Dread prickles my scalp. "Then I have to run, Onyx. You can't come with me this time."
"The fuck I can't," he snaps, angrily. "It's you and me, Renna, no matter what. Stellan is ready to take over the hunters, we've warned him it could happen for years. Go to Lynna."
Rexxan's palace doesn't look much like a palace. It's a work of art; the doorways are arches, naturally formed by branches of wood. The walls are pale stone. Vines creep up every column and doorframe. His throne is made of trees and golden leaves. When you're in it, it feels more like a forest than a palace.
But the Healing Halls are exactly what I imagined his palace would be like. They are colossal; a huge stone building of turrets, towers, and grand double doors. It has hundreds of rooms and hundreds of healers working there, and the libraries alone are five stories high.
I watch Lynna work, calm and in control as usual as she directs everyone around, quickly heading into a room to check on someone. Aquamarine eyes brighten with fondness as she spots me, handing a file over to another healer. She quickly holds up a finger to tell me to stay there, washing her hands in a bowl as she gives instruction to a group of trainees. Her lips turn up into a warm smile as she arrives, and I’m actually speechless. That’s how breathtaking this woman is. "Renna, how are you?"
"Very good," I say, distractedly. I don't even know why I’ve come here. Lynna is busy enough as it is.
She frowns down at me. "Is everything quite alright?"
"Yes, fine," I murmur, as Lynna examines a cut on my arm that I didn't even know was there and brings me into her research study. A pale oak desk sits in the centre, piled with neat stacks of notes and a vase of white flowers. Shelves of books, medicines, and dried herbs line one wall. Two chairs sit opposite her desk. In one corner is a single bed where she told me she ends up sleeping half the time when she's busy at work. In the other corner is a white mat with wooden children's toys and picture books.
"Please, take a seat," she says, doing the same. "What's wrong?"
"Can I borrow some Ashhal leaves?"
She cocks her head. "They don't easily grow in this part of the world, nor do we particularly have any medicinal use for them. You might have some luck in the forest, but it's not likely."
"So you don't have any here? Not in the supply cellars?"
"No, why do you ask?" She asks, before her eyes widen. "Oh, no."
"Yeah."
"How long do you have?"
"Two days. One and a half, in fact."
"We're not going to get it in that time."
I feel like I might be sick. "We have to, Lynna."
"It won't happen."
"Then I have to quit my job and run."
"Ask for Rexxan's protection."
"I don't want anything from him."
She sighs. "What happened between you two? I haven’t seen you together for days."
I shrug. "Promise you won't laugh?"
Her depressingly symmetrical face frowns slightly. "I'm offended you'd think I'd laugh at anything that's upsetting you, Renna, but tell me only if you're comfortable."
"I told him I was falling in love with him."
She nods, processing for a moment. "That's very brave of you, Renna. That must've been hard, considering you've never felt this way about someone before. He didn't return the sentiment?”
I laugh out loud. "That's putting it lightly."
She runs a hand through her glossy blonde hair, diamond rings glittering on her fingers. "Rexxan has a very complicated relationship with love, both as a word and as a feeling."
"That's not my problem to fix. I'm worth more than that. Ideservemore than that."
