stupid? “I’ll tell them I measured wrong, I...” It was a weak lie. Would never work. “I... I’ll set this straight. I’ll fix this.” His vision swayed, and he made to push back on his feet, but Albinus’ held on.
“Tauran,” Albinus said firmly. “This was not your fault.”
“But it was!” he insisted. “I commissioned that saddle, I should have thought about—”
“Listen to me.” Albinus’ grip was surprisingly strong for someone so old. “The Sky Guard has had their suspicions about me for years, waiting for the moment they could catch me red-handed. It was going to happen eventually, and I’m honestly surprised it took them this long. You can rest easy, my boy. They’ll have to kill me before I give them your name.” He released Tauran’s hand.
Tauran rose and leaned against the wall, placing a hand over his stomach to try to settle the rising nausea. Albinus’ words jumbled in his mind. “I... I don’t understand,” he said. “Suspicions about what?”
Albinus smiled, the expression resigned. “Making your saddle is far from my first act of treason against the guard, Tauran. It simply nailed my coffin shut.”
Tauran’s eyes narrowed. “Treason.” The word felt like sludge on his tongue. “Did you...” he took a breath. “Did you side with Andreus?”
Albinus gazed at him. The silence in the room was heavy.
Tauran swallowed against the bile in his throat. “By the skies.” He paced, running a hand through his hair. The cell felt suddenly cramped. “You’re a rebel.” He turned toward Albinus. He had known the man since he was a recruit. Albinus had always been kind to him. Tauran had lingered in his shop for hours, listening to the stories the old man had to tell. He’d taken tea with him. Something painful tightened inside him. “All this time?”
“Tauran.” Albinus said his name slowly. “There’s never just one side to a story.”
Sudden rage boiled inside Tauran and he couldn’t hope to control it. He curled his fist and slammed it against the wall, the sound of the impact echoing through the other cells. Sharp pain shot along the back of his hand. “Andreus killed my dragon, damn you!”
Albinus hung his head, his eyes dark. “So many things happened that day that should never have happened. My apology means nothing to you.” He raised his head, “I only want you to rest assured that they will not hear your name from me, no matter how many times they strike me for it.”
Tauran swallowed hard. The sound of the door to the hold opening made him flinch.
“Sir?” the guard called from outside. “Is all well?”
Tauran cleared his throat. “All is well,” he called back. Betrayal curled hot and ugly in his gut. He had to get out. He needed air.
“Tauran.” Albinus said his name again, and Tauran wished he’d stop. “Look after yourself.”
Tauran didn’t answer. He let the cell door fall shut behind him.
He made it ten steps outside the guard grounds before his leg betrayed him. Sharp, agonizing pain shot all the way up his spine and he cried out, sinking onto one knee on the sidewalk. Gingerly, he shifted into a sitting position, shrinking under the curious eyes of passersby. He inhaled shakily, curling a hand tight around his thigh just above the knee. His whole leg felt on fire, like the flesh was slowly stripped from the bone. Beads of sweat gathered on his brow and he squeezed his eyes shut against the stars popping before them. “Shit,” he croaked. He didn’t often get pains like this, but he always dreaded them for their intensity.
Blowing out a breath, he looked around. What could he do? Leyra, as wild as she was, might actually succeed as a distraction. But there was no way he was scaling the stairs of the Sunrise Tower like this.
He needed Kalai.
Forcing himself to stand, he put as much weight on his good leg as he could, limping back toward the guard gates. He felt like a wounded animal, every stranger’s eyes on him enhancing the feeling. At the pounding of his fist, the flustered guard who’d let him out pulled the gate open.
“Get me a coach to the archive,” Tauran gasped.
CHAPTER 22
“I’ve sorted them into categories.” Kalai placed each collection of papers into the folder spread open on his desk. “These are weather reports. These are about dragons, and these are more cryptic and don’t fit a category.”
The man nodded. He stood on the other side of Kalai’s desk, paying close attention to Kalai sorting the papers.