Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
My aunt and I rushed to Timith’s side, falling atop him in a flurry of skirts.
“My love, my love!” Gwenery’s grin was so wide it spanned continents. “You’re okay. You’re alive. You’re you again.”
“Oh, Uncle Timith.” I tried to stop my tears, but they streamed down my cheeks nonstop. “You’re healthy again. You’re finally healed!”
Timith chuckled, and his usual joyful sound filled the chambers, but despite his jovial response, he kept tilting his head, and a look of bewilderment covered his face, as if mystified by our sobbing. But it didn’t stop his booming laugh.
“Well, well, this is quite the wakeup call.” He patted both of our backs, right over my gown’s satiny material.
He felt warm and familiar. Safe. Whole. Happy.
I clung to him. Tears leaked in rivers from the corners of my eyes, and I was such a mess, but I couldn’t help myself, and I never wanted to let him go.
“Why are you girls acting as though you’ve never seen me before? And, Prim, my goodness, what a lovely gown! I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you in this one. Are you off to a ball I didn’t know about?”
“No, no ball, Uncle Timith.” I sniffled. Emotion still completely choked me, and I couldn’t explain further.
He laughed again and pushed himself up, gathering us in his arms as he moved to the bedside.
My aunt and I didn’t say anything further, and we just continued clinging to him.
Such intense feelings clogged my throat, so much so that it was an effort to breathe, but eventually, I swallowed my emotions down enough to pull back.
I stared at him through bleary eyes. “You feel fine? Truly?”
Another laugh shook his belly. “Of course I do, dearest Prim. Now, now, there, there.” My aunt still had her arms wrapped around his neck, as though afraid that if she let go, he would become sick once more. “Gwen, my darling, what’s come over you? It’s all right. Everything’s fine, my love.”
But my uncle’s words of reassurance only made her cry harder.
“Prim, it seems your aunt is a bit overtaken at the moment. Fetch me my slippers, will you? I think I need to make her a cup of tea. Tea usually helps her when she’s feeling overwhelmed.”
His request had me grinning and crying anew, and I jumped from his bed and grabbed his slippers from near the wardrobe.
It was only then that I became aware of the two warriors standing quietly by the door.
Jamie had his hands clasped behind his back, around his giant ax.
He’d focused his attention on the ceiling’s corner, looking entirely uncomfortable by our family’s emotions.
But Kole was watching my every move, his attention transfixed, his irises swimming with something barely leashed.
When I walked by him, I impulsively squeezed his hand. I didn’t know why, but the realm seemed righted once more, and he was here, experiencing Timith’s healing with me. And the urge to touch him . . . it overtook me.
Kole’s fingers curled around mine, but when I made a move to pass him, he didn’t let go. I halted, staring up at his dazzling Solis eyes, and something in my chest fluttered. Itched. Expanded.
“I’m glad he’s saved.” Kole squeezed me anew. “I’m so happy this is the outcome. I know it’s what you wanted. That it’s what you did everything in your power to achieve.”
His quiet, heartfelt comments had my throat tightening all over again. His palm felt so warm. Solid. It reminded me of how he’d been when I’d been hunting the Stone, so protective and steady.
That strange sensation tickled my chest again, but before I could respond, my uncle was calling for me, asking me to help him get my aunt to her feet. I gave Kole a tentative, grateful smile, and then I rushed back to Timith’s side.
Another boom of Timith’s laughter filled the room. “Ah, Gwen, my love. There, there. Come with me.” He put his arm around her shoulders, and seeing him support her, when for weeks it’d been the other way around, had a laugh of absolute joy spilling from my lips.
I dropped his slippers for him to step into, then trailed behind them out of the room as they maneuvered their way downstairs.
Behind me, the heavy footsteps of both warriors followed.
Gwen was still weeping on their walk down the stairs while Timith did what he could to console her, and seeing the love between them had my heart near bursting.
A grin bloomed upon my face, and all of my weeks of worry and fear began to melt away. Timith would live. He was whole again. He and my aunt could continue their lives as they had been, and despite everything, it felt like the realm was righted once more.
“Why have wards not been put around this residence yet?” Kole’s quiet question filtered to me from the hall. “I mistphased us into this home with zero resistance.”
I paused mid-step down the stairwell but made myself resume walking.
