Chapter 20 – Vale
Chapter 20
VALE
T he strong scent of sage and vinegar nearly bowled me over as I entered the healer’s sanctuary. Stars, something must have really needed cleaning for it to smell this bad.
“Prince Vale, may I help you?” a healer greeted, her hair a mess, but her tone bright.
“I’ve come to visit my friend, Sir Qildor, if he’s awake?” I lifted the bag I’d brought with me, filled with the knight’s favorite treat. “And I brought meat sticks. He’s permitted to eat them, correct?”
“He can eat whatever he likes. No wine or ale, of course. They hinder healing, but meat sticks are acceptable. And yes, he’s awake. Others are visiting him.”
“Oh.” I craned my neck to peer around her but didn’t see Sir Qildor or anyone else I recognized in the beds. “Who is visiting him?”
Should it be his family, I did not wish to intrude.
“Lord Virtoris and Lord Balik. ”
“Vidar and Sian?” I found it unlikely that the high lords of the great houses would be present, but best to check.
“Yes, my prince.”
Great minds thought alike, it seemed.
“Show me where he’s resting.”
The healer led me deeper into the sanctuary, to the private rooms for longer term patients. Back here it was relatively quiet. Such a drastic change from the day I’d carried Neve in here and pulled glass from her cuts. The day I knew I wanted to learn more about her.
The healer stopped and knocked on a closed door before opening it slightly. “Sir Qildor, the prince is here to see you.”
“Vale?” Qildor asked hesitantly.
“Yes, Prince Vale.”
“About time,” Sian said loudly.
“It is,” I agreed, moving into the room as the healer stepped aside and shut the door behind me. “I should have come earlier.”
I should have come every day.
“Are you well, Qildor?” I tried to ignore the guilt I felt at his situation.
My friend, my brother in the cabal, smiled from where he sat in his bed, leaning back against the headboard, a cup of tea in hand. “I am. Thanks to you.”
“No, it’s thanks to me that you’re in this situation.”
Qildor’s face fell and his violet eyes darkened. “Don’t say that, Vale. The king made his choice. Not you. ”
It was all he dared to say; the closest he came to speaking ill about my father on the matter. A smart faerie.
“How are your wings?” I eyed the bandages.
“Better by the day.” Qildor motioned to one of two empty chairs. “Sit, Vale. We have much to catch up on. I hear that you’re training the new princess?”
“With the help of Sian and Filip.” I nodded to Vidar as I sat next to the heir to House Virtoris. “Sometimes Vidar, Luccan, and Thantrel too.”
“I wish I could come more often,” Vidar admitted. “But Mother is set on me helping her get Sayyida out of her engagement. Each morning I sit in a meeting with yet another house, speaking to another male who wants to wed my sister.”
“And why not Sian?” My eyebrows pulled together. “House Balik should hold more sway than most.”
“Agreed,” Vidar agreed. “Once Sayyida told Mother about wishing to wed Sian, Mother brought the idea to the king. He dismissed it so quickly he might have expected the request.”
Impossible. But I suspected Father had denied their request because he still believed that Lord Balik might have the Ice Scepter. Guilt churned in my stomach.
I hadn’t yet told Sian about the king’s thoughts regarding Lord Balik. Partially because I wanted to find the Ice Scepter, and partially because, in my heart, I didn’t believe Lord Tadgh Balik had the Scepter. He was too noble to keep something that wasn’t his. My father’s suspicions against Lord Roar made far more sense.
“I see,” I said, resigned .
“Can we turn to happier matters?” Qildor asked. “Like that gift you brought me? I can smell it from here.”
I handed over the bag of meat sticks and Qildor pulled one out and took a bite.
“Stars, so good.” He closed his eyes momentarily. “They serve the blandest food here. I miss eating in the grand hall with you and my fellow knights.”
“We miss you too,” Sian assured him. “Though, of late, we’ve been taking our meals in private. The king has been in a foul mood.”
“Let’s not dwell on that.” The less we spoke of my father, the better.
“Agreed.” Qildor took another bite of his meat stick. “So, tell me, Vale, how is married life?”
Only then did I realize I was the first of my best friends to wed. I supposed they were all a touch curious.
If only I could confide in them that my marriage was not normal. That it wouldn’t last.
My skin prickled, as it did when I thought of Neve leaving, and that I’d never see her again. I didn’t like the idea but doubted she’d be persuaded, even though I suspected that she had feelings for me too.
“It’s unlike what I imagined,” I admitted. “Better in some ways, worse in others.”
“His wife is a feisty one.” Sian winked. “She’s bossing you around already, Vale?”
I laughed, along with my friends, but shook my head. “Not really. It’s more . . .”
That I don’t know how much time we have.
“That I worry about what’s to come,” I finished .
