Chapter 5

They headed out the door and downstairs, but at the foot of the stairway, Rhishandri suddenly gasped. Adara turned to look at her just as she swayed, catching at the wall, then sat down abruptly on the stairs.

A large window spilled bright sunlight across the floor in front of the stairs. Adara glanced at it, frowning. "Oh hell," she said. "Are you okay?"

The girl nodded shakily. "I'm okay, just ... weak, all of a sudden." She made no move to get up, just leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

"How weak?" Adara asked, still frowning as she reached down and pulled the girl up and against her chest, turning to move her out of the light. "Do you need to go back upstairs and rest some more?"

Rhishandri leaned against her for a moment, her eyes still closed, then pulled back. "I'll be fine. It just took me by surprise," she said, but there was enough exhaustion in her voice that Adara wasn't sure she believed it.

"Seriously -- how tired are you?" Adara asked.

"I feel like ... like I've been bled by a healer," she said. "Weak, a bit dizzy, and sick. But I can walk, I think, and I don't want to be alone."

Adara frowned. She should send the girl back to bed. She knew she should. But the hint of pleading in her voice ... if she'd been in a necromancer's dungeons for weeks, she wouldn't want to be alone, either. "Are you hungry again, then?" she asked.

Rhi shook her head. "No, not exactly. Well ... maybe. It's there, but ... I don't think I could, um ... feed ... now. I feel too sick."

"Okay," Adara said, reluctantly. "But stay out of the sunlight, understand?"

"No problem, believe me," Rhishandri assured her fervently.

Adara led her down to the taproom, keeping a worried eye on her. They found Conor waiting in one of the booths, enjoying a large breakfast. Adara raised a hand in greeting as he looked up, and Rhi edged around the splashes of sunlight on the floor, following her to the table. Adara motioned her into the booth first, and then sat down beside her. "Morning," she said.

Conor grinned. "Yes, it is, isn't it? Quite late in the morning, in fact."

She nodded. "Slept late. Had to deal with some other stuff. Complication. We'll need to travel at night."

He glanced at Rhishandri, who had laid her head on her folded arms on the table and let her hair fall to cover her face, and frowned. "The lass not well?"

"I think she'll be all right," Adara said. "But apparently sunlight is ... tiring for her."

"Ah," he said. "I see. That is a complication, but no' a serious one. I'd actually figured on us leaving under cover o' darkness, any event. T'would make things ... easier. Oh, and here..." He reached into the seat beside him and tossed a jingling bag onto the table. "The sell of the ring, minus my fee. Ye'll have to do the provisioning ... t'would arouse questions if I did it. Here's a list of what we'll need to deal with the mountains in winter."

She nodded. "Will we have trouble leaving?"

"Well, you wouldn't," he admitted. "But my employer wouldn't be wantin' to release me from duty right this minute, so I might."

She nodded again, smiling a bit. "I thought that might be the case."

He grinned unrepentantly. "Well, a man's got ta take the chances that come along, now, doesn't he? Take care of that list, pick up anything else ye think we might be needin' and that the dalas can carry, and we'll be headin' out sometime after full dark, eh?"

"Works," Adara agreed, just as the main door opened, throwing sunlight across the table. Rhishandri moaned, turning and ducking down to burrow into Adara's lap, curling up beneath the edge of the table. Adara frowned sharply, laying a hand on the girl's side. "She can't go out there with me, but I don't want to leave her here alone." She watched the door, her jaw tightening as the man stood there with it open for several seconds as he stood talking to someone behind him, before finally entering the inn.

Rhishandri whimpered pitifully, then shuddered when the door finally closed, and went completely limp in Adara's lap.

Conor grimly shook his head. "No, she definitely can't go out there. Unless ... maybe in a hooded cloak?" he suggested.

Adara looked thoughtful. "With a veil ... yeah. That should work," she said.

He nodded and stood up. "I'll see what I can find. Plan a story to account for it, should anyone ask. No sense arousing suspicion. I'll bring the things to your room as soon as I can."

As he headed out the door -- the back door, fortunately -- Adara nudged the girl. "You okay?" she asked quietly, but received no response. She hadn't moved since the door had closed, in fact. Quickly, Adara scooped her up, standing and heading rapidly for the stairs.

She was limp, limper than was normal for a sleeping person ... limp like you only get when the sleep is the permanent sort ... and frighteningly light and frail feeling.