"That's very kind of you to say, Commander Renna. I do in fact spend an awful lot of time on my appearance. But more than that, I am in charge of healing in this kingdom. I'm going to help you, even if it's just reducing your pain. Is that alright with you?"
Renna nods, shutting up for once. Like the rest of Yterras, she's fallen under Lynna's bewitching spell. It’s getting boring now.
"And you are?" My healer asks, looking up at Onyx, with a hint of appreciation, if I'm not mistaken. She could do worse than Onyx. Annoying though he is, no one could doubt his loyalty.
"Her brother," he says, his face as stony as usual. She entrances everyone except Onyx, it seems. "I was adopted," he clarifies, quickly.
This is a detail of their past I cannot understand. No mortal parents would adopt an immortal child. It makes no sense. Lynna just nods, giving him a reassuring smile. “Do you mind if I touch your neck, Renna?” She asks, her voice soft. Renna just shakes her head, staring up at her in wonder.
Lynna examines her carefully, and I know that her thoughts mirror mine. Something is amiss here. She gently wipes the blood from Renna’s nose and lips, examining it.
"You found her like this?" She asks me, in our ancient dialect.
"In the prisons, yes. She was like this a few weeks ago also."
"Was she really?" Lynna frowns. "It cannot be an infectious sickness then, can it?"
"I wouldn't have thought so."
"You think she's being poisoned," states Lynna, flatly. She abuses her godly bloodline to read my mind, but I cannot resent her for it because I do it right back.
"She is an assassin for a living. I'm sure she's racked up more than a few enemies."
Lynna hums in thought, tipping Renna's head back and opening her mouth gently. "I've not seen anything like this, I don't believe."
"What are you speaking?" Asks Renna, looking up at me.
"It's an extinct form of Forest Tongue."
"Whatever floats your boat," she says, sleepily. She stifles a yawn, and it’s very sweet. "We have our own language too."
"I know. I speak it," I say, switching to her native tongue.
Her eyes widen. "How?"
"I speak all of the languages, Renna." Sounds impressive, but it isn’t. I think anyone who’d been alive eight hundred years would’ve picked them up.
"So you like languages and apple pie," she summarises, weakly. My eyes snap up to her brother. I don't like people knowing details about me. "It's fine, he doesn't speak it," she reassures me, closing her eyes. "He speaks only Forest Tongue, and some Golden Tongue too."
I cannot have Renna. I cannot be with her. But I know in that moment that I'd have my healers find both the cause and the cure to her sickness, whatever it takes. I cannot send her away knowing that she’ll continue to live in this pain.
* * *
By Friday,she is strong enough to stand when I return from a five-mile swim.
Diffused sunlight streams in from the archway out to my terrace, painting her in golden light. She’s in my bed still, but not in the way I would like her to be. I watch her bare feet touch down on the sandstone floor, holding my arm as she wobbles. I raise a suggestive eyebrow at her as her fingers tighten on my bicep.
“Finding any excuse to touch me?”
She grins, releasing my arm and twirling on the spot with no issues.She fucking was, as well. She laughs at my expression. “I can stand just fine, I just wanted to see if these were real.” She pokes my arm again. "You never sleep."
"Very rarely."
"Neither does he," she whispers, pointing her little finger at her brother. "I dare not speak loud in case I wake him."
"He is protective of you."
"For as long as Onyx lives, I'll always feel safe."