“The vampires,” Vidar breathed. “They could be here within two days, you know.”
My eyebrows wrinkled. “That seems early.”
“Not all the Red Assassins live in the mountains,” Vidar replied. “I believe they have an island too, due north of Sangrael.”
I straightened. “I didn’t know.”
“I only saw it on my last voyage. It was clear in a place where there’s usually always fog. A keep, a red one decorated with bleeding roses choked by thorns. Like in the tales.”
My fingers tightened around the arms of my chair. Had I been a fool to allow Neve to go shopping with Saga and Sayyida? Even with six Clawsguards at their sides?
“It might not be them,” Vidar admitted, “not like we docked to check. But it’s likely.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I muttered, annoyed that he hadn’t brought it up earlier. Then again, he probably didn’t know Neve was out shopping with his sister. It wasn’t like Sayyida would gush over such an outing.
“Is that why you’re training her?” Qildor asked. “In case an assassin slips through the castle walls?”
“Yes.”
“She’s doing well too,” Sian added. “Princess Neve was not a natural at holding a sword, but to watch her fight—now that’s natural. Like she’s been doing so all her life.”
Because she had been fighting all her life. Just not in the way Sian assumed .
“She’s catching on,” I agreed. “And she’s fast. That helps.”
“Also helps that her instructor is in love with her,” Sian teased. “You must be giving the princess additional lessons . Am I right, my friend?” His tone was suggestive, not unlike the thousands of other times we’d spoken as a friend group, but I barely heard what he said. No, I was stuck on the fact that he thought I was so in love with her.
We’d hoped to play it off like that, but I was never sure how realistic we were being. If one of my best friends was buying the act, we had done a good job.
Or was there nothing to buy?
Father had asked if I was in love with Neve.
Burning Fates, was I?
I’d never been in love before, and I felt things for Neve that I’d never experienced. That I wished to protect her, almost to an outrageous degree.
Allowing her to go shopping without me, guarded by six elite soldiers nonetheless, had taken a tremendous amount of convincing.
I swallowed.
I . . . I think I do love her. Stars, when did that happen?
“Vale, you all right, brother?” Vidar asked. “You look pale.”
“I-I’m fine.”
Physically, anyway.
Vidar didn’t look so sure, nor did Sian. Qildor was too engrossed in his third meat stick to notice my internal crisis.
He used the very stick to point at me. “You should get her a sword of her own. Custom-made like that one you gave Caelo on his name day. I bet Master Smith Urgi would love to make a sword for a princess.”
“Good idea,” I agreed because it was. Neve had been using practice swords and occasional live steel to get used to the weight, but the swords we kept on hand were too big for her. I was willing to bet that she’d love a custom-made blade. “I’ll stop by the forge as soon as?—”
Someone knocked.
“Come in!” Qildor called out, his face brightening at the prospect of more visitors.
Filip Balik strode in and met my eye. “I have your message from L?rling Duran, my prince.”
I stood. After we’d finished morning training, I’d sent Filip to the House of Wisdom to receive an update from my friend. It had taken the squire longer than I’d anticipated to return, which I hoped meant that Duran had been retrieving the Liar’s Salvation for him.
“Duran?” Vidar leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “What’s he up to? I haven’t seen him in so long.”
“Studying. Like usual,” I replied. “Excuse me. I have to read this. Qildor, I hope you continue to recover. I’ll stop by again soon. I shouldn’t have waited so long.”
“Don’t worry about it, old friend. Good to see you.” He held up his meat stick. “Bring more next time, will you?”
“I’ll have more sent tonight, and bring some with me when I visit,” I promised.
Always observant, Sian’s eyes narrowed and fixed on the letter, but no one said anything as I left the room, then the healers’ sanctuary. I made my way down the corridor for a couple of minutes before stopping in an alcove and tearing open the letter.
Our stock was empty. I am already making more of what you require, but I was wrong in my guess that I’d need a week to brew. It will, however, take six days. As that’s my day off, I can bring it when I visit my father.
I appreciated that he’d kept the letter vague and hadn’t named either me or him. I’d burn the missive too, to be safe. If anyone discovered their new princess was drinking Liar’s Salvation, many, especially in the palace, would be angry.
I folded the letter and stuck it back in the envelope. The Liar’s Salvation would be done in six days, but the full moon was five days away. Which meant Neve only had five until the potion in her veins stopped working. We couldn’t rush the potion brewing process, so there would be a single day in which she couldn’t lie.
A single day in which her magic should appear.
Would it be powerful? Weak? Would it unravel or burst from her? And would the appearance cause problems?
I swallowed down the anxiety rising inside me. There was no use in chasing worries that may never come to pass. No matter how we spun this, Neve would be like any other fae.