Chapter 22
KATANA
G lass shards and splinters from the window were still embedded in Katana’s back. She’d tried to reach around and pull some out herself, but many were too small to pinch, or she couldn’t reach. After sipping on some brandy wine, the sting of it all was only a low ache.
With her legs slung over the side of a table in a room with shelves and cupboards of medical supplies, she kicked her feet waiting for someone to come help her.
Several tables down, Piper, Leif, and Fennan had the house healer fussing over them.
The healer kept smacking Leif on the shoulder for moving too much while she cut away his top.
One of Fennan’s hands was wrapped in a white cloth.
He also had a few scrapes along the left side of his face.
He wasn’t worried about himself though. He held a thick bandage to Piper’s head.
She complained of feeling dizzy and he forced her to lie back.
Beside Katana was a table that held a bronze tin labeled healing balm, a silver basin of water, a dry cloth, scissors, tweezers, and a small knife. She hoped no one planned to use the latter on her.
Little feet scurried across the wood floor then Tif appeared. “Thane is coming. I told him no one was helping you and you have the worst injuries.”
“That is not true, Tif. Piper has a significant cut on her head and Leif may have broken his arm when the bookshelf fell on him, and Fennan is of course worried about them. I think I got the least of it.”
She’d have sat closer to the others, but this was where the healer had steered her and told her to wait.
It wasn’t that she thought they were ignoring her on purpose.
She simply wasn’t part of their close group.
She was the new outsider, and Valeen’s sister.
Although they’d been cordial to her, she was still not one of them.
And from what she had seen since she’d arrived, the three of them had a grudge of sorts against Valeen.
Sure, they’d fight to protect her but otherwise, they didn’t interact with her much.
If the gossip was correct, it was because Valeen chose Hel over their beloved king.
Leif was the only one of the trio that didn’t ignore Valeen.
Tif put a hand on her hip and pushed her bottom lip out.
“Well, you haven’t seen your back. It’s covered in big red blood spots.
And that cut above your eyebrow may be mostly healed but it’s still there.
And since you heal faster than the average person, I’m a little worried that if we don’t hurry, your skin will heal around the pieces, and we’ll have to cut them out.
If we leave them there is the risk of infection.
I can start picking out the glass shards and splinters if you want. I’ll be gentle.”
The sooner the better. She took another gulp of her rich, purple-berry wine. “That would be helpful, thank you, Tifapine.”
“We need to take off your dress, at least the top half. I’ll close the curtain.
” She dragged the white sheet in a half-circle around them, blocking anyone’s view.
Katana carefully raised her arms to gather her hair.
The movement exacerbated the sting from the small cuts on her sides, but she pushed all her hair forward to get it out of the way.
With her hands at her sides, she gripped the table and leaned slightly forward.
A moment later Tif was on the table behind her with scissors in hand.
“I have to cut the fabric. If I start untying it, it will probably hurt.”
“Do what you need to. Just be careful not to cut my hair.”
“I’ll be careful.” Snip, snip, snip. Tif set the scissors aside and gently peeled the fabric away from Katana’s sticky skin.
It hurt but she gripped the table harder and slammed her eyes shut.
Once the fabric was free and fell to her waist, Tif let out a low whistle.
“Ouch, this has to hurt. Thanks for protecting me by the way. You shielded me from all this. Some of these pieces might have killed me. I am small, you know. A big one came out when I pulled the dress off, but it could have pierced straight through my wee little heart.”
Katana giggled, then hissed at the pain the movement caused. Her ribs seemed to be bruised on the left as well. Now that she thought about it, a large book had crashed into her side.
“Don’t laugh if it’s going to hurt,” Tif chided. Cold metal from the tweezers touched her back then Tif pulled the first one. Katana flinched. “Hold completely still.”
She was a fiery girl for being so small. “I will try.”
“There is no try, only do. That’s what mama always said… or was that papa? No, that was definitely papa. He said that when I said I would try to cut wood for the stove.”
The others were already laughing and joking about the attack. Piper was going into detail about seeing Presco take out half the bookshelves in the library when he fell. “I wish we could have gotten there sooner,” Leif joked. “Valeen, Presco, and Varlett got to have all the fun.”
It was a strange way of thinking especially since they didn’t know if Presco or Valeen were alright.
Did they even care? Her stomach was still in knots from watching her sister fall from dragonback.
Oh, she knew Valeen could use her shadow form to halt herself, but it didn’t make her worry less.
She’d disappeared into the forest, and they hadn’t seen her since.
Quick footsteps approached and the curtain was suddenly whipped aside. With a gasp, she threw an arm across her naked breasts, although her hair covered her almost completely. “Thane,” she squeaked. “ All Mother above , I thought you were going to be Fennan or something.”
He looked absolutely furious. “Katana, I’m so sorry.
My healers won’t be working here any longer—” He took her in then quickly jerked the curtain back into place.
“Sorry, I should have asked for permission to enter and gave you time to… cover yourself.” He stepped behind her where Tif stood, and for some reason, him being so close but out of sight sent a shiver through her and goosebumps trailed along her skin.
“The healer is busy. There is no reason to punish her. I am fine.”
“Then she should have called for the other on duty. Your back is covered in blood. You don’t look fine.”
The chatter from Leif, Fennan, Piper, and the healer suddenly went silent.
“Thank you for coming,” Katana said softly. She dropped her arm and settled into a comfortable position.
“Fortunately, it looks like your body is pushing out some of the larger pieces, which is good, but some smaller ones we’ll have to manually pull.” He still sounded grouchy. “I can take it from here, Tif.”
