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“He is not to see a healer. Not for three days. I forbid it,” I growled.
I wanted to kill him, but this would have to be enough. I would allow him this one respite, but if he endangered Ella again, I would kill him myself.
I was having a very hard time grappling with the fact that he had laid eyes on Ella. A part of me felt that the only man to look at her should be me, and I was having trouble coming to terms with that. I shook my head. Now was not the time to think of such things.
There was only one place in the castle I could think of to take her where she’d be safe—the king’s chambers. Valtimir wouldn’t be able to get to her there. No creature other than me could step through the threshold. If they tried to break in without me, they would burst into flames.
Once the room emptied, I carried her up the winding flights of stairs until I reached the top floor. The symbols carved into rock sizzled with magic and then faded once I passed through the foyer. I adjusted Ella in my arms so I could open the door to my chambers, carrying her inside to safety.
“No one will be able to get to you here,” I said quietly.
Her body was shaking against mine. My heart sank. It was one thing to make her cry when she was over my knee or at the whim of my belt. This was something else entirely. She stayed quiet as I sat down on the bed, pulling her even closer to me once I settled her in my lap. I curled my hand over the back of her head, trying my best to comfort her. I wished nothing more than to take all the pain away from her. For the first time in my life, I regretted following my duty to the realm because she’d gotten hurt in my absence.
I needed to focus on Icegard. I shouldn’t be focusing on her.
Helheim’s armies were coming in vast numbers from the north. Armor needed to be crafted. Swords needed to be smelted and sharpened. Axes needed to be produced. There weren’t enough shields and arrows in the armory. Soldiers needed training, and the battalions devoted to magic needed to start gathering materials for spellcasting. There was so much that needed to be done, yet here I was holding this little slip of a human girl in my lap.
Her body shook against mine and I squeezed her tighter. Eventually, she stopped trembling, and I sighed softly in relief.
“Did he touch you?” I asked, holding my breath. He’d still been clothed when I’d entered, but I prayed I hadn’t been too late.
“Yes.”
Immediately, I stiffened, my fury rising once again.
“Well, no, not really. He used his knife to slice off my clothes. He was just about… about… to touch metherewhen the wolf jumped through the window, and then you were there too, pulling him off of me,” she tried to explain, and my heart cracked harder. She sounded so small, so terrified, that the only thing I could do was hold her and protect her.
“He won’t be able to get to you here. The king’s chambers are spelled. No one may enter without me by their side,” I whispered. I couldn’t help but press my lips against the side of her head, kissing her gently as her fingers gripped tightly around me.
She didn’t want me to go. “Can you just hold me for a little while longer?”
The trembling in her voice touched the very bottom of my soul.
“Anything you need, sweet girl,” I murmured.
With a flick of my wrist, I released a small tendril of magic into the fireplace. It was spelled to me, as was much of the rest of the chamber, and it sparked to life immediately. I would have to add more wood to the fire later. Unlike this tiny human, I was used to the cold. Even in the years I’d lived within these walls, I’d hardly ever used it.
One of the corners of the blanket slipped off her shoulders, and I grasped at it, pulling it back up into place. She sat in my lap for a long time, and her breathing evened out. When I was certain that she was fast asleep, I stood up and tucked her into the bed, covering her naked form with several blankets. For a few minutes, I watched her sleep, wanting to make sure she wouldn’t wake. Her chest rose and fell with even measure, and when I took another step back, she didn’t twitch.
As quietly as I could, I put a few more logs on the fire and exited my chambers. I headed down to the kitchens and instructed them to cook her a fine meal to be delivered just outside the spelled archway.
Then I headed for Valtimir’s chambers. There were several guards by his doorway, and upon seeing me they stepped aside with great haste. I strode into the room to find a groaning steward in his bed.
“Valtimir!” I barked. It was difficult to keep my fury in check.
He stilled, his dark eyes rising to meet mine while he pressed a cloth stained with his own blood against his nose.
“Yes, Nykor,” he replied, his voice equally thick with ire.
“You are not to lay a finger on her again. Should you try, I will rip your head from your shoulders myself,” I warned.
“I understand,” he replied lamely, but I had the distinct feeling that he was saying whatever he needed just to pacify me, and that made me even angrier.
“I should forbid you from the use of a healer entirely,” I spat.
“I didn’t know you had laid claim to her, sire,” he explained.
“She’s not…” I started, but then I stopped short and swallowed my words. He didn’t need to know the truth. He just needed to know that she was off-limits.
