Chapter 140: Tragedy, Part 1

Telmé woke up choking, unable to get air through his throat. Panic made his heart pound so hard it hurt, scared him further, provoking a scream that battled with the breath he couldn’t draw. Telmé thrashed in the bedding, already soaked with sweat, scrabbled desperately, finally got to his hands and knees. Tears streamed down his face, dripped onto the damp sheets—

He sobbed when he finally drew breath, even though it felt like fire filled his lungs. He drew another breath, then another, each one small and weak and painful, but any breath at all was better than none.

The knives stabbing through the rest of his body were not so easily dealt with; Telmé tried to climb out of bed but instead fell, landing hard, sobbing as he got to his hands and knees again and crawled shakily over to the chamber pot.