Tangled Hearts

"Wrap it a little more. There's a deluge outside."

Lara was relieved to find the book she had been searching for, nagging the poor shopkeeper to wrap it in layer upon layer of thick parchment so that the rain wouldn't damage it. Then she tucked it carefully into the inside pocket of her cloak and stepped outside, shivering as sheets of icy rain pelted her in the face. It was freezing and she could barely see the ground in front of her, but she doggedly pulled up her hood and started trudging toward home as fast as the wind and rain would allow.

She hadn't gone more than ten steps before the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. She slowed down, ears straining to pick up any noise. She was sure there was someone behind her, though whether they were following her or just stuck in the rain she didn't know.

There. Lara was positive she heard the sound of running footsteps closing in on her. She quickened her pace, wondering if she was being silly and paranoid. It was probably just the darkness playing tricks with her mind-

Lara let out a startled yelp of surprise as someone grabbed onto her arm. A disheveled man stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes. His pupils were so dilated she could barely see the whites around them. He shouted something that sounded like incomprehensible gibberish.

"Let me go," Lara snapped, trying to pry her arm free. His grip tightened she and winced. He babbled more nonsense, tugging at his hair with his free hand. Wonderful. She was cornered in the rain by a crazy man. He started trying to pull her and Lara lashed out with her foot, kicking him hard in the shin with the heel of her boot. He howled and shoved her roughly.

Lara lost her balance and fell hard, her head smacking the jagged cobblestones that lined the path. The edges of her vision blurred for a moment, her head pounding. The crazy man seemed to forget about her, running off and disappearing into the night. Groaning, Lara sat up. The movement made her stomach lurch and everything seemed to be spinning. It took her several agonizing minutes to get back on her feet, and then she stumbled like a newborn foal, nearly falling back down again. She shuffled along for a while, each step making her aching skull protest and her stomach churn unpleasantly.

When she reached the short path that led to Rhett's house she paused, feeling torn. She didn't want to ask that smug idiot for anything; he would probably lord it over her for the rest of time. But at this rate she would drop dead of hypothermia long before she got home, and there was no way she was going to die like that; at the side of the road covered in mud.

Steeling herself, Lara made it up the short pathway and hesitantly knocked on the door. Rhett looked triumphant before he had even opened the door all the way, his usual cocky smirk in place.

"Decided you couldn't handle a little water?" he said. Then he frowned slightly as she pushed her hood back to glare at him with what little strength she could muster. The retort she had lined up died in her throat as she swayed and tripped forward, nearly taking herself and Rhett to the ground.

"Are you falling for me now?" Rhett quipped. "Hey, you're bleeding."

"Your powers of observation are astounding," Lara said scathingly. "No wonder they made you a general."

Rhett had to half carry her to the one chair in the whole little house and she practically fell into it.

"Leave it to you to still be mean when you're bleeding from head trauma. What happened?"

"Some man tried to attack me," Lara mumbled. "I kicked him and he pushed me, and I fell and hit my head."

"It looks pretty bad. You should let me clean it up."

"Don't patronize me by pretending to care about my well being," Lara snapped. "I'm not here to be your damsel in distress. I just need to rest for a few minutes until the rain clears and everything stops spinning so much." She shed her soaking cloak and reached up to touch the injury, wincing. Her hand came away bloody, despite how much blood the rain must have washed away.

"I don't need to have Caspian's cousin bleed to death in my kitchen," Rhett said. "And you're not going to be in any condition to walk home if you keep letting it bleed like that. Just let me clean it up a little, you can have the castle healers deal with it later."

Lara gave him a long, stony stare. "Fine," she finally agreed. "Just hurry up."

Rhett rolled his eyes and rummaged in a small dresser while Lara looked around. He really did adhere to the "living minimally" creed of his faith. The house was tiny and sparsely furnished; nothing more than what he needed. Lara felt slightly claustrophobic. She preferred wide open places, preferably empty ones, so she could pretend that she had a whole world to herself. You could barely move anywhere in Rhett's tiny shack without bumping into something. She was crammed into the space with him, feeling like he must be within arm's reach no matter where he stood. Lara hated being confined with people. At least it was clean.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when he brushed her hair off of her temple and started gently dabbing at the wound. He chuckled faintly.

