63. Chapter 63 #2
Ren had barely stumbled from her chambers before she found herself surrounded by guards, words tumbling out faster than sense.
The palace erupted into motion—torches flaring, orders shouted, steel drawn—but despite her demands to hunt the intruder herself, she’d been dragged straight to the infirmary.
Now she sat on the edge of a narrow cot beneath the flicker of lanternlight, her head pounding in time with her heartbeat. The familiar female healer from the training yard loomed over her with her usual disapproval.
“Lucky they didn’t break your ribs,” she muttered, pressing a cloth of enchanted ice to her forehead .
Ren winced as the chill bit through her skin. “They’re lucky I wasn’t fully awake,” she growled. “Coward, hiding behind a cloak, coming at me in the middle of the night. When I find them, I’ll—”
Her hand shot up to rub at her temple, but the healer slapped it away with a sharp swat.
“Enough. You’re in no shape to fight anyone. Talk all you want about how tough you are, but you’re human.” She leaned closer, voice dropping. “Which means you bleed and bruise and die easier. Whoever did this was fae.”
The words cut through her anger. Ren’s jaw tightened, her breathing slowed. “How can you tell?” she asked finally, her voice low.
The healer gestured toward her bruises. “Because it takes more than strength to do this kind of damage without finishing the job. They were precise, controlled. A mortal would’ve left you broken or dead.
A fae knew exactly where to strike to make you hurt.
” She tapped a gloved finger near her temple, her tone turning grim.
“An inch to the left, and you’d be gone.
A dagger through the throat, and we’d be burning your body by dawn. ”
Ren swallowed hard, forcing down the tremor threatening her hands. The ice cloth dripped cold water down her neck.
The healer sighed. “Luckily for you, it’s nothing you won’t recover from. You’ll have bruises, and that head of yours will stay swollen for a few days, but if you rest and keep it iced, you’ll heal just fine.”
Ren muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like rest is for cowards, but the healer pretended not to hear it.
The healer finally straightened, giving her one last disapproving look. “Rest. No wandering tonight. And for the gods’ sake, no heroics.”
Ren managed a noncommittal grunt as she gathered his satchel and swept toward the door, muttering something about reckless mortals under her breath. The moment it clicked shut behind her, Ren swung her legs off the cot.
Her head throbbed in protest, but she ignored it. Rest , she thought bitterly, pressing the melting ice cloth to the table. As if that’s ever stopped anything.
She moved quietly, testing her balance before slipping toward the door. If she was quick, she could get back to her room, grab Ashrend, and maybe —
The door opened before she could touch the knob.
Kaelin stepped through, the sweep of her cloak brushing the floor like a whisper. The princess’s gaze found Ren immediately, taking in the split lip, the bruised cheek, and her defiant stance.
“Going somewhere?”
Ren froze mid-step, one hand still half raised in guilt. “Uh,” she said dryly, “just stretching my legs.”
Kaelin’s brow arched. “You look like you’re about to march into war.”
“Maybe I am.”
Kaelin’s eyes narrowed the moment Ren took a step toward her. “Don’t even think about it.”
Ren bristled. “I’m fine.”
“You can barely stand without swaying,” Kaelin countered, her tone icy. “Go lie back down.”
“Move, Kaelin.”
When Kaelin didn’t, Ren growled under her breath and shoved forward—
—only to find herself weightless a heartbeat later.
Kaelin moved in a blur, catching Ren by the wrist and tossing her over her shoulder as if she weighed nothing. The world spun, and Ren landed on the cot with a grunt, the breath knocked clean from her lungs.
“Gods damn it – ”
Ren started to rise, fury burning through the pain, but Kaelin was already there, looming over her, one hand pressing against her shoulder to keep her down.
“Enough!” Kaelin hissed. The fire in her voice silenced even Ren.
“You’re being foolish. Impulsive. What exactly do you plan to do when you find them?
Challenge them to another fight?” Her violet eyes flashed.
“You already lost one, Ren. And if you don’t stop and breathe long enough to plan your next move, you’ll lose another. ”
Ren glared up at her, chest rising and falling in sharp, uneven breaths. Kaelin’s grip eased but didn’t fall away, her thumb unconsciously brushing against the fabric at Ren’s collarbone.
Ren glared up at Kaelin, her lip split and her pride still bleeding. “If I find them again,” she muttered, voice low and shaking with fury, “I’ll make sure they don’t walk away next time. ”
“And if they come back? What then, Ren? You’ll throw yourself at them again until they finish what they started?”
Ren pushed herself up on her elbows, wincing. “I can handle – ”
Kaelin cut her off, her voice cracking like thunder. “You nearly died !” The words hung between them, raw and trembling. Her breath came fast before she caught herself.
Silence settled, thick as smoke. The fury drained from Ren’s chest, leaving something heavier behind.
Finally, Ren looked away. “There was something about them. The way they moved—their voice. It felt… familiar. Like I should’ve known them.” Her hands curled into fists against the blanket. “Whoever they are, they know me.”
Kaelin’s eyes softened, the anger gone but the worry still etched deep. She sank onto the edge of the bed. “Then we’ll find them,” she said quietly. “Together. But not if you get yourself killed first.”
Ren’s mouth twitched into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “You really don’t like making things easy, do you?”
Kaelin’s answering look was half exasperation, half something far gentler. “Not when it comes to you.”