He hadn't gone far, though, when the back of his neck started itching.A lifetime under the watch of a cruel margrave and his loathsome guards had left him acutely aware of when he was being watched.He stopped and looked around, because sometimes just knowing they were seen could be enough to dissuade would-be troublemakers, but nobody stood out to him.
Good mood ruined, he continued on his way, praying fervently that—
He was grabbed, thrown into an alleyway, surrounded by three looming figures."I didn't do—"
One of them punched him in the face, breaking his nose.After that, all he remembered was pain.He was only hazily aware as they went through his pockets and took the money he'd brought with him, destroyed his new purchases just for fun.
Took his leg, laughing snidely and making rude comments he'd heard plenty of times before.
Then they left, uncaring from that point whether he lived or died.Aaralyn lay there, sobbing in pain, until he passed out.
When he woke, an unfamiliar woman was leaning over him."Hedieh…" he said hoarsely."Tell Lady Hedieh I didn't mean to miss…" He passed out again.
The next time he woke, he was in his own room, and a friend of his who was the chamber maid for a particularly difficult noblewoman was sitting nearby knitting."Mehr?"he rasped, then licked his dry lips.
She gasped and threw her knitting aside."Aaralyn, you're awake!Thank the gods!"She hastened to sit next to him on the bed, helped him sit up and offered cold tea."You've been in and out for two days."
After he'd drunk a few sips of tea, no longer so painfully parched, Aaralyn said, "What happened?I remember being mugged, sort of, but that's all."
"Mugged," she said sneeringly."That fathead Lord Feyz had you jumped, and we all know it, even if we can't prove it.Some children found you, fetched the city guards, and apparently you mentioned Lady Hedieh to the healers, so they were able to locate her, and she brought you back here…" She rose."Let me get your medicine.You took quite the beating, Havarin, but the healers say you are recovering well."
"My leg?"Aaralyn asked."I remember they took it."
Mehr hesitated, then shook her head."I'm sorry, we even went to look for it ourselves after work the past two days, but could not find it.All we found was your ruined drawing paper.We did buy more of that for you."
"That was kind of you, Mehr, thank you."
More than the beating, more than the pain, the loss of his leg made Aaralyn want to cry.Even the money he did not care about so much, except that it had been the downpayment on his new leg.All this because the man had been caught shaking him, if it was indeed all because of Feyz.
Nobles.They were all the fucking same.
"It's all right.Once I'm better I can buy a new one."Eventually.The money he had left would buy another cheap one, not the beautiful, fancy one he'd so desperately hoped for, but it would be better than nothing.
Until then, he would just have to manage with his crutch.It would be annoying and humiliating, but those were petty grievances at the end of the day.
"Thank you for sitting with me, Mehr, and for trying to find my leg, and buying me more paper.It's nice to have friends.I didn't really have any back in Havarin.Everyone above and below me thought I was just an uppity third-tier who should be put in my place.Even my parents didn't really know what to do with me, didn't understand why I was allowed to learn to read and write when they weren't, though they loved me."
She hugged him tightly."I'm glad you're not there anymore, even if it means missing your family.I am so sorry this happened to you.We'll get you all fixed up, I promise.Now then, would you like help with a bath or anything?Can you move?"
Moving hurt, certainly, but this was hardly the first time he'd been severely beaten—this wasn't even the worst he'd ever suffered—so he gritted his teeth and got through using the bathroom and getting clean and stretching out properly after almost three days in bed.
By the end of the week, he was almost feeling normal again, and well enough to do some easier work like sketching and planning out the books that needed to be made, though Lady Hedieh, in her never-ending kindness, had told him not to worry about getting work done until he was completely healthy again.
He was refining some sketches late one afternoon when a knock came at his door, a series of loud, sharp raps he didn't recognize."Come in!"he called.
The door swung open to admit a pair of guards…and a concubine, the only one who served Prince Bakhtiar whom he had not encountered up close before, the one who used to be a guard himself.Lord Reza.
Tightly gripping the edge of the table, Aaralyn stood up and bowed as low as he could manage."Good afternoon, my lord.How can I be of service?"There was only silence at first, that stretched on long enough Aaralyn looked up—and tensed to see that Lord Reza was angry."My lord?"
"Master Aaralyn, I was bid by His Highness to see if the rumors of your being assaulted were true.I see regretfully they were.Come with me, if you please."He gestured to one of the guards, who immediately came forward and swept Aaralyn up into his arms.
"I can walk!"Aaralyn protested, face hot.
"No insult is intended," the guard said calmly, smiling ever so faintly."My orders were to see you treated with utmost care and attention.The halls are crowded and people do not pay attention; we do not want anyone aggravating your wounds.Please be at ease."
Aaralyn conceded defeat, though he felt ridiculous in the extreme being carried around like a child, everyone staring as they traveled through the halls—through archways and doorways he'd never seen, portions of the palace he was absolutely certain he shouldn't be anywhere near.
The torment finally ended when they stepped into a beautifully appointed room, all blue and green and silver, with one wall completely open to the gardens beyond.Gardens he'd never seen before, and he knew them extensively by this point.
