Page 40 of The Crown’s Temptation

She looked at him coldly. "You're too weak to demand anything, that includes answers."

He looked down at the bandage on his chest and realized with a grimace that she was right.

Then he paused.

"You are not a feeder. How are you here?"

She smiled. "Because you are not as smart as you think you are, King Sevrin. Perhaps I am a feeder."

He frowned. "Does your father know?"

She stared at him, her smile still frozen in place.

Fine.

"How long have I been here?" he said.

"Long enough."

He said nothing at first. The ache in his chest was real and persistent. It would take time he did not want to spend.

He furrowed his brow trying to remember all that had happened. "Avaneer?" He said.

"Alive."

The word sat between them. He remembered Avaneer's voice. He did not remember much else about that night. But what was certain is that there was danger, and he needed strength.

"I need to feed," he said. "Properly. Before anything else."

She moved from the window and sat in the chair beside the bed without being invited. "You are not strong enough yet."

"I am aware of what I am."

"Then you are aware that going after Avaneer at half strength accomplishes nothing."

He said nothing.

She was quiet for a moment. "The Bloodhaven."

He looked at her.

"You need strength you cannot build lying in a bed," she said. "The Bloodhaven would give it to you. Faster than anything else in Morrath."

He already knew that.

He also knew what the Bloodhaven cost.

He looked at the ceiling again.

She waited. He had not expected patience from her. He revised his assessment of her slightly.

"No," he said.

She studied him. "You would rather recover slowly in Kelsey Castle than take three days in the Bloodhaven and walk out strong enough to tear Avaneer apart?"

"Yes."

"Why?"