Theyhadexpected that. Kinan had to regrow a whole body. This was exactly what they expected, and Cormal yelling wouldn’t help.
“Kinan, are you all right?”
There was no answer, and while this ratcheted up Cormal’s anxiety, they’d at least discussed this possibility. But now that Kinan wasin there, it was all different.
“What if he can’t breathe?” Cormal couldn’t help but ask.
“I’m allowing air through the shield,” Brannal promised.
They’d already talked about that, too. But the thing was, this shield wasn’tlikeany of their other shields. This shield had gone opaque and was being used in a completely novel way. So they couldn’t be certain how it was working.Anythingcould happen.
“Calm down.”
It was Delana, looking at him with an expression that said she was totally prepared to douse him in water if he got out of hand.
Looking down, he saw that his hands were clenched into fists, and he could feel the rising heat inside of him that could threaten a fireball.
He practiced taking a few deep, calming breaths. It didn’t work particularly well.
“He’s going to be fine,” Delana told him.
“You don’t know that,” he hissed out.
“But I choose to believe it,” she answered. “I never thought I’d see this group of people in the same room again. I never thought carnalions and Life Mages would ever be in the castle. I never thought you would pull your head out of your ass.”
This surprised a sound that was almost a laugh out of Cormal.
Delana continued with a softer smile than she usually used. “But you managed all those things. For the Prince. So believe in this for him, too.”
Cormal drew in another deep breath and let it out slowly. Nodded.
He’d never enjoyed waiting. Sitting here watching and not doing anything was excruciating.
And then, of course, something happened: Trill wavered and slumped to the side.
Molun and Arvus raced over to him, one of them was shouting about more energy, but Cormal wasn’t paying any attention, because he was on his knees right next to Kinan, desperately trying to seethroughthat stupid opaque shield. It wasn’t working, but he had to know if Kinan was all right. Hehadto.
His gaze darted up to Perian, whose eyes were closed, a look of intense concentration on his face, much as it had been when he’d managed to make Kinan visible the first time.
The location was much better today, and Perian looked so much healthier now. Cormal remembered how he’d kept sending energy to Kinan even when it hurt him. He’d poured allof his energy into Kinan until Brannal had interposed a shield between them, the only way to stop him.
Perian might not care about Kinan the same way Cormal did, but Cormal knew Perian would do everything in his power to help now.
Tears prickled in his eyes. He preferred throwing fireballs.
A very awkward-sounding Warrior announced, “They’re, uh, working on energy coming faster.”
Cormal didn’t envy those out in the throne room having sex to help this endeavor. He’d strip off right now if he thought it would actually help, but everyone in this room had been forbidden from contributing. They needed to marshal all their energy to be ready to provide Elemental Magic.
It should have been a relief, but just at the moment, Cormal would almost have preferred needing to jerk off to at least havesomething to do. He could feel sweat trickling down his back, and he knew it was all from nerves. It was the middle of winter, and he was just sitting here.
His gaze caught on the Princess, across and slightly down from him, staring at the shield almost as intensely as he was. He felt oddly in harmony with her, though he didn’t imagine it would last.
Trill perked up again and went back to sending energy to Kinan. Perian continued to focus, though Cormal could see sweat trickling down his brow. It was like the world’s weirdest, most silent battle. But Cormal couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
He didn’t know how long he’d been staring when Brannal suddenly spoke.
“Cormal, Molun, Arvus. I need you.”
