Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Iland on the terrace and immediately start running, not giving a flip about all the staff that pause in their chores to stare at their Queen-to-Be tearing through the castle toward the stairs that lead to the lower wing, where, I think, the healers’ quarters are.
I’ve never been there, and I’ve never asked, but I’m almost positive I once heard Chase’s healer—a petite, gray-haired woman named Solenne—say something about going back down to her quarters for some sort of herbal something-or-other.
And if I’m wrong? Well, presumably whoever does live down there will be able to point me in the right direction.
A squat man in one of the kitchen uniforms hurries by with a tray under his arm, presumably having just delivered a meal. I scurry over, grab his arm, and tug him to a stop.
His eyes go wide. “My queen,” he says, then drops to one knee.
“The healers’ quarters,” I demand, pulling him up by the back of his collar. “Take me there.”
He doesn’t hesitate, just starts off down the hallway with a quick nod and a polite, “Please follow me.”
I do, only half noticing the clusters of people forming in the halls, all doing nothing except watching us.
Well, let them. I’m on a mission. And as my current escort has made clear, I’m their queen even though Adric and I are only engaged.
Got to love local customs….
“Here,” the squat man says, breathing hard. We’ve descended two floors, and he stands at the entrance of a long corridor.
“Solenne,” I say. “Which chamber is hers?”
He frowns, then peers down the hall, and I’m starting to think I’m going to have to pound on doors to find her, when he says, “Fifth. On the left.” Then he bows, scurries backward, and disappears.
For a second, I worry that I’ve made him late and he’ll get in trouble. Then I push that out of my mind as I rush to the fifth door and pound on it.
And pound.
And pound some more.
I try the knob, only to find the chamber locked. Out of pure frustration, I try again, and this time I hear the lock click open. Queenly powers of locksmithing, I presume. But when I push the door open, the room is empty.
Shit.
I turn to head back the way I came so I can go find Adric, which is probably where I should have started if I’d been thinking clearly.
I’m passing the second chamber when I hear descending footsteps.
I look up, and a combination of relief and joy crashes over me, as if I’ve just won the People Lottery.
“Mistress Solenne,” I say, reaching for her hand. “I need your help. I need you in the Real.”
“My queen,” she says, tilting her head. “There is sickness?”
“A friend,” I say. “Ripped to shreds. He was with us when Chase was bitten. I don’t know if he has wolf venom in him or if he was captured and tortured, or even exactly what his injuries are. All I know is that he somehow managed to get to the Real, and he’s in terrible shape.”
She nods. “Will go, yes. But only if have blessing of king.”
“Next stop,” I say. “Follow me.”
I don’t see Kali, thank goodness, but we do pass Maren, who jumps a little when I call her name.
“Have you seen the king?” I demand, then realize I’m twisting Mom’s warm ring like a worry stone. Something I only seem to do in the Nightmare Realm. But I’ll worry about breaking the habit later. Right now, my plate is full. “Maren?” I press.
She dips her head and takes a step back as she says, “The king is in his Council Chamber, my lady.”
I’m already on the move as I shout my thanks back to her, then look helplessly at Solenne. “I don’t remember where that is.”
“Come, my lady,” she says, then takes the lead until I see the closed door ahead. I sprint forward, then burst through the doors as every man and woman at that table turns to face me.
“Beloved,” Adric says mildly, but I hear the what the fuck? in his voice.
“I need your help,” I say.
His gaze sweeps the room, looking over his council, then landing on Solenne.
“We will continue this another time,” he says to his counselors. “Please leave us now.”
They don’t look pleased. But they also don’t argue with their king. Instead, they incline their heads and go, even as Adric crosses to me in three strides, then puts his hand at my elbow.
“Tell me,” he says after the last counsellor has left the room.
“Whistler’s alive. He’s in the Real. Solenne’s needed. And I need you, too,” I say, the words coming out before I can think about them.
“Do you?”
“Please, Adric. You said if I summoned you, you’d come. I’m summoning you.”
“And I will return with you,” he says, his voice gentle. “Tell me—how bad is it?”
I shake my head. “Bad. I don’t know.” He holds out his arms, and I curl into his embrace, wondering how it is I can feel so deeply for both these brothers. Such different personalities, and yet each has carved a place in my heart—and in my bed.
“Beloved?”
I focus on the here and now as I lift my chin to meet his eyes. “This is on Kali’s shoulders. They were her wolves that attacked us when we crashed.”
He nods slowly. “It is quite interesting that your friend survived in the deserts of my realm after a wolf attack. That is a rare thing indeed. Has he said who helped him?”
