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“Stop it with the ‘Your Grace’ and ‘Your Highness,’ please. I know you are angry, but we are a team, are we not?”
I couldn’t stop the derisive snort from leaving my body as I spun back for the lake. “A team which is fixing your problem and then is promptly getting booted from your shores. Not sure how teams work in Dra Skor, but that isn’t how we treat one another in Wylan.”
“Keir.”
I turned to look over my shoulder. “I have work to do.”
She said it so quietly I almost didn’t hear it. “Do you want me to leave?”
I spun back around to look at her while she continued talking.
“You are still clearly angry, and you won’t let me apologize. Is it just easier if we continue to avoid one another? For the months this will all take? I don’t have to be here for this. If that is what you want.”
“What I want clearly doesn’t matter. You can stay. Hopefully another of your people will be healed today. So you can tally up the days until you send me on my way and be rid of me.”
“That is not what I want!”
I almost felt bad seeing the tears fill her eyes. I let out a sigh of defeat. “Esta. You are the queen of Dra Skor. I know things have been tense these past few years, but you can do whatever the hell you want.”
With that, I turned and headed for Amory. Esta was right, I was still pissed. I was being a brat about it too, but I couldn’t get past her words. I was simply the son of her enemy. Nothing more. Nothing less. Yet her words and her actions were contradictory as hell.
As soon as I moved into place, I put a sound barrier around Amory and me. “Amory, full disclosure, I’ve been pissed off lately.”
“Noticed that,” she muttered.
“My magic feeds off my emotions and will likely come out a bit more aggressive today because of that. I need for you to tell me if anything begins to hurt.” I paused and looked to her brown eyes. “I do not want to hurt you.”
She didn’t move for a moment. But then sprang into action and took a few steps over to me, giving me a hug.
At first, I wanted to shove her off. Everyone was getting all damn emotional and we had work to do here. But I didn’t realize how much I just needed someone to show me that they cared. How tense I had been these past few days.
“You can be pissed, it just means you care,” Amory whispered to me.
I closed my arms around her to hug her back. “I do care, Amory. I am hurt and pissed, and I want more than I am allowed to have.”
“Don’t give up yet.”
I leaned back to smile at her. “I haven’t. Just tending to some wounds.” I paused. “What do you say we try to get you changed back?”
She grinned. “If you would have told me three months ago that I would be standing here with the knowledge and belief that it could happen, I likely would have laughed in your face. But here I am.”
I let my sound barrier fall and took a step back. “Emric and I will both use our magic. Again, if anything gets to be too much, please say so. No being stubborn.” I held out my hand with my magic buzzing and weaving along it, already begging to be let out as if even it was tired of my crappy mood. “Would you like to feel it? So you know what’s coming?”
She reached out and grabbed my hand, our palms clasping together. “Oh,” she whispered. “It’s kind of nice. I was expecting a zap based on the looks of it, but it is a bit more constant than that.”
“I think you are going to have to try to shift after we get the poison out of you,” I told her. “I am not sure if you need to be in the water or not, I just assume it helps to be in your sanctuary, a place you draw power and refuge.”
She gave me a nod and I noted her hand was slightly shaky as she let go.
“Scared?” I asked.
She gave her head a shake. “Nervous.” Then a beat or two later. “No matter what, thank you for trying.”
With a nod to Emric, we got to work.
* * *
“Why is it everywhere within her?”Emric asked as we kept sending our magic around Amory.
