Page 145 of Dream Reaper

But first, they had to take care of Roar.

Despite the fact that dragons usually landed outside the city, they landed hard in the courtyard right beside the palace. Guards swarmed them from all directions, shouting panicky orders. But Prince Haryk slid down from the saddle and bellowed until they fell back.

“Get my wife and bring her to the infirmary,” he shouted as Jerrid shifted, and they all moved to help Finnr unload the injured boy.

Throughout the entirety of the trip, he hadn’t once opened his eyes.

Ava’s hopes shriveled a little more with every passing second.

Two guards led the way into the palace, the rest of them falling into step behind Ava and her companions. Jerrid stumbled wearily alongside Ava, but she reached out to grab his hand and squeezed encouragement.

Something burned in his gaze that made her wish they were anywhere else.

The guards opened the infirmary doors and stepped to the side to allow them entrance. A long chamber spread before them, with windows only on one side. The left side of the room contained at least a dozen cots in partitions created by curtains hung from the ceiling.

Princess Persis and the head healer, Glamren, waited inside the doors. The princess’s face was stark white. When she saw Haryk, she shuddered and swayed like she wanted to run toward him, but she held herself perfectly still.

Her gaze shifted to Ava, a smile cutting across her tense features. “Ava! I’m so glad you’re back!”

The princess pulled her into a quick hug that brought tears to Ava’s eyes. She’d forgotten how much she missed this healer from the Dunewatch, who had a heart as big as the Shadewood. Persis held her at arm’s length and stared into her face as if seeking answers.

Glamren wore a bandage across her head that Ava would have to ask her about later, and she too reached out to her, but her hug was fierce and hard as she yanked Ava into her bony arms. “You scared the living daylights out of me, child.”

Ava pulled back, biting back tears.

“We have an injured boy,” Ava said, skipping past her own greetings. “He was under the shadow’s spell, but he didn’t wake up like everyone else. I can’t find anything wrong with him.”

Persis ripped aside one of the curtains to expose an empty cot. Finnr laid his son gently down. The boy had lost weight already, his cheeks hollow and sunken. Persis performed her examination, her fingers deft and confident as she confirmed everything that Ava had told her.

As Glamren covered the boy with a crisp white sheet, Persis looked up at the prince.

“Haryk,” she said, then bit her lip.

His shoulders tensed, but he stepped forward, his hand following the side of the bed as he moved toward the sound of her voice. “I know. You’re going to have to tell me what to do.”

Ava stepped out of the way so that the prince could stand beside his wife. She backed away to stand beside Jerrid. She wasn’t needed here. But that was all right.

She had done her part. They had gotten Roar to the palace in time.

Now her job was to let someone else take over.

Jerrid’s fingers found hers and squeezed. She leaned into his side, her chest so tight she could barely breathe. Persis was murmuring instructions, and Prince Haryk’s head was bent against hers as he listened. He shifted one hand to press his long, agile fingers against the boy’s forehead.

“Just a little,” Persis whispered as she placed her hand overtop his as if to guide him.

Golden magic trickled from his fingers, the magic his young wife had given up for him. Now it spiraled around their fingers and seeped gently into Roar’s skin.

The seconds passed in agonizing silence. Finnr began to pace, his eyes wide and panicked, and Ava wished she had words to comfort him. Nothing she could say would matter, however, because she didn’t understand his loss and wasn’t qualified to offer comfort.

This burden was his and his alone, and she could only watch from the sidelines and mourn with him. She couldn’t fix this for him, as much as she wanted to.

She stared into Roar’s face, willing his eyes to open, but seconds bled into minutes. A quarter of an hour passed with no change.

And then a little color seeped into the boy’s cheeks. Jerrid’s fingers spasmed against hers, and she shifted to press a hand against his bare chest, her heart hammering against her own.

Had an eyelid flickered?

Her breath caught in the back of her throat as the boy’s eyelids fluttered noticeably, his mouth opening and closing in small smacking motions. Then he blinked up at them, his gaze roaming from one face to another until it lingered on his father.