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But I didn’t even get a few steps in when an attendant rushed up to me. I was entirely ready to tell them now wasnotthe time, but their panicked expression gave me pause.
“Your Highness!” they said, hurriedly bowing. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“I had matters to attend to.”
“Understood, Your Highness, but it’s about one of your men. Maddox, the tall one, is on lockdown in our medical wing.”
I froze, my mind skipping beats. “I’m sorry, did you say—”
“I don’t know the details, Your Highness, other than he’s ill with something too dangerous to allow exposure. You have a healer in your entourage, right? Our own medical staff want to speak to the both of you as soon as possible.”
“Of course. I’ll go fetch her, and we’ll head there expeditiously.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. I will inform them at once.”
The attendant bolted off, bursting into a small fox, and racing up the staircase at impressive speed. Oren and I exchanged looks, my stomach sinking, despite all the blessings that’d been offered.
“Fuck,” I muttered, running a hand over my face.
It seemed things were much worse.
Chapter 15
Ayla
“Hewhat?”
Oren’s face was a grim mask as he regarded me. “Apparently he has an illness that’s incredibly rare here in Camdaria.”
I stared openly at him, my heart thundering violently in my chest. I was in a state of shock, my ears ringing in accompaniment to the drumming.
“Aren’t you shifter types supposed to, like, never get sick?” Darla asked, sounding nearly as concerned as I felt.
We’d just arrived in the servant area, having stopped to grab some pants from a shop that was open surprisingly late. It wasn’t quite the fashion haul Darla had wanted, but at least I had clean trousers to change into, and ones that were a lot more practical than the palace clothes.
I’d been eager to collapse into my bed and just try to forget about the day for a few minutes, but my stomach twisted when I’d spotted Oren waiting for us. I had a feeling it was bad news, but I’d never expected the bomb he’d dropped on us.
“We need you in the infirmary instantly.”
“Of course, lead the way.”
Part of me wanted to sprint to Mad Dog, worried even our fast-paced stroll would waste precious seconds. But I knew thelast thing I wanted to do was draw attention to his state by sprinting around the palace.
It was my curse. Iknewit was my curse. I’d been far too spoiled by spending breakfast together and growing far too fond of him. I was soselfishlately, and now Mad Dog was paying the price.
At Canid, the time we’d spent together wouldn’t be enough to endanger his life. Like Yvonne said, my curse was angry and unhinged because of the wards she’d set up to protect Kai. How much more rageful did it have to be now that Darla was equally cloaked?
I should have known better. All power, all vitriol, had to go somewhere, so of course it just went buck-wild on the only real target left.
Maddox.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck,fuck.
I’d messed up, but I was going to fix it. The curse had made a mistake in going through a sickness route with Mad Dog. Even if he had the most virulent of plagues, I’d cure him.I would.
When we arrived at the infirmary, I found myself frustrated at how needlessly ornate everything was. There was so much space for dust to get into, or debris could contaminate what was supposed to be a sterile place. But I didn’t exactly have time to complain, because we were immediately greeted by other healers who ushered me to what was clearly a quarantine area, partitions and plastic curtains sectioning it off.
