Page 47 of Healing Elixirs & Wicked Crows

I stilled as her finger hovered just above the skin of my arm.An electric jolt traveled within my blood, begging for her touch as she indicated the ancient fae symbol that told a story of a male who had lost his mate, his heart.I didn't trust my voice to be able to speak so I simply nodded.

"What does this line mean?"she asked, her fingertip colliding with the next rune.Her lips parted as she sucked in a sharp breath.Could she feel the same charge beneath her skin that raced within mine?

"It is a tale of loss and heartbreak."My words came out hushed, barely audible over the gurgling water that flowed around us.

Her gaze remained locked onto the rune before her attention lifted to the scar that wrapped around the right of my neck.Her fingertips were a dusted touch over the jagged wound."I'm sorry," she whispered.

She couldn't know about this scar, not really.How could she understand the weight of this particular wound?A memory I would live with until my dying breath.A wound I had taken that had about ended my life, that had left me half-dead on a battlefield all those years ago while her world burned around her.

"How did you get this?"she whispered, her fingertips tracing the raised line of scar tissue that curved around my throat like a macabre necklace.Even beneath the tunic, I could feel the familiar ridge of damaged skin that disappeared around my back, a reminder of how close death had come.

I went still beneath her touch, my breathing shallow as her fingers continued their exploration.For a moment, I considered deflecting with a joke or changing the subject entirely.But the gentleness in her touch, the genuine concern in her eyes, broke down the walls I'd built around this particular pain.

"A yeti," I said simply, though those two words could never encompass the horror of what had happened."In the northern territories, during the Blackwater Uprising.I was sent north three days before to quell the rebellion, my… commanding officer said it would only take a fortnight."My laugh was as bitter as a winter’s wind."I should have refused.Should have told her that her wars could wait.That protecting—" I paused, realizing I’d almost saidprotecting you."Protecting my family was more important than some distant political maneuvering."

I felt the familiar tingle of her magic stirring under her fingertips, responding to my pain and her desperate wish to heal me.But this scar was a century old, the wound long since closed and hardened into permanent remembrance.

"The creature caught me off guard," I continued, my voice growing distant as I lost myself in the memory."Ice yetis are faster than they look, and this one was ancient, cunning.Its claws were like frozen daggers, sharp enough to cut through steel.When it swiped at me, I thought I was dead.Felt the cold burn as it opened my throat, felt my blood turn to ice crystals before it even hit the snow."

She pressed her palms against the scar, and I could feel her magic trying to flow, to somehow undo decades of pain and regret.But her power felt sluggish against the old wound, reluctant to work against something so set in stone.I watched frustration flicker across her features as her magic offered only the faintest warmth.

"How did you survive?"she asked, though I could see she dreaded the answer.

"Barely," I admitted, my hand covering hers where it rested against my throat."The cold actually saved me, froze the blood before I could bleed out entirely.My men found me three days later, more dead than alive.It took weeks to heal, weeks of drifting in and out of consciousness while healers worked day and night to keep me breathing."

I couldn’t tell her the rest.Not yet.How by the time that I was strong enough to travel, by the time that I could come for her, the seelie palace had been empty.Not even the staff remained.The villagers said the entire royal family had been killed, and that anyone close to the palace at the time had also perished, killed when the unseelie queen’s curse backfired.

The rest of the seelie, cursed just like her sister.Frozen in time.Waiting.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, and I suspected it wasn't just for the failed healing but for something deeper she couldn't yet name.There was a weight in her voice, a grief that seemed too large for our brief acquaintance, as if some part of her soul recognized what her mind had forgotten, the years of separation, the pain we'd both carried, the choices that had kept us apart when we should have been together.

"Don't be," I said softly, catching her hands and bringing them to my lips despite the water surrounding us."The scar reminds me never to put duty over those I love again.To never let politics and obligation come first."I pressed a gentle kiss to her palm.

Her magic flickered once more against the old scar before giving up entirely.Some marks, I realized as I watched the acceptance cross her features, were too deep and too meaningful to erase.This scar would remain, a permanent reminder of the cost of blind obedience.

I swallowed back that history and shrugged.The movement stretched the wound along my ribs, and I winced."It is a dead language anyway," I replied, trying to hide away my discomfort.

Still, her features flashed with concern, her brows drawing together as she searched my face."Are you okay?"Her gaze dropped to the water, to where my wound lay."You're hurt!"

"I’m fine," I replied, taking a step back from her even if it pained me to put distance between us."I’m just a bit sore from the fight.I just need time to heal.I’ll be fine soon."

She stared at me, unconvinced, but let it go."How far are we from our destination?"

I turned my gaze to the sky, letting my magic ripple through the air to get my bearings on where exactly within the forest we were."I would say we’re pretty close.The trees will thin out for the next six hours or so.At the center of the forest, there’s a massive clearing, not unlike this one but far grander.That’s where we’re headed."

She dipped her head back into the water until her hair became drenched with it, then she ran her fingers through the wet strands, combing through it as she peered into the direction I had indicated."This forest is larger than I thought it would be."

I nodded, acknowledging the challenge ahead.As I followed her gaze to the direction I had indicated, I pondered how long we could stay on course before straying.A chill ran through me, and I shivered.Rosemary noticed, raising an inquisitive brow.

"We will need to back track a bit.We cannot take the obvious path forward.It will lead us somewhere dangerous," I admitted.

We savored the chill of the stream briefly before stepping out.My trousers and tunic clung to me as I slipped on my boots.Rosemary tossed her travel dress on over damp undergarments.The cool touch of the damp fabric was refreshing as we continued our journey through the forest.

We fell into a comfortable silence as we hiked, but each step tugged at the wound along my ribs, the pain seemingly worsening with every passing minute.Beads of sweat dotted along my skin even as the cool breeze should have left me chilled.I brushed away the moisture with the back of my hand, determined not to show any signs of weakness.

The canopy above filtered sunlight into scattered patches across the forest floor.As we wandered deeper, the trees grew taller and their trunks broader, with roots twisting like gnarled ropes along the ground.The birds sang with a regal air, as though they too understood the history this land had seen.

My legs felt like lead, and I stumbled over the lifted roots several times.Each time, the quickened kick of my legs to catch myself before I fell tugged at my injury, until it became almost unbearable.I needed to inspect the wound.