Chapter 26
They followed Danai quickly out of the training hall and into the corridor, dodging servants and guards as they went. Iliana was pacing the entrance hall when they arrived, her cheeks wet from tears and her attire casual—she was not on duty today.
“Corinne,” she said, running up to her and taking her hands.
“My little brother, Aeson, he fell from a horse a few hours ago and hasn’t been responsive since.
We don’t know what to do, and I thought maybe you could…
oh Goddess.” Iliana’s gaze landed on Aryel standing by Corinne, and she sketched a haphazard bow.
“Apologies, Your Highness, I didn’t know—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Aryel said quickly. “Corinne, are you able to help?”
“It depends on the severity of his injury and how long it’s been,” Corinne said. “Where is he?”
“At our home,” Iliana said, more tears spilling over her cheeks. “In the lower part of the city. Please, Corinne, I don’t know what else to do, I’m terrified he’s going to die.”
Corinne’s chest felt like it would tear open. She looked to Aryel—for permission? For encouragement? Perhaps both.
“I’ll go with you,” he said. “Fuck the lockdown mandate.”
Aryel called for horses to be prepared for them while Iliana thanked him profusely.
Corinne was hardly present anymore; she thought through all scenarios of the boy falling, where he may have sustained an injury to prevent him from waking, what kinds of injuries would be irreparable. Don’t think on that.
After a quick argument between Aryel and the guards at the castle gate, the iron opened with a mighty groan, and the four of them set off into Vytanos, racing the sun.
Corinne, Aryel, and Danai brought their horses to a halt behind Iliana as she dismounted by a small cottage surrounded by similar homes. A girl with hair the same color as Iliana’s rushed out of the house.
“Go,” she said, taking Iliana’s reins. “I’ll take care of the horses.”
Corinne followed Iliana inside, tailed closely by Aryel and Danai.
They stepped into a small kitchen with five people inside already—Iliana’s other siblings, Corinne assumed, and her parents.
Her father, auburn hair graying at the roots, looked at the figure lying on the table that had been cleared before him.
Her mother, who looked exactly like Iliana would in twenty years but with dark brown hair, approached them quickly.
“Amma,” Iliana said. “I brought Corinne with me—she’s a Lightguard.”
Her mother’s eyes widened, and Corinne’s mouth went dry. “Come.”
Corinne approached the table, bracing herself for whatever she was about to see.
The boy lying atop it couldn’t have been older than fourteen, all gangly limbs and still baby-faced.
There was a nasty gash on his browbone that had begun to swell.
That was a good sign, at least—external manifestation of the damage was better than internal.
His right leg, too, was smeared with blood and bruising and appeared to be broken at the shin.
Corinne removed her sword and turned, handing it to Danai.
With a deep, steadying breath, she summoned her light.
The little gasps around the room hardly registered as she reached for Aeson’s head, placing her glowing hands on either side of it to allow her magic to assess the damage.
Corinne closed her eyes. Head injuries were always more complex than anything else, requiring precision and expert control alongside the energy expended to heal.
Her light began to heal the outer wound almost immediately, but there was certainly more beneath the surface, and that would take longer.
She steeled herself as she opened her eyes again and looked to the others.
“This will take me a few hours,” she said. She caught the eye of an even younger boy, likely around eight years old, who was now clutching Iliana’s arm.
“Will he wake?” Iliana’s father asked, his voice breaking.
Corinne smoothed her face into a mask of calm before looking at him.
“I can’t say for certain,” she said. “But it’s a good sign that he’s breathing normally and that some of the damage is external.”
“Let’s let her work,” Iliana’s mother said.
They all returned to their respective places, except for Iliana’s other brother, who remained by her as she sat in a chair by the window. Danai joined another one of Iliana’s siblings on the floor, and Aryel found a chair nearby, another one that had likely been pushed away from the kitchen table.
Corinne placed her hands on Aeson’s head again and began her work.
By the third hour of healing, Corinne’s energy was fading quickly.
She’d managed to heal most of the internal damage in Aeson’s head and moved to the boy’s leg—bones were easier than head injuries, at least, but they still took time.
The marrow reknitted as Corinne’s magic guided it back into place.
To keep herself focused and awake, Corinne began humming softly to herself, the melody of an old healing song she’d heard from the Attendants in the monastery.
“Your voice is pretty.”