“Ugh, fine.” She hopped down. “Oh, I know, I’ll get some snacks for you. Food always helps me feel better. Cookies, cupcakes, pastries? Or maybe something salty? Which do you prefer? Never mind, I’ll get it all.” She was already under the curtain and out of sight.
She turned her head slightly; he picked up the tweezers. “Did you find Valeen? Is she alright? What about Presco? We saw him go down and she fell…”
“She’s fine and so is Presco. Hel healed his injuries, but he’s fatigued.” His tone began to have less of an edge to it now, and he carefully rested one hand on her bare shoulder. “Is it alright if I hold here?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to start pulling them out now.”
“I am ready.”
He plucked a splinter from her back, but it didn’t seem to sting as much when he did it.
“Where is my sister?”
“On her way, I’m sure.” His breath brushed against her skin, distracting her from the next pull. “They had to stop the last attacker.”
She nodded, but worry made her suddenly nauseous. “Is Hel with her?”
“He is.”
“Oh, good. That makes me feel better. I do not want her alone out there. She worries me. I know she is a formidable warrior, but we are mortal now.” She licked her bottom lip.
It was still strange for her to say that.
She had never feared death before, or even worried about Valeen one day being taken. It made each day more precious.
“I’m sorry this happened.” His voice was softer now. Gentle and repentant. “I told you you’d be safe here and then I let this happen.”
“You cannot control everything, Thane.”
“I know but you’re in my house. Security is my responsibility.”
“All anyone can do is their best. The rest is up to fate.”
“Well, sometimes you have to make your own. Do you still have that dagger I gave you?”
She nodded. It was strapped to her thigh.
“Would you be willing to train more with me? If you have to run rather than fight… we need to get your endurance up.” He pulled another few pieces quickly. “I’m almost finished.”
This new mortal body of hers did need it. Sometimes her thighs burned, and she felt out of breath just climbing the many stairs in this castle. She peeked over her shoulder at him and curled one corner of her mouth, “What sort of endurance training did you have in mind?”
He paused, lifting his emerald eyes to her face. He then let out a deep chuckle and went back to plucking. “Running, Katana.”
“That sounds rigorous and sweaty.”
“It usually is.”
“Will you be shirtless at least? It might take my mind off the actual running part.”
He laughed again. “I could be… so could you.”
“I am certain if I was running around topless, even with a bralette, the gossip would put you into an early grave. You threw your tunic over me the last time.”
“I don’t mind if it’s just you and I.”
She smiled at him. “So you can flirt. You are so serious all the time, I began to wonder.”
He set the tweezers on the metal tray, picked up the cloth and dipped it into the water basin. Water splashed as he wrung it out. Then he gently started dabbing her scraped and bruised ribs. “I wasn’t always.”
He was heartbroken. She could see it in his aura at times, a gray-blue swirling around his chest, usually when her sister was around. “So tomorrow morning we go for a run, tops optional.”
He worked the cloth slowly across her skin with the care a lover might use. “At least wear one until we get off the castle grounds.”
“What if I just wore a cloak and nothing else?”
His cheeks lightly flushed, and he smiled. “You, Katana, are trouble.”
“At least you are smiling again. And do not worry, I will be fully clothed.”
“A shame really.”
Now she was the one with a little flush to her cheeks. A few words like that made her stomach flutter like she was a young maiden once again.
He cleared his throat. “Does this still hurt?”
“It stopped hurting when I started drinking the wine. It is not that bad.”
“Really? There are so many cuts and bruises.”
“I have had worse,” she said, then bit down on her bottom lip. She hadn’t meant to say that.
He stopped wiping the blood from her skin, and she felt his stare on the back of her head. “From Atlanta?” His voice was so low it was almost a whisper but sounded more like a threat.
Her mouth was suddenly dry and all she could do was nod.
He continued wiping in silence. He went quiet for so long it made her nervous. What was he thinking? That she should have fought back? That she shouldn’t have let it happen? “Are you… angry with me?” she asked.
He tossed the cloth into the bowl, the pink-tinted water sloshing over the side, and stepped in front of her.
She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, fearing the judgment she’d find there.
He dropped into a squat, almost kneeling before her, so she had no choice but to see him.
Fury made his aura a more fiery color, reds and oranges rather than his usual green and gold. She grimaced, waiting for his response.
“I’m never going to be angry with you for what he did to you, Katana. I’m angry that he did that to you.” He dropped to one knee and undid the clasp on her heeled shoe. It was only then she realized she had a long red scrape going up the outside of her ankle to her mid calf.
Unbidden tears welled in her eyes as he removed her shoe. She hadn’t been shown kindness like this in a long time. Atlanta gave her injuries; Thane mended them. He grabbed the damp cloth once again and wiped her wound. Then he took up the tin and rubbed the yellow salve across her broken skin.
“I’m seriously debating on finding that asshole.”
“Oh, you must not do that,” Katana breathed. As a primordial immortal, Atlanta could kill Thane.
“Why not?”
“I want to forget about him. I want nothing to do with him. It is in the past. He is the past.”
He sighed and took off her other shoe. “If he ever comes here…”
A lump formed in her throat. That fear was always at the back of her mind.
Thane stood and lifted his black and green tunic over his head and handed it to her. “You can wear this until we get you back to your room. Tif cut your dress into pieces. It’s not going back on.”
She held the soft fabric against her chest. It was warm and smelled like him. “Thank you.”