Chapter 75: Recovery
I dragged myself up the stairs of the keep, each step a dull spike through my side.
Xu had taken over the Prefect’s old audience hall for her command post. Two of her cavalrymen stood guard at the heavy oak doors, spears held straight. They snapped a crisp salute as I approached. I managed a tight nod in return and pushed through.
The hall was drafty, its high ceiling swallowing the low hum of voices. The Shen family’s mountain-and-river banner still hung from an eastern beam, dusty and forgotten. Xu had shoved the Prefect’s gilded chair of state into a corner like a piece of junk, replacing it with a broad, scarred map table right in the center. Administrator Wen and a tally-clerk were huddled at the far end over a mountain of ledgers, while Fei Liao leaned over the map with Xu, making quick marks with a red brush.
Xu looked up as the door shut, setting her brush down. "Leave us," she ordered them.
They gathered their ledgers without a word. As Fei Liao passed me, his hand brushed my good shoulder. "You look terrible, Squad Captain."
"I feel worse, Lieutenant."
The heavy doors shut, sealing us in.
Xu rounded the table, stopping a step away. She didn't miss a thing. The line of her mouth hardened. "Sit down, Squad Captain, before you collapse on my floor."
I didn't argue. I sank onto a wooden stool at the corner of the table, letting out a breath I felt like I'd been holding since the bridge.