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“For Elira’s sake, I thought you were both dead.”
Aspen shivered. “I think something hit Roth’s head. I’m okay. Mostly.”
The sailors started paddling. The enemy in the lifeboat must have come from a sunk ship, and they’d seen an easy target. Oriel huddled in the center of the lifeboat with the four they’d rescued.
“Roth? Can you hear me?”
“I’m a healer,” said the one who had dropped off the ship to swim to the wood. “Find where he's hurt.”
Oriel lit his fist. Roth was pale, and red glinted near his temple where something had hit and cut him. Oriel’s gut clenched at the sight. The healer didn’t hesitate to touch that spot, and the wound slowly receded.
“Thanks,” Oriel said shakily. “Roth? Can you hear me?”
“He’s probably disoriented,” said the healer. “He’ll need a minute.”
Roth shifted a bit as Aspen spoke. “He managed to shock that one fairy. They were trying to knock us off the wood. I couldn’t hold on to him and the wood and reach for my dagger. I didn’t know what to do because I’m not strong enough to swim and keep him up.”
He sounded like he was about to panic despite that particular danger being over with. Oriel wrapped his free arm around Aspen.
“You saved him, and you’re safe now. That’s all that counts.”
Ships were still fighting, and Oriel noticed lights out in the distance. Some had pulled away from the mass, and he wasn’t entirely sure if they were the enemy, or if some of their own had fallen back in an effort to save themselves and get out of the confusion. He couldn’t tell if those particular ones had been damaged either. A great cracking sound came from his left as the sailors paddled as fast as they could, and Roth tried to sit up.
“Kitty lives,” he mumbled. “I’m fucking freezing.”
Oriel could feel how cold they both were from the damn water, and he let out a shaky sound as Roth wrapped his arms around Oriel.
“Thank Elira. I thought I’d lost you both.”
“Aspen saved me. I don’t remember hitting the water.”
They made it back to the Raindrop without a problem. It hadn’t been hit, and Ymir’s Love had taken out another ship that tried firing that way. Several fliers swooped overhead in the moonlight, although Oriel couldn’t tell if they were friends or foes.
Aspen stumbled on the deck. “My fucking back.”
Roth grabbed his hand. “Where’s the healer?”
Oriel lifted the back of Aspen’s shirt to reveal a dark slash across his skin. He ordered the healer to follow them into the cabins. Kalen and Rhys were fine, and a flier landed on the deck with a thump near Kalen. He probably wanted orders, but Oriel was more worried about his two future husbands.
“This ship's protected enough on all sides,” Oriel said in a rush as they entered the cabin.
“They must have thought all of the royalty was on Elira’s Grace,” Aspen said as he dripped on the floor. Roth looked fine, although both were shivering.
“Can you let the healer touch you?” asked Oriel. “I can’t tell how deep that is, but it’s bleeding.”
Aspen’s face tightened as he grabbed Oriel’s hand and turned his back to the healer to lift his shirt again. “Yeah. I stopped feeling it. After something hit me, I got us to the surface, but I forgot it was there.”
“Panic does funny things,” the healer murmured before he touched it with his finger. It glowed, and he slowly moved it along to heal the cut. “The cold probably helped numb it a bit too. There you go. Not even a scar.”
“Anything else?” asked Oriel, and Aspen shook his head. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Roth?”
He was already tugging off his shirt. “I’m just cold now.”
“I think they aimed higher and tried to hit the cabins,” Aspen said through clenched teeth as the healer left. “They must have thought we’d all be in for the night.”
