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“Agreed.” He shoved the fruit into my hands. It was heavier than I expected. “Eat.”
“Geas first.” I regarded him calmly as Emrys stopped breathing with a soft gasp. My heart ached in my chest as I willed Emrys to hold out a bit longer.
“I swear to stop the spell on the elf king and release my binding on the elf Alora upon the moment you take your first bite of the fruit.” The magus’ mouth twisted in revulsion.
Alora spoke a word, nodding to me even as I felt the oath magic take hold. Not hesitating a moment, I bit into the fruit. Acidic juice flooded my mouth in a wash of tiny seeds. Gritty like sand, they caught in my teeth, bursting like fire on my tongue and making my mouth ache.
The magus’ triumphant shout cut off abruptly as the geas compelled him to act. Spells shattered around me, and the area erupted in chaos. Distantly, I heard the magus shout something that sounded like a spell, but I couldn’t hear the words. Sable snarled and the magus screamed as lightning struck.
Yelling, shouting, and an inrush of magic and bodies buffeted my senses. Fire seemed to burn through me from the inside out. I dropped the fruit and sank to my knees. The world spun, and each breath tore through my abused chest, bringing a fresh wave of agony. The scent of something putrid flooded my nose. Distantly, I realized that the smell probably came from me. I was dying.
“Caught you,” a vaguely familiar voice announced. “Casimir, take the fruit.” The speaker’s name eluded me. Illeron—his name was Illeron. My eyelids were so heavy, but I forced them open. Darkness edged my vision and the burning in my lungs moved toward my gut. Wincing, I asked, “Emrys?”
Illeron didn’t respond. Instead, he pressed a hand against my back. A cooling sensation teased through my chest, slowing the fire raging through me for the briefest of moments. Then, I gasped in pain as the inferno resumed.
“I can’t stop it. Get a healer over here, now!”
I dimly noted that he sounded a bit panicked.
Merlon appeared behind Illeron’s head. At the sight of the healer, I despaired. He was supposed to be attending Emrys, not me. Emrys needed him more. Darkness pressed in, but I fought against it.
“Let me.” Merlon’s voice turned tinny and indistinct as something cool rushed through my gut, extinguishing the fire.
“Emrys?” I gasped as the burning steadily cooled, leaving a raw sensation in its wake. I had to know what happened to my husband. Had I been too late?
“Hold still,” Merlon ordered gruffly. “I can’t find all the poison if you keep moving.”
“Breathing,” I protested. Breathing required movement.
“Hold it.” His hand pressed harder on my stomach in counterpoint to the pressure of Illeron’s support against my back.
I tried to comply. I did. But the sensation of suddenly drowning prompted an instinctive response to flail as I fought for air. Someone caught my arms, restraining them gently.
“Fluid in her lungs,” Illeron calmly diagnosed as I gagged.
“Working on it.” Merlon’s hands shifted. “I’m going to put her to sleep.”
No, I internally screamed, but I couldn’t force the word past my lips. I was dying. I wanted to know if Emrys lived. I fought the spell with all my might, but in the end, the magic won.
~~~~~
Emrys
My lungs burned, my whole body ached, and the bitter taste of the blight still coated my mouth. The antidote flowed through my veins as I stared up at the night sky high above us and focused on catching my breath now that the blight was clearing from my lungs.
Merlon had forced a large vial of nasty stuff down my throat before turning over my care to another healer and stalking off. I hoped he had left to attend to Kate. Thanks to our bonding, I knew she still lived, but that didn’t reassure me as to her status.
“How are you, sire?” the young light elf asked as he kneeled next to me.
I focused blearily on his features as I tried to place him. “What is the queen’s status?” I asked.
“Alive, from the way the spymaster and the royal healer are acting.” He jutted his chin at something out of my sight. “Do you need something?”
“To stand.” I rolled on my side and immediately regretted the action. The blight might be dying in my system, but that didn’t mean it was gone. My ribs ached and my head swam, but I pushed myself to my feet anyway. The healer’s inarticulate protests caused a stir among the gathered elves.
“Your Majesty.” Durvin approached from behind me. “The magus has been restrained.” He nodded to where the magus hung from the outstretched hand of my statue. His tendrils of smoke wafted from his hair and robes. A containment spell bound him and had apparently drained him of all of his stolen magic. Disconnected from his power source, my sister, he was helpless. Below him, Sable stood guard. “He attempted to place a binding spell on another elf the moment his hold on the princess Alora broke. The Grimm got to him first. We have since placed a geas on him. He is at our mercy.”
“Alora?” I asked.
