The Way We Fall

Chapter 195 (Finn)

TW: Bl00d and d3ath

"What is this?" Finn snarled, one hand pressed against the gushing wound in his side as he levered himself up. All around him, people dressed in clinically starched white clothes screamed and ran. Irritation crackled through Finn's pain. He ignored the radiating forks of pain in his side as he reached out and seized one of the rushing healers by the wrist. The woman was young, just out of adolescence. She flinched at the sudden touch, her blond curls bouncing around her face as she struggled to free herself. Finn yanked her towards him harshly. "Why did she send me here?" he growled, his tone dark and menacing. The woman squealed in terror, and Finn rolled his eyes, giving her a shake. "Answer me!"

The woman merely sobbed in fear. Finn released her with disgust, his mind racing. The Ala wasn't a complete fool. She must have some torture in store for him, some ultimate punishment to bring about his demise.

Finn winced, dragging himself upright as the shrieks around him seemed to fade. It didn't matter, he assured himself. He was a king. A warrior and a scholar. An inkblood who had ruled the Council of Seven. It did not matter what trap the Ala had planned for him because he would thwart her, just like he always had.

He would not give up.

He stared amongst the sea of faces crowded around his body. Oily revulsion filled him at the sight of their petrified faces. Cowards, the lot of them. They had condemned him with their fear, had stood by as Romulus had tortured him once. And now they were ready to torture him again on the Ala's behalf. They would pay, Finn swore, just as everyone else would he. He just had to find a way out of this first.

Blood sank into the cracked skin of his fingers as he laid back, the room spinning. He reached for his inkblood again, a dull ache rumbling through his bones. He bit back an exclamation of pain, his thoughts whirling in his darkening mind.

Okay, he had no strength left to wield his inkblood.

That didn't matter. He had been formidable without it, once. He still had his words after all. They were all he needed.

"You!" Finn's voice cracked through the cacophony of the tent as he lifted his head, meeting the eyes of the woman he'd restrained moments ago. She squeaked, tears still staining her cheeks. Finn pinned her place with his gaze before she could flee yet again. "Where are we?"

The woman ran her tongue over her lips, trembling as she whispered, "M-Moiris."

"Who are you?" a broad shouldered man with blond hair demanded. Finn vaguely recognised his regal grey cloak and insignia stitched on his shoulder. A knight. One of Tigris'. He sighed. This wasn't going to be easy.

"I am someone you are quite familiar with, I'm afraid," Finn announced, flashing an easy going smile at the gathered crowd, "If you have come to Moiris, you must know who I am. And you will help me or face ruination."

The knight unsheathed his sword, forcing back part of the crowd with a sweep of his muscled arm. "You're Finnegan."

"King Finnegan," Finn corrected, fighting back a grimace. His wound needed healing immediately. "The rightful ruler of the land. Now, you will let the healers aid me or face punishment."

The knight sneered. "Yeah right. You won't find any friends in this tent, your Majesty. Go inkblood yourself into your grave, it looks like you don't have very long left to live."

Unfortunately, he was right. If Finn didn't get help soon, he would be as good as dead. His jaw clenched before he could stop it, and he opened his mouth to argue. But another voice sliced through the tense air first.

"What's going on in here?"

Finn's breath lodged in his throat at the sound of that voice. Kai burst into the tent, one hand on his sparse weapons belt as his sharp eyes swept across the gathered crowd before him. All faces turned to watch as the queen's betrothed's eyes locked on Finn's battered face.