The Runner (Part I of the Runner Series)

Chapter 36

I arrive at my attic in a haze of pain and exhaustion. The journey from the Palace, through the Court and into the depths of the Commons took infinitely longer than usual. I stuck to the shadows and back alleys as much as I could, feeling exposed on the ground. More than once I glanced up the side of a building and yearned to make my way home over my rooftops, the ever-present throb in my knee keeping me from them.

My eyes are barely open by the time I reach my dilapidated home. I make my way up the stairs to my room, distantly aware of my landlady clutching a robe around her wiry frame and caterwauling at my appearance.

When I reach the door of my flat, I raise my hand and knock lightly, resting my forehead on the wood frame.

I slump forward as the door opens a crack, my weary body finally succumbing to everything it has been through. I hear Lara exclaim as I fall into her, nestling against her neck and breathing in the familiar scent of home.

"Oh my gods, Kay." She slings my arm around her neck and helps me to the bed, laying me down gently and swinging my legs so that I'm laid out flat.

I give an involuntary yelp when she moves my knee and she jumps back in shock.

"Where does it hurt?" she asks, frantically.

"Most places," I groan, curling up into a ball on the bed. I gesture toward a trunk pushed against the wall. "Could you get me something to wear? I need to get out of this dress."

"Is that what you call it?" She rises obediently and scurries over to the trunk, sifting through its contents. "I'll get you something comfortable to sleep in."

"No, not sleep." I grimace and push myself up into a sitting position, rotating my left leg gingerly and studying it. "I need to go down to the Beacon."

"Are you kidding me? You look as though you've been run over by a carriage."

I crack a smile, immediately regretting it when I feel a bruise pull at the side of my face. "You're not far from the truth." I nod at the shirt and pants she holds in her hand. "That right there will do."

She helps me pull the destroyed green dress over my head, tsk-ing over the state of it, muttering about wastefulness.

I ignore her and reach for the pants. I begin pulling them on, then flinch as Lara gasps, "Oh, Kay."

I follow her gaze, glancing down at my body. She was right when she said I look as though I was run over. Large, ugly bruises tinged with shades of purple and red cover my torso, one particularly nasty-looking contusion wrapping around my ribcage. That explains what I felt crack down there.

"It's not as bad as it looks," I say, absently. Together, we manage to get the pants and shirt on, effectively covering the worst of my damage.

I tear a long strip of fabric off what remains of the green dress, stretching it out and wrapping it tightly around my knee. I'll have to get some more of that medicine from Will.

I reach my hand up and Lara reluctantly helps me to my feet, watching with a tense wariness as I test the weight on my leg and hobble over to the washbasin.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" she asks.

I splash the water on my face and arms, scrubbing as best I can around the cuts in an effort to remove the bulk of the gravel I picked up from the gaol's roof.

"It's a long story. Boring, mostly. I promise I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

I pat my face dry with a towel and move to pull on a spare pair of boots, tucking my trusty dagger down inside. The boots are a size too small, but there's nothing for it at the moment. Once I find Will and make certain Meg is safe, I'll have to find a new place for Lara and I to hide out. It isn't safe to stay here.