A Touch of Ice by Nita Round

Author:Nita Round [Round, Nita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pink Tea Books
Published: 2020-06-08T22:00:00+00:00

20

Magda stood up, and it took everything she had to stay upright. She looked at the new tattoos on her arms. They looked sore. They were sore, but then, the machinery that had tattooed her had not been designed to be delicate or gentle.

Her tattoos were not the only source of discomfort. Every inch of her body ached. She could have been run over by a train, and it would not hurt as much as she hurt right then.

“You need to get dressed,” Lucinda said.

Magda draped her shirt across her shoulders, and even the touch of cotton across her skin seemed more than she could bear.

“Does it hurt much?” Ascara asked.

Magda started to shrug, but then stopped. “Define much.”

Lucinda touched her back, but her fingers moved with such care, Magda almost didn’t feel anything.

“You have these marks, but you also have cuts across your shoulders and your lower back,” Lucinda said. “Oh, sweetie, you look as though you have been in the wars.”

“Again,” Ascara added.

“Help me dress. I have things to do,” Magda said.

“No, Magda, you need to rest,” Lucinda said.

She gripped Lucinda’s arm. “There is too much to do. Rest is not an option.”

“You will not manage much more right now. Let us help clean you up and treat your wounds at least,” Lucinda said.

There was sense in that. She focussed her thoughts for a moment. “The shower room, then. There are things we need there. Dry towels, fresh clothes, and salve for the cuts. And it’s on the way.”

“On the way where?” Ascara asked.

“On the way to the float,” Magda said.

“Hell, no!” Lucinda said. “Magda, what’s going on?”

“There will be hell to pay if I don’t get there,” she said. “Trust me, both of you, it’s going to get messy.”

“Put your arm over my shoulder, and we’ll get you there.”

Magda groaned as every step to the door way caused so much pain she almost couldn’t carry her own weight. “Good grief. Now I wish I could take the rage from you, Ascara.”

Ascara stopped moving. “Do you want to try?”

“I’m not sure that–” Magda stopped. She looked into Ascara’s eyes and smiled. “Maybe. Will you trust me?”

“Always,” Ascara answered.

Magda pointed at the floor. “Kneel with me here, but we must be comfortable.”

“Right. Give me a moment,” Ascara said. She raced out of the room. The sound of her footsteps as she hurried down the stairs echoed against the walls.

The moment stretched, and Magda felt every second of Ascara’s absence. One minute became two, and she knew the passing of time without having to think about it. She sensed the tick tock of time as it passed.

Three minutes and fifteen seconds after Ascara had raced off, Magda heard, or felt, a door slam. After four minutes twenty-three seconds, she heard the sound of footsteps running back up the stairs.

Ascara burst through the doorway with a bundle of blankets in her arms. She shrugged as she dropped them on the floor. “You said to be comfortable.”

Lucinda moved the blankets into a small nest in the middle of the room.

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