last so long and we want to be well on the road before the rest of them notice we’ve been here.”

Sray nodded and sniffed.

“Here,” Thelus nudged her shoulder. In his hand were a shirt and a handkerchief.

She reluctantly let Kallon go and took the handkerchief. “I’m sorry.” She wiped her face and shoved the soggy cloth into a pocket. “We have to go.”

“I heard.” His voice was still strange and tired. He sat back on his heels, eyes closed. He shuddered. “Shirt’s no good, can’t change.”
Sray had experienced that, too. She shrugged off her outer cloak and threw it around Kallon’s shoulders. “This’ll do and it’ll cover more than just a shirt. Can you walk?”

He grabbed the edges in one hand and nodded. “You can’t carry me the whole way.”

“I might be able to and Thelus could help.”

Kallon looked at Thelus. Kallon had heard about Thelus, Sray trusted him. The older man tossed the shirt onto a pile of clothes behind him and offered a hand. Kallon looked at the offered hands of his sister and the man before stubbornly pushing himself to stand. Sray grabbed his arm as he swayed. He grabbed her shoulder and closed his eyes again, willing the space to stop spinning. He cursed in Getie’an and spoke Ela’yan “Get me out of here.”

Sray pulled his arm over her shoulder and put hers around his back. The stairwell was too narrow for them to go three abreast so Thelus followed them up. Kallon leaned heavily into Sray and put one hand on the wall for support. When they reached the door Kallon was shaking, but it wasn’t from cold. Thelus handed Sray the key so she could unlock the door. She paused and felt through the door before opening it. The guard was still slumped in his chair beside the door.

“You drugged him?” Kallon asked, sounding a little stronger. The shaking had stopped with the brief pause beside the door.

“He should be out for another hour.”

Kallon’s lip curled at the man before he took in the rest of the hallway. “It’s dark.”

“It would have been impossible in the daytime. We didn't want a fight.”

Thelus removed the man from the chair and placed him sprawled along the upper stairs before reclaiming the key from the lock and securing the door behind them with another construct seal.