"Relax, I'm just cleaning away the blood so I can disinfect it and put a bandage on. Like I said, you should have the castle healers look at it when you get back. They can even stop it from scarring."

"Wouldn't want me to scar," Lara said flatly. Rhett had to use a few cloths to clean away the blood and some splattered mud, and Lara kept her gaze focused on the used cloth to keep her mind off of how small the space was.

"Good thing the sight of blood doesn't bother you," Rhett remarked.

"Haven't you heard the rumors? I drink blood every morning for breakfast."

"That doesn't sound particularly sanitary."

A laugh started to escape her lips, startling her. She quickly snapped her mouth closed and schooled her features back into indifference. Rhett's hands were surprisingly capable and gentle as he cleaned her injury and placed gauze on it. But she supposed being in the military meant he'd had to learn a thing or two about medical care. She squeaked in surprise when a tiny, furry thing came rolling out of Rhett's pillow case and chirped at her.

"That's Gus," Rhett said. "I found him on the battlefield in Farewyth. No idea what he is, but I call him a floof."

"Farewyth is on a ley line of magical power," Lara said, letting the little creature hop into her hands. "About two hundred years ago there was a freak magic surge, and ever since they get a lot animals popping up with strange mutations."

"That's kind of cool. How did you know that?"

"I read." Lara rolled her eyes. Rhett finished bandaging her head and cleaned up. He boiled some tea and mashed up some minty-smelling leaves into it.

"These are from Lily's greenhouse," he said. "They'll help with the pain."

She accepted the cup he handed her and sipped the tea. It tasted sweet and she quickly drank the rest of it. The pain in her head almost instantly began to subside.

"Did you find that book you were after?" Rhett asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. Lara's eyes widened and she started digging frantically into her cloak pockets. She pulled the book free and tore through the paper, relieved to find that the book hadn't gotten wet or muddy.

"Sentimental value?" Rhett guessed, watching her.

"Harrison wrote it," Lara said, her lips curving into a soft smile as she traced her fingers over the embossed title and author name.

"Your brother, right?"

She nodded. "He teaches at the university here now. Several copies of this were printed, and he had mailed us one. But of course my mother didn't think it was important and lost it." Lara wrinkled her nose in disgust. "He's so proud of this. I had to find a copy of it to keep."

She cradled the book gently in her hands, flipping through the pages. Gus perched in her lap and seemed to be reading it along with her. She laughed, patting the top of his head. He quivered and sprung from her lap to her shoulder, nuzzling beneath her hair. Lara giggled as his soft fur tickled her. He hopped from her neck to the top of her head and sat there like a little hat, chirping happily.

Lara clutched her book to her chest and surveyed the room, casually opening the top drawer of Rhett's dresser.

"Hey," he said. "Don't snoop in my things."

"Like there's anything else to do in this mouse hole you call a house," she retorted. She pulled out a well worn copy of the Holy Book of Light, opening it carefully and skimming the pages. She could see Rhett watching her warily as she slowly turned the pages.

"Don't worry, General. I won't hurt your book," she assured him. She slid her fingertips lightly over the words; they were faded and the pages soft. Rhett had probably skimmed these pages countless times. The edges of the pages were gold sheaf and even the words shimmered slightly.

"The priestesses print and bind these by hand, don't they?"

"Yes."

"It's very beautiful," she murmured absently. "It must have taken years to put this together. And the illustrations are breathtaking." She closed the book slowly and set it back in the drawer before moving on to the next one. Several shirts were folded neatly inside, two little vials of brightly colored liquid on top. Lara pulled them out and arched an eyebrow.

"Aren't these charms technically illegal?" she asked. Rhett shrugged.

"Technically. Are you finished digging through my things yet? Unless you wanted to see my underwear."

Lara made a face, tossing the vials back into the drawer. She realized the sound of rain pounding against the roof had stopped.

"I should go," she said, rising gingerly. She tugged her cloak back on and slipped Harrison's book into the pocket. Rhett stood up from his spot on the bed and Lara had to tilt her head up slightly to look at him, feeling weird being so close to him. Gus chirped again and hopped from her head into her hands. She planted a kiss on top of his furry head before handing him back to Rhett.

"You're kind of blocking the door," she said.