Corinne glanced up and saw another of Iliana’s sisters standing across the table, her dark hair in two braids. She looked to be the youngest of them all, her head barely passing the table’s edge.
“Thank you,” Corinne said. She might have engaged with her more, but she had to commit her concentration back to Aeson’s healing.
“Mira, why don’t you and Jaela go check on the horses?” Iliana’s mother, Isa, suggested.
The little girl padded off to join Jaela, who had been the first one to greet them upon their arrival.
At long last, Aeson’s muscle was repaired over his freshly-healed bone, and all that was left was the flesh wound.
It normally would’ve taken Corinne less than ten minutes to heal such a wound, but with her magic depleted, it was another half hour.
She leaned back once she’d gotten it to a shallow cut, her light snapping back into her, and tiredness weighed heavily on her entire being.
“Is that it? Is he healed?” Isa asked, stepping forward with hopeful eyes.
Corinne breathed deeply. “He has a few minor injuries still, but nothing as severe as before.”
“He still hasn’t woken,” Iliana’s father, Petyr, said. “Can you not wake him?”
“Atta, Corinne has done enough,” Iliana said from the chair she’d slumped in, her voice strained. Her younger brother had fallen asleep in her lap.
“No, I can try,” Corinne said.
Rallying the dregs of her magic, she reached for Aeson’s head again and closed her eyes, letting the warmth of her light bring his mind back toward consciousness. She could sense him teetering on the edge of awareness and pulled him toward it.
With a sharp inhale, the boy stirred. Corinne looked at him just as his eyelids fluttered open, his amber irises the same color as Iliana’s.
“Aeson!” Isa cried, rushing forward.
Corinne’s magic receded, and she backed away to allow space for his family to approach him, each of them teary and joyful.
Contentedness settled in her chest as she watched them, but her mind was slow to understand why, behind them, Danai and Aryel were staring at her with worried expressions.
Perhaps she looked as exhausted as she felt…
Her face went cold, blackness dotting her vision, and she hit the floor.
“Do you think we could carry her back to the castle?”
“On horseback? That’s a terrible idea, Danai.”
“Well, she can’t stay here all night without getting into trouble…”
“Hauling an unconscious Lightguard through the streets of Vytanos isn’t an option.”
Corinne’s eyelids felt like they were weighed down by bricks as she awoke.
She squinted in the candlelight that flickered nearby and couldn’t make sense of where she was.
A bed lay beneath her, a window was just ahead, displaying that dusk had fallen, and surrounding her in a tiny bedroom were Danai, Iliana, and Aryel.
Her friends stood on either side of the window, arguing quietly, and Aryel immediately got to his feet from where he’d been sitting beside the bed.
“Corinne,” he said, drawing Danai and Iliana’s attention as well.
Her head swam as she sat up. “I fainted?”
“You passed out after healing Aeson,” Danai said. “And you’ve been asleep since.”
“How long has it been?” she asked, glancing out the window again.
“About four hours,” Aryel said.
Goddess. It had been a long time since Corinne had overextended herself like that.
“My parents insisted you rest here,” Iliana said.
“That was kind of them.”
“It would’ve been kinder if they hadn’t first insisted you wear yourself out,” Iliana said, stepping forward with her arms crossed. “I’m so grateful to you, Corinne, and I’m sorry they pushed you.”
Corinne shook her head. “I’ll be fine.” She made to stand up, and her head swam again, throwing her off-balance.
Aryel caught her before she stumbled too far. She was just so tired. She needed to lie back down.
“We have to get you two back to the castle,” Danai said, their brow furrowing. “But she’s in no state to ride.”
“Last thing we need is someone else falling from a horse,” Iliana said.
“She can ride with me,” Aryel said. He looked at Corinne, who was still leaning on him for support. “If that’s all right with you.”
Corinne was so exhausted she couldn’t find the will to feel guilty about needing and wanting his help. “That’s fine. We need to get back.”
Danai, Iliana, and Corinne, with Aryel’s help, left the little bedroom and ventured into the kitchen again, greeted by Iliana’s family. Iliana shooed away her four siblings, demanding they give Corinne space. Aeson, propped up in a chair with his leg elevated, stood gingerly.
“Thank you, Corinne,” he said, his face going beet red.
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling softly, and after waving off Isa and Petyr’s profuse apologies, they stepped into the evening air.