As the chaos of the crash fell into silence, Luin forced air into his lungs. How he wished he could be in some other form right now, but he was stuck in this one—and this one felt quite beat up. Ulla’s nervousness was like tingling static charge in the back of his mind. He pushed some feeling of reassurance towards her—that was all he could manage at the moment—and the tingling ceased.

Thea’s head popped up from where she’d slumped against him, her wide eyes searching the opposite bench he was no longer sitting on. “Luin…Luin?” She pulled herself up straight, finally feeling the weight of arms wrapped around her shoulders. “Luin!” she cried as she finally saw him next to her.

The blurry form of Thea finally came back into sharp focus as Luin was able to get some full breaths. Thea backed up from him and lightly patted him down as if looking for injuries, especially on his head. Her face was ashen, her lips nearly gray. If she didn’t calm down and breathe, she was sure to pass out. Contentment at her concern and relief at her well being swirled in his sore chest.

“I’ll be alright, just sore,” he said, and her hands stopped patting him. Instead they hovered in front of his face, trembling. He tried to smile but wasn’t sure that it didn’t come across as pained. “Are you alright, Thea?” he asked, trying to redirect Thea’s focus.

***

Thea’s whole body shook as her heart thumped hard against her rib cage and echoed in her own ears. Luin’s words were like an anchor, grounding her.

“I…yes. I think so,” she said finally, pulling her hands together to keep them still. She clutched them to her chest as they both balanced themselves on the bench. One wrong move and they would end up sliding down it and into the carriage’s other wall.

“My lady!” came a shout from outside the carriage along with a growing murmur of voices. The door that was now tilted towards the ground at an awkward angle was pulled open with a loud crack. The carriage driver stood in the doorway, his cap missing and his hair a wild mess as if he were caught in a storm. His expression of dread turned to relief as he saw the two of them sitting up and alert inside the carriage. “Thank the saints! Let’s get you two out of there. Come. That’s it, easy now.”

The driver reached for Thea’s hand. With a quick glance back at Luin to reassure herself, she took the driver’s proffered hand. On legs that felt like jelly, she eased herself gingerly out of the carriage and onto the firm sidewalk. Her feet touching solid ground helped steady her mind as well as her body.

Once she was stable, the driver reached into the carriage once more and helped Luin out. He winced as he stepped out onto the sidewalk, and Thea bit her lower lip in worry that something was injured or broken. He ended up between me and the wall. That force could not have been little. She should have been the one keeping him from hitting the side of the carriage, but instead, Luin had the air of a calm adult while she shook and fretted like a child.

She tasted blood from her lip before she realized she’d bit down too hard. She licked at it and pressed her lips together to hide the small wound. Luin was already turning to assess the carriage, and Thea’s gaze followed along. She stepped forward as she saw the front right wheel was broken and splintered. It was hard to tell from there, but she supposed the front axle was probably cracked as well.

“There’s no way to repair it, is there?” she murmured.

“I’m sorry, my lady,” said the driver when he heard her. He was crouched by the broken wheel and pulling pieces of broken wood to lay on the sidewalk as he assessed the damage. “I think we will have to hail a city carriage for now. I will stay with you, and when we get to the manor, I’ll bring back several men to recover the carriage. The horses are spooked, but I think they’ll walk just fine behind whatever carriage we take.”

Thea nodded, feeling a bit bad for putting the man on the spot. But his course of action seemed sound, and she knew it would be best to get back home as soon as she could.

A crowd had formed around the carriage now adding to the discomfort Thea felt. But there wasn’t any way to avoid being a spectacle at this point. She took a deep breath and picked up a piece of the wheel—two spokes still connected by the middle part while the rest had snapped off. It made a good temporary cane since she still felt unsteady. She leaned on it as she looked back at Luin.

Luin stood with his back to the carriage. His eyes glanced up to the sky for a moment. Thea couldn’t see anything above them when she tried to look. But then, he began analyzing the crowd around them. Goosebumps raised along Thea’s skin, though she didn’t know why. Her own eyes roamed over the people gathered around them as she asked the driver, “What happened? Do you know?”

“Damndest thing—oh, excuse my language, my lady—but a man on the sidewalk took a look directly at us and ran out in front of the horses. Crazy, son—uh, he seemed to be disturbed is my best guess. The man was wearing some odd things over his eyes too. The horses spooked, and it was all I could do to keep them from bolting or keep the carriage from tipping completely.” The driver's voice was full of frustration and regret.

“I see,” said Thea, eyes still watching those around them as the goose bumps only intensified. Was it some reaction to the shock of the accident? “You did well. Though the carriage is heavily damaged, you handled it in a timely manner. Ourselves and the horses are both safe. That’s what matters. Carriages can be fixed.”

The driver smiled sadly. “Thank you, my lady. I—”

Something big moved in the crowd out of the corner of Thea’s eye. The goosebump feeling turned to tiny pin pricks along her spine. The figure moved quickly, a blur of motion that Thea couldn’t make sense of until after she’d already moved.

Her body reacted before her mind could register what was happening. Her arms brought the broken wheel spoke up to deflect a jagged-edged board that came towards her head. Though the board was pushed off to the side, the impact left her hands and wrists feeling numb. She leapt to the side, rolling on her shoulder, and came up in a crouch, the wheel spoke held out to block another blow.

The large figure of a man stumbled forward as Thea’s deflection pushed him slightly to the side. The thin board in his hands clattered to the sidewalk. The crowd around them collectively gasped and backed away.

The man rose up to his full height and turned on Thea. His eyes looked dark, as if black smoke swirled on their surfaces before it faded and the man stumbled again. This time, he fell to his knees, his mouth going slack. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he fell over flat on the sidewalk, his head coming to rest just a hand’s width from Thea.

Everything happened within a few seconds, and now that it was over, time seemed to regain its normal speed. Several cries went out in the crowd as someone yelled for a knight. Thea’s body lost its rigidity and she fell back on her rear with a wince, her hands losing their grip on the wheel spoke, completely numb, and it clattered to the sidewalk. Wide-eyed, she stared at her reddened palms, not only shocked at the man who had just attacked her for seemingly no reason, but also at her own reaction.

How did I…?

Luin was at her side then, pulling on her arm to try and help her up, but she could only turn her head to stare at him. He didn’t seem surprised by what had happened—by what she had done. His expression was one of guilt if anything.

Thoughts of how this all happened, that it might not be a coincidence, and also utter confusion as to her body’s own reaction jumbled in her mind. But Luin just looked at her with his guilt-filled eyes and mouthed, I can explain, but let’s get home first.

Thea swallowed hard before getting to her feet. The feeling that something larger was at play and that Luin knew about it somehow made her feel as uncertain as a child lost at a ball among adults, but she managed to push those thoughts to the side with effort as two City Knights wove their way through the crowd.

She refocused with a deep breath, putting faith in Luin’s promised explanation. I think my brothers and parents are going to have a fit over this. Thea fully expected her brothers to try to persuade her to stay home after her eventful first day visiting the central library.