"My apologies." He turned sideways and edged over, dramatically holding his arm out to indicate the open path to the door. Lara rolled her eyes but paused in the doorway. She sighed and looked over her shoulder.

"Thanks," she said quietly. Then she shut the door and hurried away before he could reply.



Lara mostly stayed in her house for the next three days, not wanting Caspian to see the gash on her head and ask what happened. She was finally drawn out of her seclusion when she received an invitation to a sort of mock tournament at the castle. She wasn't at all surprised to see that Greyson Dampierre was participating. Sometimes the noble men liked to get together and stage jousts or hunts or other general manly activities to relieve their boredom. In this case, fencing and archery. She considered not going, but then decided it could be fun watching a bunch of pompous nobles making fools of themselves.

"I'm glad you came," Caspian said when she arrived, pulling her into a hug. "I've missed you."

"How could I possibly miss this?" Lara said. Even Annemarie and her parents had decided to sit in on the fun, sitting in the royal box in the row below Alec and Lily. Belle was sitting next to Annemarie, both twins balanced on her lap. Rhett was lounging in front of the royal box with Holden and a couple of his other military friends. Caspian tugged Lara up into the box with him. She noticed a few of the men in the mock tournament catch sight of her and elbow each other.

As they paraded by and toward the ring set up for fencing they all cat called her and promised to win in her name. Lara sat stone still and expressionless through all of it, though Caspian continuously rolled his eyes. Greyson beat everyone else at sword play, emerging the champion. The archery contest came next, and one big-mouthed man whose name Lara couldn't remember joked that there should be a prize.

"Traditionally the winner receives a kiss or token of good will from a pretty woman," Greyson replied.

"Do you think Lady Everhart would deign to kiss the winner?" another one; Marcus Hethalion; asked slyly. Lara offered a tight smile when dozens of pairs of eyes landed on her.

"Of course I'll grant favor to the winner," she said silkily. The competitors jostled each other again, though Greyson looked far too sure of himself. He was confident he would win the archery contest just as he had won the sword. The casual cocksure attitude all these moronic peacocks possessed made Lara's blood simmer. By the time they were done showing off and Greyson had successfully hit the most bullseyes, Lara was so irritated she could spit. Instead, she stood.

"Not so fast, gentleman," she called sweetly as they began congratulating Greyson. "Since this isn't a real competition, anyone of noble birth can compete, can't they?"

"Yes," someone replied, looking puzzled.

"Then you won't mind if I try?"

This earned her some condescending chuckles but she kept her expression calm.

"We can humor her. What's the harm in it?" Marcus said, looking amused. He was an Elbian Marquis whose sister had attended school with Lara. The men all bowed as Lara came onto the field. Caspian was smirking slightly from his place in the royal box, though everyone else in the audience ranged from confused to skeptical to intrigued.

"You want to make sure you have good form," Marcus told her, handing her a bow. He winked. "Though we can all see that your form is quite excellent."

More chuckles and agreements at his proclamation. Still Lara didn't bat an eye. Greyson was kind enough to help her into her quiver and stand behind her to show her where to put her feet and how to hold the bow.

"Just aim, and release as you exhale. Make sure you breathe from deep in your diaphragm," he instructed quietly into her ear, placing a hand against the spot just below her lungs for emphasis. His hand lingered longer than needed but Lara refrained from snarling at him. The men backed away as Lara raised the bow, smirks still on their faces. Lara nocked an arrow and drew a deep breath. Then she let the arrow fly.

It struck the first target right in the center. A murmur went through everyone assembled. After that Lara nocked arrows at rapid speed, moving down the rows of targets and striking each one dead in the center. When she reached the three targets Greyson had used, her arrows cleaved straight through the ones he had shot. All three of them.

"How was my form?" she asked mockingly, shedding her now empty quiver and shoving it at a stunned Marcus. "By the way, Marcus, your form was quite sloppy in the sword competition. But I suppose I can't really fault you for that. You don't have much experience handling something long and heavy."

She turned to hand her bow to Greyson. "It seems this time I'll just have to kiss myself," she said, shrugging. By now everyone gathered to watch seemed to be holding back laughter.

"Thanks for the archery lesson, boys," Lara said, giving them all a sarcastic curtsy. "It was very informative." Then she spun gracefully on her heel and sauntered away.