“Are you kidding? Help? If so, it was pretty shitty help. He’s hanging on by a thread.”
He says nothing else, clearly lost in thought.
“Adric?”
He faces me, his expression grave. “Let us go,” he says, then nods. And with that one quick tilt of his head, the world falls away, only to come back under my feet in an instant as the three of us land softly in the middle of the training room, deep inside the Realm of the Real.
The training room-turned-ER is brighter than I left it. Griff has every lamp lit, and someone has stripped off Whistler’s rag of a shirt and given him a sponge bath. As for Whistler himself, he’s completely unconscious. I figure that’s a blessing.
Adric and Solenne stand beside me, and I turn to the healer. “Please,” I say.
Solenne doesn’t speak at first. Instead, she crosses to the table, sets her bag at Whistler’s feet, then lifts his wrist with two fingers. After that, she examines his eyes, then his hand, then his shoulder.
Finally, she studies his chest, presumably checking his breathing and heart.
As she finishes her assessment, Adric looks around the room, then nods a broad greeting to Mr. Griffin before turning to face Chase dead on.
“Brother,” Adric says.
Chase inclines his head. “Thank you,” he says, and I see the flicker of surprise in Adric’s eyes as Chase continues. “It means a lot that you allowed your healer to come to assist my friend.”
“I allowed it because Cora requested it,” Adric says.
Chase nods. “I understand.”
For a moment, I think they might actually shake hands, but then Solenne speaks, her voice sharp as she says, “Is much bad. Must hurry.”
Everyone’s focus shifts back to Whistler, but the detente seems to linger in the air, like a single baby step inside a fragile bubble.
“Hot water,” she continues, to no one in particular. “Much, please. And many clean cloths, yes?”
Mr. Griffin nods, then steps away to gather the supplies.
She looks at Chase. “He been with the Lady Kali.”
I feel Adric go still beside me.
“Wolves,” I say before Chase can answer. “He was left in the desert with the wolves that injured Chase. Kali took us to the castle. She didn’t stay with Whistler and the wolves.”
Solenne looks at me, her expression mild. “Was with Kali,” she repeats. “You see? Is mark.”
I lean over to look at the small mark that looks like a wide V intersected by a line. I start to tell her I don’t understand, but then my perspective seems to shift by ninety degrees. And when it does, that crossed V looks remarkably like a K.
“That bitch.”
“Is true,” Solenne says, and I like her even more.
Beside me, Adric goes completely still, his focus on that mark.
“She ask many questions,” Solenne continues. “Is word?”
“Interrogate,” Chase says, his voice hard. “How do you know this?”
She shrugs. “I know. Is there to read if know how. Story is in blood, yes?”
Chase’s half-smile has a hint of irony, and he casts a glance toward Adric. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”
“Much hurt. Kali want answers. Want obedience. No get, then she give pain.”
I shudder.
Adric does not. But his hand has come up and rested at the small of my back, and I feel the slight tremor of fury in his touch.
“Friend should no be alive,” Solenne says. “Much torture. Survive because of self.”
“Of self?” I repeat. “What does that mean?”
“He is from realm of Others—old magic in blood. It help heal.”
I remember how Chase once described the realms to me. The Realm of the Others had the kind of creatures you’d read about in fairy tales where deep magic grows and death is often defeated.
“Long sleep,” Solenne says. “Perhaps she believe dead and toss away. He lucky wolves not find again. Perhaps still had scent of their master on him.”
Solenne says it without inflection, but the word master sits in the air, and I feel Adric’s hand tighten at my back.
I don’t say anything. I don’t look at him. I just stand where I am and let him have the moment he needs to gather himself.
Chase has clocked it too. His eyes flick to his brother for a half-second—long enough that I see the look they exchange, and though I can’t know for sure, I think it’s a look of true solidarity.
“Or perhaps something else,” Solenne continues. “Cannot know for certain what happen. He tell us when he back with us.”
“He’ll recover?” Chase asks.
“He mostly heal self. I will make go faster. Two days in this realm. Maybe three. You go. I summon when better.”
Chase nods. “Thank you for sharing your skill, Mistress Solenne”
Her smile quivers. “The Kali. She never say such words.”
“Yeah, well, she’s kind of a bitch,” I say.
Solenne tilts her head. “You are wise woman, my queen,” she says, and I can practically taste the laughter in her voice.
Beside me, Adric exhales slowly. “Kali,” he says, very quietly, to no one and everyone. “We will be having a conversation.”
Chase says nothing. But his posture softens, and I can’t help but think that this may be the first time in ages that he’s caught a glimpse of the Adric I’ve come to know.