I ran around the table toward Illara. Luka was closest to the healer and picked her up off the floor. The woman was bleeding from a nasty gash to her palm. “Luka, take her to the other healers,” Eva said, tossing him a handkerchief. He nodded, wrapping the fabric over the wound to staunch the flow of blood.
Illara collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face. I reached out for her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and slipping my other underneath her knees. She did not protest as I pulled her into me, careful of the glass surrounding us. There were small pieces sticking to the blood on the bottom of her feet.
“Shh,” I said, tucking her head under my chin. “It’s okay. ”
Eva crouched beside us, careful of the glass below. Matthew grabbed a broom from the hand of a servant who’d rushed it in. They watched, eyes-wide, as he began to sweep and clean the area without thinking.
“Why don’t you take her to the guest rooms down the hall?” Eva said, her hazel gaze softening as she saw the horror on Illara’s face. She wouldn’t look at me, nor anyone else, as her hot tears fell down my neck.
Illara shook her head. “I do not deserve your kindness,” she whispered. “I do not. Please do not give it to me.”
Eva looked at me, and I shrugged. I didn’t know what she was going on about, but I imagined the stress of the past few days had gotten to her and she had reached her breaking point.
“We’ll send a healer to the chambers,” Eva said softly. I nodded, turning to walk out of the council room when she called out for me. “I am sorry,” she said, dropping her gaze to her hands in front of her. “This afternoon became heated on both sides. That wasn’t why I did not want Renai to come. In fact, I did, but…” she took a deep breath. “Perhaps what Renai said to me wounded my pride a bit. She was not wrong, and I acted improperly.”
“I don’t think anything you do could be improper. Not after what you have experienced in the past months.” Illara’s grip on my tunic tightened. “But I’m not the one you’ll need to tell.”
* * *
Illara passedout in my arms before I got to the second landing. Her head lolled to the side as I tried, and failed, to keep it leaning on my shoulder. I stood outside of the door, noticing the corridor was empty. No guards to be found. Which meant opening this door was going to be a fucking task.
I switched arms, bringing Illara’s body closer as I reached blindly for the latch to the door. Thankfully, it turned easier than I expected, and I pushed past to make my way to the bed. I sat her down gently, padding to the bathing chamber to grab a wet cloth and begin cleaning away the dried blood.
The healer trotted in moments later, slightly out of breath. “I am so sorry, General. I came as fast as I could, but—”
I held up my hand. “Don’t apologize. I appreciate your help.”
She moved to Illara’s side, pulling supplies out of the bag she’d brought up with her. “I’ve got it taken care of. Once I get her wound tended to, I’ll ensure she’s cleaned up and put to bed.”
I made a move toward the door, pausing before I walked out. “Will you, uh, tell me when she wakes up? I don’t want her to wake up alone in an unfamiliar place.”
The healer paused her work, that same hair falling into her face as she smiled at me. “Of course. I was planning on curling up by the fire in my room with a good book, anyway. I can do that anywhere.” With a quick flick of her wrist, she waved me off and set about tending to Illara.
Chapter22
Damien
“You’re looking well, dear,” an old woman said, coming through the door and bounding over to my bed. She reached behind my back, fluffing my pillow with heavy whacks that sent my nerves on edge. I had asked her not to do that a thousand times, had told her I was not incapable of helping myself,, but nothing stopped her so far.
The days had passed in a blur since I had arrived in the healer wing, though I remembered little before this morning. When I closed my eyes, images flew past faster than I could decipher them. One of Renai in a panic, yelling at everyone and everything in her path while escorting me here. Something told me that was real; the flashes seemed to have more clarity and understanding than even my waking memories.
The other image was Eva’s face, peering down at me in the middle of the night. Her mouth moved, but no words came out until she erupted with a silent roar. Fire exploded from her body, wings sprouting from her back as she rose in the air. Her eyes bled red, not a speck of hazel or white to be seen. The room around us crumbled until we were left standing in the middle of a battlefield, bodies strewn about on the blood-soaked ground.
I had seen that vision twice, and each time I woke from a deep sleep drenched in sweat.
“The queen has already been by this morning, told me not to disturb you, but that when you awoke, you were to be moved back to your room atop the tower,” the old woman paused, looking back at me over her shoulder. Her wiry, gray hair was piled into a tight bun atop her head. “The sentries will be here shortly.”
The queen.
It was hard to associate the woman I used to know with the political spearhead she had transformed into. We used to dream about the day when she would wear the crown, often breaking out into fits of nervous laughter. Though it was her duty, I had always wondered if Eva doubted her ability to rule. If she was concerned about taking her place on her father’s throne, she had never let it show, but I thought back to that nervous laughter every time.
Now, every scenario we had ever come up with had come and gone. They were nothing more than wishes floating on the wind that would never come true. Her mother and sister would never see the day she rose to power, would never hold her hand as she looked upon her people for the first time wearing the crown atop her shining black hair.
“Captain Saveq has been here every day to check up on you. She and the queen got into a little tizzy over you, but it should be right as rain now,” she hummed. “She’s a nice girl, that one.”
Nice wasn’t exactly the word I would have used for her. Renai was something else entirely. Perhaps it was because I expected venom to spew from her lips, but nothing ever came. There were a few barbed insults added as an afterthought every now and then, as if she suddenly remembered I was not a good man.
The old woman brought over a freshly buttered biscuit and a small cup of tea. She smiled, setting it down on a small tray in front of me. My stomach grumbled in response. “I figured you might be a bit peckish, so I prepared something small to tide you over until breakfast.”
