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“Blade wounds?” Ajali asked, crouching to examine the stabs.
Acheron glided to the other side of the bed, and sat on the mattress, peering at the gaping wounds. “These could not have been from the assassins that brought her down. He did it with one blow.”
Gavyn frowned. “I thought she hid? She engaged an enemy elsewhere?”
“What enemies?” Ajali asked softly. “All ten remained in my sight at all times. We killed six and four fled.”
They studied the pattern of the wounds carefully.
Acheron leaned in and examined her body. “They were thrown from a distance at least ten feet away. Look at the angle of impact and the depth, the patterns of wounds on her lower back and thighs. They struck while she moved, unbalancing the blades which is why they are not embedded like the one that lodged itself in her lower thigh.” He pulled one of the weapons free.
“I have never seen such a blade,” Gavyn mused. “Look at the design, the width and depth. These are made for close quarter killings.”
“Look at this.” Kismet’s whisper drew their attention to Tehdra’s shoulder.
“What is it?” Gavyn asked.
“The area inside her shoulder is pinker.” She peered closer into the cut. “It is healing but slowly.”
“Are you sure?”
A soft smile curled her lips, and relief glowed in her eyes. “I am sure. Look now, the wound has closed some more, she is mending, but it is very gradual healing, contrary to what the elixir is reputed to do.”
Acheron froze as an unidentifiable emotion swept through Ajali, the heat that had flared to life deep within him receding. Interesting. What was it about her that roused his king?
“Thank you, healer Kismet; you will be amply rewarded for your consideration. Dismissed,” Ajali said.
She inclined her head gracefully and departed.
The door opened, and the other Kingblades sauntered in.
“I will summon servants to change the bedding and her Caftan,” Bastien said as he exited the room, leaving Ajali with his blades.
“What happened?” Solomon asked.
Enemies they had not seen wielded close quarter blades? While Acheron tried to unravel the strategy behind their attack, Gavyn filled in the remaining blades on what had transpired.
“I do not understand, is she not the enemy?” Quinn demanded. “Aria has no record, no description of such a daughter belonging to the house of Thorne; she is in our kingdom under false pretenses.”
“There is no doubt it is false pretenses,” Gavyn answered. “However we have to consider that her aim is not to harm. What she did today was to protect our king at the risk of her own life.”
“I thank you, Gavyn, Acheron and Cadmus for your aid in saving her life. It could not have been easy with thoughts that she is the enemy prodding you,” Ajali said.
They all noted he still stood by her bedside, and seemed like he had no intention of moving.
“For the service she did for our kingdom today, we will protect her life as long as she remains in Nuria, my liege,” Acheron answered.
Never taking his eyes off the still form of Tehdra, Ajali inclined his head. “Leave us.”
Chapter Eleven
Hours past since his blades flashed from the chamber and the servants that Bastien summoned had come and gone, granting Ajali the privacy he desired. He sat in the great chair closest to the bed watching the slow rise of her chest. She lives. Fear, acridly ripe had filled his mouth when her body had failed to respond to the elixir. She had taken a long time to heal and only with the slow sinking of the sun did she seem to revitalize. It bothered him that he felt such sentiments for a hari. He respected all the haris in his kingdom, even cared for them, but the feeling Tehdra evoked was unwanted. They lived in brutal times where the whispers of war echoed in his court on a daily basis. The death of one in battle should not have caused such fear and distress.
His gaze devoured the lines of her face, softening in her unconsciousness state. The palest skin he had ever seen looked wan, devoid of life. He painstakingly watched her insides mend, her skin flush, and her breathing become stronger. Why had the elixir taken so long to mend her injuries? Was it because she had been at death’s door?
She stirred a soft moan slipping from her lips.
Satisfaction rolled through Ajali like torrents of fire, burning away all fear, leaving intense relief in its wake. He had no time to analyze the rush of primal joy that filled him when her wounds closed and her incredibly pale skin appeared flushed. He rubbed his jaw; his skin was rough and stubbly. He slowly became aware that he had stayed at her bedside for the past few hours, ignoring everything inside his kingdom while he willed her to health.