“Spellcasters were supposed to be here this afternoon,” Jamie replied just as softly.
“They were tied up with that potion, and what they found—” His words cut off, and I felt his attention drift my way.
My spine stiffened, but I kept walking. Jamie cleared his throat and continued, “By morning, it’ll be done. ”
The two warriors fell more behind me, their whispered comments continuing, but they distanced themselves enough that I couldn’t hear more.
My joyful mood dimmed slightly, and I was reminded of Verin, of that powerful elixir, of what my uncle had nearly succumbed to, and of the fact that Verin had meant for me to consume that potion instead.
The fact remained that nefarious activities were still happening outside of these walls, but it felt as though the biggest problem of them all had been solved.
Timith was healthy again. I’d saved him just as I’d hoped to, and I took heart in that.
But as for everything else . . .
Heart pounding, I hurried down the rest of the stairs after my aunt and uncle.
Gwen and Timith were already in the kitchen with the tea kettle warming over the stove by the time I joined them. My aunt sat at the table, tears still streaming down her face, while my uncle told her of his plans for the evening.
It was obvious he had no memories of the previous weeks when he’d fallen ill.
He was still speaking of things in his diary from a month ago, and it struck me that the Stone had done exactly what I’d commanded it to do.
It’d returned Timith to the exact state of health he’d been in prior to becoming ill.
Most likely, if I asked him the date, he would have quoted a day from weeks ago.
Sooner or later, my aunt or I would have to break the news to him of what’d happened, of what I’d learned, and how I no longer lived near the library and now resided in the palace, but I didn’t have the heart to yet. They deserved a few more minutes of blissful peace and happiness.
In the hall, the warriors waited, standing tall and composed, and once I was certain Timith was doing just fine doting on my aunt, I retreated from the kitchen to face them.
I crossed my arms, my brows furrowing. “Will Gwen and Timith be safe here? I heard what you said about needing to secure their home.” I peered up at Jamie, who stood stoically near the framed portrait of me when I was a child.
My aunt and uncle had commissioned that painting while we’d still lived in the Clawfur Mountains.
I couldn’t have been more than six summers old.
“I’ll ensure their safety.” Jamie’s reply came readily without a hint of doubt in it.
“But you’d been speaking of wards,” I said to them both. “Which means you two obviously still feel that Gwen and Timith are at risk even though Verin’s been caught.” Lowering my voice, I said, “Was that bottle found in the alleyway that had the liquid Verin packed for me?”
Kole dipped his head. “It was. They found it a few hours after I reported where it would likely be.”
“And?” I raised my eyebrows.
Jamie frowned, his lips sealed, but Kole said, “You were right. The potion was detected in it.”
Jamie scowled at Kole as the blood drained from my face.
“So, it truly was me that the potion was intended for.” I thought back to the previous weeks and realized that having Verin become employed at my aunt and uncle’s home was the easiest way to get access to me without raising suspicion.
Even though I hadn’t lived with them anymore, I still frequented their home often.
I always came by regularly, at least once a week for—
My head snapped up. “Oh Gods, I know when she poisoned Timith!” I pulled the warriors farther down the hall, so as not to alarm my aunt in case she overheard us.
Once near the front door, I continued, “A few days before my uncle fell truly ill, I came by for supper, but when we went to sit down, I spilled my drink on my chair, soaking the upholstery.” My eyes widened even more as memories of that night returned to me rapid fire.
“We shifted around the table, moving the plates too, and my uncle ended up grabbing my plate since we hadn’t started eating yet.
” My eyes widened even more. “Verin tried to rearrange the table settings, and she’d looked near panicked, but we’d swished her off, telling her it wasn’t needed.
I’d been confused why she’d been so worried about it, but now it makes sense.
She’d put the potion in my food that night, but Timith ingested it instead. ”
I paled even more, and Kole growled low in his throat.
Through a sliver of doorway into the kitchen, Timith was visible, patting Gwen’s back and placing a steaming mug of tea before her. He looked bright and alive, but just an hour ago, he’d been turning into something other. A creature Verin had meant for me to turn into.
My hands began to shake, and I took a quivering breath. “Why would they want me to turn into something with fangs, and is this all somehow related to that horrible creature outside of Inisville?” I asked Kole.