Chapter 61
I crushed a few more of the leaves. The crushed leaves immediately turned a dark, bruised green beneath the warmth of my palms.
Please. Please work.
I spread the pulp over the torn flesh of Lucien's side, exactly as I'd seen Miss Ann do back at the inn - not because I understood why it worked, but because it was the only piece of knowledge I had left.
The bleeding didn't stop completely, but it slowed to a sluggish trickle.
I let out a shaky breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "Good... I'll happily take 'slightly less dying.'"
Lucien let out the faintest, ragged groan, his eyelashes fluttering. I leaned down closer. "Lucien?"
His lips moved, but no sound came out.
"I'm right here."
His eyes opened halfway, glazed and unfocused, staring right through me. "...Cass..."
"I'm here."
"...Run..."
I stared down at him. "Seriously? You're bleeding half to death and you're still trying to give orders?"
His brow furrowed weakly. "...Don't... argue..."
Despite the horror of the situation, I almost laughed. "You know, I was actually considering listening to you for once."
The corner of his mouth twitched-the ghost of a smile-before his eyes rolled back and he slipped entirely into unconsciousness again.
"Lucien?" No response. "Lucien!"
Panic clawed at my chest. I scrambled forward, pressing two trembling fingers against his neck. A pulse. Weak, fluttering, but there.
"Thank every god in the sky..."
I collapsed back onto my heels, my whole body shaking violently as the adrenaline finally drained out of me.
When I looked around the clearing, it no longer resembled a forest.
Several trees were split down the middle, their trunks blackened and smoking.
The earth was fractured in deep, spiderwebbing cracks, and broken branches littered the ground.
And every single soldier lay unconscious.
The woman was still slumped against the shattered trunk of the oak, blood trickling from her lip. Her fingers twitched faintly.
I did that.
The realization settled over me like ice water. I stared down at my trembling hands - scraped skin, dirt beneath my fingernails. No glow. Just normal hands.
What... was that?
A low groan cut through the stillness. The woman's head shifted. She won't remain unconscious for much longer.
"Fantastic," I muttered as I pushed myself to my feet.
Bad idea.
The world spun. Black spots filled my vision, and I grabbed a nearby sapling to keep from falling.
Apparently, using world-ending magic came with side effects. Who knew?
If the woman woke up first, we were dead.
If her men woke up first, even worse.
I couldn't carry Lucien very far, and there was no way I could drag him through the forest.
Then I spotted it.
One of the mercenaries' horses had broken free. It stood a short distance away, its reins caught on a low branch.
"Oh, you beautiful, magnificent creature," I whispered as I walked toward it. "Easy... I'm only borrowing you. Under very unusual circumstances."
I untangled the reins and looked at the horse. Then at Lucien. Then back at the horse.
"...There is one serious problem with this plan."
Getting an unconscious prince onto a horse was much harder than it looked.
I grabbed him under the shoulders and dragged him across the ground, stopping every few feet to catch my breath. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest.
A groan came from behind me.
The woman was rolling onto her side.
I was out of time.
With one last burst of strength - and the last scraps of magic I had left - I heaved Lucien's upper body onto the saddle. He ended up hanging awkwardly over the horse like a sack of grain.
"I know this isn't very dignified," I muttered, patting the horse's neck. "Just... please don't throw him off."
Behind us, the woman pushed herself onto one elbow. Blood streaked her face, but her dark eyes locked onto mine. For the first time, she didn't look amused. She looked terrified. Not of Lucien. Of me.
"What..." she choked out, her voice hoarse. "What are you?"
My hands tightened around the reins.
"Someone having a much worse day than you," I muttered.
I climbed awkwardly onto the horse behind Lucien, wrapped one arm around his chest to keep him from falling, and urged the horse forward.
It carried us south at a full gallop. As the adrenaline wore off, it slowed to a tired walk. Eventually, it stopped beside a narrow stream to drink.
I slid out of the saddle, nearly collapsing when my feet touched the ground. My legs shook so badly they could barely hold me up.
Then I half-carried, half-dragged Lucien toward the trees.
That's when I saw it - hidden behind a curtain of overgrown vines. A tiny, abandoned woodcutter's hut. The roof sagged on one side, but the walls were standing.
It took everything I had left to get Lucien onto the narrow, dusty cot inside. When I peeled away the bloody cloth on his side, my stomach turned. The bleeding had slowed, but his skin was burning hot to the touch. He was running a fever.
Miss Ann's voice echoed in my head: 'One herb stops the bleeding, girl. Another brings down the fever. Don't mix them up.'
I tore of a part of my shirt and wiped his sweaty brow with it. "Rule number one: don't die. Rule number two: stay right here."
He didn't answer.
"I'm going to find the fever herbs," I whispered, setting my jaw. "You are strictly forbidden from doing anything stupid while I'm gone."
The forest near the stream was quiet. Miss Ann had said the fever herb - slender leaves, tiny white blossoms - liked damp soil under thick shade. I searched frantically along the bank until, beneath the roots of an old willow, I spotted them. Small, delicate white flowers clinging to slender stems.
"Yes!" I dropped to my knees, carefully harvesting a fistful. "Thank you, Miss Ann.."
A small, triumphant smile touched my lips. We had survived. We had shelter. I had the medicine.
I hurried back along the overgrown path toward the hut.
Then, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Pressed clearly into the damp mud right in the middle of the trail... was a boot print. Fresh. Deep. Walking in the same direction. Toward the hut.
The bundle of herbs nearly slipped from my numb fingers. My blood turned to liquid ice.
No. No, no, no.
Lucien was inside. Unconscious. Unable to defend himself.
I didn't think. I sprinted, branches whipping my face as I burst through the thicket. My lungs burned, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
Please. Please let me be in time.
The hut appeared through the trees.
The front door was hanging wide open.
"No..." I choked out.
I threw myself across the threshold, my breath catching in my throat, clutching the herbs like a lifeline - and froze.