'What do you have in mind?' the guard finally asked.
'Another tub of clean, warm water, towels, bandages, any salves that might be handy and anything for pain that you can get your hands on.'
When the guard stood motionless, Tazi snapped, 'Look, Naglatha spared his life at my request. Right now, she wants me, and I suspect she'd do a fair bit to see that I at least have the illusion of happiness. If you don't get me at least some of those items, the only thing that is going to please me at the moment will be to see you try to fiold your own with that griffon, and I won't hesitate to tell her that. Now go!'
Tazi could see that Milos contemplated her words very briefly before shutting the door. Maybe he even went to get me some supplies, she thought ruefully. She turned her attention back to the dwarf who needed help regardless. Careful not to move him unnecessarily, she rose slowly and went to the table where the tub of old water and linens were. The water was dirty but would do in a pinch if that was all she had to work with. She found a few linens that were still fresh, and she began to rip them into strips that she could use as makeshift bandages. While she was gathering up what supplies she could, Milos pushed open the door with his shoulder. His arms were full of gauze, salves, a fresh tunic and a few other items Tazi could not easily recognize. Heraclos marched in behind him with a small basin of steaming water. Tazi moved the small table against Justikar's cot and motioned to it.
'Just put all that here,' she directed them. The bodyguards obliged silently and stacked the medical supplies carefully on the small stand. Without a word to her or a backward glance at the dwarf, the two filed out. Tazi shrugged, pleased that she at least had something for the dwarfs injuries. Then she set about cleaning him up.
Tazi took one of the clumps of gauze and dipped it into the warm water. She wrung out the excess moisture and began to very delicately clean out some of the dirt and debris from Justikar's wounds. As soon as the warm, moist cloth touched the dwarf, he moaned and stirred.
'Leave off,' he murmured angrily. 'Don't touch me.'
He feebly tried to swat at her with one hand.
'Just hold still,' Tazi tried to soothe him. 'I want to clean these up a little,' she explained, referring to his messy wounds. 'I'll be quick about it.'
'I don't need you touching me,' he growled, his voice growing stronger as the water roused him some. He squirmed a little, and that caused one of his many wounds to flow more freely.
Tazi threw the bloody cloth on the floor and grabbed the dwarf by his shoulders. As she tried to pin him down, she shouted, 'Keep fighting me, and you're going to bleed to death! Judging by these wounds, dying is something you seem to fight tooth and nail. You've made it this far, so don't ruin it now.' The dwarf lessened his struggles, but Tazi wasn't sure it was because she demanded it, or he was just growing weaker.
'Look,' she explained, 'twice now you owe me your life.'
'What?' he rasped.
'Naglatha would have let her manservants feed what's left of you to that griffon if I hadn't asked for your life.' The duergar managed a snort, and Tazi smiled slightly. 'That's right; thanks to me you get to continue to breathe, at least a little while longer. The deal she and I struck was that Naglatha's to give you your freedom in exchange for your assistance. Just like me.'
'I see,' Justikar whispered painfully.
'I agree,' Tazi said. 'I don't believe her either, but it buys us more time. As for me, I'll consider us even if you help me in this mission she's scheming. Do that,' Tazi added, 'and we're quit of any debt between us. Agreed?'
The duergar mumbled something unintelligible to Tazi. She knew he was angry but counted on the fact that he hated to be obliged more. She picked up a fresh bit of gauze and started on his wounds again. When he didn't squirm, Tazi smiled and suspected they had a deal.
She continued the long process of cleaning his injuries of debris. She had learned the hard way that if they weren't cleaned well, infection and scarring could set in. Her right wrist still bore the scars of a dog attack she had suffered as a child. She had been afraid to tell her father about it and had hidden the injury. It was only after it started to fester that she told anyone at all. Tazi's mother had her healed, but asked that a scar remain to remind her daughter of foolish choices.
As she dabbed at the wounds, she saw the dwarfs shoulders tense in pain, though he remained stoically silent throughout her ministrations. Tazi attempted a trick, of sorts, to take his mind off of his cuts.
'So,' she asked him casually, to distract him from what she had to do, 'just how did you manage to slip out of here last night?' She was about to ask the question again, uncertain if Justikar had heard her or if he was simply trying to ignore her again, when he turned his head the other way on the pillow to face her. She could see his left eye had swollen almost shut. He peered at her through a narrow slit.
'Wouldn't you like to know?' he replied, and Tazi was certain there was almost a moment of bantering between them.
'Actually, I would like to know,' she answered with a touch of admiration in her voice. 'After all, not only did you get past me, but past those two,' she paused to hook a thumb toward the door, 'as well.'
'Simple enough,' he hissed as Tazi worked on a particularly deep gash.
'Really?' Tazi prodded, continuing her work.
'Yes,' he answered. 'Those two guards aren't that sharp, and it didn't take me long to get past them. I have a 'skill' when it comes to types like them.'
'You'll have to share it with me,' Tazi told him. 'All right, so you got past those two. Then what happened? ' As she questioned him, Tazi examined him to see if any ribs had been damaged in the attack.
'I was going to make my way to the Sunrise Mountains, because they were the closest,' he explained. Tazi realized he must have been in serious pain to have been so forthcoming. She rummaged around on the table to see if any of the bottles or sundries that Milos brought might be something to relieve pain. She wasn't sure of most of their contents.
'Don't bother with that garbage,' Justikar said through gritted teeth. 'I wouldn't trust that tainted stuff. I'll be fine without it.'
'I'm sure you will, but why turn away something you might need?'Tazi countered. 'Your bleeding-'
'It will stop in snort order,' he informed her. 'My family wasn't just given the surname 'Stoneblood.' We have it. It'll start to thicken up soon enough. Though,' he grudgingly admitted, 'I suppose it was smart to clean those scrapes out.'
When he closed his eyes for a moment, Tazi smiled. She didn't want him to catch her laughing at his admission. 'So,' she prompted, 'you were going to make your way to the mountains. What happened next?'
'I was close,' he whispered, and Tazi could hear the disappointment in his voice. He kept his eyes closed and continued, 'I had cleared the forest, and I could just see the cool darkness of an inviting tunnel in the foothills ahead of me.'
'And?' Tazi asked.
'And Naglatha's pet bird showed up. You can probably figure out the rest for yourself since you're cleaning up most of it.'
'Tell me anyway,' she said, 'it takes my mind off of the mess back here.'
'If I would have had any real weapon on me,' Justi-kar defended his loss, 'I could have fought that thing off. But, unarmed as I was, I suppose it could have been worse.'
'Not by much, I'll wager,' Tazi quipped. She finished up with his wounds and tried to make him a little more comfortable without being obvious about it
'I hurt it, but not enough. The thing caught me with its wings and tossed me around like I was a child's doll. Eventually, I simply played dead. That's when it dragged me back here,' he ended. 'Must've had orders to bring me back regardless of my condition as proof that it succeeded.' Tazi moved the small table aside and brought a chair over near his cot. She sat down and began to idly sort through the bottles and potions the guards brought.
'It seems, given how things turned out, you were the one who made the right choice here,' he told her reluctantly.
'I tried to tell you,' she replied calmly, 'there was no choice for me. I stay for my family's safety.'
'Mmm…' was all the dwarf said.
'Look,' she told him more softly, 'I don't trust Na-glatha for one moment. She desperately wants a part of some book that's located deep within a place called the Citadel.' Tazi saw him open his swollen eye as far as he
